If there's one season that's all about food, it's summer. Barbecues, backyard parties, weddings and street fairs all get to make use of the freshest ingredients. So what's the most memorable thing you've eaten this summer?
Summertime is about eating things with a handle. Corn on the cob, popsicles, ribs. And in fact, a few years ago at my neighbourhood block party, corn on the cob ended up being the most memorable thing I ate the entire summer. It's years later and I still remember that magical Mexican street corn. Which we all stood around and gushed over on a hot summer night on a Canadian street. In fact it was so good I got the recipe.
It might not have been the BEST thing I ate all summer, or the most complicated or even the most delicious but ... it was the most memorable. I once at barnacles. Those were memorable too. They looked very much like tiny penises.
THIS summer my most memorable food came from an entirely different place. It wasn't a rustic, street food blazing with heat and spices cooked in the middle of a drunken crowd.
It was a tiny heritage chicken egg, dressed with tiny herbs and flower petals prepared by one of Canada's top chefs, Jason Bangerter - in the middle of a drunken crowd.
My friend Murray got married this summer and his wedding was at Langdon Hall, a beautiful country - compound? That doesn't seem right. It isn't an estate. It's a spa and hotel and I don't know, a generally relaxing VENUE! That's it. I guess it's a venue of sorts. The grounds include a huge vegetable garden the chef cooks from every night. As we were sipping wine and wandering around he was in the garden picking greens for the dinner.
I met him, liked him immediately and later, after eating his food, I fell madly in love. I feel like I can now say I've eaten exceptional food. Part of it was memorable because of the atmosphere, part of it was meeting the chef and seeing him in the garden and part of it was the visual presentation of it. But mostly? Holy shit it tasted great. All of it.
K, it's hard to get a good shot of saucy peas, but trust me it was delicious. This was a tenderloin with a sauce, topped with pork belly that melted in your mouth. I don't even LIKE pork and I had tears in my eyes eating this. Little singing angels danced across my tongue with every porky mouthful. One of the appetizers was a lamb lollipop chop. It was one of the most delightful things ever to pass over my tongue. I hate lamb. That's what an extraordinary chef can do. Make you love things you actually hate.
I guess I'm being a bit unfair to the rest of the dinner to say that the egg was the most memorable thing I ate all summer, but it is what sticks out in my mind the most for some reason. It's what I'll remember years from now.
That and french kissing a lollipop lamb chop.
Have you had a food revelation this summer? Was it a potato salad? Fresh caught fish? A reallyyyyy good bean dip? It doesn't have to be fancy, one of my most memorable meals EVER was a peanut buster parfait from Dairy Queen. You can read about the reasoning behind that in this post.
Let me know. Lay it on me. Tell me everything.
What's the most memorable thing (good or bad) you've eaten this summer. Let the hilarity and inspiration begin!
Have a good weekend!
My favourite food discovery is those luscious Sungold cherry tomatoes that Karen recommended. I bought two plants at Loblaws, which have grown really well and have given us lots of beautiful orange sweeties. Thank you Karen! In addition I made Karen’s yummy mayo yesterday (best method I have ever tried and so thick and creamy) and spiked it with her Indian street corn spice. Very tasty. Again - thank you Karen for your great recipes and tips!
My sister’s incredible blueberry/zucchini cake with lemon frosting, followed closely by my nieces Guinness chocolate cake - had them last weekend and still can taste the delicious flavors. (Sugar is my “crack”)
I want the blueberry/zucchini cake recipe!!!
How about a memorable drink? I was on a singing tour in Ireland in June, and was thrilled to visit the Jameson Whiskey Distillery (ok, of course we also toured the Guinness Brewery). At the end of the tour, we got to choose a drink from their bar. They recommended the "JGL" - a delightfully refreshing mix of Jameson, Ginger Ale and a slice of Lime - on the rocks. We were told it's a popular drink in Ireland. Alas, no bar we went to (and I think we went to all of them) knew what a "JGL" was, but one bartender said, "Oh, you mean a Jamey and Lime?" Whatever it's called, I loved it. Probably because I was in Ireland.
This summer? Probably grilled watermelon topped with crumbled feta, some balsamic reduction, and basil.
My favorite summer memory takes me back to the summer after graduating high school. I visited family and we went to the beach in South Carolina where they served huge platters of raw oysters. I've always loved them, and it was a fabulous treat to sit and eat them until we couldn't! I'd love to do that again someday!
BTW - street corn is great on the cob, but it's also simple to turn it into a side dish with the corn cut off and the other ingredients tossed in.
Last year in Spain, somewhere in the outskirts of Barcelona, we stopped at a small shopping mall to buy a memory card (or something like that) so that my friend's cell phone would work. (My cell is a work cell and I cannot touch that). While there, we realized it was almost noon so it would make sense to get lunch cause we only had coffee for breakfast.
We found a restaurant on the top floor and the waiter, in an attempt to hunt down as many customers as possible, talked us into having a meal there. He spoke about as much English as I speak Spanish (about 20 words on a good day) so we decided to pick something from the daily specials. It came with a salad and a dessert. My main meal was fish, but oh my God, it was truly unforgettable. It was so fresh it probably still swam earlier that day and it was flaking off when I touched it with my fork. The potatoes were like mashed potatoes, but piped into three beautiful rosettes. I can't remember if there was anything else on the plate but it was divine. So so fresh. The fish was white fish, roasted in a pan on butter. It was just perfection. My dessert was Crema Catalan and from then on, I had it in very resto we ate in.
Can't think of anything memorable I had this year except for my smoothies. My smoothies are very thick and have to be eaten with a spoon. I like them not too sweet, and by that, I mean really tart. My favourite version is a grapefruit, a decent amount of fresh spinach, (dandelion if I have some), strawberries/blueberries/raspberries (depending on what I have, can be a bit of everything), an indecent amount of red and black currant. A bit of ginger and a small chunk of coriander root.
I happen to think they are just perfect but my coworkers had a trouble to swallow even half a spoonful, screaming it's too tart.
I forgot to mention that I found paella very disappointing. I had it only once, and it was t he Catalan version of it (in small coastal town in Costa Brava) and it is based on some think tomatoey sauce. I don't know what spices were in it but it tasted rather bitter to me. Maybe the non-catalan version is better, dunno.
"Crema Catalan" ... what is that?? I'm going to have to look it up. It sounds very much like I'd like it. I imagine it some sort of custard that isn't very sweet. Google will let me know in about 15 seconds ... ~ karen!
Now I'm hungry again.... What a great list of foods!
I'm now one of those "food sensitive" people. It sucks! I went to my favorite city, Victoria on Vancouver Island off the west of coast of mainland Canada. There is an absolutely amazing small restaurant that I've been going to for the last 15-20 years named after the owner, John. It's a funky place near a university and caters to a wide range of diners including people like me with very limited food options. It's real food, made there, including the sausages! The recipes are in a hand written small notebook. I know this because about 15 years ago I had quinoa tabouli there that was so good I went in there 1-2 times a day to make sure I got my fill. AMAZING tabouli. I went in a couple years later and it wasn't on the menu anymore. They brought out the hand written book of recipes and paged through and couldn't find it. Sigh, I keep trying to recreate it. Haven't gotten there yet but I keep trying.
This last trip I went during brunch and had an amazing breakfast burrito! So amazing I asked them to pack me up one so I could cook have it for breakfast before I left on the ferry the next morning. Not only was it yummy but I got to dissect its parts and take pictures before reassembly. Yum! Now I'm trying to make that one at home as the ferry ride is a bit to expensive to go up for breakfast.
Indian street corn from your blog. OMG!
For my birthday dinner (when I have friends over so I don't have to suffer through THEIR cooking), I made Yotam Ottolenghi's Baked Seafood Paella with Salsa Verde. I altered the salsa verde recipe to suit their wimpy ("it's too hot! It's TOO HOT!!") tastes. It was wonderful! I'm not sure if I could make it the same again, but I definitely intend to try.
I got the recipe from this link on the NYTimes website:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020108-baked-paella-with-shrimp-chorizo-and-salsa-verde. It's a great recipe, although I had to borrow a pot to get it all in. I am thinking about giving small jars of it as a holiday gift to coworkers this year. Mebbe.
For dessert, I made the rose-scented watermelon cake that is Australia's most instagrammed dessert. It was actually incredibly easy. My only regret with this meal was... we dove into the seafood paella before getting a photo of it and the salsa verde.
Watermelon cake? I've never even heard of watermelon cake!! I'm gonna have to look into this ... ~ karen!
A delicious spicy radish I grew myself, first time growing anything, I my pasta salad!
Yay! ~ k!
I just finished eating my way through an Alaskan cruise. By far, what has stayed on my mind, and my rear end, is Osso Buco. I had never had it before. I had no idea what to expect. My tastebuds were blown away. So much yum!!!
I made a giant pot of gazpacho and ate it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late night snack (for 3 days). My favorite summer food.
I made Lowcountry Boil, except grilled it all. Little red potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp and kielbasa. Amazing. The appetizer was fig jam with Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese on baguette. Dessert was grilled peach halves with vanilla bean ice cream. Damn, now I'm hungry again.
I loveeee grilled peaches. ~ k!
I would go to my friends grandparents farm in rural Alberta and each evening before bed we would get fresh peaches and fresh from the cow, cream!! Absolutely amazing and not a taste that I’ve ever been able to replicate...sadly...
I make cajun shrimp and lemon linquine every summer long weekend and have done so for the past 23 years. Every long weekend. Every year. Without fail. Even making it 92 times I have no memory for the marinade. The recipe isfrom Susan Branch Summer book.
Warm fresh homemade ricotta cheese right out of the strainer. I’ve never loved ricotta before I figured out how to make it this summer. So easy and better than the stuff at the grocery.
Mom's tart cherry pie.
But I have to tell you, I clicked through the link to see if you ate a brussel sprout and liked it! 😉
Gorgonzola mousse at Chima Steakhouse. Fascinating & delicious.
tiny baby potatoes, just tilled out of the garden. They taste best as soon as taken out of the dirt and us younger children in the family would chase the tractor like dogs after squirrels to catch the smallest spuds that were kicked out of the mountain humus, dirt and all, before an adult caught us and made us spit them out. We were sort of feral maybe. Second best was the same potatoes, scrubbed, seared with fresh green beans and a plot of home-clabbered butter. Even the fellas in the family could make a meal out of this without complaining for the lack of meat.
It's been a pretty quiet summer this year, and the most flavourful thing I've had in my mouth was an excellent Jalapeno Margharita :)
Last summer we travelled to Newfoundland and the food!!!
The Cod Tongue was my absolute favourite food of that summer. Like clams on steroids!