Sampling some fritters with Bajan hot sauce at the Bridgetown Market.

There used to be a time in my life when I traveled. Of course this was all pre-marriage, pre-babies and pre-adult life. I relish the days when my trips around the globe consisted of me eating my way through an unknown land, drinking like it was 1999 and having no responsibilities. Well, that has all changed.

Fast forward a few years and now my only “big” trips are those yearly trips down South to visit my folks; in the land of white shoes, Bermuda shorts and early bird specials. Long gone are the trips to Italy, where the wine, cheese and meat consumption was almost pornographic.  Now, we are pretty pumped to even go out past 7pm to grab a beer on the beach.

I know you probably don’t feel sorry for me, nor do I expect you to. And I know that you will definitely not feel sorry after I tell you about my latest trip.

Barbados; the land of rum, sun and Banks beer. Yes, I got to spend a leisurely week on this gorgeous island thanks to one great husband who let me tag along on one of his business trips, and to my loving parents who took both of our kids.

I will admit that right off the bat, I was a wee bit leery of the food as all we could find near our hotel was super touristy fare, but luckily with my nosy and feisty demeanor, I was able to wrangle my way into getting some hard core Bajan food. Fried chicken, plantain fritters, macaroni pie, flying fish and pickled hot peppers soon became my staples. Hitting up the local market in Bridgetown also proved to be fruitful as I returned to the hotel bearing custard apples, fresh turmeric root and some house-made pickled Habanero peppers.

Not only did the market have tons of local produce, meat and fish, but above the main hall you were able to find food stalls that served delicious food geared towards the locals, not the tourists. We opted to try the Rastafarian stall that served us some cheap, fast and delicious food and drink. I had the anise-infused tamarind juice; sour and thick with pulp, while Doug tried a local juice made of Golden Apples. Our vegan fare was pretty damn good too, considering I am a huge carnivore. We ate fried breadfruit, cou-cou, Bajan rice and beans, okra stew and much more.

Overall, this trip packed a much needed punch. I can now boast that I have had the “Worlds Best Rum Punch”, ate barracuda, and got to meet some amazing chefs and farmers.

This trip was a success on the food front because I decided to follow a few simple rules. Here they are:

5 ways to find “food gems” when traveling:

1) Get to know the local cuisine.

Do research ahead of time on the local food and what they produce. Knowing ahead of time what it is and what you’re looking for makes it easier than guessing.

2) Get off ‘the strip’.

Stay away from all the tourist traps on the main drag. Mosey down a side street or hop in a cab or on a bus a find a place away from the crowds.

3) Talk to the locals.

Ask them where they like to eat and what the best items on the menu are. Only the locals know where the best kept secrets are!

4) Hit up a farmers’ market.

Here you can purchase fruits and vegetables at a fraction of the price of the grocery store and you can mingle with the farmers and artisans who often run the stands themselves.

5) Be adventurous!

Remember, you never know what gems are out there unless you get out and explore.

Some of the amazing finds at the farmers' market.

Enjoying some satisfying rasta fare.

Salsify

It was on a recent Saturday morning trip to the Halifax Brewery Market, that I was pleasantly surprised to see salsify amongst the vegetables being sold by Ted Hutten of Hutten Family Farm.

I had been introduced to salsify back in my Toronto days when Anthony Walsh, Executive Chef of Canoe, brought a box of it into the kitchen and asked me to cook with it. I had never seen or heard of these long black roots, nor did I expect them to have a beautiful white inner flesh. Anthony explained to me that they were salsify, also known as goatsbeard or oyster plant (they have an oyster-esque flavor), and that they were quite special. He peeled one for me, and the white flesh was amazing, but he proceeded to explain to me that the sticky sap that came out upon peeling was normal and that they had to immediately be put in acidulated water (water with lemon or a type of acid) so that they would not turn brown. So, speed peeler in hand I proceeded to peel with a vengeance and set them in the lemon water. “Now what?”, I asked my chef. Well, he told me that I could roast them, or puree them, or even turn them into a fancy soup. But, he did caution me, these black roots were very expensive, so one mistake and the price of this case was coming out of my pay! Aargh! Ok, let’s roast them I said. Cut into large pieces, I placed them in a hot pan and browned them with some butter and salt then covered them with a rich and unctuous veal demi-glace. Popped into the oven and roasted for ten minutes, these goatsbeards melted in my mouth!

I am sure that many of you don’t keep veal demi in your fridges, nor do I, so with my Ted Hutten salsify, I ended up placing them in a rich lamb stew, with a few other market vegetables that I had bought on that Saturday. If you get a chance to purchase a few of the tubers, please do so and experience the salsify for yourself!

Sad chef.

Have you ever thought about entering the culinary field? Does watching the Food Network make you want to walk into your boss’s office the next day and pull a Kevin Spacey a la “American Beauty”? Maybe you are a high school student who enjoys cooking but haven’t a clue about what goes on behind those mysterious closed doors? Fear not, I am here to explain some very choice details about this grueling profession that most television chefs won’t even begin to tell you.

My journey started 17 glorious years ago when I bombed out of my 2nd year of university only to have my folks explain to me that I better figure out what to do with my life. I always enjoyed cooking and had spent a memorable summer cooking in the murky depths of the basement of a golf course (burgers and such) and had a friend that had recently finished cooking school in Toronto. Well, with both of my parents giving me the stink eye and no time on my side, I quickly applied to George Brown College in Toronto and pursued my now chosen field.

Was this a wise decision on my part? Yes. Did I enjoy myself at cooking school? Yes. Was it at all what a “real” kitchen was like? NO! My first piece of advice to you if you are thinking about the cooking world is to check out a real, live working kitchen. Don’t be afraid to contact the Chef (please, don’t call between service hours though) and tell them what you are thinking of doing. Most chefs would happily have you tag along for service and this my friends will open your naive eyes to the dark and shady world that most cooks live in. We are a motley crew of people who live off of caffeine and bits of bread with butter and often minimal amounts of sleep. Once you spend some time in real kitchen, re-asses and then take the next step of applying to a cooking school.

Second piece of advice; don’t go for the most expensive school you can find. I went to a community college that was amazing and we have NSCC here in Nova Scotia that is starting to have a very good reputation for churning out some great cooks. Just because there is a hefty price tag or a popular name attached to the school doesn’t necessarily make it any better. I have worked with many cooks that have come out of some top schools and they didn’t even know how to use a knife.

Third piece of advice; just because you recently graduated from school, this does not make you an instant “Chef”. Years upon years are required before you can even think about stepping onto the hot line or being a Sous Chef. Be respectful. Mouth shut, eyes open was the motto my first Chef always said. For the first 3 years, I never spoke to my Chef unless he or she spoke to me. God forbid I would back talk to them, unless I wanted to get fired or even worse, smacked with a pair of kitchen tongs!

Last piece of advice; don’t call in sick unless you are on your death bed. How many times has my phone rang at 6am only have a cook tell me that he’s “broken his back, but will be at work first thing Monday morning!”. Come on. And how many Grandparents do you have? I once had a cook that had over a dozen, and of course they all passed away before or after a very choice party. Be honest. Ask for a personal day and most Chefs will understand.

All I can say to sum this up is to take the time to  do some homework on this field before jumping in with both feet. It is by far the most un-glamorous, smelly, hard job a person could have but at the end of the day it’s all worth it! If this is the path you want to pursue, enjoy every step.

Most Sundays during the winter, I wake to darkness and cold here in Halifax and all I can think of is what shall we eat today? Not a Sunday goes by in my house where one of my three favorite sauces does not come out to  play.

First, there is the Tamarind chutney; sour and sweet with just a hint of heat. My love affair with tamarind started a few years back when I lived in the British Virgin Islands, and I would shake the tamarind tree in hopes of  delicious pods falling to the ground. The only problem is that I am the type of person who always over does things, and inevitably I would end up eating way too many pods and spending way too much time on the “throne”. Of course this didn’t damper my love affair with tamarind, as the next day I would set out to shake that tree some more and deal with the nasty consequences yet again! These days, my tamarind chutney gets put into a number of Lavallée favorites; curry, stews and  sauces. I also enjoy it as a simple dipping sauce for samosas or bhaji.

Next on my list is the fiery Green Chili Chutney. This little bottle packs a huge punch, so use with caution! This chutney is nothing but pureed green chilies with vinegar, some spices and salt. For all the lovers of heat, this one is for you. I have been known to spoon some into my finished soups when in need of a serious ass whooping, or wanting the baby living in my belly for nine months to finally make it’s way out. I thank the Green Chili Chutney for my fast and speedy delivery with Zoe.

Last, but of course not least, is the mother of the chutney group, Coriander Chutney. The freshness that is found in this bottle is out of this world. Put a dollop on some scrambled eggs or on a bowl of chili, and you will be a happy camper. You can even mix it with the tamarind or green chili to make a nice dipping sauce for poppadoms or just about anything else.

When I am feeling feisty, all three of these sauces make their way into my dinner, and boy does it ever make a difference. Try experimenting with one or all three of these sauces and make up a few recipes to call your own. Here in Halifax, you can find the Shah’s chutneys at “220 Volts” (that is what we call the Indian grocer on Robie Street), but in any large city you can find them at any Indian store.

There are a few things in life that I truly enjoy; one of those things is anything that has to do with pigs, pork and pork products. Every Christmas when the Lavallée clan gathers in Shawville, Quebec, my mother calls upon one of the many farmers in the area to slaughter a pig for us for our numerous pork dishes that we make over the holiday season. Ragout De Pattes De Cochon, Tourtiere, Gigot De Porc and Cretons are just a few of the items that can be found at our table, and this year I tackled the “gigot de porc” for Christmas dinner and it was amazing! Here are the steps that I took to prepare this easy and awesome meal!

This year I had a huge 24lbs leg of pork; just enough to feed us hungry Lavallée’s after a hard day of present opening and wine drinking! I started off by pre-heating the oven to 400F and scoring the skin of the pig with my trusty utility knife (none of the knives in the ‘ville could even come close to cutting through the skin of this beast!). Once the skin was scored, I generously rubbed it with freshly cracked black pepper, dried savoury and lots of coarse sea salt.

Now that the first seasoning was done, it was time to stud this beast. I used one whole head of locally grown garlic; cloves peeled and cut in half lengthwise. I inserted the cloves into small slits that I made throughout its flesh. I also pushed some rosemary sprigs into the slits to add extra flavour.

Before heading into the pre-heated oven I gave our friend another sprinkling of salt and fresh pepper. As you can see in the photo, I use an old Turkish coffee grinder for my pepper. After all of the seasoning was finished it went into the oven for a six hour journey!

Three hours into the pig’s special journey, we checked in on it to see that the skin had started to “crackle” and the meat was running some very flavourful juices. At this point the house smelled amazing and it was becoming increasingly difficult to not stick our hands in the oven to scam a piece of the crispy skin!

Six hours later our “beast” made its official final appearance, and boy oh boy, did he look and smell incredible! I covered the pig with some foil and let it rest for about another half hour, then peeled off some of the crackling skin and carved him up! What a moist, delicious pig we had on our table that evening, and it was only fair to pair him with some red wine braised cabbage, mashed yukon gold potatoes and hot mustard. Hope these instructions inspire you to tackle your own beast!

Nothing better than a bowl of udon!

About ten years ago, I was invited to my sister-in-laws’ parents house for a traditional Japanese meal. There in the kitchen were several generations of Taira women cooking up a storm! Udon, tempura, gyoza, teriyaki & sushi all being prepared while these women talked and gossiped. It was amazing to see them work together, rhythmically, without any communication about what was going on around them. Peggy had the udon on the go, Toyo was frying up some tempura and Aunt Lil was gossiping about the recent trip to the casino while rolling sushi. I was in culinary heaven! It was then and there that they beckoned me into this kitchen and asked me if I knew what they were doing. My response was vague, telling them that I had eaten and seen most of these things, but had never cooked them myself. Peggy and Toyo simply giggled and Aunt Lil pulled me by the arm and took me over to the stove to explain to me how the udon was made. What an education these three women gave me, and have continued to give me for years after. So, it probably  comes as no big surprise that I keep a secret stash of Japanese ingredients on hand at all times; bonito flakes, kombu, nori, tofu, wakame, edamame - you get the picture.

On a recent Sunday morning, when the thought of bacon and eggs was not even an option, I pulled out my big green Creuset and proceeded to make a big batch of udon for Doug, Zoe and I to enjoy. On this day, I made my dashi broth by cooking the kombu in water with the bonito flakes and some tamari (click here for a simple dashi recipe). While letting it cool, I cooked off my udon noodles and strained the stock. I was lucky enough to have a few fresh scallops leftover in the fridge, as well as some lobster meat – both perfect additions to the soup. I added in some shitake mushrooms, tofu, edamame and spinach and had myself a pretty amazing udon!

The great thing about udon is that you can basically add anything to it and it always tastes great! I suggest that on some blustery day, when you don’t know what to cook, have a go at making your own udon and see what combination works for you!

Click to enlarge.

My Spice Drawer

I am big believer in using herbs and spices to make the ordinary extra-ordinary. At last count, I think I had at least 30 different spices in my spice drawer, and I would be lost if I ran out of any of them. Here are a few tips for keeping those pesky spice drawers organized.

• I store all my spices upside down in small jam or mason jars to clearly see their contents. I like to use the smaller ones as it is an easier way to make sure that the spices in those jars are still fresh. I find that when you buy large amounts of dried spices, if not used on a regular basis, they will get old and lose it’s potency. So, my rule of thumb is to buy frequently, in small amounts, so that you are guaranteed a fresh product all the time.
• I also tend to mark my jars so that if I ask someone else to grab me something out of my drawer, they don’t have to start trying to decipher which is which; is it cumin, fennel or pomegranate powder?
• And my last tip is to experiment.  Try buying new spices that you have never heard of and try them at home. When you experiment, you often stumble upon a real gem.

Here are a few of my favorite spice drawer occupants: Sumac, coriander seeds and powder, fennel seeds, juniper seeds, bay leaves, curry leaves, limes leaves, cumin seeds and powder, black cumin seeds, pomegranate powder, zataar, allspice, cloves (whole), asafoetida, chilies, chili flakes, star anise.

For a comprehensive list of spices click here.