Fractales gastronómicos

 Brócoli romanesco o coliflor romanesca.

Es una flor comestible de la especie Brassica Oleracea, una variante de la coliflor. Cada una de sus ramas crece en forma de un espiral logarítmico y refiere a los fractales, bucles matemáticos que tienden

a formar figuras infinitas. Ingredientes como éste nos recuerdan que la perfección se encuentra en todos los niveles de la naturaleza; corresponde a la ciencia desentrañar sus misterios, y a la gastronomía, convertirla en deleite.

Mezcal is as Sexy as the Impressionists

Gustave Caillebotte Les raboteurs de parquet, (Floor Scrapers) 1875

Mezcal makers, 2011

They Say Canned Tomatoes

By Claudia Itzkowich

Having grown up in Mexico, I was surprised when I moved to New York and I discovered that even respectable cooks - and cookbooks! - called for canned tomatoes.

It didn’t take me long to understand that not every latitude is blessed with the bounty of vegetables one can get fresh in Mexico year-round.

But I still admire people like my friend Alba, chef and co-owner of restaurant Bu in Montreal, who follows the Italian way to solve the issue by boiling dozens of kilos of the beautifully ripe tomatoes of the end of the summer and pours the puree, with a few drops of olive oil and a basil leave, in sealed mason jars.

Thanks to such an endeavor, here I am in the dead of winter with her daughter Alice, savoring the most delicious farfalle alla puttanesca, with capers and black olives. As simple as it is perfect.

Mezcal

Real men, making real drinks / Hombres reales, haciendo bebidas reales.

@Oaxaca, México

A Very Montreal Birthday Party

By Claudia Itzkowich

In case I haven’t stressed it enough: Montrealers are blessed with the number of amazing artisanal bakeries. Take my place, in the corner of Fairmount and Montreal: within 2 blocks in 4 directions I can shop at places like Guillaume (specialized in sourdough bread), Cérise sur le Gâteau (Croissants) or Fairmount Bagels, the legendary place where you can get hot bagels covered with sesame and baked in a wood fire oven 24 hours a day. Which is why I volunteered to bring all of the above to my Godson Eitan’s 1-year old birthday party.

His parents had already baked the cake: a Chocolate-Lemon Cream art piece signed Pierre Hermé, which in this case included a “mini me” version for Eitan alone: that is the tradition in Quebec, apparently. And Eitan got two very creamy items -which, as far as he was concerned, didn’t need to be edible- to explore with his hands and share with every molecule of his outfit. And the floor. 

Preaching to the Mile End Choir

By Claudia Itzkowich

It has been a week since I walk around my neighborhood listening to the beat of the enamel plate, spoon and cup I carry in my bag. Now, my neighborhood -Montreal’s Mile End- is probably one of the few where McDonald’s had to shut down. And even though we do have a couple of Starbucks, I wonder who’s there, as everyone else loves supporting our local cafes and bakeries, few of whom use disposable cups or plates.

So… as I show up at my friend Netta’s Birthday party and I produce my plate, no one is shocked: many of the guests already bring their own containers when they buy take-out meals; many of them have thought about it; all of them are thrilled with the idea.

They simply proceed to serve me a piece of vanilla maple glazed cake from Cocoa Locale, a tiny bakery that makes every freelance writer, designer and musician want to become a baker; a piece of home-made pudding chômeur, or “unemployed person’s pudding”, a Quebec classic born during the Depression, made with old bread and maple syrup; and, well, also a piece of Princcess Cake -literally decorated with either Aurora or Cinderella- that someone more inclined to kitsch aesthetics than to food responsibility decided to bring. It takes all kinds, I guess?

At Cocoa Locale

Una lata por una cebolla

¡ Pásele, pásele! 

El próximo 4 de marzo,  el Gobierno del Distrito Federal a través de la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente colocará el primer mercado de trueque de residuos por alimentos.  El objetivo: reducir la cantidad de desechos y obtener a cambio un bien aprovechable. Además, será una forma de apoyar a los productores locales de alimentos de las delegaciones Xochimilco, Tláhuac y Milpa Alta. 

Lleva tus botellas de plástico, envases Tetrapack, papel, vidrio, cartón, latas de aluminio y PET al la primera sección de Chapultepec y regresa a casa con la canasta llena de nopales, espinacas, jitomates, plantas o flores, para el jardín. 

No se trata de consumir más botellas de plástico o envases de cartón, en la medida de lo posible evítalos. Y si no puedes, sepáralos y llévalos al mercado del trueque, es una acción responsable para el manejo sustentable de los desechos que producimos.  

Más información: 
4 de marzo de 10:00 a 16:00 horas en la Primera Sección del Bosque de Chapultepec, calzada Juventud Heroica, entre la Puerta de los Leones y el Altar a la Patria. 

The Food Writer’s Predicament

By Claudia Itzkowich

Ok, so I am working full time -the fullest time- for the Cancun-Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival that is taking place next month in Cancun (crmfest.com).

I spend my time writing, translating and editing stories involving things like the spot prawns Montreal’s Normand Larpise gets delivered every Tuesday from British Columbia, the Green Mole that the grandmother of Arturo Fernández Montes de Oca, from Mexico City’s Raíz, makes for him every year on his birthday, the rice crust stuffed with shrimp and squid that José Miguel García is serving at La Barraca valenciana, in Coyoacan. All with overlapping deadlines, after-hours skype conferences, a couple of sleepless nights.

And mind you, I am not complaining. But I do get hungry -as we all do- but I also get greedy: how can I settle for fried eggs or canned tuna fish?

A whopper has been out of the question for years.

Sometimes I don’t have a choice. But others I manage to treat myself, say, with this pasta recipe I just discovered, made with lemon-ricotta and arugula.

Or this Quebec Trout with (leftover) pasta and asparagus and a yougurt-cucumber sauce.

And one of my favorite salads these days: fennel, cilantro and pistachios.

My next project: to recreate the cod I just found in The Family Meal, a book about the food that the staff at elBulli used to eat throughout the season. A jewel!

By the way, Ferran Adrià is one of the guests at the Festival, where he will speak about The Future of Cuisine after elBulli in a panel with Jacques Pépin, Enrique Olvera, Mara Salles and Normand Laprise. More details at: cancunwinefoodfest.com 

Did I say back to work now?

Descargas de luz y pólvora

Una muestra de imágenes del artista Alan Sailer, quien utiliza a la fotografía como arma para capturar el momento preciso en el que una bala pasa a través de algunos ingredientes. 

Las fotografías fueron tomadas en mil millonésimas de segundo para congelar estas explosiones de color.

Bakery in Montreal

By Claudia Itzkowich

Kouign Amann, one of my favorite bakeries in Montreal -mind you, there are quite a few!- serves French pastries in straw baskets, wrapped in wax paper. No styrofoam in this tiny place filled with the most irresistible smell of butter... but my frangipane cake with berries and pistacchios was as heavenly as usual on my enamel plate.

Frangipane cake