Welcome 2011
January 2, 2011
It’s quite evident that blogging has not been on my agenda in the past year. Hopefully I will get back into sharing my pastry adventures online. Moving from my job in the hotel kitchen to freelance style baking has been eye-opening. Oh blast chiller and steam injected oven: one pines for the technology of a commercial kitchen!
My favourite recipes to work with at home have been from two published books: Home Baking (Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duquid) and Tartine (Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson). The former travels one across the globe, finding sweet and savory morsels that range from delicate dumplings to rustic cakes. The photographs are part of what makes the book so attractive to read, but when one gets past the visual experience and actually starts cooking, the pleasure increases several-fold.
Recipes from the delectable San Francisco bakery Tartine are all winners. Of particular yumminess to my palate — the lemon cream which one can turn into tarts, layer in a parfait, spoon over toast or just lick from the bowl. I think I might have to try freezing it when summer comes.
A recent foodie experience that sadly yielded no pictures, only good memories, was breakfast at Medina in Vancouver, on Beatty Street. This is the sister cafe to Belgian-inspired restaurant Chambar, but with a much smaller seating capacity. Once the line-up is conquered and one enters the front door of Medina, the rack of waiting waffles and scent of fresh coffee causes instant salivation. Spare yet not sterile, the cafe design supports the food in both presentation and flavour; things are highly considered, but not over-wrought or fussy to eye or tongue. A wide array of Belgian-French brunch items are given counterpoint by the waffles. Each waffle comes with one condiment for an extra dollar or so. Therefore, one can try raspberry caramel sauce, or fig-orange marmalade, or stay tried and true with maple syrup and yogurt. Just to tempt you even more, the coffee list includes a milk-chocolate lavender mocha and lavender latte. Absolutely, perfectly, divine. Lavender can be cloying, but in these coffees it is just the right embellishment of aromatic surprise. One really has to try it.
