A friend of mine once asked me for a fried rice recipe and I gave them my trusty chicken fried rice with gai lan recipe. I followed up with them the next day to see how it went and they said it was good, but something was different. They asked me what “gai lan” was and I explained to them that it was Chinese broccoli. They said that they weren’t able to find it at their local grocery store and used regular fleurette broccoli and that by using soy sauce, would rationalize it as being “Chinese“. After I stopped pounding my head against the wall, I tried to figure out if the problem was my friends or the fact that I didn’t specify where to get the ingredients… especially after I found out that their pantry soy sauce was the kosher-gluten-free variety.
Saint-Édouard
Shut Up and Eat’s Best of 2013
Making list of the past year’s most memorable meals is like asking a parent to try and pick their favourite child… In the past year, I can safely say that I may have had more than one memorable meal that consisted of mind blasting dishes that I periodically reminisce about, recounting tastes and flavours, textures and cooking techniques like some sort of culinary Rain Man. Going back revisiting past reviews and write-ups about some of Montreal’s tastiest tables, not only led me to realize the calibre of gastronomic fortitude that this city encompasses, but the skill, passion and talent that exudes from kitchens across the island both new and old.
(Image: Pastaga’s Facebook Page)
It’s been said that Montreal is definitely a city for foodies; our local chefs putting Montreal on the culinary map with their locally inspired and creative dishes. What we Montrealers miss out on are the culinary scenes of other cities around the country, so for the past few months Chef Martin Juneau of Pastaga (voted best new restaurant of 2012 accorting to enRoute Magazine), has started a great initiative to remedy this dilemma… with the Royal Canadian Mondays at Pastaga.