Almond Dream Yogurt

Yogurt, filled with pro-biotics, calcium, fruits and low fats is a healthy eaters delight. It used to be a staple food in my diet, and probably the dairy product I miss the most (let's just not tell anyone I still eat the occassional piece of brie cheese). This evening I stumbled across almond dream non dairy yogurt and decided to give it a try, almond milk is the only type of dairy free milk I find bearable anyways so why not yogurt?

It was love at first spoon. While it is still no creamy cow's or Greek yogurt, it is as close as I have ever come. It has that distinct yogurty after taste, and while the texture is a little thicker than most yogurts it didn't feel weird in the mouth.

I tried the vanilla flavour, and dutifully scrapped every last bit of yogurt off the sides, happy to be united with one of my favourite treats. I will be heading back to the store tomorrow to stock up and see what other flavours they have.

I was giddy with excitement and wanted to immediately share this with you all, so go forth and try it!

A Moveable Feast

While brains fulfill the nutritional needs of zombies and other such creatures, the brain also needs to be nourished and fed. However, the brain is not the mouth, and it cannot eat such foods as a rare runny steak, a juicy strawberry or a grilled swordfish. A brain eats through intellectual nourishment, from the (dreaded) television, movies, and books.

When the brain loves food, (it can enjoy knowing of it even if it cannot crush the meat with it's teeth or savour spiciness on its tongue) many hours can be consumed reading and watching about ways to better satisfy those delightful sense organs. However, while some of my friends can watch the food network for hours on end, my desire is not so much to know how food is made, but to feel the food in my inner being. Stories of food are what I love.

They say you should write the book (or blog) that you would want to read, but unfortunately for me the book I want to read has already been written: Lonley Planet's A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Adventures From Around the World. Thanks for stealing my idea, Lonely Planet. But never fear, I am not one to hold a grudge or pine away the hours thinking about the millions I could have made compiling a book of short stories about memorable food experiences.

I first picked up the book about a year and a half ago, before my obsession with food adventure had begun, but I did want to travel and it seemed like a fun concept, but not worth the $16.99. Luckily I had a wonderful boyfriend at the time who noticed my snooping and got it for me for my birthday a couple months later. I was excited and delighted but still it sat on my shelf for months, being brushed aside by such classical authors as Dickens, Austen, and Rowling. Finally I took a vacation with my family, and threw the book in my bag, excited to read a book on travel while traveling (I really enjoy it when my life is like the books and movies I am reading/watching).  I began A Moveable Feast by flipping to the stories in locations that are on my 'to visit' list, but within two days I had read the whole thing front to back. The stories range from top class dining with A Pilgrimage to El Bulli, To rare and strange cultural food experiences (like a fresh mango in the African desert, or Bat testicles...). The various authors weave tales of food that in the end somehow manage not to be so much about food, but about the way food and mealtime can act as a bridge between cultures or lead to the creation of lifelong friendships.

The most disappointing part of the book is that so many of the stories are highly personal and achieved somehow through luck and journalistic cunning, so many of the experiences could not be recreated on my own travels. At least I can always live vicariously through the stories in this book whenever my brain is feeling a little munchy.

You can also find the e-book version here

Poutine Wars: Ottawa vs. Halifax

I have eaten my fair share of Poutine. While all of them have had their charms, we can't all be winners in this world. So in honour of Canada Day, I bring you my first in a possible series of Poutine Face Offs: Ottawa vs. Halifax.

Poutine was created in our very own Quebec, but it has quickly spread to the surrounding provinces and has become perfected in its own right in the Maritimes and Ontario (who knows what they've got cookin out west). Living in Halifax for six years, I have tried many of the late night poutine options, and debated their merits in my head and with many of my friends. Every time, the fight for the best poutine comes down to Willy`s vs. Alexandra``s. The first battle:

Runner Up:

Alexandra's:

With late-(ish) night delivery, and cheap foods Alexandra's is a long time favourite with students. The poutine uses a mushroom gravy and shredded mozzarella cheese (not the squeaky kind). Despite this handicap, Alexandra's still brews up a top contender. While the service is sometimes slow the poutine is pretty reliable and tastes mm mm good. 

Winner:

Willy's: 

I can't imagine my life before I discovered Willies just two years ago. While it is tragic that I went an entire four years in that city before discovering this magical little place, it is understandable given that it is a small hole in the wall (literally) next to three other pizza places on pizza corner, and only open after dinner. I have been informed that they have recently expanded their menu to include different types of poutines and burgers, and are now open several days a week for lunch, but back when I lived there, there were three things on the menu: fries, poutine or burger. And no one ever gets the burger. Willy's uses a great vegetarian gravy, and real squeaky cheese, but I think the most important thing that sets Willy's apart from the rest are the french fries. Even just with ketchup these are amazing, Willy`s knows how to stick to the basics. 

Which brings us to our main battle...

Willy's Vs. Elgin Street Diner

Elgin Street Diner: 

I had just eaten a poutine from Smoke's (which did not even make it into this competition) the night before, so I had planned to get a salad when we stopped in to the Elgin Street Diner (which I was told was traditional Ottawa cuisine), but they had an exciting looking poutine menu that I could not resist. I ordered the smoked meat poutine because it sounded very Quebecois (or Montrealian) and this was the closest I was going to get to poutine in Quebec. 

A monsterous plate of poutine was placed in front of me, and I almost ate it all. The fries were thinner than willies but still a very good contender, and they use squeaky cheese! The menu didn't specify what kind of gravy was used, but it tasted heavy and beefy to me. I``m usually a fan of a lighter vegetarian gravy but this was too amazing. Despite still feeling incredibly full from the night before, I got just several bites away from completion. I left the diner feeling a little sick, but with no regrets.

As much as I love Willy`s and feel a great loyalty to Halifax, I think that the ESD is going to take the poutine crown.

Our grand winner is the Elgin Street Diner!

smoked meat poutine

The Indian Kitchen

"All you can eat $8.99" is the only thing I've known about the Indian Kitchen for years. Heavy curries are not the kind of thing I usually aim to eat in large quantities, so my only interactions with the Indian Kitchen were seeing that sign time and again as I frequented the sushi place next door. However, when I recently returned to Thornhill , my goto Indian place had closed down, and this was my only choice. We went for dinner, so I cannot speak for the affordable lunch buffet, but our experience certainly exceeded expectations.

Neither of us had been to the place before, and when we entered only one other table was filled- suspicious. We flipped through the menu, and they have great variety of both curry, vegetarian and non curry options. I ordered the goat curry with basmati rice and my dad ordered the tandoori lamb with naan bread and roti.

The last time I had ordered a lamb curry I wasn't a big fan, but this was several years ago, and I was feeling adventurous. My daring paid off because the dish was delicious! The meat was tender enough to fall off the bone and be gorged by my teeth. This was my first time visiting an Indian restaurant since becoming gluten free, and I thought resisting the naan was going to be torture, but my curry went so great with the rice that I didn't even mind missing out on one of my favourite treats.

The menu helpfully ranks the spiceyness of each dish, so those with brave souls or for the faint of heart can both find the perfect dish. By the time we were leaving the restaurant was beginning to fill up, so I guess we had just been a little keen, this is a little treasure of Thornhill that will remain hidden no more!

Love at Ahora

Ahora is tacky. I would not have noticed from the small sign outside if it hadn't been pointed out to me. I warily climbed down the stairs to a brightly coloured and rectangular room cut up by the food counter and kitchen, and a small area of raised seating in the back. The restaurant was not overly full, but the sounds from the kitchen spilled out into the dining area making it noisy and heated. We were seated at a table with menus, but then had to go up to the counter to order food (They did not tell us this, I just had knowledgeable friends that saved me hunger driven anxiety trying to flag down a waiter).

We ordered nachos with chicken to start, and I ordered the Tostada salad (my favourite Mexican treat).  Most of the menu items were under $10 which is great for those of us who are unemployed, and the portions are big enough to fill a fairly heavy appetite. The nachos arrived promptly, and had the guacamole and salsa layered right in with the cheese, chips and vegetables, making many of the middle bottom chips soggy. This sounds a little unappetizing but the soggy chips were actually my favourite because they had soaked up all the flavours. The chicken was nice and smokey, and not extra charge for including guacamole like the nachos I had had earlier that week! These immediately dashed any questions I had about the quality of food, and I excitedly awaited my meal.

The Tostada was kind of like a mix between my beloved market tostada and a taco salad. It came in a large ruffled hard corn tortilla shell and was filled with beans, chicken, salad, guacamole and salsa. The beans were at the bottom and began to leak through the shell, so it was like a race to the finish. It had many of the same ingredients as the nachos, and had both similar and distinct tastes. Even though I had just eaten half a plate of nachos, I still polished off the Tostada. By the time we finished our meals, the restaurant had filled up and we shuffled back out into the scorching heat, stuffed and satisfied, to make way for the next customers.

Dairy Free: No (cheese and sour cream)
Gluten Free: Yes! Just choose the corn, not flour, tortilla and shell options

Arriving at Multicultural City

My favourite thing about the food scene in the GTA is the readily available mountain of affordable, high quality(well...high quality taste), ethnic food.  My usual go to is Sushi, but on the afternoon of reuniting with one of my closest friends, we decided to go for something a little different: middle eastern.

Me Va Me is a small chain that just opened up a new location in Thornhill Woods. This location has a classier decor so we ventured up the road for this festive occasion. They had a new menu addition since the last time I had been there: hummus plates, so I decided to be adventurous and ordered the hummus with grilled mushrooms. Rachel ordered the classic chicken kebabs, with salad and rice.

The salad came out first and being very generous, Rachel shared some of it with me. It is topped with shredded carrots and beets over a mixed green and cucumber salad. It is all moderately covered in a nice light dressing. The vegetables are always fresh and they don't over do it on the dressing. This is probably my favourite house salad in the city.

Next the main courses arrived. I had a generous portion of both hummus and mushrooms

Hummus and Grilled Mushroom Plate

 The hummus was a little too creamy, and didn't have as much texture as  I would have liked (considering that they claim fame for their hummus). It was not quite as good as the infamous Hummus Bros in the UK. Despite the texture the taste was still great, and I'm sure it would be even better on a pita that I unfortunately had to pass up (no Gluten Free option). There were three different kinds of mushrooms which was very exciting for us hobbit like folk, and a few grilled onions tossed in to the mix.

If I was hungry I would still opt for the Chicken or Lamb kebabs over the hummus plate, but if you're just looking for something light and fresh the Hummus plate is a great option.  The place is almost always full of locals and  provides a laid back environment, great for reconnecting with old friends. Seating gets a little crowded though, so I wouldn't recommend a first date!


Gluten Free: Many options but you have to forgo the free pita at the start
Dairy Free: Many options as well, just ask about sauces

Last stop for seafood

It was 9pm, and after a day of walking around Vieux Quebec it took all my self control not to gorge away (or even nibble at) the bowl of French crusty bread the waiter, dressed all in white, placed on our table. We were stopping over in Quebec City for a couple days, and decided to try out a restaurant called Le Contintental (or: The Continental for us Eglish speaking folk). The menu looked great, but it had very few reviews anywhere online. In a moment of uncharacteristic daring, we decided to give it a try.

Even though I had eaten mussels, scallops and lobsters just a few nights before, I was feeling nostalgic and recalled that the French also make a great shellfish; so I went for one of the daily specials:  the steamed lobster. It arrived out of its shell on a small mound on the plate. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't show off my lobster cracking skills developed over my six years in Halifax, but this was not the establishment for such barbarianism, and with a full lobster shell there would not have been room on the plate for my green and red display of vegetables, next to a mound of creamy orange mashed sweet potatoes.

My parents ordered the Duck l'orange for two, which was flambe right next to our table! After the amazement that the fire did not burn the already cooked food, they spoke very highly of the duck.

To the untrained palette, it may seem like an easy task to steam a lobster, but many a home lobster cooked meal has gone astray due to a lack of steaming or boiling skills. This was not the case with my shelled lobster at Continental. It was not dry, and it hit that perfect spot where butter wasn't necessary because the meat was so sweet and juicy by itself (of course I used a little butter anyways).

I was very excited to eat the sweet mashed potatoes, but was a little disappointed at how creamy they were. I am a rara avis in that I prefer mashed potatoes that are a little grittier and more flavorful rather than creamier (maybe it also has to do with the lactose intolerance) and I could taste the butter in these more than I could taste the potato. The vegetable medley was very nice (though a little small), and they had a nice selection of sorbets for desert that I was much too full to try.

Perhaps most impressive, was the astute service throughout our entire meal. We had multiple waiters: one for wine, one for water and one for food and the service on all three fronts was attentive and speedy. The bill was a little pricey but worth it for the traditional French dishes, live cooking and wonderful service. However, be prepared to feel much too young and under-dressed for the establishment .

We left the restaurant full, satisfied, and ready for a great night's sleep.

Gluten Free: Yes, with a little self control and menu navigation
Dairy Free: hard pressed, especially in the side dishes, but you can substitute those if necessary