Oaxaca's Smoked Chile Pasilla Gets a Late Summer Boost

Summer came and went far too fast. And by the time I caught up with its crazy fast pace, it was gone, but I still had designs on a few summer recipes I did not want to let pass. Case in point: the smoked chile from Oaxaca stuffed with summer peaches, ricotta, walnuts and raisins, served cold as a dazzling first course or appetizer.

This dish came my way by a dear friend Mary Jane who now lives in the smoked chile's hometurf of Oaxaca. It's so unlike the usual recipes seen here and here, that beg for savoury pairings. This dish counterbalances the smokey earthy flavours, defying it with fruit, nuts and balanced sweetness, and is served cold.

The smoked chiles and raisins are first hydrated in a friendly mix of freshly squeezed orange juice, tequila and cinnamon.

Ricotta cheese is then blended with piloncillo, toasted and chopped walnuts (save some for garnish), cubed ripe peaches, the raisins and the juice of one lime.

The hydrated chiles are cleaned of their inner seeds, stuffed with the lovely mixture and refrigerated until ready to serve.

The orange-cinnamon-tequila liquid now a luscious amalgam, is reduced to an even thicker design to be used to drizzle over the finished product. It's naturally sticky sweet with an agave kick and a cinnamon spiciness.

Time for a taste test. Oh yeah!

Ladies and gentleman, presenting......

A cooling, juicy, crunchy, sweet, smokey, spicy dish that dancing on the palate. It sings of summer, my dear friend MJ, and the delicious flavours of Oaxaca.

Recent Dishes Savoured: On The Road in Washington & Oregon

A road trip is remiss without roadside attractions. Besides the taco truck parked right across the street, this was Umatilla's redeeming feature in the arid landscape. I do believe this is John Wayne supersized.

A monster Cobb Salad somewhere in The Dalles.

Saffron in Walla Walla was a find. Chef Chris Ainsworth features Mediterranean flavours with the expected local, regional, housemade precept, and is walking distance from most of the tasting rooms in the city. Saffron also makes their own breads, including flatbreads, served at table with garlic-infused olive oil.

Lamb tartare with warm housemade flat bread was luscious, mixed with bulgar wheat, sweet onions, nigella seeds, cilantro, mint and chiles. Exquisitely done, very balanced. And the flat bread was sturdy and smelled amazing. I'd like to see bakers and chefs in BC make their own flat breads. All of our pita and Med-style flatbreads are pre-made, bagged and frozen, and rather dull of flavour. Except for the Sangak breads coming out of North Van. But I digress.

Ricotta gnocchi were served with ripe tart cherry tomatoes, goat ragu (goat. the new kid on the block) lovage and pecorino. Exquisite. Melt in your mouth luscious.

The other winning dish at Saffron is the octopus, grilled and heaped on top of local greens, seabeans, heirloom tomatoes and zhoug, a chile and herb spice mix that livened up the whole dish.Saffron's wine list also pays tribute to the Mediterranean and we found a refreshing bottle of Sigalas a crisp white hailing from Greece, something we last enjoyed in Chicago, at Taxim.

The amazingly convenient thing about a visit to Walla Walla wine country is that the winery's tasting rooms are not just at the winery but contained in the city's downtown core. Just pick a hotel or B&B and walk to each tasting room. Brilliant! I'd love to see this in Victoria.

We visited Charles Smith Wines with his hard edged and hip concept wines in an industrial setting.

And Walla Faces.

And on our way to Portland, we stopped in at L'ecole for some of their luscious reds.

Portland

With a considerable wait for a seat at Pok Pok, owner and chef Andy Ricker opened the Whiskey Soda Lounge across the street. Specializing in drinks and aahaan kap klaam, the drinking food of Thailand, the vibe was boisterous and fun and less stressed than Pok Pok.

We saddled up to the bar and enjoyed a Tamarind Whiskey Sour and a Rhubarb Blush with aperol,gin fresh lime juice and rhubarb bitters served on the rocks. We took in the room while watching wacky Thai music videos.

The hearty plates came next: Vietnamese fish sauce wings, spicy. Oh my goddess! Tangy, crispy, hot, juicy and lashed with a slightly sweet and spicy sauce, these really are the wings that you've been looking for all your life.

Next came the nightly special of pig bits trio: charcoal grilled pork jowl, tongue and crispy tail with a delightful tangy chile dipping sauce ($10!)

Back at Pok Pok, where you never know where you'll end up - they have seating everywhere within the warren-like space. We were in the basement area, and in retrospect should have stayed at Whiskey Soda Lounge. Regardless, the food is intriguing at both places (and the chef does have another 3 spots throughout Portland).

I enjoyed a dish of boar collars, served with sticky rice and an iced plate of mustard greens.

The Yam Samun Phrai was a refreshing Northern Thai herbal salad that topped off the night after the rich flavours enjoyed at Whiskey Soda Lounge. A mild coconut milk dressing smoothed the Thai chiles and the ingredients, ginger, peanuts, cashews, sesame seeds, carrots, parsnips, dry shrimp, ground pork, betel and lime leaf, sawtooth and fried shallots all played their distinctive roles: spicy, crunchy, bright, sour and soothing.

Lunch at Clyde Common. While the menu sounded enticing enough, the delivery kind of fell flat. Sliced pork sandwich with zataar spices, served with yogurt and cucumber was heavily salted, and the bun was your average white cheapie that added insult to injury. It made me sad.

Bill had the fried oysters with buttermilk dressing served with fries. The fries came with a noted dipping sauce of harissa and creme fraiche. (The leaning toward Middle Eastern spices I've encountered along the road has piqued my interest).

I will give Clyde Common this, they have an exciting cocktail program. We enjoyed barrel aged martinis done with beefeater and dry vermouth aged for two months in Tuthilltown whiskey barrels, and a Nasturtium done with Dolin Blanc vermouth, Domaine de Canton ginger licquer, Gentian, Quince and finished with lemon peel.

We enjoyed the cocktails even more at the tiny-sized Central in Chinatown. It's a tiny place that takes inspiration from speakeasy concepts, no website, no address on the front of the building and the bar is tucked behind the equally pint sized kitchen which is visible from the front window. I'm trying to find the photos but the drinks were innovative: some made with Ransom Old Tom gin from a Portland distiller. Old Raj Negroni made with Cocchi vermouth. The Sensei Sip with Old Weller bourbon matched with gen matcha.

We also enjoyed classic steak tartare done with traditional garnishes.

On to Seattle, where the burgeoning South Lake Union neighbourhood is showing great promise with many new restaurants such as re:public where we popped in dinner. Service was swift and pleasant and the food expertly wrought. This arugula-topped pork shank was killer, served with gnocchi, peas and a hearty tomato sauce, and at $20, superb value.

Tom Douglas has also discovered the area, with 3 restaurants, including the dahlia Workshop where biscuits are king. "The Zach" is the hungry man special, a biscuit encompassing fried chicken, tabasco black pepper gravy with a fried egg and bacon. Be afraid. Very afraid.

Before heading home, we toured through Tacoma to get a feel for the city. There's a small contingent of cool places, and Stink is one of them, boldly promoting ripe cheeses and cured meats. The saying goes, "We put the aroma in Tacoma."

We then headed out South Tacoma Way for some more roadside attractions. We were not disappointed. Bob's Java Jive.

The closed Chieftain with the adjoining Totem Room. Somebody's got to buy this place and give it some love.

Victoria

Intrigued with the use of Middle Eastern spices during our trip, I returned home and made a beeline to Mediterranean Specialty Foods (Lakehill Grocery) and into the hands of Yaseer Youseff who insisted on making me breakfast. Thick pita smeared with a mix of olive oil and zataar spices, baked and served hot with olives, thick pressed yogurt drizzled with a fragrant olive oil and sprinkled with dried mint. And a plate of cut green peppers, tomatoes and green onion, and a couple of espressos.

It was delicious and of course I left with tubs of zataar, sumac, cheeses, sangak and pita breads to create my own deliciousness at home.

Speaking with a Broad: The Vikram Vij Interview

Vikram Vij recently stopped by in Victoria to host some media at The London Chef and teach a fortunate few a cooking class later that evening. He was also here to begin the launch of 15 take home frozen curries, a new journey with the goal of seeing his line of food in stores across Canada and the U.S..

For those unfamiliar, Vikram Vij is the owner of Vij's, a popular Vancouver Indian restaurant renowned for their award-winning Indian cuisine, one that elevates it beyond its all-you-can-eat-buffet stereotypes. Using local ingredients and creating new dishes alongside the time- honored curries, using signature handground and blended spice mixes, Vij's has long garnered a cult following for dishes such as chickpeas in star anise and date masala, BC spot prawns in coconut and fenugreek masala, or the famed lamb popsicles in fenugreek cream curry.

Charming, personable - and funny - with exceedingly good taste, he laid the foundation of his business back in 1994 with his wife Meeru and a coterie of devoted employees, some who have been with him since the restaurant's humble beginnings.

The restaurant, a favourite of people from all walks of life, from around the world, in every income bracket, come as equals to stand in line and wait - sometimes up to two hours - for a seat at Vij's, to enjoy the nuanced curries, the deep fried snacks that are passed around as appetizers in the bar while waiting, the famed ginger-lemon drink, and the warm hospitality.

I caught up with Vikram before his media presentation to ask him a few questions.

What common misconceptions are there about Indian food?

The biggest misconception is that Indian food is fast, it's cheap and it's take away, and butter chicken and chicken tikka masala are the only two Indian dishes in the world.

For those who want to attempt Indian dishes at home, what would be some basics, some building blocks, to cooking successfully at home?

The first thing I would say is, buy your onions, ginger and garlic, chop them up. Get basic spices like cumin, coriander, cinnamon, garam masala, cloves, buy those spices and experiment and play with them. Make dahls, which are lentils, chickpeas which are simple to cook. So start with simpler dishes, simple masalas and then move on to the bigger, and try to experiment with them. Because it's almost like you can never know the music without actually knowing the notes. So, you can never write a song that's brilliant without knowing the basics of it. So you need to know some basics of this cooking.

Are there any essential tools one needs for cooking Indian cuisine?

Yeah, the biggest essential tool is patience, love and the desire to feed the family. Other than that, the ladles and the mortar and pestle and all that stuff, those come afterwards. The first desire is to say, I want to cook a delicious meal, has to be there. The passion to do a good job has to be there.

What ingredient(s) can't you live without?

I would probably say salt. I love my salt.

Do you have a guilty pleasure?

I love everything that's cooked with a lot of love and passion, but I love my deep fried stuff. I absolutely love it.

What was your first food memory?

Sitting on my grandfather's lap and having a bone of chicken in my mouth, that was spicy with my lips totally burning but I'm still loving the flavour of that chicken drumstick. It was a spicy chicken curry that my grandmother had made.

What inspires you?

I think when I come to a city like this, in Victoria, and I see how many people are interested now. Ten years ago, fifteen years ago if I had come here as an Indian chef I probably would have had no more than four or five people show up but tonight's class has 110 people on a waiting list, in an 18 seat class! So that to me is a testament that I've done my job, I'm pushing the limits, and letting people understand food and flavours.

What's your definition of a perfect meal?

A nice bottle of wine, simple but not over-fussed food and a really good conversation.

What do you always have on hand for impromptu entertaining at home?

Meats and sausages for sure, from a local butcher. I'll always have lots of spices, so I can add what I want, my pantry's full of different kind of spices. And rice.

How do you unwind after a busy day, wine or tequila?

Wine. For sure. We produce delicious wines. The Cowichan Valley produces delicious wines. Why would I drink tequila when I can drink wine at the end of the day?

If you weren't a restaurateur, what career would you have pursued?

Probably a Bollywood actor. That's what I actually wanted to do. I wanted to be a Bollywood actor and my father refused it so I became a chef. At the end of the day, it is still acting. At 5:30 when the doors open, and we have a restaurant that's busy, I am acting on stage, performing.

What would be your choice for your last meal on earth?

I would like to have a bowl of dahl (lentils), with two chapatis - which are homemade wheat breads - and I would like to have a bottle of local white wine.

Who would cook?

I would cook it myself. I would want to cook by myself, I'd love to cook it and take my time - because it would be my last meal. So I would love to smell the spices at the end, feel and enjoy the spices.

Would there be music?

Absolutely! There has to be Bollywood music.

With two successful restaurants, two cookbooks and a line of frozen foods and spices, what's next for Vikram Vij?

A new concept for Vij's which is, moving to a new location, a new idea for a restaurant so a third restaurant within two years, and to take our packaged foods across Canada and the States. To become a cuisine that - the journey that I started 16 years ago to bring the awareness of my cuisine and my culture to the rest of the world - to follow through on that journey and showcase that Indian food is not a cuisine that is just tucked under the carpet. That a few hippies went to India in the sixties and smoked dope on the beach of Goa and then they thought they knew Indian food. That Indian food is as versatile and as unique and as complex as any French, Italian or Californian cuisine.

Random Thoughts from Vikram

Who made you the most nervous at your restaurant? Martha Stewart

Who made you the most honored? Pierre Elliot Trudeau

The most fun? Anthony Bourdain - "he's hardrock."

On the balance of curry: "It should be subtle - your palate should never be hot."

On allergies: " If someone says they're allergic to curry, they're bullshitting."

On not taking reservations at Vij's: " I want everybody to be equal."

On enjoying his line of frozen curry meals: "It's not a TV dinner! I want you to relax and enjoy it."

Key to his enduring success: " To remain humble and focussed."

Be Obscure Clearly. Waitsburg, Washington

We'll travel great distances for the perfect meal. Or a well-crafted cocktail. We'll fight our way through intense traffic, traversing great distances, getting lost en route, all the while knowing that at the end of the road, our journey will be rewarded.

Case in point: in the blazing sun, after five hours driving through seemingly endless fields of wheat, corn, apples and vineyards, we arrived at our destination: Waitsburg.

Without strong recommendations from friends in Seattle, Waitsburg, a forgettable vision at first glance, is easily passed over. Without a place to stay, we headed to the hardware store, where the owner dialed a number and told us to ask for Leroy. Leroy was booked up but suggested we talk to Imbert who luckily was across the street. Imbert walked us over to his guest house, The Seven Porches, where we had to share the bathroom with Jim, a 70-year old man who was walking around the world. Things were getting more interesting by the second.

While we could have returned to the hardware store to enjoy birthday cake and ice tea - one of the locals had turned 90 - we washed up in anticipation of our ultimate destination.

jimgermanbar is a most astonishing place and provided us with one of the most memorable culinary experiences of this year. I instantly loved the minimalist decor, a bit of taxidermy here and there accenting white washed walls, and the daily menu written on butcher paper. It was an oasis of calm after our long journey.

Run by Jim German and his wife Claire Johnston who both moved from Seattle in search of more affordable real estate, a space to create art and to provide sustenance, they stumbled upon Waitsburg and two side-by-side properties for sale on the town's main street.

The view below is from the adjoining space for private functions, where Claire makes a mean paella. The late summer light added a magical touch.

But let's get started with some of our just rewards.

Jim German, a contemporary of the famed bartender Murray Stenson (in fact, German was the one who hired Stenson at his first post at Seattle's Il Bistro back in the day), of course mans the bar, and the front of house, along with an exceptional waiter, and draws a solid fanbase by evidence of the reserved signs for bar seating (next time!).

We began the evening with The Rooster, a concoction of Beefeater gin, campari and lemon, finished with champagne. Absolutely delightful.

Next came German's elegant take on a French 75, and equally exciting mix of Gin with pomegranate, sparkling, and garnished with a lemon verbena leaf, maraschino and crushed pink peppercorns.

The Terroirist, was a rye negroni, an earthy rejoinder of 1800 rye, cynar and chinotto, the Italian bittersweet soft drink.

The menu changes with the seasons and is very Spanish influenced. Claire heads up the kitchen, alone, with nothing but a single induction burner and small convection oven. Her food is nothing short of miraculous. Robust and simple flavours, perfectly prepared, using fresh ingredients, and made to order in her tiny kitchen. She refers to her menu as Etruscan snacks, a cheeky way of replacing the much used and abused word tapas.

Potatoes came roasted with cumin and served with a lemon-garlic aioli.

Then chorizo poached in red wine and spices.

Then a plate of crostini with Monteillet feta drizzled with a perfect amount of lovage oil and chopped chives.

The mix master himself, Jim German, delivered us a plate of lightly grilled Blue Valley grass-fed hangar steak with fresh garden chard and tarragon oil.

Frequently during the evening, hammering could be heard in the kitchen, it announced that yet another order of Claire's schnitzel was being prepared. Blue Valley pork tenderloin was pounded to order, breaded and pan fried and served with a salsa verde, a chunky, bright piquante and herbaceous accompaniment that perked up the schnitzel. Heaven.

Claire allowed me to take her photo in her kitchen, but only posed from the side in front of her photo and postcard collection.

As the day turned to night, we were treated to a selection of grappas and eau de vies from the Jim German collection.

Out into the night and back to our guest house, we knew that more adventures were in order in this, not a one horse town, but a one camel town (it's brought out during festivals). This included taking a look inside the Anchor Bar, owned by the wine producer, Charles Smith, and that German designed and decorated.

A view from the sidewalk into a Waitsburg resident's livingroom.

Staying at the Seven Porches, we were issued a $5.00 breakfast voucher to use at Imbert's (another Seattle refugee) other business, Coffei, the town's coffee shop next door to Imbert's third business the Times, Waitsburg's newspaper. While we waited for the Anchor to open, we came upon another eccentric passing through town. Cycling through town on his double frame bike, his cardboard sign read, Philly or Bust.

The Anchor interior where you can enjoy, pinball, beer, sloppy joes and on Tuesdays, tamales.

The bar, once a notorious "buckets and blood" hangout, is roadhouse meets cabin-in-the-woods feel, with lots of space for their future plans that include a restaurant.

A deluxe antler chandelier, vintage pinball machines, taxidermy and other bits of wildlife highlight the wood interior.

Before we headed off to Walla Walla, the hardware store owner offered us his store up for sale, Imbert said goodbye at the coffee shop, we met the resident Victorian period costume maker who upon asking how she was, answered, "crazy", and the collectibles store owner, who also ran the gym.

All in all , a wonderfully kooky and colourful collection of people that makes Waitsburg a must stop before heading to or from the wineries of Walla Walla. For the perfect cocktail, the perfect meal at jimgermanbar, or just maybe it's the place you want to call home. The hardware store is still for sale.