In an effort to protest the limestone Mega-Quarry proposed for the agricultural land of Melancthon Township (100km northwest of Toronto), the Canadian Chef’s congress and the David Suzuki Foundation are organising Soupstock. This major effort will go down on October 21st, 2012 in Woodbine Park (Coxwell and Lakeshore) from 11am until 4pm. If this is …
Author Archives: Lemon Tart
Gordon Ramsay’s Desserts
“Pastry chefs occupy a very special place in the pecking order of a high flying restaurant kitchen, so…I take my dessert skills as seriously as I do all my cooking” – Gordon Ramsay Desserts by Gordon Ramsay is not a new book by any means, but definitely one that needs to be a part of …
La Carnita, Toronto
It can be said that La Carnita was the innovator of the food truck phenomenon in Toronto, using the sale of local artists’ work as a loophole to get by selling great food to the hungry masses (the city has/had very strict and often foolish laws preventing various forms of street food vendors). Their signature …
MMM (Ma Maison Macarons) continued
So here’s my monthly update on the macaron flavours available at Ma Maison (4243 Dundas St. West, Etobicoke). I’ve been drooling over the pictures for a few days, hope you guys do too! – Apple Pie = Caramelized apples and Cinnamon ganache – Apricot = White chocolate ganache, apricot puree with Peach Schnapps – After …
The County General, Toronto
Located at the corner of Shaw and Queen West, this little venue is something to be reckoned with. Opened by Victor Barry and Carlo Catallo, the owners of Splendido, the County General offers a variety of greasy spoon classics with a new age twist. The food is delicious and is pretty much always available, even …
A journey around Toronto’s pastry world (2)
So here we go again, more pastry talk from our epic journey around Toronto. Last post I talked about Frangipane Patisserie, Nadege, Patachou and La Bamboche. This post will bring us to the east side of Yonge and all the delicious treats that can be found around that side of town. Rahier Patisserie (Bayview and …
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A journey around Toronto’s pastry world (1)
So it’s Saturday afternoon, the sky is grey and depressing, our stomachs are growling so what are we to do?!?! Well, most people would make lunch, but here at Notes On a Meal, we don’t find that to be enough so we embark on a French pastry shop journey. Equipped with a sneaky camera (well, …
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O’noir Restaurant, Toronto
Hello all! After a slight delay we have returned with yet another Toronto restaurant review. This one is courtesy of one of our lovely contributors, Mr. Pyjama Chef. Enjoy… “Have you ever imagined losing one of your senses? Just consider spending 2 hours in a room where you can only hear, smell, touch, and taste …
Cakes at Ma Maison, Toronto
So with summer being here and wedding season beginning, I figured that posting a few pictures of the amazing custom creations of the Ma Maison pastry team won’t hurt anyone… Enjoy
Sugar, part 3
From a culinary perspective, sugar is a very important ingredient so understanding how it reacts while being heated, melted, dissolved, etc is very crucial. One of the most integral parts of this is an understanding of what happens in a simple sugar and water solution. In this case, the sugar molecules have a tendency to …
Sugar, part 2
There are several different types of sugars, all with various qualities and sweetness levels. Different sugars give different impressions of sweetness with sucrose being the longest to be detected on the tongue and the most lingering of the bunch. By comparison, fructose registers quickly and strongly but it also fades very quickly. But before we …
Sugar week, Part 1
I thought it would be neat to explore a new topic every week and learn something new, so this week we’re going to talk about sugar. We’ll get into history, uses, the nature of sugars and its varieties. Sugar is the generalised term used for a class of sweet flavoured substances composed of carbon, hydrogen …
Moroco Chocolat, Toronto
Let’s just say, that if Willy Wonka and Alice in Wonderland had a baby, well, it would look a lot like Moroco Chocolat!!!! Located just behind the store fronts of Yorkville Avenue, this venue calls out to every adult’s inner child while still allowing them the sophistication that the neighbourhood endorses. It’s cute, whimsical and it will …
New and exciting at Ma Maison
So it’s been a while since I’ve updated the Ma Maison cake and pastry line-up, so here goes…. Also, drooling over the pictures is a good way to pass time on excruciatingly long Mondays!
What is a macaron?
So all week I’ve been posting about these wonderful little desserts but I haven’t even answered the most basic of questions: What is a macaron? Before I get into details, I would like to point out that we are talking about French macarons as opposed to the North American coconut counterparts…. those are spelled with …