This is for Women! Stay Strong!!!..cuz without U, there’s nothing, obviously…If you fail, we are all fck***d!

 

 

 

Women First! Bless Women! The Lord, then Women, then Existence! I and You and WE all exist because there is the Lord, then a Woman! If u do not dig that one, then u do not understand who u r…!

Bless Women! The Lord, then Women, then Existence! I and You and WE all exist because there is the Lord, then a Woman!

My Blog is a personal blog, therefore  I do whatever I wanna do with it.  Therefore I will go with what matters most to my existence: The Lord and Women!

Respect Women! Respect your Worth!

You are nothing without the Lord and a Woman. I am nothing without the Lord and a Woman! We are nothing without the Lord and a Woman!

Leaving you with this beautiful performance of one of my ATFs, Mrs Hill:

 

 

As well as as a song that …might..perhaps …sound controversial, to the distracted minds….but listen, listen carefully….listen very carefully….it praises Women (rightly so!, because we would be nothing without the Lord and a Woman, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing….Men made things, Men made many things, but without a Woman, they would have made nothing…..so keep calm and do not get upset for nothing…Lol..that song is praising Women, NOT putting them down………) :

 

 

If you were Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffett what would you do?

This blog  is a personal blog. Most of the posts on this blog are about food, but it  remains a personal blog on which I blog about whatever I have in mind as you would do with a personal blog.

So in this post, an existential question.  If you were rich what would you do? If you were Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffett, some of this globe’s richest individuals what would be the #1 item on  your to-do list?

As far as I am concerned, the #1 item on my  to-do list would be this one: I would pursue the microcredit work of Muhammad Yunus across the globe.

I know that there have been controversies around Mr Yunus, but it is not the controversies that did appeal to me.

What  is of interest, in my case, is the idea of helping the less fortunate (the vast majority of humans on planet Earth) out of their misery, NOT…  because it sounds politically correct to do so. And NOT ..because I am a good person, NO..NOT AT ALL, but because that may potentially help fixing some of the major issues that we are ALL globally facing…since a long time, actually. It is just getting worst.  I guess you do not need a picture to understand what I am eyeing.

I believe that the worst thing to do if you want to seriously contribute to the emancipation of humans is to ensure that they are  dependent  on something or someone (yeah…try that, and they will be on your back forever) . The best recipe is to give a chance to the less fortunate (the majority of us) to thrive. It needs to be done cleverly, though:  if  you behave as if you were  Santa Claus giving away gifts to the world, you are fooling people by projecting the fake impression that  life is all about fairy tales. In other words, you are fixing….nothing!

What I like with the microcredit concept  that I am referring to, here, is that it is an attempt to  give a  second chance to  those who, slowly but surely, do have the genuine will — just not the means — to contribute to their local economies. Of course, there will be crooks, etc. Human beings, right? Lol. So what do you expect? Lol… But that is NOT an excuse. To move onward, we still need to see above and beyond the usual human flaws.

I believe that  idea can, in the long run,  make a major difference.

Now, some may ask … how come the initiative of Mr Yunus did not make that much of a difference so far? Oh Well, … guess what…one person, alone, cannot change the destiny of ton of people. We need more people like Mr Yunus to make that happen –  obviously !!

To wrap things up , I am NOT delusional enough to believe that is the sole remedy to the targeted issue, and I am conscious of  its  limitations as well as the reality that poverty will never disappear (and that…it is not because you give someone the means to thrive, that he will…as rightly pointed out by Ice T on this interview in between 2:25 to 2:28 , Lol ) , but it is certainly one of the realistic ways to try to address it, if you care enough for the living. Food for thought.

 

Chez Lévêque, Montreal

Chez Lévêque (year of birth: 1972) is one of the rare long-running restaurants of Montreal. It started with the name La Lucarne then was renamed Chez Lévêque and kept the name of Chez Lévêque ever since.

One interesting feature of their menu is the presence of a section dedicated to offal, which shows that they really care about genuine classic French cooking and not just focusing on what is easy to sell.

My dining companion did order: Homemade foie gras terrine (served with homemade brioche and pear ginger chutney) as well as Grilled whole royal sea bream  (Grilled whole fish, flambeed with pastis, steamed potatoes and vegetables). He was happy with both menu items (I had a taste of his Grilled sea bream, and indeed, the quality fresh  fish was  flawlessly cooked, the appealing fresh taste of the sea beautifully in evidence. Great sourcing).

 

I went on with:

–Quenelles de brochet, sauce nantua. Brochet is French for the freshwater pike fish. And Quenelles de brochet (pike quenelles) are basically pike dumplings, served sauced (with a crayfish sauce called sauce nantua) as a dish, famous in France’s commune of Nantua (where crayfish and pike abound) as well as in the city of Lyon. I do not think that you will easily find this classic at French restaurants in Montreal, therefore I was happy to see that Chez Lévêque offers this dish. This was the sort of quenelle that could only come from a good quenelle’s preparation (mix of the panade and the pike’s flesh). Timely poached quenelle with the expected perfect soft consistency. The sauce nantua tasted rich and delicious as it’s supposed to, its texture nicely creamy, its classic flavour profile at the fore. A good sauce nantua benefits from great quality ingredients and it’s exactly what happened here: the crayfish, the bechamel sauce, the butter, the cream were all of great quality. The pike, too, was of high quality. Good 7/10.

 

–Veal kidney madeira or mustard. Pan seared veal kidney. Choice of sauce: Mustard or Madeira. I did opt for the Mustard sauce. Quality mustard was used, the mustard sauce exquisite. Equally well made were the quality veal kidney, properly cooked rosé as per my request (which is the best doneness for veal kidney). In the old days, the traditional French veal kidney preparations were strong and very offal in flavour, and it was really an acquired taste. But this version is of the “easy to love” and “not of an acquired taste” sort, which makes it very accessible /easy to appreciate to all generations of diners, which is a great thing. The proper French technique and preparation were there, the relevant French flavour profile too, and the dish was tasty.  8/10.

 

–Île Flottante, basically a floating meringue with Crème Anglaise. This lovely French classic dessert was well executed with the quality fresh egg whites timely whipped, the floating meringue as beautifuly light as feather exactly as it should be, the intensity of the sweetness well judged and floating atop a good Crème Anglaise preparation (milk/egg yolks/vanilla/sugar). The genuine French flavor profile of this dessert, at the fore. As it should. It is rare that you will find Île Flottante at French restaurants in Montreal and when you find them, they are not always executed this well. 7.5/10

–Crêpes Suzette, guéridon service style (tableside service, if you prefer. Glad to see that this classic French traditional service is still possible at a French restaurant in Montreal). The sugar timely caramelized, the crêpes timely cooked, the proper classic French flavour profile was there and every single step of the classic French preparation and presentation was respected (flambéed tableside, etc). Loved the expressive grand Marnier and orange flavour (the sort of orange flavour that comes from superb quality oranges), exactly as it should. Fine enough. 6.5/10

Bottom line – Chez Lévêque is an institution that is not tired at all (even the interior design manages to be updated while keeping the classic French Brasserie feel at the fore) , which is, of course, something great. Instead it continues to cook food that tastes good, French classics  that do not feel dated at all (which, again and again, is something great), using well sourced ingredients. And  their “menu of the day” (à l’ardoise, to keep the theme of the classic French brasserie alive) sounded very inspired the evening we were there (we did not try them, on this specific meal, but their description were appealing). Chez Lévêque was good (tasty food, good service, nice ambience) and it is nice to see Classic French fares that are still properly executed in Montreal and that you do not see commonly elsewhere in town (for eg, offal, quenelle de brochet sauce nantua). French classics are lovely (I love it when I am in my mood of ‘I need my fix of andouillette, boudin, etc”), as always, and Chez Lévêque did age really well, indeed. Chez Lévêque. Addr: 1030 Av. Laurier O, Outremont, QC H2V 2K8. https://chezleveque.ca/

Fondue Haidilao, Montreal

Haidilao 海底捞 is a famous Chinese hot pot chain present on several continents. In Canada, you will find several Haidilao in Ontario and British Columbia. This one in Montreal  opened earlier in 2024. And “Fondue” is French for hot pot (hence the mention of “Fondue” in their name, here in Montreal).  Founded in Jianyang (Sichuan province) in 1994, it’s apparently the world’s largest hot pot chain.

The broths I ordered:

-The tomato broth  (Clockwise, it is the lil guy in the top left corner in the picture above) is very popular, according to the relevant online accounts as well as what the waitstaff told me. And indeed, it was a very enjoyable broth and one which popularity I can dig: nice expressive fresh tomato flavour, using quality tomatoes. The seasoning well judged. The pieces of tomatoes that were in the broth not falling apart, which shows how they care for important details that make a broth better (I was, one day, at another hot pot place and the same tomato broth had its pieces of tomato that were falling apart and I was like “”damn…omg…those folks are brutal, Lol. Zero care. But here, at Haidilao it is 100% caring for the little details that makes the experience of the broth really top. Haidilao is a classy place offering a refined hot pot experience , therefore they would have not  missed details like these, as expected).

 

–Spicy Beef Tallow Soup Base – Well the SBT soup base, my friends, I know what to tell you about it, but there are things I will also not tell you: I will not give you my opinion about this broth as it would be meaningless to you (whether I liked it or not will make no difference for you, as you are not …me,  obviously…). All I can tell you is that, in life, you need to try the authentic stuff as well (which this broth is all about) and not just opting for what is easy to love (I am directing this statement to non Chinese palates). You are at a Chinese hot pot, therefore be consistent and try, on top of the other broths (you can pick many broths, anyways) a genuinely Chinese broth. I know this broth and I know what to think about it, and I purposely ordered it for the sake of this review and for the sake of respecting the tradition of the hot pot place I was dining at. Encouraging you to try it, which is what I am doing, is all I care about as it is important to experience with what’s proper to the place that you are dining at. The genuine flavour profile was there, the broth really well executed (as spicy as advertised, and yet never allowing the spiciness to kill its core flavour profile, which is exactly what you are looking for in a well executed broth) so when you will get to taste it, you will know how it should genuinely taste like. At what it is, at what it’s supposed to be, they did a great job.

 

–Thai Tom Yum Hot Pot. I was at a Chinese restaurant, not a Thai restaurant, therefore, naturally, and lucidly, I was not going to expect Haidilao to pull off the same kind of  Tom Yum flavour I would expect from a Thai restaurant. What mattered here is that the core Tom Yum Thai flavour profile was still respected and it was a lovely broth (with, at the fore, the expected nice fresh core aromas of what Tom Yum are packed with,  such as the appealing fragrance of  fresh lemongrass ) that I would order again when I go back to Haidilao Montreal. And between you and me, I know some Thai places in Montreal that do not even get their Tom Yum base this right. I enjoyed dipping some of the meat in both the tomato broth and the Thai Tom Yum broth (but of course, do not mix both broths together…that will  not be the idea of the century. Just dip the meat in one broth, then dip it again in the other broth).

The meat:

Marinated beef meat. I tried this …………knowing …….exactly …..what was going to happen…… – On a grill (for eg, at a Yakiniku or Kbbq spot), this would have been a HIT.  As a hot pot, Nah, not at all, nowhere near. I perfectly understand what Haidilao was doing here (the marinade is superb), BUT…………yeah, it’s superb for BBQ, not that ….superb…for hot pot. Well, at least, from my standpoint……………………………..;p as it’s popular (so I may be in the minority here. Try it and see for yourself. Taste is always subjective, as always ………….).

 

Beef oyster blade — Advertised as being crisp and tender and that was accurate. It’s one of the most popular choices of meat at hot pots, and for good reasons, therefore no need to go on and on with the obvious. It’s like a popular hot chick…do you need a PHD in human behavior psychology to understand why she is popular? No! Lol. So, same thing here. The Beef oyster blade is a hot pick.

 

AAA Boneless Beef Ribs. Advertised as “Rich, marbled and tender beef”. Well, that was not just a tease but a reality as well.  Another popular protein at hot pot restaurants. Another hot pick, which slogan already has all you need to know about it.

As always, Haidilao was a charm. BTW, I know I was succint in some of the food item descriptions, but if you are really interested to learn more about the menu items of Haiilao, then you will be happy to learn that on their web site, they have detailed information about their food items (even suggesting what to pair with your broths, etc). Take advantage of that, as few restaurants in the world have such an informative online presence.

 

Bottom line: I tried Haidilao once in the past and that was in Toronto. Somehow, I preferred the one of Toronto, but there’s no denying that Haidilao Montreal is really good and yep, easily one of the very best hot pot places in Montreal (and that is what matters, here). The place is new, clean, service is  superb, the sourcing of the ingredients is great and the broths are well prepared. I hope they do well and thrive in Montreal as they deserve that (they work so well). Haidilao is classy but relaxed, which is great. It seems like, in Montreal, the chains are doing way better than plenty of solo operations, these days………….a reminder that in life….nothing is set in concrete………..hahaha…………..

The greatest VOICES of ALL TIME…here are mine, what are yours? Merci, Luce!

Yup…Yeup…yep..I know it’s supposed to be a food blog, but, at the end of the count,  it is …a personal blog. Therefore, I throw whatever I wanna put on my blog. So, food is good, indeed. But for me, Music is better. Way better.

In this post, je voudrai rendre hommage à ce que je considère comme étant la première puissance mondiale artistique: Le QUÉBEC! À Caesar ce qui appartient à Caesar, comme diraient nos amis Anglos.

I love artists because they create. It is amazing, for me, to see people … creating. And Québécois are world class crafters. They paint, and it’s the painting the world has got to beat. They sing, and the world has to beat that song. They draw, and it’s the same pattern. It’s just amazing to see such a nation that is almost uniformly creative/artistic. They just have it. In French, we say ‘tu l’as ou tu l’as pas’ j(not to be taken in an arrogant way).

So, for this post, j’ai le gout de rendre hommage à des voix d’anthologie, des voix du Québec. Québec, que tu m’aimes ou pas, j’en ai rien à foutre. Pour moi, ce qui compte, c’est que je t’aime. Le reste c’est de la shnoooooooooot! ;p Je t’aime et t’aimerai toujours, que ca te plaise ou pas. hahaha.

Alors, wow…mon beau Québec, par où commencer? Ok…écoutes, Luce, Luce Dufault. Quel voix!  Luce is, for me, one of the greatest  voices of all time. But she seems to be humble and does not seem to make any noise, so the world  will perhaps never hear of her. Mais wow…quelle voix! Merci Luce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…I discovered Luce, ages ago,  through Dan Bigras ‘Tue moi’. She did barely sing on that song. But  I listened to her own songs, and wow. Luce has one of the greatest voices of all time. And if you do not agree, I do not want to see you anywhere near me. Thank you – Lol.

Québecoises, Québecois, Québec…wow, vous  êtes artistique  et créatif en mosus………..c’est fou

 

Chat 2 u soon…in the meantime, enjoy one of my preferred artists of ALL TIME. SHE is one of the GREATEST! Abaraka baake, Sona Jobarteh!

 

And Sona with her lead guitarist:

 

 

Always thought Wyclef was a genius and Haiti…., well ya know…my heart is broken just 4 now … but u and I know that better dayz r ahead. With the Lord’s blessing, it is all gonna be alright ….

Always thought Wyclef was a genius…damn he is so spectacular,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

 

 

 

and Haiti…., well ya know…my heart is broken just …4 now …and that lil heart get rarely broken, Lol…trust me…but u and I know that better dayz r ahead. With the Lord’s blessing, it is all gonna be alright. Just wish I could be relevant, Lol…too bad I am not relevant, but it is Ok, …………….

Haiti, ma chérie, un jour …. un beau jour….en attendant, tiens le coup. Tu comprendras et tout sera soudainement clair/net/approprié/à point. On s’en reparle. J’ai confiance. Laches pas! Pour l’instant et pour bien du monde, on est impuissant. Si HB …. qui, dans son temps, ne chantait pas que pour le plaisir de chanter….a chanté ta gloire, toi Haiti ma chérie, toi ma jolie….si belle..mais punie pour ………ce que l’on sait tous…..si moi, qui ne tombe pas pour n’importe quoi…suis tombé pour toi… crois moi, que c’est pas pour rien…n’en déplaise aux sceptiques … un jour tu te leveras et leur **** …ce jour arrivera….t’as eu le courage que plein d’autres n’auront pas dans 300 vies…ca va fesser for a while, a very long while, c’est sur……..but those in the know…well, they know ur worth, so at the end of the day, you will have the last laugh.

 

Common misconceptions in the dining world

Some of the numerous common misconceptions in the dining world:

1.Thinking that a food journalist is always knowledgeable.
Although a journalist is supposed to learn, gather information, be knowledgeable about what he/she writes, well…it’s actually, unfortunately, not always the case.
I wish, to take an example, that I would be in a position to tell you that some of this globe’s popular food journalists know what they are talking about, but I would lie to you if I’d get to such conclusion. First, before I get to the point I want to raise, and that’s important for you me to underline this here: this is not about the stupid infantile bashing of journalists that is trending these days a bit everywhere like. Nah, I am not into that crap, Lol. Thank you. Now, let’s get to what I am talking about: many of the popular food journalists out there are, in reality, knowledgeable about one aspect or two of what they write about.
For eg, if you carefully play attention at the writings of most popular food journalists in the West, they know Western food very well, indeed. But they are clueless about anything that is not Western. Up to this stage, it’s (relatively) still all good…
But here’s the major (and unacceptable) problem with them: why do they write about food on which they spend zero effort of genuine knowledge? You would think that, before reviewing, say, Chinese food, to take an example, they would, at least, spend couple of years alongside those in the know and then come back and know what they are talking
about…Niet..Nein…Nada..Nothing…C’mon folks….are you really interested to take your job seriously? Were you really thinking that would not show? C’mon…

2.Thinking that a native knows his food better than a non native.
Well, obviously a native should know his food better than a non native, right? Yeah, that’s a common belief that is supposed to make perfect sense, do not get me wrong about the fact that I perfectly understand that it should supposedly make perfect sense, but then, on the chess board, you need to think a bit further, and not too far, actually, Lol: is that native interested by food, to start with? Lol. And if that native is interested by food, does he have a palate? I mean, yeah you can be interested by food, but if you do not have a palate, well…it beats the point. I can be a non native, but If do the right homework to know the food of that native better than what that native does, that native  will be less relevant obviously. It might take me longer, to understand his food better that he is supposed to, there is no doubt about that, but if I do what it takes to get there, and he is doing shit, Lol…I’ll do a better job than him, again and again….obviously. So, as you can see, there are things like that, that we take for granted, but if you think properly, if you think, and not just dumbly recite stereotypes, they are not to be taken for granted at all. Far from that ………

Home cooking – The most influential Chefs in your Home cooking

 

 

Mine are Chefs Jacques Maximin and Jean-Paul Giroux. I have perfected, at home, over the years, every single of their recipes.

I love their sense of flavours. They seem to have a superb palate and their recipes are my cup of tea. They are the most influential Chefs in my Home cooking.

That said, I also had a lot of fun with the books “Au Pied De Cochon” (Chef Martin Picard), and do enjoy trying innovative, contemporary ideas of the newer generations of Chefs as well, as long as it’s not too geeky ;p

And you, who are the most influential Chefs in your Home cooking?