Back for More: 19e Mondial de la Bière

Last year was our first outing to Montreal’s annual Mondial de la Bière in a long time. We remember attending the fest,  now celebrating its 19^th year, in its early inception in the mid-90’s when it was held on the paved area behind Place des Arts, now the beautifully landscaped Quartier des Spectacles. There were about 12 tents with the highlight being Peter McAuslan in a kilt. Also at that time we had a job that involved a lot of free beer. This might sound like a great perk but it was generally in lieu of any real monetary payment. Our free beer was also not of the exotic variety, as now found at the Mondial de la Bière, except maybe the odd hemp beer in Whistler, B.C. After several years of drinking too much of the big label brands we definitely had our fill and just stopped drinking beer. We decided to attend the beer fest last year for the food but we did end up staying for the beer. Besides enjoying some amazing beers and flavors we love the fact that it is great place to meet lots of interesting characters.

Beer Buffalo

Last year we were lucky enough to speak with Mondial Judge Gary Lohin who happens to be brewmaster at B.C.’s Red Racer brewery. During our discussion we informed Lohin of our preference for wine over beer. Lohin explained to us how beer can be just as enjoyable with food and there was no reason for our dislike of beer. If you love food and flavors then why not enjoy a great-tasting beer. Based on Lohin’s advice we took it upon ourselves to spend the year doing gallons of research for our next Mondial. Our homework has definitely paid off because we have rediscovered the enjoyment of a great beer. Our dislike of beer for so many years came from drinking too much of the bad big label stuff.

Brazilian Beer Barons: Samuel & Paulo Cavalcanti from Boderbrown

During our past year of intensive research we have come to the realization that we are perhaps lightweights in the beer department. We are not big beer drinkers, the kind that play Edward Beer Can Hands, and we still have not done enough research in order to be full blown beer snobs. Where does that leave us? Our favorite beers seem to be white, like Hoegaarden and fruit, like Kriek- Cherry beer. Why are we mentioning this? It would seem to us that the type of beer you drink says a lot about the type of person you are. Think about it, Pabst Blue Ribbon seems synonymous with hipsters. How about the world’s most interesting man? We all know what he drinks even though he was not at the beer fest this year. And who drinks Labatt Blue? Given all the characters at the beer fest it only makes sense to us to look around at people and their beer because we think we need a new beer and image.

Denis Caciuc & Friends

We were a bit disappointed because last year we saw Captain Jack Sparrow and Al Capone at the Sleeman space. Considering the number of breweries which use serving wenches at their kiosques we suppose the Jester of Tortuga was in the right place. Captain Sparrow may have stayed away this year because the beach area was limited to a tiny patch of sand with no volleyball courts. We thought he might be at Microbrasserie Le Naufrageur's kiosque but no luck. Besides the regular festival parade of serving wenches we did run into a few familiar faces. Denis Caciuc, who teaches Restauration Services at the École Hôtelerie de Laval, once-again gets the Coolest Teacher award because he brings his class to the beer fest. Talk about your fun field trips. We also saw the beer fest mascot who last year looked yellow but this year sported a cool brass finish. Maybe they are going to change his color every year. How about a nice stout or rousse finish? In terms of dressing up we did notice this year a few people sporting fun T-shirts with slogans like I'm Drunk and Beer Gut. We also spotted funny hats. It seems that putting your beer fest tote-bag on your head is becoming a Montreal festival fashion phenomenon especially when visiting the bar after opening night. Since the Mondial is part of our summer festival calendar why not dress up for the occasion? The staff at the kiosques dress up in costume so why not the public? The organizers could give prizes for best costumes, T-shirts and they could tap into the whole cosplay / Comic-Con market. Keeping in step with the vampire trend we'll go as Beercula. 

New Look?

The first step to improve our beer drinking image was choosing a new weapon. What better way to get in touch with your inner Ninja than the BBbarfly bottle opener. The guys behind BBbarfly told us they had made the trip from Toronto by renting an RV in order to transport their stock  to the beer fest and also to have a place to sleep. We are glad they came because we love kitchen gadgets and this is just about as cool as it gets. The BBbarfly opener is almost as awesome as our kitchen blowtorch. The opener uses the same design as a Balisong or Butterfly knife but without the sharp danger because it only opens beer bottles. You also get to chose your own artwork and color to fully accessorize your weapon. We of course chose the Tiki Idol motif because we love retro inspired designs. Cosplayers take note that the BBbarfly is the perfect accessory for a Hit Girl costume from the movie Kick Ass. 

For ordering and additional information visit the BBbarfly website here.
 

One stand immediately caught our eye with their copy of François Chartier’s book Papilles & Molécules (Taste Buds & Molecules). Brasseurs Sans Gluten (Gluten Free Brewers) are obviously up to some interesting things besides making gluten free beer with ingredients like millet, buckwheat and brown rice. Papilles & Molécules is about the science of wine pairing and food so why not apply his theories to beer? Chartier’s methodology and research (some of which was carried out at ElBulli) is to look at food ingredients (herbs, spices...) and their aromatics at the molecular level. By isolating these individual composites Chartier is able to find relationships, "chains of flavor", to the same composites found in wine. Aromatics (smell) is one of our senses and plays a major role in how we taste food. Inspired by Chartier’s research, the brewers at Brasseurs Sans Gluten (BSG) have made a beer using sotolon, a compound that when concentrated has the smell of fennugrec or curry powder. The chemical compound can also smell like molasses, caramel and maple syrup at lower concentrations. Sotolon also appears in highly fermented (brown and black) beers. The Brasseurs Sans Gluten beer, Sotolon Impériale, features all the above mentioned tasting notes giving it a unique flavor profile.  As cool as molecular brewing might be, we are not sure if this is the type of beer we want to drink as part of our new image. A bottle of gluten-free beer with sotolon would certainly be a great conversation starter at a party but our only worry is that all this science talk might make us sound even nerdier, no matter how many BBbarfly tricks we learn.  A fine sipping beer that should not be rushed.

The Face of L'Alchimiste's La Métropole

 Our next stop was a little side booth next to L'Alchimiste’s main stand and featuring their Métropole (5.14% alcohol get it? 514 = MTL) that is the official beer of the Montreal XV Rugby Club. A golden Pilsner that is very smooth and easy to drink, the beer branded with the image of rugby players is definitely tough looking. Right away we imagined ourselves hanging out at the Rover’s Return pub with our mates after a game and everybody speaking the Queen’s English. We turned around to find two guys from Dubai wearing kilts, Burberry and Fred Perry sampling the Métropole confirming our fantasy. Our one problem with this picture is that it might involve playing rugby. Given the rugby games we have seen and our low threshold for pain, and tendency to break into tears, we doubt we would be much of an asset to any team no matter how much we enjoyed their beer.

Two Guys from Dubai avec La Métropole

 Feeling a bit lost and disoriented in the foray of so many beer stands, or perhaps tastings, we did decide to go into some familiar territory at Brasseur de Montreal (BdM). Since tasting their beers, BdM has become a favorite. Each beer offers a distinctive flavor and taste. Of course we were immediately drawn to their fruit beers and fell in love with their Cherry Ô Fruit from our first sip. This light tasting beer (4% alcohol) reminded us of a watery melted cherry Popsicle – we meant this in a good way. After an inquiry we were told at the Mondial that cherry is no longer available. Fruit beers often come across as heavy and syrupy but this is not the case with the Brasseur. These beers often taste more like beer than fruit. BdM's balance of beer to fruit is perfect. We tried their apple and cranberry fruit beers that were both excellent with similar light and refreshing tastes. We could not resist taking a sample of our personal favorite the Chi Orientale because we love the strong ginger taste of this pale beer. The Ghost Town stout with absinthe flavor is another winner as its dark taste plays well with the anise flavor of absinthe. We are not sure what drinking these beers says about your personality as a beer drinker but they sure are tasty with their wide array of flavors. We guess there is something for everybody so you could say this is a democratic choice.

Robot + Beau's = Le Robeau

Speaking of great beers, last year we were really impressed with Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company from Vankleek Hill, Ontario. Once-again Beau’s delivered the goods. Given our addiction to caffeine we liked the strong coffee taste of their Collabrrrewator. We also sampled their Winter Brew, also with coffee notes, and found it a bit more smooth and lighter than the Collabrrrewator. These beers are great tasting and good looking with some of the coolest artwork you will see on any label. The genuine quality of these products makes it hard for us to decide what type of image they convey. We think they say, I’m a cool original. Our major problem with this beer is that it is not available in Quebec. We heard that Beau's is launching a kimchi beer and we really hope to see it at the Mondial next year.

Crazy Rabbit: This is what we look like after the Mondial

Staying with the the familiar, we headed over to Le Grimoire’s stand because we sometimes use La Noire Soeur (The Black Nun) in our cooking. The holy sister beer has a strong chocolate and coffee taste that is really not sweet and makes amazing spiced nuts. At the Mondial we sampled Desérables, a maple beer that we were told by the Grimoire staff makes great braised ribs. We also tried Vie de Chateau, a rum beer with a very pleasant caramel aftertaste. Despite these sweet sounding flavors with all three beers they are very subtle and not overpowering. The flavors are dark rather than sweet.

Soul Sister

Being creatures of habit we could not resist trying Levrette’s White Cherry beer. Also the beer has a picture of a bunny on the bottle. In fact, after this many beers we were starting to look like the rabbit on the label. This beer did offer a nice contrast to all the dark beers we kept finding at the Mondial and was a nice palate cleanser. On the topic of fruit beers we discovered that Boréale now offers fruit beers as part of their lineup. The Cuvée Boréale beers feature the local flavors of Quebec. The apple/cranberry beer is obviously a very tasty combination. We were very impressed with the wild blueberry beer with a deep and royal taste of wild blueberries. The beer tasted like a fizzy watered down version of the deep tasting liquid that seeps out of homemade blueberry pie. The two drinks have some of the most beautiful colors that we have seen in a beer. The apple cranberry is amber and the wild blueberry a deep purple.

Proper Beer Fest Attire

 Obviously we were right back where we started when we arrived at the Mondial still drinking fruit beers. This leaves us another year for more research before the next edition of the Mondial. There are a few other beers that we sampled and think are worth mentioning. The Broadway Pub located in Shawinigan served up the Memorial and it is not the beer commemorating Jean Chrétien's famous handshake. The dark brew is a Bock made in the traditional manner. We also enjoyed the Pilsner from Tcheque beer. It's made in Contrecoeur (Québec) by brewers from the Czech Republic using ingredients imported from their homeland. Paying our respects we tried Gary Lohin's Red Racer White Ale and it was definitely one of our faves of the fest.

Painting the Town Red

Next year the Mondial de la Bière will be celebrating its 20^th anniversary. Amazing to think how much the Québec micro-brewing industry has grown in this time and the festival itself featuring over 30 Québec breweries. The Mondial will also be leaving the cavernous concrete walls of Place Bonaventure and setting up camp at the Palais des Congrès. We are excited about the idea of going for some early morning Dim Sum in Chinatown before the Mondial so if you would like to joins us we will be at La Maison Kam Fung.

Top Chef Canada Season 2: episode 13: Chef Carl Cuts Compettion

We know that you know that Chef Carl Heinrich took the title of Top Chef Canada but we just wanted to point out that we did kind of call it some time ago. Everyone is talking about self-promotion in social media these days so we are also going to point out that we also called it last year when Chef Dale McKay took the title. We said it before, the skills competition is a really good gauge of who would make it to the final. With Carl taking the skills challenge and a steady performance throughout we kept saying he was the safe bet even though it did seem like anyone’s game going into the final. Heinrich might not have been the flashiest Chef in the kitchen but he was certainly steadiest with 5 wins and only two bottom finishes towards the end of the series when the field is so narrow bottom finishes seem inevitable. We also think the Producers like to throw the top contenders in the bottom a few times just to put a bee in their bonnet. Remember how pissed off Dale McKay looked when it would happen to him? 

We were really glad that David Chrystian was brought back for the final competition. Any Chef that can make  and win a challenge with duck liver ice cream with cherries and wild rice is obviously a brilliant and creative mind. In the final, Chrystian’s dessert also drew praises from the judges. The dish, an homage to Toronto’s Kensington market, was a candy coated Al Waxman Ham, seriously, Chystian made a sweet corn pudding (he dish used corn instead of cream) with sage and dark chocolate truffles and raw chocolate nibs. The idea for corn pudding came from the Restaurant Wars episode when judge Susur Lee criticized his corn soup for being too sweet. Chrystian took the criticism and came up with the idea for the dish as a dessert. Just another example of how enjoyable it was to watch his mind at work in the kitchen.

Trevor Bird seems reborn with his appearance on Top Chef Canada. The show seemed to re-kindle his passion, creativity and inspiration as the Chef rocked out some top dishes on the show. Professionally, Bird left his “corporate” job as a hotel Chef to open his own restaurant. “Regardless of what happens today [final competition] I’m quitting my job.” 

David Korecki, the passionate bandana sporting Chef with fierce Asian chops looks the part of a star. Considering he is an Ottawa based Chef with a top 4 finish on Top Chef Canad he is already big fish in our Nation's capital.

We are of course already looking forward to the next season of Top Chef Canada but in the meantime we have lots to write about with Montreal's summer swinging into high gear. Also keep in mind that your Top Chef Canada season 3 application has to be received by June 19^th

Top Chef Canada Season 2: Episode 12: Judges nail Chrystian

We are sad that Chef David Chrystian is gone and will not be around for the finale because it has been one wild ride. Chrsystian showed a rather unique crash and burn style in the Top Chef kitchen. Amazing and on top with one dish or bad and on the bottom with another. Some great dishes of late included his Chicken Soup Terrine, a Fire Roasted Fish (he is allergic to fish) and a Kraft Dinner Grilled Cheese. Chrystian may not have earned the title of Top Chef but he did take the KD crown. . Once again if you have missed his Top Chef Canada audition video it is worth watching. Chef Chrystian makes a Turducken Tower, inspired by the CN Tower, and really shows off his unique style and approach to cooking. We also liked the fact he says his favorite Chef is Martin Picard. We think a culinary pilgrimage to his restaurant at the Drake Hotel in Toronto seems rather inevitable.

With the show going into the finale we think it will be very exciting because it is really anyone’s game. Here are our impressions of the remaining Chefs going into the finale.

Trevor Bird (2 Quickfire wins): Regardless of the outcome of Top Chef his post show endeavors has Bird following his lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant: Fable. His kitchen staff includes fellow competitor Curtis Luk. The concept of Fable is from farm to table and the concept was born during this season’s episode of Restaurant Wars. The Top Chef experience has definitely been an inspiration to the Chef who really seems to be enjoying the cooking challenges. This new found enthusiasm and passion in the kitchen might be the added advantage in taking the Top Chef title.

Jonathan Korecki (2 Quickfire & 2 elimination wins): Korecki's soup has not become Connie DeSousa’s sausage because the judges have not yet tired of what seems to have become his signature item or secret weapon. Will he serve up soup in the finale? We found it a bit odd that his plating was so off in last week’s fashion challenge only because his platings have been so creative to date.

Carl Heinrich (2 Quickfire & 3 elimination wins): The quiet Chef seems to have come under the radar but slow and steady just might win the race. Also given he is only 26 years-old we can only imagine what his future culinary career will be like. We know we are starting to sound like a broken record by repeating ourselves but he is the safe bet in choosing a winner. Heinrich seemed to be beating himself up about his 2 bottom finishes of late but he is also hot off two back to back wins.

Top Chef Canada: Season 2: episode 11: Xavier gets the axe

This episode seemed to be about icons and noodles. The first iconic noodle was Kraft Dinner as featured in the quick fire challenge. The second icon was guest judge Lidia Bastianich who decided that Xavier Lacaze’s noodle dish was enough for him to pack his knives. Not yet an iconic noodle but definitely worth mentioning is the beautiful mind of Chef David Chrystian. The more we see have him the more we want. The pint sized looking Chef got off to a slow start but as of late has been mind blowing in the kitchen. 

Turns out it was just a trailer teaser when it looked like this episode was going to be a double elimination. The Kraft Dinner quick fire challenge was fun to watch with the Chefs having to prepare two versions (casual and refined) of the dish for a $10,000 prize. As we predicted Chef Lacaze, much to his credit, had little experience with the iconic dish and confessed to being a “KD virgin.” Chrystian continued to entertain, and win, with a sour dough KD grilled cheese sandwich (casual) and bacon wrapped KD with seared scallop. The grilled cheese looked amazing. Chef Chrystian is on a bit of a roll, remember Rob Rossi last season? Chef Rossi kept winning near the end of the series and Chrystian does seem to have some momentum that has also helped him in earning $18,000 over the last few episodes. As Chrystian pointed out, and we agree, Chef Jonathan Korecki's use of coconut milk instead of regular in his coconut curry KD was simple but "genius."

The elimination challenge asked the Chefs to make an Italian family style 6 course feast for guest judge Lidia Bastianich. Chef Chrystian continued his wild ride with a whole fire roasted fish. Keeping the dish so simple in an Italian challenge perfectly exemplified the rustic nature of this style of cuisine. The winner of the challenge was Jonathan Korecki whose soups seem to be his secret Top Chef weapon. Chef Korecki did a play on a traditional stracciatella by using a poached egg. 

The reason Chef Lacaze went home seemed a bit like it was for stubbornness. Guess you got to watch those classically trained French Chefs with their my way is best attitude as Judge Mark McEwan immediately questioned why Lacaze did not use '00' Italian flour. Lacaze's served braised veal breast with pappardelle, aged pecorino and sautéed radicchio. Lacaze said, "My veal is sexy, I would like to make love to my veal, it's beautiful." Not sure how I feel about having food after the Chef has made love to it and this also seemed to be the case with the judges who found the dish salty and his noodle undercooked. All this love was enough for Lacaze to be sent home.

Top Chef Canada: Season 2 Episode 10: Chef Sheen is not winning

Why did the trailer for this episode reveal who was going to be eliminated? It was all there, the narrator's explanation, "One Chef makes the mistake of their lives," Chef Samuelsson's hands and the plastic wrap and finally eliminee Trista Sheen in tears. It seemed too obvious to predict Sheen was going home but noooo. Seriously a bit of a letdown for anyone who saw the trailer that was almost a recap. Speaking of the moment of truth, did anyone notice the way Marcus Samuelsson revealed the plastic with magician like slight of hand movement. The plastic also looked like, for a brief moment, that it would go on forever. In tonight’s trailers we see Trevor Bird in the stew room does that mean he goes home? 

Tonight is also a double elimination challenge. One Chef will be able to boast that they were sent home for bad Kraft Dinner because it is the featured ingredient in the quick fire. Despite the obvious product placement from a sponsor we think it will be a fun challenge. Kraft Dinner is as iconic as one of Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans. Since Trevor looks like he makes it to stew room this leaves Chefs Korecki, Lacaze, Chrystian and Heinrich as the one sent home for bad KD. We figure Lacaze goes home only because he might have limited experience with Kraft Dinner. In terms of our pics for the final we really do not see any clear winner and it looks like anyone's game. Rather exciting if you think about it.

In other news, Top Chef Canada has been renewed for another season and is looking for competitors. For more info and to download your application form click here. We also came across a Blog written by Chef Korecki. We found the Chef's food related drawings and designs very interesting (to see his Blog click here). You can also see and order his signature line of bandanas here. You often hear Chefs as talking about their art and being culinary artists so a glimpse into this artistry offers a different perspective of the culinary artist and the creative process. In an episode of The Heat we saw Mark McEwan design dishes by first starting with drawings. Not that all Chefs work in this way but it is perhaps a bit of an overlooked area in the culinary arts. In case you have not noticed Korecki does do some beautiful plating with his dishes. At the the Celebrity Chefs of Canada event Korecki’s plate, co-created with Newfoundland Chef Jermy Charles, looked like a Group of 7 landscape. We have tried the Tacos at his restaurant and it is safe to call them food porn. We also like Chef Korecki because he looks like an intellectual from the Russian Revolution...Go Comrade! We salute you in your crusade to "Make Tacos not War.”

Culinary Arts: Channeling the Group of 7

Taco Porn at Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar

Top Chef Canada: Season 2: Episode 9 : Spoilers & Predictions

Who really cares what happened last week? Everybody really wants to know what is going to happen next. Just in case you missed the episode here is quick recap. Trevor Bird won the Quickfire vending-machine challenge. Trista Sheen won the camping elimination challenge and Ryan Gallagher was sent packing his knives. Let’s get to the subject that everyone is talking about, the teaser trailer for tonight’s episode.

According to the trailer, “one Chef makes the biggest mistake of their career.” If you look closely  at the video you will see what look likes guest judge, Top Chef Masters Winner, Marcus Samuelsson’s hands picking a piece of plastic wrap out of his food. The next shot is a sobbing Trista Sheen while Xavier Lacaze and Trevor Bird look uncomfortable. This makes us think that the elimination challenge might be a team effort. It would be too obvious for Trista Sheen to be the one sent home so we think it is going to be Xavier.

We know that Sponge towel is a big sponsor of Top Chef Canada (TCC) and they are getting lots of great product placement, drama and emotion with the shot of Sheen crying into their product. We have often heard the expression “a marketing executive’s wet dream.” In this case at least there are lots of paper towels on hand. Speaking of sponsors we have only noticed one dish making it to the Milestones menu so far. Last season, 3 Chefs had items on the Milestones menu so we are wondering why this season Carl Heinrich’s gazpacho and cucumber sandwich is the only featured item. Perhaps the food this season is just too good adventurous for it to be served at Milestones.

With the competition narrowing here is our tale of the tape:

Carl Heinrich: (2 elimination challenge wins - 1 Quickfire win) If slow and steady wins the race then Carl Heinrich is the one to watch. In picking a winner now we think the safe money is the quiet Chef. In his TCC audition video someone else does most of the talking, Heinrich is declared a Chefs’ Chef while displaying top notch butchering skills. We would love to see a butchering throw-down between the original TCC bacon ninja, Connie DeSousa, and Heinrich.

Jonathan Korecki: (1 elimination win – 2 Quickfire wins) We recently ate at Korecki’s restaurant Sidedoor in Ottawa and major TCC sponsor GE Monogram was having a big party in the backroom. Spoiler alert? Perhaps. We are fairly certain that the Chef is going to go very far in the rest of the competition. Korecki can also take some comfort and hope in the rule that if the winner of Top Chef Canada is not able to fulfill their duties the runner-up is asked to step in and assume the title of Top Chef Canada.

Trevor Bird: (1 Quickfire win) Bird just opened his new restaurant Fable in Vancouver. The name is taken from Episode 6: Restaurant Wars and means from farm to table. Remember season one winner Dale MacKay? Chef MacKay also opened his new Vancouver resto Ensemble during the first season of TCC.

Trista Sheen: (2 elimination wins) Last season, Connie DeSousa had a similar meltdown at about the same point in the series. The Chefs are tired and under a lot of pressure so her reaction is normal. Sheen was recently promoted to Head Chef at her restaurant Crush Wine Bar in Toronto.

David Chrystian: (1 Elimination Challenge) Toronto’s Wild Chef! Speaking of Chefs that are tired, emotional and under a lot of stress we think the pressure is also getting to Chrystian. We hope he stays around because his manic behavior is really fun to watch. Who knows what he will do next? The Chef has mentioned a bit of a dark past, divorce, losing his Creuset pots, so it is no surprise that the Chef is a bit out there.

Free Beer Expo! Wow Dow! Take a Bow!

When it comes to beer the name Molson seems synonymous with Canadian history but how about Dow? Dites Donc Dow! L'histoire d'une brasserie d'ici is the new, free exhibition housed by the ÉTS (L'École de technologie supérieure) whose campus is located on the site of the former brewery. The exhibition is a joint project between the ÉTS and Pointe-à-Callière museum. Founded by John Dunn, the Dow brewery story begins only fours years after John Molson set up shop in 1786. Dow would gradually become one of the most popular beers in Québec outselling Molson and Labatt combined in the 1970's. Sales fell when scandal blamed the deaths of several heavy Dow beer drinkers on the fact cobalt sulfate was being added to the brew for better foaming action.

The old Dow brewery, and the ÉTS, are located on lower Peel street and part of Griffintown. This neighborhood is now the focus of major development and transformation in our city. The Now for a Dow! exhibition invites us to consider the past when looking towards the future. This message applies to the neighborhood in transition but also to the ÉTS that as an educational institution seeks to inspire technological innovation. The use of the former brewery by the ÉTS seems to have has ensured the preservation of some heritage buildings that played an important part in Montreal's industrial and manufacturing history. 

Dow and the most interesting old men in the world

Our personal memories of Dow naturally include its reputation as a beer that killed. We also recall drinking it at a discount price Chez Les Foufounes Électriques. In case you are wondering you could still purchase Dow beer up until 1998. The Foufs stash of Dow must have been one of the last in the city. The added novelty to our cheap Foufs beer was the upside down label. Instead of Dow we drank Mod. During the expo's vernissage, Dow beer memorabilia collector Pierre Guillotine-Hurtubise, whose personal collection makes up a large part of the exhibition, recalled that despite all their marketing efforts Black Label was not the "underground" beer of the 1980's. Hurtubise says it was Dow. Dow's cult status, Hurtubise explained, stemmed from the fact that it was a beer consumed by old men in Taverns evoking memories of the past and the 1970's when Dow was the beer of choice in Quebec.

Spring in Montreal! Bière, Beau Temps & Terrasses  

The evocation of the past is achieved in the exhibition that comes across as a bit of  time-capsule in a building that once housed the brewery. This experience is achieved thanks to, perhaps our favorite part of the exhibition, montages of Dow's print and television ad campaigns. Considering the beer's long history this includes advertising images from the late twenties. We also discovered that Unibroue's use of the Québec folk tale La Chasse-Galerie in the marketing of their Maudite beer was in fact first used by Dow. In terms of evoking nostalgia, the 40's and 50's print-ads look like they are directly from the desk of Don Draper on Mad Men. The television ads are equally engaging especially when offering the occasional glimpse of how our city once looked.

Own a piece of history and a Planetarium

In all this celebration of Montreal's past and Dow we did notice something concerning on the way to the exhibition: a City of Montreal for sale sign on the now closed Dow Planetarium. We do not wish to suggest that the burden of preserving this heritage building be placed on the ÉTS or Pointe-à-Callière, incidentally the museum is subsidized by the City of Montreal that is selling the planetarium, but too often these buildings are forgotten when the choice is made between development (profit) and architectural heritage (remembering the past). The low density building does take up a square block in a central downtown location. The Dow Planetarium was built thanks to the backing of the Dow brewery and inaugurated in 1966 just in time for Expo'67. Hurtubise mentioned that the LNI (Ligue Nationale D'Improvisation) was interested in the 60's style building as a permanent performance space. Our hope is that this part of Dow's history is not forgotten.

Les Brasseurs: Cold Beer - Bière Froide

Should this glimpse into our city's past leave you thirsty for more we recommend wetting your whistle at Les Brasseurs de Montreal a nearby Griffintown brewery. Since discovering Les Brasseurs', Chi L'Orientale, a white beer with a very strong ginger taste, it has become one of our favorite beers. A recent visit to Les Brasseurs lead us to the discovery of their cherry Ô fruit! beer. Refreshing, much lighter and less sweet than Belgian Kriek (cherry) beer the nose reminded us of cherry Popsicle. We have also sampled their absinthe-based stout: Ghost Town. A dark tasting beer with chocolate notes and a strong taste of black licorice, or anise, thanks to the absinthe. All are great beers with a distinct taste and obviously made with great attention to flavors. In hindsight and in keeping with our trip down memory lane perhaps we should have tried La Montréalaise Griffintown.

The Dites Donc Dow! / Now For a Dow! exhibition is located at 355 Peel. It is open from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free Admission!

Les Brasseurs de Montréal is located at 1485 Ottawa. Check the website for opening hours.

Top Chef Canada Season 2: Episode 8: Go Jimmy Go

Chef Jimmy Stewart has certainly provided lots of entertainment during his stay on Top Chef Canada. It is almost a shame to see him go. Some of Chef Stewart’s finest moments included bread foam and a failed “rocket launch.” In both cases the culprit proved to be a culinary siphon and foam. On another note, Chef Stewart drew praise from fellow competitor Xavier Lacaze who said he was in awe at the 23-year-old and his culinary skills. Given the talented young Chef made it this far in the competition it looks a promising career in the making. 

The show started with a quickfire skills competition. As we said last week the safe bet would be Chef Carl Heinrich who did win. We picked Chef Heinrich because he showed mad butchering skills in his audition video. We also stand by our theory that the skills competition is a bit of foreshadowing of who is going to make it to the final. In case you missed it, the final four Chefs in the competition were Trevor Bird, David Chrystian, Xavier Lacaze and of course winner Carl Heinrich. Our wild card pick is Jonathan Korecki who just keeps impressing us.

The elimination challenge asked the Chefs to cater a buffet lunch for the cast and crew of television's Lost Girl. No easy task, when catering to a large group of people you generally have to deal with all sorts of food requests (vegetarians, vegans, gluten free, lactose intolerant) not to mention the full gambit of food allergies. We also find that catered food does not challenge people's palates (bland is best) because you have to appeal to the general masses. 

Guest judge Chef Michael Blackie is no stranger to catering for large groups of people. He is the Executive Chef of The National Arts Centre in Ottawa. On Saturday (May 5, 2012), Chef Blackie was responsible for catering at the Governor General Awards that was attended by 1200 guests. During the service, Chef Blackie served 12,000 canapés in 45 minutes. This was followed by a one hour 3 course dinner. 

Chef Stewart said he would try and do something simple but this proved to be his downfall. The Chef's green salad looked like a grocery store bag of mixed greens with cucumber and tomato slices. The judges thought his minestrone soup only tasted of truffle oil and porcini mushrooms. Two mistakes in one challenge is just too much on Top Chef at this point in the competition.

Top Chef Canada: Season 2 episode 7: Curtis Luk is Outta Luck

Top Chef Canada has been parading out the celebrity Chefs lately and things are really starting to cook. Last week we saw Susur Lee and this week it was Richard Blais. Chef Blais has a signature style of cooking, that usually involves liquid nitrogen, that is best described as Molecular or Modern Cuisine. This style of cuisine uses "new" (at least on the kitchen) tools, ingredients and methods in creating dishes. Besides liquid nitrogen, examples include the use of a kitchen siphon (foam), gelling agents (like agar and sodium alginate) to make caviars and noodles made with cheese, veggies and fruit. Another element of this cooking style seems to be about deconstruction where traditional dishes are disassembled into their "individual sensory elements." (Dudek, p. 53) With Blais as a judge the Chefs were naturally put to the deconstruction challenge. As described by Chef Ryan Gallagher, during the show, deconstruction is the "same flavors that they [judges] would get from a classic dish but given to them in a totally different way."

We recently read an article on the topic of modern cuisine and the author made a joke that we rather liked. "The postmodern era of gastronomy will truly begin when a diner asks for bacon and eggs and the waiter nonchalantly replies 'ice cream or fried?'" (Dudek, p. 54) Richard Blais did offer some good advice to young Chefs, like 23 year old Jimmy Stewart whose dish was in the bottom, who attempt this cooking style. "When stuff like that happens [foam / ice cream on the plate with a chicken dish] it makes us all look bad in modern cuisine."

The quick fire challenge featured an array of cans with no labels and the Chefs had to use whatever they got using a 3 can minimum. We noticed that caterers are starting to serve dishes in cans and this trend seems to stem from Spain and be part of the whole molecular cuisine phenomena. Spain is home to Feran Adrià's, elBulli, that has spearheaded the Molecular Cuisine movement. We were recently reading the menu from Chef José Andrés' (who has worked with Adrià) new restaurant in South Beach Florida, The Bazaar, and came across this useful bit of information, "Although the technique (canning) was invented in France in 1810 by Mr. Nicolas Appert, Spain has become known for producing the highest quality canned goods in the world. At SLS [one of Andrés' restos] these dishes are prepared fresh daily, but we pay tribute to this groundbreaking practice by preparing selections typical of Spanish canning and presenting them in cans." 

We know that Cheftestant Ryan Gallagher said, "my dog eats out of cans," but do not be perturbed at your next cocktail your waiter hands you something in a can. You know the story behind the can and you can look witty in front of the other guests when you explain why your food is being served this way. In the quick fire challenged we were surprised with how good some of the dishes looked considering how nasty some of the stuff looked when the Chefs opened the cans. Chef Gallagher took the challenge with his Grilled Mackerel with Romesco sauce that was served in an oval plate sized can.

Catering Equipment: Canned Food coming soon to a cocktail party near you 

The elimination challenge asked the Chef to make deconstructed dishes. With the Chefs coming off of having just cooked for Susur Lee and now facing Richard Blais they really seemed to step up their game because there were some amazing looking dishes. There was also no added pressure of doing restaurant wars (service) like Susur Lee. Honestly, we have been waiting for Chef Chrystian to do cook like his audition video since the series began, he made a Turducken Tower. Chrystian’s Chicken Noodle Soup Terrine in this week’s challenge was the first sign of what we have expecting from the Chef. The same can be said of challenge winner, French Chef Xavier Lacaze, who finally did right by his country and its proud culinary tradition. Chef Lacaze served up a beautiful looking Quiche Lorraine made with shortbread and bacon cylinders with scrambled egg mousse and caramelized onions. If Lacaze and Chrystian keep this up they will definitely make it to the final no problem.

Despite all the brilliance there is of course the loser, Curtis Luk, who served up a Tuna Casserole Cannelloni. The idea of a tuna cannelloni makes us think of bad hospital food but perhaps that is just us. With only 6 years of culinary experience and no formal training, Luk's background is in science and mathematics, he is obviously a very talented Chef to have made it this far in the competition. Luk also displayed a very deft hand, except when he cut himself, with his desserts in the competition. 

Next week, the quick fire looks to be a skills competition. We noticed that they had not done this challenge this season. Last season, it was the first challenge and an almost a spoiler of who would be the finalists. Obviously we will be paying very close attention to this challenge. We also think that Chef Heinrich is the safe bet in this challenge if you are looking to us to make some predictions.

Work cited: Gastronomica, vol. 8 no. 2, pgs. 51-54 'Reading a Plate' by Nir Dudek.

Top Chef Canada Season 2: Episode 6: Sad News, Chefs Rivasplata and Cruz both lose

This has to have been one of the the most exciting episodes of Top Chef Canada ever. Double elimination challenge, Judge Susur Lee and restaurant wars where get to see the Chefs handle a service. We had wondered about the double elimination challenge because they did it in episode 2 last year. The double elimination this far in the series was a bit of a surprise to us and from the looks of things the Chefs too. The only thing that is perhaps more exciting than all of this is the fact the Richard Blais will be the guest judge on the next episode.

Gabriell Cruz was the first to go home in the soup and sandwich quick fire challenge. Chef Cruz presented a prosciutto sandwich with pickled onions and truffles. The offering seemed to weird out the judges and the sandwich did look a but cafésque.  The winner of the challenge was Jonathan Korecki who served up a Vietnamese sandwich and chicken consommé. Though Korecki won, Chef Carl Heinrich's gazpacho with bacon, cucumber and tomato sandwich was selected to be a Top Chef Canada featured menu item at Milestones. We assume that the Milestones crowd was deemed not yet ready for Vietnamese Banh Minh. Heinrich’s dish will not have the kitchen staff at Milestone's filling their larders with strange ingredients or scratching their heads when having to make a bacon, cucumber and tomato sandwich. You can make gazpacho in the blender but we wonder if it will pre-prepared for the Milestones kitchens. Heinrich’s sandwich does not seem very exciting and sounds like something you can make in your own toaster as a late night snack. 

Korecki certainly made a strategic move with his reward for winning the challenge by choosing Elizabeth Rivasplata as the opposing team leader. Chef Rivasplata has been bunting heads with the other Chefs in the kitchen and Korecki’s move was diplomatically described as "sneaky" by Chef David Chrystian. Korecki’s move also made for some exciting television.

We liked that fact that both teams chose Canadian themes with their resto concepts. There may have been no standout with the teams in their services as a whole but team name Fable (farm to table) was a winning idea. We have heard rumours that Chef Trevor Bird's new resto, that is opening soon, will bear this moniker. The other team chose to be True North offering a reflection of Canadian dishes. In this context Chef Rivasplata’s octopus dish left her team-mates scratching their heads. Rivasplata’s attempt at running the pass seemed to be her second downfall amongst her team-mates and with the judges who were left waiting for their food. Jimmy Stewart did offer a potato "risotto"dish  that was all potato no rice or veggies and deemed the worst dish by the judges. The win went to team Fable but was described by judge Mark McEwan as "not a perfect day." Team Fable seemed a bit surprised, they served melted ice cream, that the judges did declare no winner for this challenge.

At the judges’ table Chef Rivasplata started by showing a united team standing together but was immediately called out by Jimmy Stewart, the guy with the worst dish, for failing as a leader and at the pass. Rivasplata did throw herself on her own sword, we thought, when she said she would  "take credit" for the mistakes of her team as their leader. “You saved your ass,” Chef Rivasplata told Stewart while accusing him of you screwing her over in order to save Ryan who did front of house. Rivasplata’s final words to Stewart as she exited was “you are not right.” Rivasplata's departure leaves 1 female Chef in the competition. As the field narrows we think it is about time to start making some predictions about who will make it to the finals..

Top Chef Canada Season 2: episode 5: Chef Aubie is going Surfin' in Tofino

Joel Aubie was sent to pack his knives. Given that Chef has been in the bottom of the elimination challenges a few times, 3 in 5 episodes, it is no surprise that the surfin' Chef from Tofino was sent home. In watching the Chef packing his knives we could not stop thinking about this song, Chef Aubie, this one is dedicated to you...

Jimmy Stewart might want to forget the foam. The Chef had a funny moment when his foam, inspired by the moon landing rocket launch, failed to launch. This is the second time in the series that the Chef has made foam. His bread foam in episode 1 did not impress the judges and this time... Houston we have a problem. The presentation looked like the end of a can of shaving cream with flat liquid leaking out of the canister. Judge Mark McEwan seemed to be having fun with the scenario, calling the Chef t"space ranger Jimmy" and such phrases as "foam failure," and telling the Chef to "leave the foam home." In describing the situation McEwan told the Chef that he looked like "a faltering space ranger out there."

The quick fire challenge challenged the guests to make snack food with Tostitos chips. The Chefs did some rather elaborate, or was it complicated, dishes but simplicity won out with Chef Xavier Lacaze coating the chip with caramel. Caramel and corn is a winning combination, the saltiness of the chips would also add to the formula, that seemed to elude the other Chefs in this challenge.

As suspected, Chef Rivasplata is being portrayed as the villain in the kitchen. We expect more of this in the next episode because stress levels and tension runs high when it is restaurant wars. Remember last season when Dale freaked out because he was worried his soufflé would fall? Dale's freak out was dismissed as what happens in the kitchen stays in the kitchen but we wonder if this will be the case if Rivasplata has a similar melt down. The Chefs have some added pressure because the guest judge is Susur Lee who they will no doubt be trying to impress.

Cheftestants: This is how you do it

Top Chef Canada Season 2: episode 4: Mattoscio's poutine is no go

Once-again tragedy has reared its head on this season of Top Chef Canada. Remember Kunal Ghose? The Chef / Owner of Redfish Bluefish, that specializes in seafood tacos, was sent home for making a taco. Now, Montreal's Sergio Mattoscio is sent home for his beef tongue poutine. Why the tragedy? Besides the obvious, a Chef from Québec being sent home for poutine, in his audition video Mattoscio showed off his signature dish gnocchi poutine. 

We did pay a couple of visits to Mattoscio's, Macaroni Bar in Montreal when we found out he was going to be on Top Chef Canada. The establishment reopened after some renovations when it was announced that Chef Mattoscio would be competing for the title of Canada's next Top Chef. On both occasions we did sample the gnocchi poutine. The dish comes as a small appetizer ($15). Eating the poutine made us think a lot about our province's signature dish.  A variety of poutine combinations exist in our city. Consider that La Banquise's offers over 25 varieties of the dish but never strays from the basic building blocks of fries, gravy and cheese. Has anyone tried the Pogo medallion poutine? Mattoscio's creation is certainly one of the more unique combinations in Montreal's wide world of poutines. The use of gnocchi instead of fries is a logical step given the potato connection. From the look and taste of the dish we think that it has been baked under the broiler since the gnocchi has a deep amber color. You know when marshmallows are perfectly roasted and have a crisp outer skin and soft middle? We found the gnocchi took on the same consistency under the broiler. And the gravy? We were told it was made from fond de vœu and cut with ricotta. Obviously the dish is very rich, almost dessert like, and in Montreal's poutine landscape it is definitely at the top of our list. Our one suggestion would be to offer a bigger portion. This is after all your signature dish.

Gnocchi Poutine at Macaroni Bar

The theme ingredient for the elimination challenge in this episode of Top Chef Canada featured offal. This is one episode that had us longing for last year's Cheftestant Connie DeSousa, aka the butcher ballerina or bacon ninja, who can butcher a pig's head in record time. The challenge was not so much about butchering skills but what to do with your nasty bits in the kitchen. These days it seems like all the Chefs are talking about nose to tail as one of their kitchen philosophies. The trendy topic shows customers a social consciousness by not wasting food. You know how food trends work? The cheap cuts of meat are a great way for restaurant's to mange their cost to profit margins. The cheap cuts of meat prepared by famous Chefs in their restaurants results in the item becoming gourmet and expensive. The offal challenge forced the Chefs to put their money where their mouth is by having them prepare a variety of animal parts.

The combination of offal and Chefs also reminded us, sorry Chris Consentino, of Sue Towsend's Book Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years. The book, published and set in the late 1990s, features protagonist Adrian Mole working as a celebrity Chef in London's Soho area. The book features lots-of Kitchen Confidential moments like a waiter with foot fungus who washes his feet in the sink, an insane coke-head owner and a scatological review from critic A.A. Gill. Mole, who has no formal culinary training, specializes in English working-class cuisine and therefore offal. Adrian also gets his own cooking show, Offaly Good, and book deal. Townsend's book was made into a television series and is available on YouTube. Ep 3.2 

To see the filming of Offaly Good hit the 4:45 mark.

Let's get back to Top Chef Canada. It is looking like Chef Elizabeth Rivasplata, who is also a very strong competitor, might be emerging as the next Top Chef villain. We will have to wait and see but this might shed the show's reputation as being a polite version of the original U.S. series.

Poutine Porn at Burger de Ville: Goat Cheese & Black Pepper Sauce