Kayahara.ca

Last weekend, as the culmination of my eGullet foodblogging week, I hosted a small dinner party, of which my Caesar salad was one course. You can see the whole meal here. For dessert, I made individual tartes Tatin with cinnamon ice cream, apple pâte de fruit and cinnamon fluid gel. Fluid gels are one of […]

It’s an established fact that new owners of temperature-controlled water baths will quickly develop an urge to use them to cook everything in their kitchen. Sure, we all intend them primarily for meat and fish, but before long we start looking for ways to make mashed potatoes, or lentils, or… custard. Ultimately, cooking custard sous […]

Whether you believe it to be a Canadian invention or not, the Caesar is undeniably one of Canada’s favourite cocktails. But where most cocktails work by balancing sweet, sour, bitter and strong flavours, the Caesar is one of a small number of cocktails that also brings elements of salty and umami into play. A balance […]

Every year in the fall, I re-read one of my favourite books from childhood: Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. The story tells of a young boy, Danny, and his father… who just happens to poach pheasants in his spare time. (That’s “poach” as in hunt illegally, not “poach” as in cook […]

If you’ve ever been curious about what I cook in between the little projects that show up on this blog, now’s your chance to find out: I’m spending the week blogging over on the eGullet Forums. Drop by, read, comment and ask questions!

My plan for today had been to review the inimitable David Wondrich‘s new book, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl. Unfortunately, due to slow shipping on the part of the online vendor I bought from, I still haven’t received my copy, even though it was released 10 days ago. (And I ordered […]

When cooking sous vide, it’s easy to get enchanted by improbably long cooking times, despite the energy expense. Tough cuts of meat cooked for 48, or even up to 72, hours at moderate temperatures have all the textural benefits of a traditional braise, but are supposed to be moist enough to serve as steaks. For […]

Sometimes our failures can be as fascinating as our successes are tasty. After making Hervé This’s chocolate Chantilly, I thought I thoroughly understood the process and could use it to interesting effect. Since chocolate is made up of cocoa butter, cocoa solids, sugar and lecithin, I thought I could use pure cocoa butter, fruit puree […]

There are probably as many ways to make chocolate mousse as there are pastry chefs, but they all come down to two simple steps: make a base that contains chocolate, and lighten it with whipped cream, whipped egg whites or both. The base can be a crème anglaise, a sabayon, or even a bavaroise. The […]

OK, let’s face facts. French fries are the best preparation there is for potatoes. Sure, I love creamy, comforting mashed potatoes or a smothered baked potato as much as the next guy, but the supremacy of fries must be acknowledged. They’ve got it all: salt, grease, a crispy exterior and a fluffy interior (or a […]