Nota Bene Restaurant

Nota Bene is a really elegant restaurant located at 180 Queen Street West. I was there once for my birthday and happy enjoyed every dishes.

www.notabenerestaurant.com


Starter:
Nova Scotia lobster salad: Avocado, maple bacon, blue cheese buttermilk dressing (Top left)
Crisp duck salad: Sumac-dusted green papaya slaw, Cashews (Top right)

Main:
Suckling pig & boudin noir tart with truffle vinaigrette (Left Bottom)
Lake Huron pickerel filet with smoked cherry tomatoes, cauliflower puree and basil pesto (Right Bottom)

Canadian Oysters

Canadian Oysters
Don’t matter if the French say they have the best oyster in the world. Honestly I have tried both, and the Canadian oysters are also very good! There are many various to choose from when it is in seasons (From Oct to Jan). In Toronto, I always go to OysterBoys to buy them and open by myself. The price is cheaper than Rodney's Oyster House at King/Spadina Street. However, the later one does offer more varieties.

www.oysterboy.ca

Malpeque oyster from P.E.I. is always tasty with clear sea flavor, subtle. They are meaty and easy to open. (The center ones in the pic) Most people will like them.
The other kind in the pic is from Northern Emerald, also good.

My favorite ones are the oysters from Tatamagouche Bay, Nova Scotia. Not everyone will love its strong sea flavors. But for me they are simple a treat. I ate them with no lemon or sauce. Simply want to taste the original flavor. It is not easy to find them with a good price.

Blue crab

You can buy them from China town in Toronto with the cheapest price $4 -5 CAD per pound. They are much smaller and less meaty than the Vancouver crab. But when they are in season, just for the orange crab roe, it worthy fighting over with other Chinese grandma to pick the bigger crab.

Those little guys are quite feisty. Be careful don’t let their claw catch your finger when washing them. Like once they did to me, I can only steam it to death to release my finger. From then on, I use a cooking thong. ☺

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_crab

I normally steam them with ginger or lemon for 12 mins after water is boiling. Sometimes just eat like that, or sometimes with sauce: vinegar, grated fresh ginger and sugar (Shanghai style).

Vancouver Crab

I love the sweet sea meat from Vancouver crab! In Toronto’s China town they are sold $8 or 9 CAD per pound (best price in town). I normally steam the whole crab for 15 mins then eat just like that! The meat is sweet, tender and soft. No sauce needed!

Salmon with red current cream sauce

I met Christophe (From Paris) through another friend. He happened to be on his holiday in Brussels, just like me. And he decided to create an interesting dish for me. Not only he knows everything about wine but also very creative when comes to cooking.

One pot with mushroom slowly shimmered down while the other side red current is melting with the fresh crème. I love the red current sauce: creamy, sweet and sour. Very interesting combination with the salmon!


On the side, a mix green salad with plum and cashew nuts. That is our luxurious holiday lunch!

Marine Snail soup in Brussels

Near a Sunday flea market, I saw an old lady selling marine snail soup in a huge pot. The snails have been simmering just below boiling point for hours. They are a bit chewy with a lot of sea flavor. The broth is for sure a winner! Not only full of the snail sea flavor, but also a bit sweet and spicy. I would drink it everyday!

The vendor told me the receipt is a family secret. Basically it's the broth in which the whelks were prepared with lots of celery and a generous amount of onion and pili pili (hot chili sauce), bay leaf and thyme, etc. But it is true recipes vary with each vendor. White wine is optional.

Brussels seafood restaurant streets

In Brussels’ center, there are many streets full of seafood restaurant. As a tourist, you can’t miss it. But also locals go there to dinner, because the high quality of the seafood. Pictures are more than thousands of words! How could you not being tempted by the waves of fresh seafood display?



I also saw a small white rabbit there with some black fur around the eye. Very cute! I do not think they would cook it, but don’t know why it is there? To attract more passing-bys?

Tripe, Beef, Fish Tapas in Toledo

I randomly went into a bar-restaurant in the center of Toledo (a small town in Spain). It was almost empty besides few coffee drinkers because it was only noon. No one eat lunch that early in Spain! But I don’t care, I was hungry!

The waiter didn’t speak a word of English and there were nobody to help out. I can only point through the glass window to order food. It was hard to know what exactly I ordered.

The dish on the left is stewed beef with peas. Really tough meat!
On the right is a chunk of sea fish with roasted tomato as topping. The fish texture is dry and old. I only had one bite, what a terrible dish! What kind of fish is it?



The only dish I liked is the tripe, which is slow cooked in tomato sauce. Can’t go wrong with that! Really tender and flavorful.

Squid stew in Black ink

In Barcelona I tried rice with squid ink. This time in Madrid, I ordered squid stew in its own black ink. The squid are very tender with the savory fishy ink sauce. If you don’t like eating fish, do not order it! My friend had deep fried fresh anchovies. For veggies, we had spinach with garlic and mixed veggie. Everything is very savory and big portion with economic price. For dessert I had traditional Spanish rice pudding (Arroz con leche) with cinnamon. It is lighter than I thought.

Tapas

“Tapas is the name of a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. "

The history of Tapas is quite interesting: “According to legend[citation needed], the tapas tradition began when Castile's king, Alfonso X of Castile or Alfonso the Wise, recovered from an illness by drinking wine mixed with small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered that taverns were not allowed to serve wine to customers unless the beverage was accompanied by a small snack or tapa. The word became a kind of loophole in the law to allow drinkers to consume alcohol.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapas

Too bad I don’t speak Spanish, therefore didn’t know what I was eating. I believe most of them are fish; some are raw mixed with spices. The best part is they are small portion, I always feel hungry. Every bite is yummy, try them yourselves!

Sample of Greek cuisine

There are many places with cooked food-of-the-day in Athen. They are very popular among the locals. Food is cooked freshly and one can order by pointing at the food. For sure it is very convenient for tourists. As for the quality of the food, it is excellent. Many locals order that way, then sit down to eat and drink red wine.


My friend ordered many dishes so that I can sample Greek cooking: beans, beef, pork and squid. My favorite is the spinach with squid. The squid is unbelievably tender and I ate most of the dish. I wonder how could they make the squid so tender, melt in your mouth? My least favorite one is the pork, it is very dry.

The food is so good there I went back the next day. For lunch I had a lamb shank. So tender and juicy with strong lamb flavor! That is how I like it! Most food there are slow cooked and they are surly delicious!

Dutch tradition – Raw herring

The soused herring is an especially mild salt herring, which is made from young immature herrings. The herrings are ripened for a couple of days in oak barrels in a salty solution, or brine. The pancreatic enzymes, which support the ripening, make this version of salt herring especially mild and soft. This process of preparing herring (known as "gibbing") was developed in the Middle Ages by the Dutch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soused_herring

I have been told that herring season is in the summer and there are venders everywhere on the streets. Although I went to Amsterdam in the wrong season, I have to try the real thing! I was lucky enough to find one street stand at my last day in Amsterdam. The street booth is in a residential area (a good sign!). Also some customers told me that it is their favorite place.

One old man was peeling the herring skin on the spot. The fish looks gluey. The process was not that appealing to me. But after a kind customer allowed me to try one piece of herring from his plate, I decided to order one serving for myself. I dipped the herring into raw onions and it is really tender and fresh! Just like they said: it is like sushi but bit salty!

That booth also sells deep-fried fish, but they were cold. The quality of fishes was good. But microwaving the deep-fried food is never the best.

Super Makreel

on the street market in Amsterdam. Looks smoked, but not sure how will i eat it? Do i still need to cook it?

Sicilian dinner in Rome

I was so lucky to be brought to a nice Sicilian restaurant in Rome. It was my first time had Sicilian cuisine. That dinner made me decided to visit Sicily for my next trip (see my previous posts).

For the starter we had a variety sample of eggplant salads: with orange, olive, or roasted eggplants with almonds. It was amazing they can find so many ways of cooking eggplants and they are very tasty. It was my first time to see orange with peels in a salad. The orange peels refresh the roasted eggplants. I only hope there are not much pesticides on the peel.

For main course my friend had broccoli pasta with bread crumble- Sicilian style. He said that was an exceptional pasta dish. I had a plate of mix-grilled seafood and it was amazing: fresh ingredients, perfectly grilled. That is all you need for a seafood dish.

Stuffed Squid & Raw Egg Pasta – southern Italian cooking

I love home cooking and I was so excited when Giuseppe shows me a southern Italian cooking- stuffed squid. I helped to clean up the squid body while he made the mixture: finely chopped squid tentacles, canned fennel flower, bread crumble, walnut, fresh parsley, pepper and salt. He stuffed the mixture into the squid body then cooked it till tender. The raw egg and tuna pasta is a great combination with the seafood. I never thought about raw egg as pasta sauce. It moistures pasta and give it a rich egg flavor.

This is not the same as my friend cooked but worth a try: Braised Stuffed Squid:

http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/41326922.html

Raw Shrimp

I had raw fish for millions of times but not raw shrimp. In Milan a fish aperitivo place I got a chance to try it. When you enter the place, at the left side, there are fresh fishes presented like in fish market. At the center, prepared fish dishes are displace behind the glasses. You choose the fish dish you want then go for pay the bill, which also includes a glass of wine. People stand around and lean against counters to enjoy their meal. It is not really a sit-down restaurant.

I ordered a plate of mixed raw fishes and shrimp on a bed of salads. The shrimps almost translucent and did not have any strong flavor. Not very impressive either. For one plate of fish and one glass of white wine, I paid about 15 Euros. The plate is small portion. For a big eater like me, it is a very light dinner.

Seafood Pizza

What a brilliant idea! I have never thought about its existence before I saw it for the first time in a pizza restaurant near Metro Wagner in Milan. For 12 Euros, pizza with tomato sauce is freshly baked in the traditionally pizza oven. After they top on pre-cooked seafood mix.

The only think I regret is that I did not eat it immediately. However it was not bad. The only comments will be: some pre-cooked seafood is little dry. It is not an amazing pizza. But for sure it is interesting for me to try for the first time.

Palermo's Street Markets

When I visiting a place, I always visit street market. That is where you can food history, cultural and of course fresh products.
“Sicily's outdoor market tradition dates from the ninth-century Saracen rule of the island, which explains their striking similarity to Arab souqs.”
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art85.htm
I am so impressed by mountains of seafood in the open-air market in Palermo. The market is filled with varieties of products, colors and vendor’s shouting. Unfortunately with short stay and no Italian language skills, I cannot do further study on the interesting seafood I saw. Next time…

Fasolari – Italian big clam

I tried several clam dishes in Palermo. Simple cooking, fresh ingredient and taste great!
The next day in a big open market near the central train station I saw them again. This time the big clam Fasolari caught my attention (top pic). They are palm-size big clam with brown stripes on the shells. The curious ones like to stick their red-orange part of body out in the air. The one in the top left picture is after cooked- so it was wide open. In the market I taped a video of their clam body (the red part) sneak out of the shell and padding in the container.

In restaurant was 1 euro each while in market was about 8 euro a kilo. I bought some and prepare to go home to cook. But when my friend’s mom saw them, she told me that she always eating them raw. Why not? They are still alive so there was no danger eating them raw. We cut them open with a simple kitchen knife, enjoying them with a dash of fresh squeezed lemon juice and some wine. I like it better eating raw. It was so fresh and has its own unique taste, so need extra spices needed.

Sea Urchin

If you never had sea urchin, it is your lost. They are small palm size spiky sea creatures what not everyone would love it (I mean to eat it).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin

“According to Under Southern Sea’s there are about 20 species of Sea Urchin in southern Australia and 18 of these are unique to the region. The Black Sea Urchin can be found in Tasmania, Victoria and up through most of NSW.”

In Japanese it is called Uni (served raw). Because the strong taste I often have Uni sushi, rather than eat them on their own. The Japanese Uni tastes a lot stronger and has a lighter color than the Sicilian ones.

“Uni has historically been graded based on color, texture, and freshness. The highest grade is a bright yellow/gold (Grade A) with a firm texture and somewhat sweet. Grade B uni is a more muted yellow and has a softer texture and is less sweet, while Grade C uni is referred to as 'vana' and is often the parts left over from uni that has broken apart during processing or handling.”

http://www.sushifaq.com/sushi-items/sushi-items-uni.htm

This time in Palermo it was my first time see live sea urchin (Ricci di Mare - in Italian), although they do not really move. In the Sicilian restaurant all seafood were displaced outside to attract customers. Of course it works! I ordered some sea urchins and clams to end my day. The sea urchins are freshly cut and served with bread. The clams are perfectly cooked with fresh herbs. I scooped the orange parts of sea urchin with the bread. It definitely taste like sea! But for sure they taste less strong than the ones in Japanese restaurant.

I found a blog where have a better pic and interesting story:
http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2007/08/28/catching-and-eating-ricci-di-mare-sea-urchins/

Oh, did I mention the orange part I eat is the female urchin’s reproductive organ? And I heard because of that some months are illegal to catch sea urchins. We need to give them a chance to reproduce so the sea urchin will not diminish from the planet. Actually it is interesting about how they reproduce:

“The male and the female sea urchins shoot their eggs and sperm directly into the ocean and hope for the best. Scientist are not so sure about the factors that set off this spawning, but it is believed it has something to do with the length of the days and the sea conditions.”

The live sea urchin is pretty funky. And someone was feeding a sea urchin a cookie? Weird. But check it out:
http://www.vimeo.com/225524