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Grinding the micro'sPublished on: 05.02.2012
"1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die&qu
Inspired by the book \"1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die\", I have decided to challenge myself to see how many of them I can taste with the help of family and friends.Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog
29 January 2009 13:59:39
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/dining/28bacon.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalinkI love the New York Times. I read it everyday online, especially the Dining and Wine section and the Style section. Today the most e-mailed article on at NYTimes.com was "Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog." It's worth the read. I'm not sure that the recipe looks like anything that I want to try, but I like the article. 2 lbs of bacon around 2 lbs of sausage around cooked bacon, it is a heart attack in pig.
Cyrille et Christelle Lorho Fromager Affineur - Strasbourg, France
17 January 2009 21:41:41
This is the most amazing Fromagerier that I saw the whole time we were in France. It was tiny. Half the size of my closet it was always packed with people and run by a husband and wife. The cheeses were amazing and you could not help but want to spend time in their just taking it all in. In the true style of French cheese shops, you have to know what you want, as they seemed to be not so helpful on the question front. Anyway the pics are only a slight view into this treasure of a jewel box of a shop.
Strasbourg Butchers
17 January 2009 21:27:09
I was constantly struck by the freshness of the produce and the commitment of the French, Germans and Swiss to eating the rawest ingredients possible. It is rare in Toronto that you go to a butcher and can visibly see some remaining feathers on the chicken from where it has been plucked, or the head with the feathers still attached to your Christmas turkey. There is something more "real" more "farm to table" about this kind of commitment to food. It was very grounding and a good reminder of where our food comes from. Here are some of the pics from our favourite butcher in the heart of Strasbourg. Vegetarian warning: lots of dead animal flesh ahead!
I am so happy that you can see the actual feather leftovers. For some sick reason I love them.
Christmas Turkeys. It is interesting to not that unlike the Butterballs that we get here, how lean they are and how natural they look. Even the organic, grain fed birds that we get in Canada look far more filled with cellulite than these delicious looking birds (forget the attached head and feet. Committed as I am to absorbing the farm to table mentality, even my mother and I agreed that we wouldn't be able to handle that!)
Everything "en Croute", from Beef Wellington to Salmon. Notice the fab ham in the upper left corner. Yummy.
More prepared delicacies for the table including all sorts of pates and saucisson. mmmmm.....
What would any shop in France be without Foie Gras???
La Boutique d'Antoine Westermann - Plats cuisines Epicerie fine Vins
09 January 2009 12:05:29
I was sure that there was a link on the web to this most fabulous food and wine shop. My father and I popped in one day as I peered in and saw that it was not only a twinkling jewel in the window, but was the most exquisite cavern in the basement. The store was simply breathtaking. It had an open staircase that lead from the upstairs mecca of prepared foods, caviar, mustard's, spices, salts, culinary tools, to a "sous sol" of wine, specialty oils and a very special, albeit small, selection of french hand painted bake ware. I picked up some truffle oil here for a song for myself and for my most favourite friends J and L as a special treat. I can't wait to make the most fabulous scrambled eggs with just a hint of truffle!
The front window from the inside:
The centre of the staircase and the fabulous pepper grinders. Had the pink one not been 79 euros, it would have come home with me. It was very close, but in these hard economic times, I had to show some good judgement! 
A view from half way up the stairs
Into the cavernous beauty of the Sous Sol and all of the delights it held!
The lovely french mustard's, chutneys and jams, as well as the bake wear. You can also see the beautiful stone walls. I could have spent hours down here!
Oils and dried pasta waiting for me to buy them!
The wines at the other end of the basement. It was very dark, which does not come out well in this picture, which just lent to the charm of the whole store.
When I returned upstairs, I really thought that I had died and gone to heaven. The prepared foods were unbelievable, and only in France would they have all of the things that you would need to have caviar prepared and ready to eat - blini, creme fraiche, egg yolks chopped, red onions chopped, caviar of many varieties...... my mouth is watering just looking at the pictures again.
A close up of the varieties of caviar
Blinis ready to go. I wish we could get these here. I would be serving caviar tonight if I could!
Other fabulous treats, waiting to be taken home and eaten.
Monoprix Adventures
07 January 2009 12:14:57
I absolutely love exploring grocery stores while I am away, especially not high end ones. I had fun one afternoon, schlepping around the Monoprix in Strasbourg and walking up and down the aisles. I would be in so much trouble if our local supermarket carried 40+ types of foie gras! just amazing. It all looked so yummy!
No-name Foie Gras:
And more Foie Gras:
and still more types of Foie Gras.....
The cheese aisles always amaze me in french grocery stores. So much variety and so large:
Les Petits Macarons in the frozen food aisles? Have I died and gone to heaven? 
It was New Year's Eve, and like everywhere across the world, the underagers were out in full force deciding what libation they would drink for the evening.
Instead of fruit roll ups, kids could take crepes to school!
Fresh Start for a New Year? Let's Begin in the Kitchen
07 January 2009 07:36:57
I am slightly addicted to the food blogger, chef, online celebrity - Mark Bittman of the New York Times. He has written a new article today that I thought was quite good called "Fresh Start for a New Year? Let's Begin in the Kitchen". Helped me to reflect on what I had in my very sparce pantry and fridge. With my focus on cooking more at home I am looking for ways to make my kitchen more user friendly. (I'm hoping that it will encourage me to cook!)As a little plug for Mark Bittman, I just bought the new edition of his "How to Cook Everything" Cookbook, and I love it!
The Farmers Market in Strasbourg
06 January 2009 09:50:16
I absolutely love Farmer's Markets and did not know that my sister does also. I can spend hours walking up and done the aisles, taking in the fresh produce, watching people pick the perfect radish in the perfect shade of pink to go on their table that night. Travelling is one opportunity to do that, that opens the door to explore the foods of the local producers and really get a sense of what they are doing and what innovative things they are growing and making. What a better place to do it than in France. The first Saturday we were away we spent the morning at the Marche, and it was fabulous. I think that my parents were less than thrilled with the amount of time that my sister and I wanted to spend inspecting the fresh goats cheese, looking at the newly slaughtered pork, and game birds and interacting with the local shoppers. I could have spent all day and hundred of euros there!!!! Here are just a few pics from our day and some of my comments:In the prime spot in the Market was this gentleman and his wares. He has a bunch of different things, including a small selection of veggies, and fresh baked breads, but most interesting for me were the four ages of fresh goat cheese that he had - one day old, one week old, three weeks old and hard goats cheese. He was super busy, but I wish I could have asked him how long he had been at the market to get this spot at the south entrance to the market and if he raised the goats from which he made his cheese. I wish that we had bought some of the vegetable soup as it looks so good in this pic - yummy! We had the one day old goats cheese on fresh mache lettuce for lunch that day - stunningly delicious!
There were tons of butchers and stalls selling all types of varieties of meat and meat products. I particularly was attracted to the numerous stalls that sold only Saussison Sec of all sorts of varieties. We indulged in Duck and Pork Saussison Sec which were out of this world. I thought the the photograph with them in the baskets, fir tree branches for festivities was gorgeous and captures the simplicity of the market.
We ate a lot of pate on holidays and I thought that this was a particularly beautiful pate en crute at one of the stalls. 
I became re-obsessed with the French Baby Radishes that you see on the left. Their colour, delicious flavour, cuteness and beauty was irresistible. We bought them a number of times over the course of the holidays. I was also intrigued by the vegetable beside the radishes that is greenish. It is a cross between a cauliflower and a broccoli. I had it at a restaurant that I ate at and quite enjoyed. I have no idea what it is called, but it was quite interesting
I think that this is lavender, however am not sure, regardless it was all over the market and beautiful.
I hate nougat, but the variety that was offered was awesome.....
Cheese, cheese and more cheese. There were so many cheese stalls. As I have so many pics of cheese shops that I visited, I have posted only a few cheese pics here. I figure you will get enough of them in the next little while!
The fish mongers had so many interesting and varied types of fish. It was so cold outside that I think the fish didn't even need the ice they were sitting on!!
So Francais! About 3 minutes later these 2 little girls were ripping the end of the baguette and eating it, while their parents shopped. So adorable.
View on 2009
04 January 2009 17:30:50
I don't make resolutions. I think that they are stupid and that if I am going to make changes in my life they are not because of a day or for a year, they are because I want to do something differently. So isn't it ironic that this year I find myself facing some views on eating in the new year? There not big things, but here they are:I will be cognizant and aware of what I eat, remembering to taste and enjoy everythingI am going to make a conscious effort to eat locally as much as possible, and support the local producers and purveyors of foodsI am going to make a conscious effort to eat organically where I feel that it makes a difference - milk, eggs etc.I will attempt to cook more often at homeI will attempt to buy groceries on a regular basis (sounds stupid, but I have never done this).I am comitted to trying more of the 1001 things on my list with friends and family
Declinaison Chocolat - Artisan Chocolatier d'Alsace
04 January 2009 06:31:20
The first night that we were in Strasbourg we walked through the city and I was mesmerized by the window at Declinaison Chocolat. Little did I know that it would be a window that we would stop by to stare at often and it's contents would catch my attention often. The window was fantastic and simple and the chocolates inside were simple and exquisite.
A close up of the marroon glacee, which were all over Europe at this time of year, and the chocolate Christmas Tree. Each layer was a different variety of chocolate topped with a variety of fruits and dried nuts.
The packaging for the holidays was unbelievable. I ended up bringing home some chocolate for some friends from here and was desperate to be able to bring it home in this gorgeous packaging. Unfortunately this packaging was totally impractical for packing!!
The most interesting thing that they had in the shop was "Foie Gras au Chocolat". It was 25 euros and at the time I felt it was a bit to pricey for a whim tasting, but I wish that I had bought it now. It looked awesome and totally interesting. In the regrets list, put "not trying Foie Gras au Chocolat". Oh well, next time.....
Final Status Review of the 1001 - 464/1001 - 46%
04 January 2009 05:46:33
Well the pathetic-ness of the situation has hit me like a ton of bricks. Not even 50% of things tasted. I have to say that I am shocked. I thought that it would be different. I thought that I would have been further ahead. It does leave so much opportunity for tasting and fun with family and friends which I am most excited about. I can't wait. It has also been really neat to have people get excited with me. I think that I will now give some thought to how I begin to move this forward in the new year. I am not sure exactly, but feel that over the course of the holidays, I may gain some clarity.
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