Posted by Sheryl Kirby in butchers, coffee, fish and shellfish, grocery, neighbourhoods, shops, snack food on September 3, 2008 at 8:07 am

As noted in Part 1 of our tour of St. Lawrence Market on Monday, the south market has just about everything needed to fill a pantry. But the fruit and vegetable stands, bulk goods and bakeries tend to mostly fill the perimeter and basement of the space. For most visitors to the market the first thing they see when they enter the main space of the upper level is meat. And that’s where we’ll begin part 2 of our tour.

Posted by Rod Weatherbie in fish and shellfish, seafood on June 6, 2008 at 4:58 pm

The old cliché says that the oyster is an aphrodisiac. For a lot of people the only thing eating oysters causes one to fall in love with is oysters.

In Toronto the king of oyster lovers (and shameless promoter of the mollusk in question) has to be Rodney Clark. And with some hard work and a vast knowledge of the beloved bivalve Rodney is hoping to introduce a better product to other oyster lovers in Toronto and beyond. Toronto is going to start seeing genuine Canadian East Cost boutique oysters.

Posted by Aaron Okada in fish and shellfish, shops on May 26, 2008 at 8:06 am

Just An Old Fashioned Butchery & Seafood
165 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville
905-842-5252

Walking through my local grocery store, I’m feeling in the mood to pick up some salmon for dinner. I weave my way through the isles of frozen seafood products to the fish counter, and browse the selection of the day. Pale salmon; whole snapper with clouded-over eyes; limp pieces of halibut; and jaundice-coloured wild sea bass. The smell, oh the smell! Standing there surrounded by that pungent aroma of rotting seafood doesn’t bode well for my appetite. It's pasta (without seafood) for dinner.

So many people I know cringe (or at least shy away) at the mention of having fish for a meal. They are haunted by the same experience I went through, having that pungency of a day-old catch burned into their memory and are robbed of the real joys that seafood should bring us. As a cook, I’m incessantly (or annoyingly) telling people, “Seafood doesn’t stink. If it does, it’s rotten.” In today’s world of big box stores and high volume production, we all too often exchange convenience at the price of losing quality. The Europeans have the right attitude; they still have the old world lifestyle of shopping in markets and boutique-style specialty shops on a daily basis to make sure they always have fresh, high quality foods.

Posted by Sheryl Kirby in SOLE food, event reviews, events, fish and shellfish on April 30, 2008 at 7:50 am

There’s an old cliché that goes “there are plenty of fish in the sea”. This is meant to convey options and opportunities, but nowadays, it’s not a particularly apt analogy. Because fish stocks are dwindling due to poor husbandry and overfishing, and there aren’t a lot of fish in the sea anymore.

SeaChoice is a program by Sustainable Seafood Canada designed to mobilize consumers and industry to buy sustainable seafood, which is caught or farmed with consideration for the ocean’s ecological balance and the long-term viability of the fish. SeaChoice offers guidance to restaurants and consumers on what to buy and what to avoid.

Posted by Melissa Bell in fish and shellfish, ingredients, product comparison on February 21, 2008 at 8:01 am

My first encounter with escargots wasn't a very good one. I was about seven at the time. Rather than being repulsed by the thought of eating a creature that left a trail of slime as it crawled around the back garden, I was quite keen on the idea. My mother had been given a "kit" comprising a tin of snails, a dozen or so snail shells, and four double-pronged forks. Mom set to work preparing the dish, stuffing the wee snails into their shells, sealing them inside with cold garlic butter, and then popping them under the broiler until the butter was melted and bubbling. Unfortunately some vital step in the preparation had been overlooked (I still don't know which one it was), and the snails, once dug from their shells with those special pointy forks, had the taste and texture of large pencil erasers that had been stewed in a puddle of buttery mud.

Yet for some reason, that first experience with escargots left me undeterred. Which is a good thing, otherwise I would have missed out on a few delightful gastropodous experiences in our fair city.

Posted by Catherine Gerson in fish and shellfish, ingredients, restaurant review, seafood on June 26, 2007 at 2:36 pm

The Fish Store
657 College Street
416-533-2822
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip, and soda/juice: $20-$30, depending on the type of fish

I’m not the deep-frying type. I have the occasional craving for fries or onion rings, though generally I limit their consumption to equally greasy pubs. But for a short period of time every spring, there is an item that warrants, nay demands, its fling with oil. I’m talking about soft-shell crabs. Like a summer love, they glide into town with the breeze and stay a mere week or two, taking with them a piece of your heart. Of course, there is nothing to do but wait the long wait until next spring for the familiar lover, er, crustacean, to make its reappearance.