Ingredients: A hunger for knowledge; boundless energy and enthusiasm; a love of architecture and design; a passion for cooking and for good food. Read more…
John Ota Serves up Delicious Matzo Balls in Chicken Soup
Great Green Soup is a Winner
The late American cookbook author, elegant lady and wise woman Marion Cunningham once told me that she reckoned there are only 50 great recipes in the world. That has stuck in my mind though it was many moons ago.
Having been in the food journalism biz for several decades, I feel she was probably right. And, when I have a year or two’s free time to do it, I’d like to compile my take on those 50 recipes. (I don’t believe Ms. Cunningham ever published her list but she is hugely famous for her Raised Waffles made with yeast.) Read more…
Eco-Eatery is London Hot-Spot
Here’s my article from The Toronto Star, February 23, 2008, that I wrote about Acorn House after a recent visit to the U.K.
“Acorn House is the most important restaurant to open in London in 200 years,” Giles Coren, The Times magazine (December, 2006).
LONDON – I’m out of breath, having scrambled up a steep metal staircase behind fleet-footed, 6-foot-6 chef Arthur Potts Dawson to check out the composting system and rooftop garden of Acorn House located a stone’s throw from King’s Cross station. Read more…
Jewish penicillin: easy peasy chicken soup
Believe it or not, until now, I had never made authentic, Jewish-style chicken soup. But when a dear friend returned home from several months in hospital, having lost weight and in a weakened condition, I decided this was the time to cook up a batch of this beautiful broth with scientifically proven health benefits that, I believe, come from nutrients in the chicken’s bones.
Ideally, I would have used chicken feet along with the whole bird. However, the former item is hard to find in Stratford where I now live. Pity, as they add gelatinous texture and superb flavour that give that extra oomph to any clear chicken soup or stock. Read more…
My Favourite Pho
I’ve been eating that delicious Vietnamese soup called pho (pronounced feu) for at least 10 years, mostly at one of my favourite Vietnamese restaurants in the heart of downtown Chinatown: Sai Gon Palace, 454 Spadina Ave. just south of College.
Recently, I had a Calvin Trillin moment at this popular, spacious no-frills eatery with the semi-open kitchen. A creature of habit, I am a regular here with a regular menu choice.
On this day, however, Trillin’s sage advice about checking out what others, especially Asian diners, are eating in an Asian restaurant came to mind. As I was about to order my usual #1 – a big bowl of broth filled with thick rice noodles, beansprouts, rare and well-done beef slivers, beef tendon, tripe and beef balls – I noticed a man at the next table enjoying a thick soup I’d never seen before. “What is he having?” I whispered to the waitress who was about to order me the tried-and-true #1 without my asking for it. “#21,” she replied succinctly. “I’ll take that,” was my adventurous comeback. Read more…
