Gastronomette in the City

Random Ramblings of a "Foodie" Kind

1) After a long day at work dealing with silly, silly people last week, I broke down and did what I considered stage 1 of alcoholism - I decided to get a drink at a pub, by myself. But instead of drinking myself into a stupor, I discovered that the Manhattan I ordered isn't what I REALLY wanted - so I told the waiter to order me up some escargots and a shepherd's pie.
It was glorious. Granted, the snails probably came from a can, and the pie mass frabicated, but there was somthing deeply comforting about the vast quantities of garlic butter with slightly stale bread, and insta-meat-filling with machined mash potatos. I just ate what tasted good, and sometimes that's all that matters.
Moral of the story - dining alone can be a comforting and calming experience, no alcohol or mental fuzziness involved.

2) After my 'foodie' class, I went to dinner with a talented pastry chef friend of mine. While originally the idea was to hit Jamie Kennedy's new low priced bistro, it's closed Monday nights. After much hemming and hawing, we settled on the Bier Market, a high-browed pub with a menu of about 150 "biers" and a decent food menu. We discovered that:
a) Fondue is best left to the experts - not a place called the Bier Market.
b) 9$ is a stupid amount to pay for three halves of sausages, a piece of provolone, some pickles and mustard.
c) It is physically possible to get drunk off a boozy french onion soup.

3) My boyfriend have been introducing me to the world of rural Quebecoise cuisine. In the last year or so I have had the pleasure of tasting his mom's meats pies, pizza from Bravo and the joy of joys, real Poutine and cheese curds.
What I am most privilege to have tasted is the bottle of Sortilege he gave me last Christmas. This Quebecoise specialty is not widely known and definity not listed in the Food Lover's Companion. It is a liqueur of Canadian Whisky (without an "e" - foodies will know with I mean ;)) mixed with Maple syrup. Where Ontario have Icewine, Quebec has its Sortilege. And this can kick Icewine's butt any day of the week and then some. Pat makes a good point by saying that booze and maple is somthing Quebec has an abundance of, so what ELSE would they do with it?
Sortilege is a heavenly, amber coloured nectar that, when served ice cold, taste of maple syrup with a kick. It's sweet without being sickening, but strong enough to make one speak French after one too many. Unfortunately, my boyfriend and I just finished my bottle and this is my ode to it. Perhaps one day, after this Icewine hoopla dies down, people will discover this liqueur and give it the proper respect. In the meantime, I suggest you get yourself down to your nearest liquor store and have them find you a bottle. Believe me, it's worth it.

posted by Kelly @ 9:22 a.m.