Notes On A Meal » Mouthy Bits

Sugar, part 3

Lemon Tart — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:30:26 +0000

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 bond to each other in orderly arrays and form dense solid masses (crystals). When sugar crystals are dissolved in water, H2O molecules have a tendency to overcome this bond between sugar molecules and form their own bonds. If the sugar molecules become too crowded with the water molecules, they begin pairing off with each other and form crystals once again.

What is a macaron?

Lemon Tart — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:18:30 +0000

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 an extra “o” (as in macaroons) and they’re slighly less exciting and diverse.

The Grizzly Project, Barcelona

Lemon Tart — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:30:03 +0000

This is a very interesting clip on the design and making of a chocolate grizzly bear by the Barcelona Pastry Guild School for the World Chocolate Masters competition this year. Enjoy!

Whole wheat, banana berry muffins

Lemon Tart — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:03:58 +0000

Simple and very very healthy, possibly also somewhat tasty, these muffins are a great way to start the day. Should mention that they are egg free and can very easily become dairy free or gluten free. I made mine with wheat germ, blueberries, dried currants and coconut but the possibilities are endless as long as you remember to balance out flavors. Another good combination would be carrot, orange and ginger.

Science, making booze boozier.

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:51:12 +0000

The good people at Terressentia have come up with a way of using science to make booze taste better by removing impurities left over from the distillation process. In short, with typical distillation, there are lesser alcohols that are formed that leave a harsh taste in the mouth and contribute to hangovers. By using their patentend process, Terressentia can remove these unwanted elements making the refined product taste cleaner and smoother. The distillation process has pretty much been the same for the last hundred years or so and after watching the video, I am surprised that no one has thought of this before. I suppose purists may argue that the real craft of making superb liquors is in the skill of the brewmaster. That being said, the idea of demystifying the process through science is very appealing to geek in me.

Tuna Sales Record: $736 000 or $2800/kg

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:04:12 +0000

At the first auction of the new year at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, a world record for tuna was set when a Sushi mogul purchased a 269kg blue fin tuna for just shy of $2800 a kilo. For those doing the math that works out to about $736 000.00 US.

No related posts.

New Loblaws – Queen and Portland, Toronto

Lemon Tart — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:14:55 +0000

I must say that, in my opinion, Loblaws really tops all the other grocery stores in Toronto for the quality of products offered and their variety. Although it may be pricier than others, freshness is always guatanteed and the customer service is definitely admirable.

The Norwegian Butter Crisis

admin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:40:56 +0000

Thanks to a new diet fad, butter has been flying off the shelves in Norway. According to Reuters, butter sales jumped 20% in October and 30% in November. Further, butter production has been slashed dramatically due to a wet summer which saw a decline in animal feed quality and thus a shot fall off 25 million liters of milk.

The Fat Map.

The Fat Map.

Birthday Round Up: Log Thing

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:59:59 +0000

“Quick lad, pipe me a log thing!” I have never seen such wanton, gratuitous use of a pipping bag in my life. This is a so called ‘savory Swiss roll’…. Again, not really sure whats going on here other then the excess pipping. You do the math.

Birthday Round Up: Bad Ass Cleaver

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:57:54 +0000

scary and sexy and choppy all in one!

This handsome beast comes curtesy of a chef at work. This is not a horror prop. This is, in fact, a high carbon steel, much loved, much used and quite ancient cleaver. Not to be confused with lighter more delicate models, this beast has a kerf of just shy of half an inch and weighs in the neighborhood of 5 pounds soaking wet. Perfect for cleaning quail and the finer nuances of decorative vegetable turning.