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Oh how I love this city more and more! The fact that I live in between Little Vietnam and Chinatown makes me smile just about every day. Friday night I had my first experience with Chinese Barbecue at Sun Wah on Argyle St. We ordered Roast Pork Hong Kong style, Barbecue Duck and Salt Baked Chicken. The pork was a thing of beauty! Nice sized chunks with a slight smoke flavor and a big hunk of crackling still attached. The Duck (as you can see from the picture) is nicely lacquered with a sweet glaze and the skin is crisped up a little before service. You can see the duck in its first stage at the right of the picture. They blow air into the cavity to give the skin an even cook and allow heat to circulate inside. The chicken was good, nothing special, but moist and perfect.One thing you have to understand about my taste in food is its not about how popular a place is, or how hip it is to eat somewhere. Simple food that is prepared the same way it was hundreds of years ago is always gold in my book. While I appreciate and admire most new cooks and what they are doing there is nothing in me that wants to pay 300 bucks for a meal that includes a "Scallop Foam". Yeah, its fun and exciting but 300 bucks can by me a whole bunch of Tiger beers and bowls of Pho! Simplicity is the key! Sushi is a great example, fish on seasoned rice, period. Two food staples and there are so many layers of flavor when you pop a piece of Hamachi into your mouth. This is not to say I don't enjoy expensive food, I'm just more at ease at a mom and pop joint where the clients know the staff and the food is being prepared by grandpa in the back.
Little things make food a visceral experience. Memories, smells and emotions all tie together to make
the most basic meal more then something to just fill your stomach. Take my basic little lunch pictured here. To me this was pure heaven! Salami and butter on a baguette (btw air/salt cured meat proves that humanity is not all that bad!), and a Sprechers Cola. Nothing special by any means, but frankly it didn't need to be. The attitude that all meals should be extraordinary is an unfortunate backlash of the Food Network craze right now. Just because you saw it on Top Chef doesn't mean they want you to try it! We need to drop this idea of "cooking as competition", sure it makes for mediocre TV but its breeding home cooks who can't boil water. So please put down the remote, pick up Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and stop telling me you don't have enough time to cook for your family! If you can pick up the phone and call for take out you have time to make a meal. Just remember to keep it simple.Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention I haven't been on the bike for almost a week! So sue me, its cold out.
3 comments:
"The attitude that all meals should be extraordinary is an unfortunate backlash of the Food Network craze right now."
I really like this attitude – people seem to forget that the whole point of eating is for sustenance and fellowship. The current trend of showmanship in the kitchen is getting a bit out of hand, with chefs such as Wylie Dufreesne of WD-50, but I really think that sooner rather than later, more traditional fare, or food prepared simply and with an eye toward freshness and the quality of ingredients will become the overwhelming trend.
Hopefully, we'll see more restaurants offering simple salami and baguette sandwiches, rather than salami foam atop seitan, accompanied by a mayonnaise gelatin.
Maybe you could not post discussions of sandwiches when I am hungry. that would be swell. Im going to go get a sandwich now.
Zach, thankfully this seems to be the trend starting up at least in Toronto. More places are offering counter service where you can interact with the staff as they cook. These places also seem to offer more "rib sticking" food. Au Pied Du Cochon for example has Fois Gras Putin!
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