Death by carbs...
Jun. 26th, 2014 08:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
motodraconisTo be honest, it's a relief to get home to escape North American food.* I was pretty skint on this trip, so subsisted on conference food and the hideous Tim Hortons cards given to me daily by my hotel/hostel in lieu of a proper breakfast. At first it's a novelty, the sort of guff I don't eat at home, but by the end of the trip I was getting pretty sick of it and craving decent food. (Ceviche!) I'm not a fan of carbs and sugar, and the past 10 days has been a nauseating conveyor belt of sugar, bread, sugar, pastry, sugar, potatoes and yes... more fucking sugar. I tried this "strawberry season wont last forever!" offering at the airport in an attempt to use up my Tim Hortons cards.
It had no discernible strawberry flavour whatsoever, tasting entirely of sugar, right down to the thick, pure coloured-sugar crust on top. It was quite horrible. I've no idea why I bothered... it was free, it was intriguing, it was revolting. After eating it, I felt a bit sick and didn't want to eat any food again for about 18 hours. Ugh. Luckily, not all the food was vile.
On arrival, I asked the guys at reception for recommendations of genuine Canadian food. This threw them into confusion, but after some discussion, the only food they could name was Poutine, Canada's guilty secret junk food. A quest! A veritable quest!
Now... on my first day, before the conference started, I had a chance to go up the iconic CN Tower...
There are two restaurants at the top of the tower, the famous revolving one, you have to book in advance. I went and took a look. It did indeed revolve, but was so rammed with people you'd be lucky to be anywhere near the windows and a chance to appreciate the revolviness. However, on the level below was a fancy restaurant - pretty much empty, with a 3 course set dinner for a reasonable price (translated to sterling.) You could chose a seat by the window, and one of the set meal starter options was a poshed up poutine dressed with smoked duck. Ideal!
My view.
Sorrel and ginger soft drink, complete with a CN Tower swizzle-stick...
Aaaaaand, my poutine starter arrived, I'd imagined something lofty and delicately piled, a posh taster. I got this...
IT WAS THE SIZE OF MY FUCKING HEAD!
Cheesy chips and gravy, this alone was a bigger meal than I'd normally eat by itself. And it was a starter. "Surely some mistake?" I asked the waiter... "I've 2 more courses coming!" He assured me that this was "the size" but to be honest it really freaked me out. Bear in mind, I was raised English, (albeit with a French mum) and that means clearing your plate - not leaving uneaten food to go to waste. How in the hell would I survive 3 fucking courses? I got so upset, the waiter brought me a doggy-box to put half of the poutine in. It was the only way to calm me down, but even a half measure was a full dinner in my book. BLOODY HELL. Not that it wasn't nice, but, BLOODY HELL!
"Main" dish, salmon on a croute-potato bed. (More potato - groan!)
With some difficulty, I ate the salad and tasty fish, and half the potato bed.
Me with my pudding... pecan choc muffins and berries.
Looking remarkably cheery despite being on the brink of explosion. I dragged the doggy-box of poutine all the way back to my hotel after a full day wandering around Toronto, but was so stuffed I couldn't eat for 24 hours and had to bin it. Boo! It was debauched... but oh so good. Er, even if it did give me a 6 hour stomach ache from all the grease.
But to continue... I'd delved into a Tim Horton's breakfast during my stay, a bacon sammich. On the face of it, what could go wrong. Bacon sammiches are brilliant for brekky...
WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK? I nearly burst into tears when I saw this sorry excuse for bacon, sat forlornly on some sort of bread item called a "biscuit." Would the horror never end? Natch, it tasted of fuck all. NEVER AGAIN.
But all was not lost. I was told I should go to the famous St Lawrence market where real food would await me...
Shrooms.
CHEESE!
REAL CHEESE!!
FUCKING ACTUAL DELICIOUS CANADIAN CHEESE!!!
Here I had a bit of fun. I've been shown round the market swiftly by one of the local lecturers, and returned a few days later with D, a girl I'd met a the conference and agreed to go on a trip to the islands with. D was Indian, and new to the joys of cheese in all it's variety. Here was a proper cheese shoppe, with a cheery, friendly cheeseman happy to let D (and me) taste samples of a range of varieties. I recommended D try smoked, be-salt-crystalled, soft and super creamy, creamy with blue (egad!) and hard and tangy goat. All of which were new flavours and varieties to D. The creamy with blue disturbed her a bit, but the be-salt-crystalled and goat were a hit and she bought 2 slabs, one to give as a gift to her brother in Montreal, and another the take back home to India. I advised the goat for the gift (so if he didn't like it, she'd get to eat it all! Goat can be a bit of an acquired taste) and the salty, being a hard and robust cheese, to take home as it would cope fine in a suitcase long-haul or with unrefrigerated bouts. Not to mention a salt crystalled cheese would be ideal in the heat of India. The nice cheeseman wrapped the slabs properly in waxed paper and shrink-wrapped them for scent-sealed travelling. (Not so good to end up with goaty clothes in your suitcase!)
For me, I sought out another famous Canadian food...the world famous Peameal Bacon.
Peameal (cough) style...experience this Toronto tradition. Eh!
REAL BACON!
Tasty, though not exactly a novelty for someone who eats bacon in the UK.
And for my final food foray, "one of Canada's quintessential desserts" the Butter Tart.
Wikipedia cites butter tarts as..."common in pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain a characteristic pastry of Canada, considered one of only a few recipes of genuinely Canadian origin." Yet, in chatting to Canadians in Toronto, they expressed surprise at the Canadian uniqueness of the Butter Tart. Surely such a pastry was so ubiquitous they could be found everywhere, and not something to seek out specifically. Yet, in all my travels, I have never seen or eaten the like.** And while they look a bit grisly, they are very tasty. Recommended!
Healthier than you might think according to Time magazine. Now I do have a horror of excess sugar and carbs, and am still reeling from my carb-sugar overload, so I thought I'd try and find more info on this fat research. From Harvard.edu. Interesting stuff, particularly for those who, (like me) have high cholesterol. Maybe my anathema of over-carbing is not so foolish after all.
* Alas my hopes that typical-definitive Canadian food would have more of a unique character than typical-definitive US food proved unfounded.
** No doubt they can be found on Cowley Road I'm sure.
It had no discernible strawberry flavour whatsoever, tasting entirely of sugar, right down to the thick, pure coloured-sugar crust on top. It was quite horrible. I've no idea why I bothered... it was free, it was intriguing, it was revolting. After eating it, I felt a bit sick and didn't want to eat any food again for about 18 hours. Ugh. Luckily, not all the food was vile.
On arrival, I asked the guys at reception for recommendations of genuine Canadian food. This threw them into confusion, but after some discussion, the only food they could name was Poutine, Canada's guilty secret junk food. A quest! A veritable quest!
Now... on my first day, before the conference started, I had a chance to go up the iconic CN Tower...
There are two restaurants at the top of the tower, the famous revolving one, you have to book in advance. I went and took a look. It did indeed revolve, but was so rammed with people you'd be lucky to be anywhere near the windows and a chance to appreciate the revolviness. However, on the level below was a fancy restaurant - pretty much empty, with a 3 course set dinner for a reasonable price (translated to sterling.) You could chose a seat by the window, and one of the set meal starter options was a poshed up poutine dressed with smoked duck. Ideal!
My view.
Sorrel and ginger soft drink, complete with a CN Tower swizzle-stick...
Aaaaaand, my poutine starter arrived, I'd imagined something lofty and delicately piled, a posh taster. I got this...
IT WAS THE SIZE OF MY FUCKING HEAD!
Cheesy chips and gravy, this alone was a bigger meal than I'd normally eat by itself. And it was a starter. "Surely some mistake?" I asked the waiter... "I've 2 more courses coming!" He assured me that this was "the size" but to be honest it really freaked me out. Bear in mind, I was raised English, (albeit with a French mum) and that means clearing your plate - not leaving uneaten food to go to waste. How in the hell would I survive 3 fucking courses? I got so upset, the waiter brought me a doggy-box to put half of the poutine in. It was the only way to calm me down, but even a half measure was a full dinner in my book. BLOODY HELL. Not that it wasn't nice, but, BLOODY HELL!
"Main" dish, salmon on a croute-potato bed. (More potato - groan!)
With some difficulty, I ate the salad and tasty fish, and half the potato bed.
Me with my pudding... pecan choc muffins and berries.
Looking remarkably cheery despite being on the brink of explosion. I dragged the doggy-box of poutine all the way back to my hotel after a full day wandering around Toronto, but was so stuffed I couldn't eat for 24 hours and had to bin it. Boo! It was debauched... but oh so good. Er, even if it did give me a 6 hour stomach ache from all the grease.
But to continue... I'd delved into a Tim Horton's breakfast during my stay, a bacon sammich. On the face of it, what could go wrong. Bacon sammiches are brilliant for brekky...
WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK? I nearly burst into tears when I saw this sorry excuse for bacon, sat forlornly on some sort of bread item called a "biscuit." Would the horror never end? Natch, it tasted of fuck all. NEVER AGAIN.
But all was not lost. I was told I should go to the famous St Lawrence market where real food would await me...
Shrooms.
CHEESE!
REAL CHEESE!!
FUCKING ACTUAL DELICIOUS CANADIAN CHEESE!!!
Here I had a bit of fun. I've been shown round the market swiftly by one of the local lecturers, and returned a few days later with D, a girl I'd met a the conference and agreed to go on a trip to the islands with. D was Indian, and new to the joys of cheese in all it's variety. Here was a proper cheese shoppe, with a cheery, friendly cheeseman happy to let D (and me) taste samples of a range of varieties. I recommended D try smoked, be-salt-crystalled, soft and super creamy, creamy with blue (egad!) and hard and tangy goat. All of which were new flavours and varieties to D. The creamy with blue disturbed her a bit, but the be-salt-crystalled and goat were a hit and she bought 2 slabs, one to give as a gift to her brother in Montreal, and another the take back home to India. I advised the goat for the gift (so if he didn't like it, she'd get to eat it all! Goat can be a bit of an acquired taste) and the salty, being a hard and robust cheese, to take home as it would cope fine in a suitcase long-haul or with unrefrigerated bouts. Not to mention a salt crystalled cheese would be ideal in the heat of India. The nice cheeseman wrapped the slabs properly in waxed paper and shrink-wrapped them for scent-sealed travelling. (Not so good to end up with goaty clothes in your suitcase!)
For me, I sought out another famous Canadian food...the world famous Peameal Bacon.
Peameal (cough) style...experience this Toronto tradition. Eh!
REAL BACON!
Tasty, though not exactly a novelty for someone who eats bacon in the UK.
And for my final food foray, "one of Canada's quintessential desserts" the Butter Tart.
Wikipedia cites butter tarts as..."common in pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain a characteristic pastry of Canada, considered one of only a few recipes of genuinely Canadian origin." Yet, in chatting to Canadians in Toronto, they expressed surprise at the Canadian uniqueness of the Butter Tart. Surely such a pastry was so ubiquitous they could be found everywhere, and not something to seek out specifically. Yet, in all my travels, I have never seen or eaten the like.** And while they look a bit grisly, they are very tasty. Recommended!
Healthier than you might think according to Time magazine. Now I do have a horror of excess sugar and carbs, and am still reeling from my carb-sugar overload, so I thought I'd try and find more info on this fat research. From Harvard.edu. Interesting stuff, particularly for those who, (like me) have high cholesterol. Maybe my anathema of over-carbing is not so foolish after all.
* Alas my hopes that typical-definitive Canadian food would have more of a unique character than typical-definitive US food proved unfounded.
** No doubt they can be found on Cowley Road I'm sure.
