Lunch in Toronto, Cheese from Quebec

At lunch with an old friend last Friday in Toronto at Mercatto, I ordered the $15 antipasti misti. This is exactly the way I like to eat: a choice of 2 verdure, 2 fromaggi and 2 salumi.

I choose artichokes and winter squash for my 2 vegetables, cacciatorini (a hunter style salami) and an Abruzzese salami (rustic pork) for my 2 salumi and, being in Canada, I picked 2 cheeses from Quebec: Baluchon (cow's milk) and Bleu Benedictin (cow's milk).

http://www.mercatto.ca/

http://www.mercatto.ca/_menus/Mercatto-Menu.pdf

Here's an idea

Here's a little snapshot of the impromptu cheeseplate I shared with my dad last week in Toronto. We found a Brie de Meaux and another triple cream in the fridge, along with some prosciutto and grapes. We both had martinis -- mine was vodka with a lot of olive juice and as many olives as my heart desired. Daddy's was more classic -- gin with vermouth, of course.

Marea

Delicious dinner last night at Marea. Two kinds of oysters (both east coast) and risotto frutti di mare followed by the "large" cheese plate.

As Adam Platt writes in New York Magazine, the portions really are tiny at Marea. My risotto was truly perfect but there just wasn't enough of it. Same for the cheese portions, as this picture will attest. Also, let it be known once and for all: I think manchego is the most overrated cheese. There, I said it.

I will say, though, that the barman did not hold back on the olive juice in my dirty martini. It was very briny and for that I say, thank you!

A joke about cheese

Thanks, Matt Spratt, for our first joke about cheese! Because really, Cheese & Reality could also be called Cheese & Happiness, Joy and Laughter.

Easter

Easter blessings: the most glorious weather, old and new friends and a perfect old fashioned dinner of ham, JC's scalloped potatoes*, haricots verts almondine, and mimosa salad. What could be springier than asparagus and eggs?!

Mimosa salad

Asparagus (cooked for exactly 3 minutes, not a second more; and this rule applies to skinny and chubby asparagus alike)

Dijon vinaigrette

Diced and/or sliced hard boiled eggs

Parmigiano Reggiano shavings

* that's Julia Child, not Jesus Christ

I [heart] rock 'n roll

Saturday night: cheese, wine and a rock concert. Oh yeah.

Pre-show nibbles at Bar Jamon. We had a beet salad with slice of valdeon (goat cheese) and a plate of sliced chorizo. The real standout was the spicy octopus with chickpeas.

The cheese selection was pretty good too. We had Leondra (sprinkled with granola, which frankly didn't add much), Garrotxa (with a very nice cherry tomato jam) and Malvorosa (but I can't remember the accompaniment).

Old friends

Last night at Bar Centrale, the cheese : wine ratio was definitely in favour of the wine. No matter, we still managed to squeeze in a few morsels of Comte, Garrotxa, Pierre Robert and my old friend, Blue d'Auvergne.

Ah, Blue d'Auvergne. You old standby. Discovered in the mid-1850s by cheesemaker Antoine Roussel, who realized that rye bread mold created the blue veining, which prickled the cow's milk cheese curd and improved aeration. Today, Blue d'Auvergne is aged for approximately four weeks in cool, wet cellars, a relatively short period for blue cheeses.

Blue d'Auvergne is a regular feature on my cheeseplates, especially when I'm in Toronto. We've been together a long time, B d'A and I. Which is funny and touching, considering that my friend Kate made her own Blue d'Auvergne discovery last night. I've only known Kate for 4 years but, like B d'A, I feel like I've known her forever.