Recently in Rave Category

I promised a few weeks ago that I would go to the Maple Leaf pub in Covent Garden and tell you about their poutine - here's my overdue report:

First of all, the pub itself ticks all the boxes: stuffed bear, faux-logs on the wall, hockey jerseys, etc... This gives a Canadian-themed vibe, instead of being an actual Canadian pub. That said, I'm not sure I can ask any more of a watering hole in the middle of Covent Garden, London. The guy who served my beer sounded Canadian, as did many of the patrons. Surely that's good enough?

We arrived at roughly 8pm on a Wednesday evening and had to hang around the bar a bit waiting for a table to open up. I was surprised at how busy it was, considering it wasn't yet Canada Day. They had Sleeman's on tap, and bottles of Moosehead. They also had British standards such as cider, Pimm's, and a few British lagers.

Food-wise, T and I each ordered poutine (in honour of Saint-Jean-Baptiste) and a plate of buffalo wings to share.  First impressions were good, the buffalo wings were very meaty and covered in a delicious sauce. We polished these off quite quickly. My only gripe was the lack of wet wipes left us with sticky fingers.

Then: the poutines. First impressions were good. The menu specified that it included a beef gravy (not onion, thank goodness!). All the component parts were present: the french fries, the gravy and the cheese. Unfortunately the sum was not greater than the parts. The fries were passable, but nothing to write home about. The cheese was chunks of mozzarella (my guess) and not the squeaky cheese curds of real poutine. The gravy was acceptable and would do the job with a Sunday roast or bangers and mash, but was a bit bland in this context.

If I had never had poutine before it would have been passable, but not much more. I would wonder what all the fuss was about; why people tend to rave about poutine. The British regularly have chips and gravy, and chips and cheese. This is just the combination of the two. It's fine, even tasty, but not extraordinary. I would be content with the Maple Leaf's poutine as decent pub food, but knowing that it can be so much more left me disappointed.

Perhaps 'real' greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts poutine can only come from Québec? Does it takes Québécois passion, a true pure-laine Habs-loving Pepsi-drinking Labatt-swilling fire in the belly to serve a beautiful plate of chips, cheese and gravy that we can really, proudly, call poutine? I'm just not sure. I do know, however, that despite its best efforts, the Maple Leaf did not measure up.

Perhaps I should give it another chance and focus on anglo-Canadian specialities like grilled cheese sandwiches, or corned beef and leave québécois dishes alone. I'm very glad they didn't even attempt the Montreal smoked meat sandwich, or the Saint-Viateur bagel - some things are better left to the professionals.

Bottom Line: Would I go there again? Yes. I've heard they broadcast NHL games and would love to find out if they show the Habs, not just Toronto. They have a big-screen and show lots of North American sporting events. I really did enjoy the buffalo wings which gives me hope for the rest of their menu. I would recommend it for a pint of Sleeman's in a relaxed, fun atmosphere in Covent Garden, but don't go out of your way for it. If you want real poutine, however, you're going to have to book a flight to La Belle Province.

The Maple Leaf Pub
41 Maiden Lane,
London, WC2E 7LJ
Tube: Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Charing Cross
 
   

The other day, while shopping on Picadilly Street, I came upon Japan Centre. I had read about this little shop on Chowhound and how it was a Japanese grocery store. I had recently been to both John Lewis and Selfridge's food halls in search of panko breadcrumbs and had come up short both times. I decided to try my luck and venture inside. I entered into an Aladdin's cave of Japanese packaged products. The seemingly unassuming shop was actually very large. I was overwhelmed by all the multicoloured packaging. I don't know if this is specific to the Japanese, but there seemed to be a love of opaque plastic bags. I didn't know whether I was looking at rice, panko breadcrumbs, some kind of processed snack food or other mystery items.

I asked for assistance and finally found the breadcrumbs. I couldn't help but keep wandering around and toss one or two more things in my basket. Red bean ice cream for me, green tea ice cream for T, wasabi nuts... Then T and I decided to find the "weirdest" snack food we could. There was a whole wall of nondescript packaged snacks with little to no English labeling. Did we want the white bag with the smiley looking bean? The blue bag with the dancing flower? Or one of the only bags with English on it which contained crispy squid peanuts.



We settled on a red bag with smiling stars.

Once home we tore the bag open to find star-shaped crackers, wrapped in packs of two. Each star packet has a different "outfit" aptly demonstrated by sumo-wrestling star (below).



Do you speak/read Japanese? Can you tell us what these little goodies are? All we know is that they are really salty but strangely addictive and that the bag says: This product contains anchovies. We munched our way through the bag over the weekend and the stars are now gone. But I just may pick some more up on my next visit to Japan Centre. Or should I try the squid peanuts instead?

Nonetheless, this little shop is an absolute gem. It's well stocked and very well priced. I will definitely be visiting it again and again to stock up on more Japanese cooking essentials, as it is a cuisine I definitely want to learn more about. They also have a restaurant/take-out counter that I'm keen to try. If you're not in the London area, they have a huge selection of products in their on-line store that they can ship across Europe.
 

Question: What do they call in English muffin in England?

Answer: An English muffin.




This particularly fine specimen was on sale Thursday, at Borough Market, by The Flour Station (my bread makers of choice) for £1. I must say it made a mighty fine breakfast.

If you stop by one of the Flour Station locations, make sure to pick up a London bloomer (T's favourite) or a wheatgerm levain for me. And one or two English muffins, of course!

There are many things I miss from home, foods in particular. My cravings for Habitant pea soup are getting worse and worse. But that got me thinking that there are a lot of things I've gotten used to having here in the UK that I'll miss when I go back to Canada. Out of pure curiosity I've decided to list the (food) things I miss/will miss the most from both countries.

I wish England had...

• Better supplies of crunchy peanut butter made of JUST PEANUTS. None of this oil, salt, sugar malarkey.
• Habitant pea soup (I miss this perhaps most of all)
• Nabisco soda biscuits (who knew I would miss these so much?)
• Fontaine Santé hummus (Tesco and Sainsbury varieties are not up to scratch and I am blenderless)
• Affordable maple syrup
  
• Canola oil (Although I finally found rapeseed oil here, under the disguise of vegetable oil)
• Poutine (May venture out to The Maple Leaf to try theirs, or invent my own gourmet version)
• A hot dog that is not from a can, and in a normal bun (preferably from La Belle Province)
• Kashi cranberry granola bars, and kashi cereals
• My mom's soupe du pays and fricot
• Orville Redenbaker light microwave popcorn (SALTED, not sweet)
• Larger fridges (food related....)
• Fluffy pancakes
• Première Moisson
• No marmite
• Chez Cora
  

Before I move back, Canada should get...

• Oatabix - I am strangely addicted to it, especially the bite size ones
  
• Fish and chips like Masters Superfish
• Ribena
• PG Tips, or any other good - affordable - tea
  
• Borlotti beans
• Fresh peas, borlotti beans and broad beans (although this may be available at Marché Jean-Talon?)
• Chocolate hob-nobs
• Prawn cocktail chips
• Better yoghurt flavours like rhubarb, and gooseberry.
• Those fresh packages of Sainsbury's stir-fry vegetables
• Waitrose, Selfridges Food Hall, John Lewis Food Hall and Fortnum and Mason's - all of them
• A butcher with a proper East London accent that sells amazing cuts of meat for reasonable prices (too much?)
• Point-of-origin labeling on all meat, fruit and vegetables à la Sainsbury's (may actually write a future post about this alone I love it so much)
  
• Better animal welfare labeling on meats (ex. Sainsbury's Freedom Food), and different levels available at different price points
• Ladurée
• Curry houses on every street corner, with creamy Kormas, lightly spiced baltis and amazing naans.
  

So if England and Canada could get right on those, that would be lovely.

Oh and I realize that a google search comes up with a few Habitant pea soup recipes but that seems wrong. Habitant pea soup comes from a can. Although desperate times....

This list is a work in progress and will get edited as per my cravings.