Le Cordon Bleu, Week VIII – “Dear Kermit…”
Dear Kermit - We both knew this would happen sooner or later. Cooking at a French school, we were bound to encounter the distasteful task of cooking frog. To be more exact... frog legs.
La Bottega Nicastro – Buon Appetito!
There is little else that can comfort, soothe and completely quiet; mind, body and soul quite like Italian food. Elegant in its simplicity and selective in its ingredients, Italian is (by far) my favourite food and the reason I'm a fan of La Bottega Nicastro.
Le Cordon Bleu, Week VII – In the heat
“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” ~ Harry S. Truman No question that enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu is among the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve ever done. Past the halfway point there is no…
Simply Biscotti – “Leave the gun take the cannoli”
Shelves lined with cookies and coffee paraphernalia and tiny front shop jammed with customers gripping steamy cups of cappuccino, drooling over the pastry display; Simply Biscotti is a must stop in Ottawa’s little Italy.
Le Cordon Bleu, Week VI – Crackin’ the Books
The daily walk to school through the city's core - over the Rideau Canal, past the campus of Ottawa U to the big yellow mansion that is Le Cordon Bleu - is my solace. I focus on the classes ahead and leave behind any unfinished business that is anything other than my culinary studies and dive headlong into the plan of the day.
Le Cordon Bleu Week V – Le Petit Canard
There are few things more intoxicating than the smell of butter. Melting, sizzling, baking, butter has been my great love for many years, along with its companion... cream they simply make life worth living. That is, until you are introduced…
Le Cordon Bleu Weeks III & IV – Technically Speaking
“We don’t teach you recipes, we teach you techniques.” – Chef Gilles, Instructor, Le Cordon Bleu. So, down to brass tacks. It’s lovely to go off on a soliloquy of foodie swooning... warm buttery walls and mystical moments in the…
The Many Flavours of LIFE
“Tell me how it tastes... is it salty or sweet? Is it bitter or is it bland? Did you even... taste it?” When was the last time you slowly licked the bowl? When was the last time you indulged in…
Le Cordon Bleu, Week II – The Warm, Buttery Halls
Week Two at Le Cordon Blue (Basic Cuisine) is decidedly different from the first. The first required nightly emotional bolstering and large quantities of wine. I found myself completely lacking in all those food stuffs that I ‘stuff’ with when…
Treasure in Roatan – The Vintage Pearl’s Island Chef, Endy Reyes
Roatan, Honduras. No plans. No reservations. No local currency and not a care in the world. I never travel like that. I’m a planner. I like to know. I like to think about it and savour it. Winging it, it's…
Roatan, Honduras – Island Cooking
Deep in the Caribbean in the Bay Islands off Honduras is a living gem – Roatan, Honduras. A day of adventure and Island Cooking.
Le Cordon Bleu, Day 3 – “Listen, it sings…”
Day Three – Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa (BASIC CUSINE) First day in the kitchen and our first day with new knives. The first day I heard the butter sing.