Culinary Art

Ingredients:  dried chickpeas, water to cover

Recipe:  put pan with contents on stove; walk away and go blog; boil chickpeas dry

Smell burning; rush to kitchen; get excited by pattern in bottom of pan; grab camera; click as desired.

Take ingredients from camera, 

stir into Photoshop, 

mix on high.

Blend, using several Modes.

Steam gently.

Serve artfully.

La Bolduc

One of the many things I love about Montreal is the wide choice of restaurants, cafés and bistros.

 A colourful favourite is La Bolduc,

Echoing the writing on the wall of the post just previous to this, La Bolduc sports a fine specimen of graffiti.  I can't help but wonder, though, if it's been commissioned to be painted, does it still qualify as graffiti?

Or is wall art by any other name still graffiti?  In any case, this rather abstract design looks to me like an artist's impression of the hefty lunch I ordered.

After consuming the whole thing, I felt very familiar with the concept of "hefty."  This burger involved ground lamb (oh, that does sound barbaric!  My apologies to any vegetarians out there) and goat cheese; two things I almost never eat at home so am compelled to order when confronted with them on a menu.

The restaurant is named after a colourful and extremely popular Quebecoise entertainer who made her way to widespread popularity (that is, within the confines of the province of Quebec) in the 1930's.

 Wikipedia informs us:

Mary Rose-Anna Travers, (June 4, 1894 – February 20, 1941) was   a French Canadian singer and musician. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer/songwriter. Her style combined the traditional folk music of Ireland and Quebec, usually in upbeat, comedic songs.

Let's add a tinge of nostalgia to the scene, shall we?

Eh oui,, c'est bien moi p'is mon chum, Pierre
(*thanks to Kim Klassen for the photo texture)

At any rate, these two oldies but goodies had a wonderful lunch in great company, 

sitting out on la terrasse chez Mme. Bolduc.

And here, for your further edification and entertainment is a little "heritage moment" from the annals of Canadian popular history.

Something Fishy

Vancouver is home to a large Asian population and one of the benefits is a good selection and variety of sushi joints, such as this modest little hole in the wall place known only to true sushi aficionados.   

If I was a fish, I don't think I'd feel all that comfortable floating in a fish tank in a sushi restaurant. 

 I think this fellow has a distinctly worried look on his face.

Here we see diners contemplating the menu with visions of sugar plumsfresh fish dancing in their heads.

Unable to decide, they fall back on the always satisfying party plate,

with a little something to please everybody.

I must admit that not everything on the plate was to my taste and my dining companions gently mocked my predilection for "western" sushi.  But at least I could appreciate the vivid colours and artful display.

And I was not the only one happy to note that all the fish we saw in the tank when we first entered the restaurant were still there upon our exit. 

What about you?

Sushi lover
or
strictly shrimp on the Bar-B type?

I have a fondness for a good juicy salmon burger, served up with a local beer.  Hmmmm...must get on that before my time's up here on the west coast. 

If the rain ever lets up, that is...

Food for Thought

While I was in Montreal recently, I enjoyed some very tasty meals.  This was not one of them.

The chicken was a bit rubbery.