Discovering Food from the Balkans

I meant to write about my culinary experience on Albanian food for a while now, but found myself busy reading a lot of interesting books lately. Finally, I'm making time to write about interesting foods I tasted last December. During the Christmas holidays, we usually eat a lot of delicious foods and end up stuffing ourselves like we have no care in the world. This past holiday, I decided that we would attend most of the dinner parties we've been invited to, but that I'd also eat moderately. Indeed, this year was different. I listened to my body and stopped eating whenever I couldn't take it anymore. But it was different in a way that I ate less in quantity, but more in variety. Each dinner party was of different ethnic background : Vietnamese, French, Creole and Albanian. The latter was one I never had during the holidays, but it was the most interesting one because it was unfamiliar to me. My friend Marsela and her husband Artan had prepared an oustanding dinner from the Balkan region - Albanian and Turkish. It was so good that I had to try everything that was on the table.....along with a few short breaks to make room for more. We ended this fabulous meal with an interesting and flavourful dessert called kadaif, a very sweet Turkish dessert that ressembles Baklava, with a sweet syrup and nuts (first photo on this post).

Albanian food is also very similar to Greek food which consists of olives, olive oil, rice, fish, seafood, lots of cheeses. The most interesting dish I tasted was minced beef, seasoned with interesting spices and then baked in cute clay dishes. It seems that the clay makes a difference in the taste of the meat. If baked in a regular baking dish, the beef would have a slightly different flavour. It was good and there was plenty of it that I couldn't finish it.

Minced beef baked in clay dishes

Cheeses and pork sausages

Homemade seafood rice platter - loved it!

Russian salad made of potatoes, mayo, veggies and eggs .

Healthy salad to wash everything down :)

All I can say is that I left the place with a happy and very full belly.

Bon Voyage Dinner Party - to Vietnam

Every year in January, my parents host a Bon Voyage dinner party before their departure for a 3 month escape from the harsh winters of Montreal to a warm and comfortable stay in the tropics of southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam. In Asia, they rediscover their roots and heritage from their travels in many Asian countries to explore and taste exotic foods that sometime bring back childhood memories. No one from our family stayed in Vietnam. Like my parents, most of my relatives have moved to Europe during the Vietnam war. In France, my parents attended university and made many friends who shared a common history - Vietnam. Once my parents and their friends obtained their university degrees, they all went their separate ways. Some moved to neighbouring countries, like Switzerland, Belgium...but stayed in Europe. Whereas my parents were the most adventurous ones, they decided to go to the land of opportunities - North America. Back then, in the 70s, Canada and the US were economically booming with a high employment rate. Because of my parents' French background and language, Montreal seemed to be the best choice for the family. So, on a plane we were, my parents, my brother and our nanny!...on our way to Canada.

Our nanny, who was French, was very attached to our family and was also curious to visit Canada. She loved Vietnamese food and ate almost everything that my mother could offer her, except for the very hot red chilli peppers. She would literally turn beet red and cough everything out! Nevertheless, she enjoyed eating with us and watching us eat. You probably noticed in restaurants when Asians eat, we often won't have a conversation while eating in a large group. We'd be quiet, or so to speak, and focus on slurping our noodles, or look at the next piece of food to pick from the center of the table. If we speak, it would be to blurt things out while waiting to be served or once finished eating. As my friend from LA would say, we love good "grub".

So this past weekend, we had Vietnamese food galore which my mother prepared. I didn't have to help out! Which was great because I felt incredibly lazy and tired from all the dinner parties during the holidays. When my mother cooks for the family, she cooks her best stuff : imperial rolls, vermicelli soups, mango and papaya salad.....and lots of fish dipping sauce.

Batch of imperial rolls (the best ones are made with rice paper)

I'm sure during their stay in Vietnam, they'll be sending us photos of their latest food trek in beautiful and colourful outdoor markets which I won't miss sharing with you all.

Rice vermicelli with minced pork and mushrooms

For now, I hope you enjoy these photos of some of the food served at my parents'.

Roasted spicy chicken wings

Have a great one.

France's Fig Tree Treats - Blueberry Scones

After welcoming a heap of snow since New Year's day, I couldn't pass the occasion to go outside of the city to get fresh air and tranquility. I just came back from a 3-day cross-country skiing trip in Rawdon - just about 40-50 minutes north of Montreal, with a couple of friends who own a cottage there. Right beside their cottage was a beautiful spa which was the perfect retreat after a full day of skiing. It was the ideal way to treat ourselves after a hectic year and busy holiday dinner parties. We had packed so much food with us since we had a little kitchenette to prepare our own meals. For the ski trails, I brought along at least a dozen of France's delicious blueberry scones. France is the young bakery-talented daughter of my colleague called Ron, and who just started introducing to our company her delicious baked goods under the name of Fig Tree. Her baked goods and homemade jams were a hit this past holiday. She peaked at the right time. People were buying her homemade goods to offer as gifts or simply to savour over breakfast or as a snack..

My personal favourites are her blueberry scones which are low in fat and sugar. Muffins and scones are sweet treats that I would rarely crave for because of their heaviness and highly sweet taste. I also find them usually dry and too big to finish in one sitting. France's scones, being low fat take away some of the feeling of heaviness, but they still do fill you up quickly. What I like most about them is their subtle sweet taste. She also makes mini sized scones which many of us found very practical to eat as a quick snack. These mini scones were perfect for our ski trip - easy to pack and the ideal size to snack on for a quick 5 minute break. They're also great to keep in your freezer if you want to save some for later.

I don't have the recipe of these tasty scones, but am going to try....;)

In the meantime, I've enclosed an excertp of the list of some of her best treats if ever you are interested in trying them out! You can contact France directly for more information.

Fig TreeGourmet Bakery Selections
Scones – All scones are baked fresh daily, with fresh ingredients. Freeze well… if they last. J
All scones can be made into minis, for the same price (16 instead of 8). Excellent for appetizers, or nibbling!

Contact:
France Liboiron
(514) 730-7185
FigTree.Organics@gmail.com
Serving Montreal and Ottawa