Will's Eats

Pizzería La Cúpula: Las Matas: Madrid: Spain

Having said goodbye to Toronto by going to my favorite smoked meat place I started in Spain at my favorite pizzería [or, pizzeria, note: the difference is the accent over the `i´]. Here is the Solidaría pizza that I had; where they donate a portion of the proceeds of the sale to charity.

It has tomato, mozzarella, raisins, pine nuts, capers, onions and a few lovely black olives and a sprinkling of oregano. The combination of capers, raisins and pine nuts is ingenious; they’re all sort of the same size yet have three distinct flavors and textures.

The place is called La Cúpula and makes what are probably the best artisanal pizzas in Madrid. Thin crust, not too heavy on the cheese. Only one size of pizza. One pizza per person is about right; because they’re so very tasty. The wine list is very good too; composed of only ecological wines – and quite well priced. Beside pizzas they also have some imaginative salads, a couple of pastas and usually some nice artisanal desserts (try the apple pie).

We’re talking an authentic wood burning oven, everything is hand made, even the dough for the pizzas is prepared by hand. The emphasis is on natural, organic, and ecological ingredients and simple presentation. A great family place; not expensive. It’s a small joint and usually very busy so reservations might be recommended; especially around the weekend (see web site for contact info). A great casual atmosphere and everyone seems very happy.

The place can be a little hard to find; located as it is in an out of the way corner of a small town 26 kms outside of Madrid called Las Matas (in the municipality of Las Rozas). But finding it is worth it.

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Closed Mondays, open for lunch and dinner the rest of the time. If you’re in the neighborhood it’s worth going out of your way to try it out. One odd thing, if the front door seems closed or locked go around to the side entrance where the terrace is (on the left); that’s the entrance everyone usually uses (I think it’s a trick they use to keep the crowds down).

Full disclosure: I used to work at this place thus you might expect me to be biased. None the less the general opinion of their pizzas is the same as mine; they're great.

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Caplansky's at the Monarch: Toronto: Little Italy

I made a post previously about a place in Toronto called Caplansky's that does wonderful smoked meat sandwiches. Like this:

Isn't it beautiful? Yes, it is; and delicious to boot.

The place is upstairs at the Monarch Tavern (12 Clinton St, south of College). Currently the hours are Tuesday to Sunday, noonish 'til nine.

It's so special that I reserved a visit for lunch on my last day in Toronto before returning to Spain. I miss it already. The menu's expanding and they had poutine too (french fries with gravy and cheddar cheese curd [delicious]).

Anytime I'm ever in Toronto Caplansky's is definitely going to get a visit from me.

Now that I have that out of my system perhaps I'll move on to Spain-related posts tomorrow.

Tripe - Callos

I'm back in Spain and the first day treated myself to a simple workers lunch; €8,50 [$12] at the local café.

A mixed salad to start, then Cuban Style Rice (with tomato sauce and a sunny side up egg) and Callos [tripe] as the main dish. Included in the price is all the wine you can drink and either coffee or a dessert.

Tripe, a favorite, is made from cow stomach (usually only from the first three of the cow's four stomach compartments) with blood sausage and chorizo added and tomato too.

Try it next time you're in Madrid.

Note: Cow stomach is in the meat category know as "Offal" - pronounced "awful" with a slightly rounder "aw". Is that just a coincidence?

The Stem "Open Kitchen" Diner: Queen Street West: Toronto

The "Stem" is a classic, authentic, city diner in downtown Toronto. The July 2008 Reader's Digest had an article about this fine old venerable institution. Alas, at the end of August or thereabouts a sign went up on the window stating that thee were to be renovations. Now, the last day of September... no sign of such renovations as of yet. Perhaps there's a Reader's Digest curse that caused this?

I took a picture through an uncovered upper window into the empty restaurant today and it looks unchanged. A light is still on.

Click on the following Flickr search for more about this gorgeous place (search).

Also:

This "before" pic is from here ... Peter Grevstad

The question in the local media is "Afternoons And Greasy Spoons: Are Toronto's Diner Days Fried?"

Terroni Pizzería: Queen Street West: Toronto

The Terroni's sausage pizza; called the Smendozzata (website). A well respected pizza joint on Queen Street West. I found it a wee bit on the noisy side; even for a Friday night. Difficult to talk across the table. Okay, more than a wee bit - very very noisy.

They do a good representation of a thin crust pizza; some say the best in town. Being a pizza maker myself I might be a tough customer - - but I found the crust, although correctly thin and with some rise to the edge, I found it to be "dead"; lacking in spark. Maybe not enough yeast that day. Maybe too little rising time. Perhaps it was pressed out in a machine.

Something killed the base - 'twas dull, boring. The toppings were good, the tomato sauce not bad and the sausage very nice.

I'd go again to see if the same thing happened; always willing to give the kitchen a second change.

Green Tomatoes

Green Tomatoes, uploaded by willsong.

Fresh from the garden. Green heirloom Brandywine tomatoes. They're green but they're ripe. Taste a little different than regular red ones. Quite good in fact.

On a lightly toasted bagel.

Garden Fresh Tomatoes

Picked off the vine just back of the patio. Notice that the seed cells are small, numerous and not symmetrical. I don't need symmetry when the flavour is fantastic; and these are.

I tell you, growing tomatoes is really dramatically worth it. The difference from commercial glop is quite notable. Next year - try it. Buy seedlings and stick them in the ground in the sun. Dead easy - - if the squirrels don't drive you crazy.

Peameal Bacon Sandwich : St Lawrence Market

Peameal bacon, for those not in the know, is Canadian back bacon (not the strip-type; it's round) that's pork loin that has been smoked and rolled in corn meal (which is called "pea" meal because they used to roll the bacon in dried, ground, yellow peas but switched to ground corn meal eons ago).

The most famous location, and preferred, for this classic Canadian food would be Carousel Bakery at the St. Lawrence public market in downtown Toronto. The picture is less than ideal because I was in a hurry to eat the sandwich. That's dijon mustard smeared on the left half. Messy but delicious.

There are a couple of other places that do peameal bacon at the market but I always go to Carousel.

6 bucks each.

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Doorknob Garden

The garden, as a consequence of running across a box of old household hardware at garage sale, has grown a corner full of doorknob flowers. The crystal ones are quite colorful in the sun.

Here it is without the artsy light effects - really very pretty. Simple, and low care too.

Heirloom Tomato - Red Brandywine

The only one the vine produced so far but look at those lovely striations.

Lycopersicon lycopersicon is the latin name.

Hong Kong Market Street - 1999

Catch the fellow on the right with the red ribbed tux.

This was taken with my super duper digital camera way back when. 1 million pixels and top of the line. Today my telephone has a 5 megapixel camera. Boy how times have changed.

This was in Hong Kong on a day off during a ' round the world business trip.