"Oh and by the way, I've got tomorrow and Friday off work". So said Neil on Wednesday evening. Cue a road trip to Seattle which was fueled by spontaneity and the desire to get away for a few days. Seattle, despite being in a different country, is actually the closest large city to Vancouver, being a 3 hour drive away, which, in the vastness of Canada, is like taking a walk in the park. So, despite the weather forecast not being particularly inspiring, we headed down to the States to eat, drink and buy lots of things infinitely cheaper than in Canada.
The only place I have ever seen these for sale ready made, is a small gas station immediately over the border where we always stop for gas. Devilled eggs are made by hard boiling the egg and scooping out the yolk to mix with mayonnaise, mustard and paprika and piped back into the cavity in the white. Sometimes other ingredients are added like anchovies, shrimp or celery. They are delicious, cheap and freshly made in the little store attached to the gas station every day. I always get some if they are available and thought they were worth a mention.
Like Vancouver, visitors to Seattle usually make their first stop the local market. Pike Place market is situated at the water front and is extremely famous with locals and tourists alike. They have a huge range of produce which is all priced at staggeringly high tourist prices but is well worth the visit, especially the fish throwing guys who deftly wrestle with cod, tuna or other such large sea-food to the delight and amazement of the passer- bys.
The variety of mushrooms caught my eye as well as something I have never seen for sale fresh before; truffles. Casually asking how much they were, before I knew what was happening, I had selected one which was weighed, bagged and placed under my nose with such speed I felt I had been caught unawares. "$12 please". Mine is the really small guy second from the top and right in the middle. I kept placing my nose in the bag to catch the aroma which is a combination of chocolate, mushroom and cat pee, in my opinion, and agonized on whether to place it in my bag should it get squashed or not have enough room to breathe. I felt I had some precious gem in my possession or a small dog that needed to be nurtured and cared for. It was quite a relief to arrive back at the hotel where we contemplated whether it should be stored in the fridge or not. It wasn't. My head was encumbered with decisions on how I would cook it and recipes I had seen before and the weighty responsibility that I had to do it justice and under no circumstances let it go to waste. I honestly don't think I have ever been so stressed over the purchase of an ingredient! More on how I used it later.
Click on the picture below for a link to the Pike Place website:
Seattle, so we were told by a very amiable taxi driver, is the largest fish producer in the whole of North America. It makes sense given its location and therefore the sheer abundance of sea food available to buy was breathtaking. I imagine, however, that these lobster tails were not fished out of the murky waters of Puget Sound or The Pacific Ocean, but made their way here from Maine or some other place in Eastern America.
There are also many places to eat in the market, some casual and cheap, some iconic and some a little more high-brow. Braving the pouring rain, Neil and I found a little cafe offering 1/2 price appetizers from 4 - 6 pm, weekdays with a drink. No chicken wings or fried calamari here, I ordered a duck sausage with a balsamic and beet sauce, which was still rare in the middle and subtly spiced and Neil had a baked Brie with strawberries which was very sweet due to the strawberry 'jam' spread on top, but nicely balanced with a sharp and tangy sauce also balsamic. Both only $4 at half price. Pretty good snacking.
Click on the image for a link to Miang Kham:
Neil and I made a list of possible food carts to be visited before we left, researching on line the brand new food cart scene. However, without a good local knowledge of Seattle's streets and areas and not being able to pinpoint any of the locations on the map, as well as the tendency of some to move around, we couldn't find any. Even one of the most famous and popular was no-where to be seen in its 'permanent' position, so disappointingly, we didn't get to see or sample any of the street food. Our meal that evening was also disappointing, a Thai restaurant in Ballard, a nice part of the city close to the water, with a Mussaman curry full of tender chicken, falling apart, but cold and a very mediocre Pad Thai. There was one delicious surprise, however, a Thai appetizer completely new to me called Miang Kham. The image above is the sketch I made as I forgot to take a photograph, well, forgot is not entirely true, I feel very self conscious taking photos in restaurants and don't want this to become a review blog, (there are thousands of excellent ones). The idea was to make your own wraps using the sweet but spicy sauce as a base and adding from the elements to create your own version of hot, sweet, sour and tang. They were some of the freshest, cleanest flavours I have experienced in Thai food, bright and interesting and also fun
Some beautiful decorations at the Seattle Centre.
The Space Needle with beautiful Christmas tree
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| The 80's bar |
As a complete contrast to our dinner the first evening, the next was spectacular. We visited a very popular restaurant in the area we were staying, Belltown, called The Queen City Grill. The proprietor stood in the doorway and proclaimed that his restaurant had the best food in the city and that the first drink was on him. Good start, we thought. Judging by the stylish and moneyed clientele, we could see this very well may be true. He was true to his word about the drinks and I ordered halibut with mango and pineapple sauce with mashed potatoes and carrots. Neil ordered roast pork shoulder with mash and braised greens. After getting quite disillusioned with many 'fine dining' establishments and the generic menus they tend to adhere to, Neil and I both agreed this meal helped us to remember how good such a restaurant can be. My halibut was meaty, sweet and matched perfectly by the sharp, citrus-y sauce with the creamiest mashed potatoes I have ever eaten, they were like a puree, slightly garlicky and perfectly smooth. Neil's pork was falling apart and tasted slightly oriental with hints of star anise or tangerine peel. We finished with a Drambuie and a Portland pear brandy instead of dessert and were happy and content as we drifted off to a bar playing 80's music that was so good we stayed all night.
My truffle. $12 worth of a culinary delicacy. How can such a tiny little fungus(?) have such a strong smell? It fills the kitchen every time I remove the lid from its little bed of rice in a glass jar. When you consider the price and the way it is harvested by trained dogs or pigs and men wearing sturdy walking boots and carrying sticks whittled down through the generations from a whole log of willow, hiking through early morning frosty forests with the sun just breaking through the trees as the smell of the damp leaves and earth fills your senses, you can understand the incredible demand and culinary possibilities of these small fruiting bodies. (OK, maybe the reality isn't so romantic, but it all adds to the allure.) So, are they worth the money, or the equivalent of buying a designer label? I grated some over an omelet I had made to truly savour the uniqueness. The Asiago cheese I used completely obliterated any taste of truffle as it was so rich and tangy it almost made my eyes water. So, anxiety returned. The first taste should have been surprising and delightful, coupled with a surprised exclamation of "Oh my, I get it"! But yet again, I made a mistake and the result was somewhat less than overwhelming. Next time, I will make a simple pasta with a creamy sauce containing no other flavourings than a little garlic and cream, and grate over enough truffle to ensure we can taste it. Also, I have seen an intriguing recipe for chicken baked with truffle slices under its skin. Sounds good.
Omelet made with 3 eggs, salt, pepper and a very large handful of oregano, minced, beaten together and poured into a pan with 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp butter. 1/2 cup of cheese was a huge mistake, especially Asiago with rosemary, maybe 1/4 cup would have been a much better, subtler flavour, added to the omelet just before turning and sprinkled with a little grated black truffle.
My lunch today was made from some of the tomatoes and basil I got from Trader Joes. the supermarket we go to to get cheap cheese, milk, oil and booze etc. before entering back into Canada.
Recipe: Spaghetti with mini heirloom tomato and basil sauce.
8 - 10 small heirloom tomatoes, chopped in half
3 plum tomatoes from a tin, squashed.
8 large basil leaves, torn
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper
spaghetti for one
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Put on a pan of salted water for the spaghetti while you make the sauce.
In a frying pan or saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil on medium and add the tomatoes, basil, garlic powder and salt and fry gently until the tomatoes have wilted and look like a sauce.
When the spaghetti is done, drain and add to the pan with the tomatoes and stir well. Garnish with black pepper and Parmesan cheese.
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