Investigating Innovation: An Imagination, The Instigation & The Inspiring Immortalization - The End of The Cooking Chef(?)

[On a Personal Note:]

Firstly:
Sadly, all good things (like this blog), must come to an end. There is no better way to leave a mark on readers (yes, you) than to deliver an unnecessarily concluding message, which subsequently leads to......

Secondly:
There are an unimaginable plethora of ways for a person to show passion. It's a powerful word passed down from generations as a morally invaluable lesson that can easily be summarized in 4 words:

"Do What You Love"
- Pretty much everyone.

All verbal antics aside, writing gives me a way to express some heart, soul & true genuine character that can turn a simple assignment, into a great chance to freely (& enjoyably) produce a unique form of art in the style of print. In other words, any sort of writing without guidelines or limiting boundaries gives me a chance to push my mind out of that dreaded comfort zone that tends to strenuously snare us all in everyday life. As a result (metaphorically speaking), an ordinary person can become mightier with a keyboard (or a pen) than the chef's knife (or a sword). That sense of empowerment of being able to produce powerful products simply with just words, along with the positive feedback you get that drives you to continue creating your own form of art (because everyone has a special way of creating something beautiful) is what spurs my passion (& style) for writing.

How does all of this relate to the title? Innovations (as I believe it to be) are the subsequent chain of events that take place after one's passion gradually pushes a person's mastery to the point where any dream perceived impossible becomes a reality.

[Interlude]

One sort of innovation that revolutionized a full portable meal is actually hiding behind your kitchen cabinet right now. Depending on how often you don't make your own meals (or if you're feeling lazy at times), this particular invention is usually bought in packs... Or also commonly sold in the form of sealed cups perhaps.

Okay, for the sake of taking up your time with lame riddles they're INSTANT NOODLES.

In the culinary world they are dreaded for being 110% processed.

In the student life, they are considered a godsend for being highly affordable (& life-saving).

From my mom's perspective they give you cancer if you have over 2 servings a day. I call Bogus!!!

In my eyes, I see it as one of the best food inventions ever made.


Meet Momofuku Ando (1910-2007).

Image From: http://luckypeach.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ando-970x450.jpg

Born in luxury to a Taiwanese family in the early 1900's (the golden century of almost every invention ever patented), Momofuku Ando grew up as an orphan raised by his grandparents, who both ran a small fabric production business. Ando enjoyed spending his time helping out his family in the shop, while at the same time learning the ropes of running a retail business which led him to start his own in his early 20's.
Wanting to learn more about how to operate his business, Ando moved to Japan where he studied at a private university until he ban to open new ventures within in the fabrics industry.

Despite enjoying his new-found success managing multiple businesses at a young age, World War 2 at the time had burned up many of Japan's resources towards the war effort, and food became a big issue. In an unfortunate turn of events, Momofuku Ando was propelled into the food industry after his businesses collapsed like dominoes. One by one as each venture went down, Ando became penniless despite hanging onto a small salt-production business (which would grow to become Nissin)

But that's just the beginning of this flash-frying, water-pouring, umami-filled adventure.

One day, Ando was roaming the streets of Osaka. Upon seeing United States rations of bread being handed out to its impoverished citizens, Ando began to ponder about the absence of noodles in the markets. Asking the government on why Japan's staple food item was growing scarce, Ando was only told that many productions companies ceased after the war.

Frustration (and some determination) made Ando realize that hunger was something that everyone suffered. Wanting to change that for the better, Ando adopted an aphorism that would be the driving point to his success:

"Peace will come to the world when the people have enough to eat."
- Momofuku Ando

And so, Ando began to revise his salt-producing company into making something much different: Noodles!

Wanting to create a special kind of noodles that could be eaten anywhere in convenience, Ando locked himself in his backyard shed & began experimenting with various methods to preserve & revive noodles. Each failure became a new clue for Ando after each attempt, and eventually Ando cracked the code when he saw his wife making Tempura one night for dinner. Ando had pioneered the Flash-Frying Method in his noodles after practicing the similar technique of deep-frying foods in hot oil with small batches of ramen (divided in servings). Applying hot-water with the dried-up noodles, Ando waited several minutes until he saw the noodles expand into a prepared instant-meal!

Success then followed as Ando converted his salt factory into an instant noodle production establishment. Initially considered a luxury item as instant noodles were priced expensively, they became rave as prices were dropped to just less than 13 cents (now $1).

Image From: http://eatlikeagirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/yokohama-cup-noodle-museum-1958.jpg

Wanting to make noodles EVEN MORE convenient, Ando took the extra mile by creatively selling noodles in a polyurethane cup so that they could literally be prepared on the spot (with hot water), and be easy to hold while being simple to eat with while the cup's material kept the meal warm (also so that you don't look ridiculous & lower your own self-esteem by eating noodles with a full-sized bowl during daily commutes). In this new form factor, Momofuku Ando had thought of the perfect meal to snack on-the-go!

This is how I die: In a sea of scrumptious broth & Monosodium Glutamate with artificial processed garnishes all through a variety of flavours to choose from at a ridiculously low price.
Image From: http://eatlikeagirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/yokohama-cup-noodle-museum-noodle-pots.jpg

Cup Noodles took the world by storm. All over the world, many have adopted instant noodles as a staple food kept in the average household. From a small shack in Osaka to every supermarket in the globe, this delicacy (I use that word as a true junkie for instant noodles) wouldn't have been possible without three crucial aspects that guided Ando throughout his journey:

Service:
As Ando wanted to create something that would fix the issue of hunger for everyone, he particularly focused on producing noodles for people as the country wasn't producing as much. This self-obligation is what pushed Ando into making a super-convenient meal for all to enjoy.

Process:
Success happens when you're willing to fail miserably over & over again until you get what you want. Ando never gave up despite trial & error on an elaborate (yet simple) way to preserve noodles. Refusing to give up, Ando eventually (and unexpectedly) found the method of flash-frying. From tht point on, Ando took small steps, gradually rising from sampling Instant Noodles locally to expanding his empire overseas. When it comes to a process towards innovation, failure (humility) & perseverance are the stepping stones to achieving greatness (you can literally do anything you wanted if you have these big three abilities).

Technology:
Flash-Frying is a special preserving method for instant ramen where noodles are subjected into hot oil where the water inside the dough is forced out by the hot temperatures of the oil (think of it as evaporation on a molecular level). When the noodles are taken out, they are shrunken & dry from a lack of moisture until hot water is added. Not only does the moisture from the water revive the noodles to their prepared state, but it is also cooked from the hot cooking temperatures.

[Epilogue]

When that seemingly impossible innovation happens, the subsequent impact it could have on the world (or perhaps the way we live) can inspire many sceptical philosophers to the point where even those kinds of people are driven to pursue their own passions & possibly change the world (they realize that anything is possible). That is how more innovations occur and the cycle continues as people find more & more unique, effective ways to change the world for the better.

I'm glad to have created The Cooking Chef (and the banners, blog design & my epic logo. Thank a year of taking Graphic Design for that!), and most of all I'm glad to have had the chance to write in a way that can turn assignments into something special. Come to think of it, I may have found my own passion in the form of Journalism (shocker)!

Honestly though, I don't know where my life will take me. Either in a newsroom or at the front of my future restaurant, but letting the chips fall where they may is slowly showing me what I'm truly meant to be doing that really makes my world such a thrill ride.

- Clement

Yes, I have a logo. No, it's not weird at all to have one. Maybe it'll be useful in the future?

(P.S. You deserve a round of applause if you've read all of this. Here's a quote to keep you thinking).

From: http://www.truthcontrol.com/files/truthcontrol/images/crazy.jpg

Nutrition: A Week's Inquisition, Healthy Ambition & Dietary Addition

Have I ever told you that I enjoy making these titles? Eight posts in, I'm on a roll!

If the title of this post gave off enough exposition, Nutrition is an incredibly important topic to write a thousand words about (no really, do sit back & relax. Get cozy with a warm beverage before reading).

The human body must consume an assortment of fruits & vegetables, milk & dairy products, grain products and meat (& alternatives) to make sure our systems have many types of essential nutrients it needs to grow (and not die).

When it comes to making food as a chef (and of course eating it), it is his/her responsibility as artsy creators & builders (also possibly picky if you have OCD) to ensure that our customers are being served a diverse combination of foods in the time they spend at a restaurant.

In a typical daily menu (depending on where you go), many restaurants would include 3 courses to start: Appetizers, Main Course & Desserts. In each comes a variety of dishes the customer could choose:

Appetizers (Typical):

Breads: Usually put on the table first as a filler (& palate cleanser) for the hungry customer, what kind of restaurant would leave this out of their menu? If such establishment exists without bread being served, the critics out there have some bad news for them...

Salads: Mixed green vegetables are the staple choice for customers everywhere prior to making cholesterol gains with a main course. Both refreshing, choosing salads makes the customer feel like he's making a healthy choice (it's false hope if Caesar dressing is involved)! Many restaurants now dedicate a section on the menu just for salads.

Any kind of Seafood: Socialite-approved, it's a great starter to satiate the eager carnivores. Fish is both succulent & expensive (which makes it the perfect starter to make some quick money). Traditionally served with citrus or even raw (as a ceviche) for fanciness, these appetizers satisfy in Omega 3 fatty acids.


Main Courses (Typical):

Protein: As this type of dish is the main reason many bring their significant others with to enjoy, generous amounts of meat on your plate are what keeps the customers coming back. Beef & Chicken take the form of Steaks & Breasts (respectively), & are always accompanied with a side dish such as veggies, potatoes or rice. Sauces on these main courses affect the nutritional value, so do heed, & be wise!

Sandwiches: A bundle of joy consisting of breads hugging an assortment of meats, vegetables & garnishes within, Sandwiches are a nutritional godsend (if made carefully) as you can have one of each food group in one satisfying serving. Typically, a wide selection of sauces (& mayonnaise) are included inside.


Calories (I meant to say, Typical Desserts!):

Cakes: Serving as the ultimate celebratory food for all sorts of occasions, these sweet, cool, tasty slices of heaven are suggested to the customer typically at the LAST MINUTE to keep them in the restaurant a little longer (and again, to make some more money. How is that for Culinary capitalism?) Both high in fats & sugar.

Ice Cream: These dairy products are what keep many (including myself) happy on summer days. Ice cream is a very popular dessert dished out which is incredibly high in fats & fruit concentrates.

Making use of the concept that balances out one of every food group effectively in a serving, I aim to please with a recipe that covers it all: Sushi!

Salmon Nori Roll (12 pieces):

The Filling:
- 1/2 pc Julienne Cucumber (De-seeded)
- 1 pc Julienne Avocado
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tamagoyaki Egg Mix (2 Eggs, 2 Tbsp Mirin, 1 Tsp Sugar)
- 2 Salmon Fillets, sliced into thin strips

The Casing:
- 1 & a 1/2 Cup Sushi Rice
- 1 Sheet of Nori (basically, a sheet of dried Seaweed)

Directions:

0. COOK YOUR SUSHI RICE WITH A RICE COOKER WITH CORRECT WATER/RICE RATIO

1. Prepare the Tamagoyaki Egg by mixing Eggs with Mirin & Sugar.

2. On medium heat, spread your Vegetable Oil on the pan. Pour in your Tamagoyaki batter,                 covering the entire pan

3. Leave the egg cooking as a whole layer, when fully cooked carefully & quickly roll the egg sheet       up! Remove from pan & let it cool over a surface. When cool, slice into strips!

4. To make the filling, julienne your Cucumber & Avocado. Cut your Salmon Fillets into Julienne     as well.

5. Mise en Place is done! To form the roll, lay out your Nori sheet. Spread rice on top, leaving no       spaces. 4 inches up from the bottom-edge of the sheet, lay out your filling ingredients across           in a straight horizontal line.

6. Grabbing the bottom end & enveloping the filling, carefully & tightly roll the Nori over                       everything, gripping the roll with your fingertips & tightening as you go.

7. Cut this roll into 12 proportionate pieces.

8. Serve! (Congratulations, you learned how to make sushi)


While I possibly can't maintain a healthy lifestyle by depending on this one recipe every day, my routine stretches to enjoying all sorts of foods from fruits, popcorn and stir-fry. My main goal is to balance a healthy lifestyle while enjoying the food that I choose to eat (freedom)!

In a typical week for me, my diet consists of:

Monday:
- Breakfast: Sunny Side Up Eggs w/ a Sausage & 3 slices of SPAM
- Lunch: a Fit for Life Grilled Chicken Wrap with Chicken Breast, vegetables & mozzarella                       cheese.
- Dinner: Steamed Rice with Fried Fish, Garlic Cauliflower, Beef Brisket & Chicken soup.
- Clementines (Yes, I'm eating my own people)

Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Tim Horton's Double/Double Steeped Tea, Blueberry Muffin
- Lunch: BAKING CLASS! NO LUNCH.
- Dinner: Shrimp Pad Thai from Thai Express
-Snack: Popcorn, Milk, Clementines (Yes, I have them regularly. Tasty, & affordable!)

Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Tim Horton's Double/Double Steeped Tea, Blueberry Muffin
- Lunch: a Fit for Life Grilled Chicken Wrap with Chicken Breast, vegetables & mozzarella                       cheese (the usual at school)
- Dinner: New York Fries Triple Pork Poutine
- Snack: Milk, Clementines (Yes, I have an addiction to them but also accounts for healthiness!)

Thursday:
- No Breakfast: Early 8am Lab!
- Lunch: Homemade Beef Noodle Soup with udon, beef broth & eggs
- Dinner: Peking Duck & BBQ Pork served with Steamed White Rice! (& a can of Nestea)
Snack: Popcorn, Milk, Homemade Shortbread Cookies (I ran out of Clementines... Bummer)

Friday:
- Breakfast: Sunny Side Up Eggs w/ a Sausage & 3 slices of SPAM
- Lunch: Sandwich: Swiss Cheese, Bacon Weave layer, Sliced Tomatoes, Lettuce & Mayonnaise   (am I making you hungry?)
- Dinner (aka Clement's Wild Night Out): Honeydew Bubble Tea w/ Aloe Vera, Pho Noodle         Soup w/ Beef Brisket & Bean Sprout, an Apple.

Looking back at my week of indulging, I realized that I have started to become reliant on prepared foods, as time & convenience act as driving factors in making me gain lots of cholesterol & quite possibly an overdose of Vitamin C (all because Clement ate all of those Clementines. I tried to avoid being redundant, honestly).

In truth though, there are many things I need to work on. As a chef; despite being sick of cooking after a long day of cooking in labs, I should push myself an extra mile to create some real, organic dishes that I can enjoy on nights when I'm not home & winter weather makes it too cold to go out on groceries (living in a dorm has its price, and I'm not just referring to the rent!). As a result, that's where prepared food comes in for me.

Also, I could continue to encourage my heavy drinking of homogenized milk, as it has gained me much-needed weight. Maybe finding a way to reduce Vitamin C from Clementines would be to add  yoghurt into my diet, as it has both dairy & fruit products in it. Two birds with one stone! 

My choice does not need to necessarily subtract anything in particular besides the overeating of Clementines, but I do need to begin combining certain foods together as to avoid going over nutrients (it's very possible!).  Also, another choice would be to avoid fatty foods like the tempting but deadly Canadian stuff of dreams: Poutine!

The Spectacular Sustenance of Sovereign Farms: An Expedition for an Exposition

(Please, do set the Pulitzer Prize on the left side of my desk for that extravagant title)

Ever see the North Section directly in front the St. Lawrence market? It's that big sketchy building across the street that's always empty whenever you walk by it most of the time.........

...........except for Saturdays!

Every once a week on this magical occasion, the North Market becomes open! And it's filled with people (duh).

Aside from the thousands of visitors that come to shop, the main attraction that dominates the Market are the numerous farmers that grow & distribute their own produce at low prices (yes, even during the winter, there are farmers markets. With real organic food. Every Saturday. Aspiring chefs everywhere can freak out in joy now).

I had the opportunity (or better call it, a positive-burden) to wake up at 7 am (because who does that on a Saturday, right?) & travel to Toronto to witness all this retail mayhem unfold on a regular day.

As soon as I walked in, it was a culinary wonderland.......

With my grind music on, I was walking through the rushing bunches of eager customers competitively hunting for the right deals while completely drowning out the sense of urgency to run through my mission, & enjoy my time while I could before flocking journalists & last-minute students swarmed the warehouse.

To visualize, I was utterly speechless when I saw what the first few sellers had to offer. Although it was a farmers market in the winter (and being simple-minded at times) I was expecting a low, dwindling supply of organic foods at this time. Boy, was I wrong (so wrong).

I saw a nice abundance of some of the finest (perhaps rare as well) ingredients that students in George Brown's cooking labs were given the chance to use. Venison tendon (hey, that rhymed), buffalo meat & even large whole clean animal bones were among the few meats you wouldn't find at a regular butcher.

Like a prehistoric guy seeing fire for the first time, I was too interested holding a handful of turnips & wondering why there is so much dirt covering each one. Being raised with industrial produce for most of my time, it was pretty cool to know that the farmers here aren't messing around, and the fact that they pull vegetables straight from nature & sell it in its natural state certifies its freshness (it doesn't get more real than that).

All ecstatic reflections aside, I did say I was on a mission. Meet Wes Sovereign (coolest. last. name. ever). He's the most popular farmer (and the most socially qualified among the rest of the busy farmers) to set time aside for a nice story.

Exposition time!

Wes Sovereign was actually born from a long line of farmers. Since the 1800's, sustainability was the policy for this family as they made most of their agricultural business with the vast acres of land won over to them in light of the ever-growing demand of farming at the time (call it: The Golden Age of Organic Farming).

When Wes was old enough, he lived through most of his childhood learning how to produce food. Call it a slightly clichéd way of becoming a farmer, but Wes' skills further developed into a passion when farming grew on him.

Fast-forward into his later years, Wes was not always a farmer. For a time, he worked at an industrial factory for financial support, as many contractors were taking more farming land & the farm itself couldn't make all of the income earned annually.

However, something lucky happened. While Wes was on the verge of being a part of some massive layoffs in his workplace, his experience & reputation kept him safe, allowing him to continue earning. At that point, he had an epiphany. He took this as a wake up call to leave his workplace to go back to his one passion (while he still had the money to rebuild his organic empire).

And so, he did!

Half a decade later (which brings our story from Media Res to the Present Day), Wes has brought his business to the St. Lawrence Farmers Market every Saturday, sharing the fruits of his labour (Every. Pun. Intended) with everyone.

And that's where I come in... (with the harder, compelling questions)

Asking Farmer Sovereign about his philosophy on farming, he modestly stated that although he works out of his love for the soil, farming organically as his drive stems from his fierce determination to stay true to growing "real food", as many industrial (fake) foods currently dominate the market. Growing up from a long line of farmers, Wes Sovereign knows better than many people about "Simple Farming".

Wes did mention that although he uses a bit of chemicals on his produce, the compounds in his solutions are to simply keep the fruits & vegetables from dying during harsh seasons. Aside from that fact, he supports farming with "free land", and greatly opposes the destruction of agricultural areas where you could grow an entire field of corn rather than building another "concrete foundation" of parking lots & more industrialized factories making fake foods.

Again, "Simple Farming" is the norm at Sovereign Farms & every day, Wes works hard to keep customers happy while spreading awareness that there is a whole other agriculture you could experience if you try purchasing foods outside of the local supermarket.

Keep farming, & keep fighting Wes.

Duck, Duck l'Orange! (a continuation of Duck, Duck, Goose!)

Nailed the title this time.

Sooner or later it would come down to this (what's the point of purchasing meat if you don't cook it?).

Moving on from last time, the animal I have summoned for my culinary exploit is the classic game bird, Duck (but you already knew that, right? I hope you read the last post. I literally spent $18 for food so that I could talk about it)!

To recap further, the part that I have specifically chosen (much to the surprise of every chef) is the breast part of the duck. With this duck breast, there is no perfect dish to make with this delicate piece except for...........

.............. Duck a l'Orange (shocker)!

To make Duck a l'Orange, the process is straightforward:

Score the skin to a cross-hatch pattern (a sophisticated way to say you're cutting X's on the top of a food like a waffle),

Render the fat & frying the breast skin-side down first to melt the fat through the cross-hatch (there is a use for those X's besides appearance. Everything's connected!).

Roasting the breast for internal temperature, using the fats to create an orange sauce (self-explanatory).

Serving! (Serving!)

To further establish this process, here is a recipe brought to you by the one and only, Chef John (if you think my fourth-wall style of writing is absurd, just wait until you've seen half of Chef John's videos!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ua-qSqHMg

From the video, the recipe is as follows:

Duck a l'Orange (Recipe from Food Wishes):

Ingredients for 2 portions:

2 duck breasts

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp duck fat or vegetable oil

1 tsp flour

2 tsp grated orange zest

2 tbsp Grand Marnier (orange liquor)

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

pinch of cayenne

1 rounded tbsp orange marmalade (preferably Seville orange marmalade)

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp butter

extra zest for garnish

Instructions:
1. Take a knife to score a cross-hatch pattern across the skin of the duck breast.
2. Season the breast with salt to draw out moisture.
3. Prepare the orange sauce by combining orange juice, zest, grand marnier, sherry vinegar,          marmalade & just a touch of cayenne powder. Finish by adding a cup of duck stock. Whisk.
4. Pat your duck breasts dry. Re-season prior to cooking. Pre-heat a pan on medium heat (2 minutes).
5. Place your duck skin-side down on the pan. Render the fat, season with salt & pepper if needed.
6. Cook for 6 minutes skin-side down, and 4 minutes meat-side down.
7. Remove breasts from the pan, let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Reserve the duck fat.
8. In the same saucepan, add your teaspoon of flour to create a roux. Put in your sauce mixture,          whisking as you reduce. Bring to a simmer, and add in your butter. Mix until butter disappears.
9. Slice your rested duck on an angle, plate & drizzle (or spoon) your sauce over the duck. Garnish with extra orange zest. Enjoy!

Expanding on my choice of meat from Part 1 of this "Duck-lemma" (horrible, just horrible but it works), my reason of choosing to create Duck a l'Orange was to challenge myself in creating a very complex dish with only the simplest methods (to prove that anything was possible, and this recipe was no challenge at all). Aside from that motive, another driving point behind this choice was that I had the opportunity to work with a Game Bird once again as my first attempt at orange duck wasn't exactly the best. Deciding to have Round 2 with this beast was one of the best decisions I had ever made in my whole entire week (but yes, I wanted to exceed last time's results).

Sorry for the long post, here is the Duck a l'Orange dish I have taken great excitement into waiting until the end of the post to unveil it (reading is fun, I encourage it),

Enjoy!

Duck a l'Orange, served with caramelized Asparagus, Zucchini & Risotto Bianco! Garnished with Cucumbers!

Duck, Duck, Goose! (Actually, just Duck).

All lame titles aside, the one attribute about Duck that gets to me the most is how you could make some of the world's finest dishes with it......

........ and you could simply buy it frozen at your local Asian supermarket! Unbelievably awesome.

The Duck (or Anas Platyrhynchos if you would like to impress your friends), is only one category of species among the many families of birds. Unlike your average poultry such as the chicken or turkey, I admire this majestic creature for its incredibly high count of fat packed in its underside. As ducks enjoy flying in flocks near bodies of water, Ducks can be classified as game birds (another trait of this animal that had to make me try this bird). 

Remember those hundreds of birds you shot back in the 1990's with this video game?
(Picture From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Hunt#mediaviewer/File:DuckHuntBox.jpg)

What's more painful: The fact that it's sold frozen, or literally having your hand stuck to this incredibly cold piece of duck?

This particular cut of the Duck is "the breast". Found on the underside of this mallard, the breast is the most traditional part that is extracted from the bird for many contemporary dishes in the culinary industry such as "Duck a L'Orange" and a braised dish commonly known as "Duck Confit". In many cases, many butchers leave the skin of the breast intact, as it contains much succulence in between the meat (fat). When scored & rendered, the delicious fats are considered to be a valuable ingredient which should be stored & reused (if you decide to waste & throw out the duck oil, the culinary gods will never forgive you for such a crime). 

"Duck a l'Orange", served with orange vodka reduction sauce & garnished with orange zest with cucumbers. Plating designed by Ruby Nguyen. (photo taken May 8th, 2014)

"Duck a l'Orange", made in the 12th grade. I still think Ruby plated it better than I did.
(photo taken on May 8th, 2014)

Delving into the cooking methods of the Duck breast, you can treat the breast just as you would with any form of poultry. Duck can be Pan-Fried or Grilled over a stove (just like that) for doneness, or you could intensify the flavours & juices through more complex methods such as braising it in its own abundance of oils. Braising in particular, is accepted as the most optimal form of preparing the game bird, as the Duck renders a freakishly large quantity of fat as you cook it. Since braising requires one to cook the mallard in its own fat, it is just incredibly perfect to use all of its natural fats under its skin (without the need to purchase the fat separately). It saves money! Also, Duck fat can be difficult to find alone without buying any part of the Duck.

The Duck is an amazing specimen for experimenting dishes with, and one thing that you must keep in mind when purchasing any part of this game bird is to make sure the skin is intact for its fat, and to examine the meat for its redness (redness identifies its blood, juices, freshness & tenderness). Although Duck can be hard to find at many places, Duck is a VERY common bird featured in many Asian dishes (you could even call it a staple in most Chinese dinners!). Duck can be found fresh at local butcheries and frozen at Asian supermarkets.

Happy Hunting! (You see what I did there?)

Picking, Simmering, Splendid! (Pickled Enoki Mushrooms & Green Beans)

For those who watched Aladdin, you'll see what I did there with the title.

And for my grand (and visually maniacal) pickling experiment, the types of food I could think of were endless to the point where I kept asking myself: "What HASN'T been pickled?"

So for inspiration, I asked my trusty friend & companion of 10 years Google for some advice, and stumbled onto a recipe when deciding to keep things simple:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crisp-pickled-green-beans/

Plot twist: This was not the recipe.

Wanting to do things differently (because "Different" is awesome), I wanted to bring in a little Oriental twist into this experiment by implementing something my family had bought from the grocery market but never ate: Enoki Mushrooms!

(admit it, you too have something in your kitchen right now that was wasted several dollars on. With that money, you could've indulged yourself with several chocolate bars. Hmm. Or better yet, stop buying that one item you don't eat, save up and then start your own factory that produces whatever food you left sitting in the kitchen! Whoops, my imagination just struck again. Let's continue!). 

Now knowing what I wanted to do in the pickling, I began to research on existing recipes if anyone had ever tried these two unlikely combinations of both Creaminess and Crunchiness, and surely enough someone had already did it first (darn, there's someone crazier than me).

In this recipe from a British culinary education site named "L'atelier des Chefs", Enoki mushrooms and Asparagus are both combined in a simmer of pickling vinegars, made to be served almost immediately.

With this being a pickling experiment, I began my project with a different approach of converting this recipe to be pickled in a jar for several weeks:

1. I substituted Asparagus for a crunchier Green Bean, quite pickle-able for its size and perfect yield

2.  I did not simmer the Enoki Mushrooms and Green Beans in pickling solution. 

3. I blanched them in water instead!

4. The yield of the recipe had to be doubled to accommodate the size of my only Mason Jar (the other ones are for my Mom's plethora of Chinese herbs. Sick or near-dead from winter? Just let me know and I'll send you some tea bags. Only joking, of course).

The ingredients used:

Oh, and the butter, chopped parsley & farfalle pasta? That's just part of my dinner in another personal endeavour of mines.

The process was simple (considering it was actually my first time pickling). I began by processing my required vegetables prior to blanching:

Meanwhile in a separate pot far away (like, across the kitchen far), my pickling solution was simmering. The pickling liquid consisted of a reduction of Soy Sauce, Rice Wine, Mirin and Rice Vinegar.

After the simmering, the time came to remove the blanched vegetables for the last steps (Brought to IMAX Scale presentation to showcase the cinematic proccess in all of its HD gloooooooory!):

Finally came the pouring of the reduction once it was brought down halfway into the pot.

Much to my surprise, the scalding hot pickling liquid forced the air pressure out of the tightly-sealed lid to the point where I heard seeping noises. At this point, I knew that the jar had pressurized itself a bit, but I boiled the jar carefully in a spaghetti pot of boiling water to be sure. Needless to say, it became pressurized for the grand waiting of 3 weeks.

Day 1:

Day 8 (1 week in):

Day 16 (2 Weeks later):

The Final Day: (Day 26), (4.5 Weeks In)

After several weeks of Pickling the Enoki Mushrooms & Green Beans, the food had shrunk by 1/3 of its size and gradually curled the Enoki.

For detail, here is the same jar in Day 26 (turned around for more visual)

Sensory Evaluation:

Of course, progress cannot be achieved without expecting results! After weeks of pickling in the solution, I tried out the food for the first time and the feedback my palate had told me was promising:

But yes, I liked it.

Taste

Salty:
Not much saltiness, as the mirin had created a sourness to the vegetables. The soy sauce, however had brought this missing saltiness (no seasoning was added to this liquid). The rice wine had also enhanced the flavours of the soy sauce during the cooking proccess and it enveloped my tongue when eating both the Enoki and Bean simultaneously. The other liquids had brought out further saltiness when reducing, and the remaining liquid has carried the true flavours from this liquid mix. Saltiness was definitely in this (not to be confused with sour, which shares a similar but unique effect).

Sweet:
As the yield was doubled, so was the quantity of caster sugar that was placed into the solution when reducing. The amber colour of the solution was a result of the partial caramelization when the sugar was cooking during the simmering. With that being said, the sweetness brought a confectionary (and novelty) feeling to this concoction. It was both sweet and sour, and the enoki mushrooms had brought out this sense the most!

Sour:
Oh, man. The already-sour rice vinegar, combined with the also already-incredible-sour mirin, with the also-super-duper-tangy soy sauce really combined to bring up that "pucker"factor to your tongue when also remembering that soy sauce and rice wine were major supports in really flavouring the green beans. Mushrooms were creamy, and were less-affected by the sourness of the solution.

Bitter:
The Green Beans in particular were blanched to eliminate the woodiness (so that the evaluation wouldn't be intruded by its existing bitterness). With the blanching already giving the beans a "clean slate" to have another flavour, I noticed when eating that the sugars had alleviated the overwhelming tanginess of the solution in the green beans, and it brought a flare to the sides of my tongue,

Umami:
This is where the pickled mushrooms come into play. The creaminess as mentioned in the Sour description of the sensory evaluation provided a savoury feeling of both pungency and a subtle essence from the solution. As the mushrooms were full of moisture before pickling, I can theorize that the Enoki had reacted well when the scalding hot pickling solution had further cooked the Enoki to its preservative state.

And Now...

Touch
Upon taking out the pickled foods onto a plate, the first thing I observed when I pressed the beans was that it became very soft from weeks of pickling, but another thing was that it was really flexible, almost as if it was crunchy, but hard to snap! The mushrooms on the other hand, were firm when I got them raw. Upon analysing the Enoki, it had become almost gelatinous while still retaining its form factor. The softness was still there, but that "soft- crunch" in an Enoki mushroom surprisingly was there.
Sight
The colour of the green bean had changed dramatically to a much lighter shade of green.There were pockets of liquid under the skin of the green bean, and the glossiness had enveloped the vegetable, again presenting a confectionery appearance thanks to the work of the sugar!
The Enoki, on the other hand had become a light-amber, visually indicating that the Enoki had indeed absorbed and reacted to the pickling solution. Other than that, many heads of the mushrooms had fallen off the stems for reasons unknown (the jar was still as a statue during the pickling process).

Smell
I almost passed out from the overwhelming aromas of the jar's contents upon popping off the lid, then the top cover. You could immediately take in the vinegar (sort of like the suicidal act of inhaling balsamic vinegar when it is being reduced. Yes, I tried that, and it the subsequent headache taught me most of the lesson of thinking before leaping). Additionally, the rice wine had always provided an enhancement, but being paired with the rice vinegar it was overpowering.

Accounts of Success, Flaws & Room for Improvement:

Accounting my success, for a first time the pickling worked as it was supposed to through following the instructions. The food really did deliver a culinary victory in creating an original mixture that can be modified or flavour-enhanced before the simmering process.

There were some flaws, however as I had fore-mentioned. Because of the enhancing abilities the Rice Wine & Mirin have, the vinegar's power was amplified and it just overwhelmed the solution during the simmering process (which, on top enhanced even more out of the vinegar). It essentially became a vinaigrette, and although it was pickle-able, the Enoki mushrooms tasted better after pickling, but the green beans took most of the hits with every bite feeling like you're crunching down on a frozen salad-dressing ice cube (not the most accurate of analogies, and I generally do not favour pickled foods, but it was incredibly sour for my taste!)

Definitely this issue brings me to my next topic on improving the pickling method to create the best product possible. Different approaches such as adding less rice wine, less rice vinegar, and implementing more caster sugar with more mirin for sweetness (and maybe some thyme to bring in deliberate staleness to tone down the high vinegar count) over sourness will balance out the natural sours that are already extracted & enhanced by the simmering process.

Tomato, Tomäto, Kumato?

Ah, the St. Lawrence Market. A large place full of agriculture & businesses where the passions of food are reflected through many varieties of traditional cuisine in the form of street food, prepared meats/charcuterie, seafood & most importantly; the lush fruits & vegetables made available to some amazing prices (like, crazy prices. I bet if you came with a dollar or two, you could get yourself a bag of seasonal fruits just like that! Suddenly, thousands of students in Toronto on a budget cried in relief.)

The reason I went to this big market was the fact that I had so much love for this place seeing the myriad of scrumptious foods (especially the fish & chips) when I came here once (yes, only once then but now twice) as a kid, as well as how perfect the opportunity was to visit this big culinary library as a growing chef, I found that if I wanted to seek a weird & exotic-looking fruit, why not do that in the main hub that specializes in distributing foods like these? Again, it was just too perfect.

While I was stumbling on certain fruits that may have caught my eye.............

........ Only one fruit managed to freak me out the most:

Kumatos are what these (technically) fruits are called, & yes. These tomatoes are brown in their high-fructose nature.

At first I was skeptical of what this fruit could do my stomach if I had tried it. Although this fruit was indeed one of a kind, the fact that I had actually encountered one a month ago (with the same reaction) while I was shopping at Costco back in Mississauga. This sudden flashback just left me thinking that I was destined to try this rather interesting fruit, so I purchased a pack. While researching about it, that one question continued to spur my curiosity for the Kumato:

"How does a tomato become brown?"

Also, "What on earth did science do to you?"

To briefly explain about the Kumato (and to satiate the curiosity of other consumers who stumble on this article), it is a fruit that is derived from just one branch of a genetic family of Tomatoes. The way that the Kumato is grown, is through factory-industrial plant propagation.

What this mainly means is that this fruit cannot be grown naturally, and must be produced through step-by-step methods of "unlocking" the kumato using specific parts of the tomato to genetically create a new kind of tomato (it's in fact patented!)

While the specific steps & proccesses are not disclosed by the food science lab that makes fruits like these, Syngenta began development on the Kumato for almost 10 long years before discreetly releasing this new breed of tomato to consumers in mid-2008. Since then, people began to take notice of the Kumato for it's distinguished color and has gained attention through a word-of-mouth with articles like this one that discusses what the new rage is all about. Since then to this day, the Kumato has gained a steady flow of sales despite the underrated attention it is getting (also, lack of appeal for it's colour).

According to the said article above, it is said that after the Kumato was ready to leave the lab it began to produce in populated areas in Europe before shifting its growth to North America & the United Kingdom, where it became popular to make in Lancashire. It is now commonly sold in large grocery retailers available to most everywhere.

Regarding market pricing, tomatoes like these are a little more expensive due to it's production value requiring propogation. At the Market, these fruits go at a reasonable price at $3.50 in a pack of 5. That is almost a bit more expensive than your average tomato priced about 60 cents a piece compared to your average looking, average priced tomato.

As this was a fruit that isn't naturally made, this Kumato is an all-year round fruit & while it isn't exactly the most attractive fruit, it is very abundant due to it's still-growing popularity in North America. However roughly after 6 days of leaving it, the Kumato will have turned into a more light-redder color. This is when both the appearance (along with taste) peak.

Sensory Evaluation:

While the Kumato does indeed taste differently than an ordinary tomato, I found after additively eating 4 of them this fruit really does have some notable uniqueness to it when it comes to using your senses to appreciate it.

For Taste:

Salty: As this fruit has a moist & sweet taste to it, there is no hint of saltiness to it, but a bit of effect can come from the acidity of the juices.

Sweet: The one big thing that makes the Kumato is taste. Sweetness is what drives the Kumato's flavours to be 'amplified' compared to the average already-sweet tomato. The brown skin also provides a hint sweetness as you are chewing on it, giving off this sort of confectionery feel to it while eating.

Sour: With the high count of stomach-burning inducing acidity to the juiciness of this fruit, the acidity provides a big sour 'strike' after your tongue gets used to the taste (personally, this effect came after I indulged into my third Kumato).

Bitter: Although the Kumato is genetically altered in it's nature, it still is a tomato (Once a Tomato, always a Tomato. Harsh but true). The skin of the tomato; although feeling scarce as you eat it, has a tangy (yet pleasurably-unpleasant) bitterness that kicks in the harder you chew on the skin. The enzymes unlocked from the skin will cleanse your palate for the next Kumato (a cool, neat little feature I find unique about the fruit).

Umami: Since this fruit is became a sort of healthy addiction for me for it's juiciness, eating the Kumato brought a really strange pungency after I had took a break eating it. After realizing that it was the really sticky aftertaste (Trust me. sterilize yourself with mouthwash, & save your dignity by not eating these before a date). While discussing about Umami, the three aspects of the sweet pulp, refreshing juices & tangy skin combine make it an incredibly scrumptious acidic bundle of joy.

While I have reflected part of my ecstatic experience with a tomato, the cool thing I learned that my palate could actually go into different 'stages' so that it could prepare itself to go well with any sort of taste that comes its way. For example I literally went from enjoying a sweet feeling from the juices/pulp while 5 seconds later, my entire mouth turned completely bitter from chewing on the Kumato's skin for too long. It's like one taste after another (Thanks to the Kumato's awesome palate-cleansing abilities)!

It would be an understatement to say that I enjoyed this fruit. In fact I'm probably eating 4 more of these Kumatos as you are reading right now. 

The Best Part in the Longest Review of a Tomato Ever: "If I were to cook this fruit?"

The way I would cook a Kumato is to definitely simmer this fruit as an ingredient (much like the tomato) into a pasta sauce because as the Kumato is substantially less acidic & more sweeter to it's predecessor, these characteristics would eliminate the need for the dependency of sugar while preparing a marinara sauce. Since these Kumatos are also incidibly juicy, sauce-making would be perfect especially for a Pasta Aglio e Olio dish since the abundance of juices would make up most of the sauce (and increase volume two-fold).

From the official site of the company Syngenta that created the Kumato, they actually have provided a Sauce Recipe that shows how perfect (too perfect) it is to use the Kumato in a sauce:

To conclude, the Kumato packs one heck of a punch in terms of taste, aroma & the way it can be used as a tomato in preparation of a sauce. If you want a real experience for a first time however, try eating it with Mozzarella!

Also, here is a quick video showcasing this fruit & the appearance of it; complete with some clichéd (and rather pleasant) elevator music!

Kumato:

Sites & resources (and more information about the Kumato):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6raEpSFJds4

https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/food/index/article/-/15191268/ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-kumato/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1185037/You-say-tomato-I-say-kumato--fruit-thats-tasty-ripe-not.html

http://www.syngenta.com/global/corporate/en/Pages/home.aspx

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:zJlzT4A7eW0J:https://www.kumato.com/en/-ska-sorulan-sorular.aspx+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca