I am very honored to accompany you on this journey to Paris, which remains for me one of the cities I love most in the world for its culture, beauty and above all its food culture.

I love living in Vancouver, my home for the past twelve years, and if there is one thing I miss about my home country it is the pace of life with its focus on food.

My idea for this tour is to share with you that experience as we take in the special atmosphere of Parisian bistros.  Through plentiful wine and delicious food, you will experience five very intense days focused on life in Paris.

I look forward to seeing you in Paris and hope that you return home with special memories of a very unique experience.

Warm wishes,

Alain Raye, Chef and Co-owner

Download the program flyer : Bistronomy Tour de Paris_flyer_Final (3)

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year again.  As a child in Britain, I always looked forward to “Harvest Festival” as we would call Thanksgiving.  Each child would take one food item – either directly from or made with food from the land – to school for later donation to a local charity.  Our school stage was a colourful array of food of the land:  huge loaves of bread shaped like sheaths of wheat, fresh vegetables, and fruits all combining to form a beautiful backdrop to our school service and harvest hymns.  I particularly loved the hymn that started “We plough the fields and scatter, the good seed on the land ….” and just thinking of the tune takes me back to those special services in my primary school and the warm feeling they elicited in me.

In Canada, Thanksgiving is a celebration of harvest.  Most often associated with this celebration is a roast dinner that includes Turkey and a pie that is made of Pumpkin.  Personally, I prefer cake to pie, so I would like to thank you for visiting my site today and to give you a recipe that I have made each Thanksgiving since I first came to Canada in 1982.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil, apple sauce or natural yogurt
• 2 cups canned pumpkin (unsweetened, organic)
• 2 cups any flour (I use 100% wholewheat)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Half a teaspoon of salt
• Walnut halves for topping if no icing is added.
• Icing
• Half a cup of butter, softened
• 1 pkg or 8oz of cream- ricotta- or mascarpone cheese)
• Icing sugar to taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Combine all cake ingredients and blend thoroughly.  Pour into pan and add walnut halves if you prefer to leave out the icing.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until tests done (insert a skewer in the middle.)  Cool.  Prepare icing by combining ingredients and mixing until smooth.  Spread on cooled cake.  Enjoy!

My friend Isabel, a busy and successful Architect in Madeira, Portugal, made a delicious dessert for our farewell dinner in August.  She called it Chocolate Brownie.  You might call it Molten Chocolate Cake.  I call it scrumptious.  So, obrigada Isabel, obrigada Skype Chat for the recipe, reproduced here exactly as received.  Sorry, there are no pictures – we were too busy enjoying to think about finding a camera!

Chocolate Brownie Cake – courtesy of Isabel Correia Mendes

• 250gr dark chocolate
• 200gr butter
• 100gr flour
• 150gr sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites

Melt chocolate with butter in a double boiler.  Stir the yolks with the sugar until a white dough. Stir the egg whites until stiff.  Join the butter dough with the chocolate dough. Involve egg whites gently. Mix together flour. Reserve in refrigerator. Bake for 7 minutes at 180 degrees in buttered ramekins.  This amount serves about 8 people.

Isabelle makes a batch to keep in her freezer so that she always has dessert on hand.  I made it to take to friends on Friday night and it was a huge success, so I hope you will enjoy it.  Tip:  don’t think about the calories or if you do, cut out sugar for a week afterwards.  I promise – this dessert experience will be worth the sacrifice!

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 oz butter
• 2 barely-full cups SR Flour
• Half cup milk
• One third cup cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup chocolate powder (I added Lindt dark chocolate instead!)
• 6 eggs

Beat sugar and egg yolks well until light and fluffy.  Add the butter and continue beating until the mixture is creamy.  Add milk, chocolate, cocoa and flour and mix to blend.  Bake in a medium oven for 40 minutes.  Fill with melted chocolate, butter cream or orange jam.  Brenda’s Filling:  Whipped cream and eggwhites with Nutella!!

As always, I do things my way, substituting as I see fit.  And, although I have made this cake, it had all gone by the time I remembered I should take a photograph!  Oh well … next time.

Aubergine Salad

When I decided to post this recipe, I paused to consider a title. After all, the main ingredient is known as Aubergine in most of Europe and Eggplant in North America.  As well, many different cultures have their own versions of Aubergine salad.  I’m European, in Europe at the moment, so I’ll stick to Aubergine for now!  This is what I made yesterday …

In Turkey, I love the dish commonly known as patlican salatas.  The aubergines are grilled and then olive oil, lemon juice and garlic, tomato (skinned, seeded and chopped) and green pepper may be added.   The grilled aubergine is often is mixed with natural yogurt, olive oil and garlic.  Patlican begendi is pureed aubergine and has cheese, milk and flour added.  It is delicious and often served with a lamb stew.

In Greece and Cyprus, melitzanosalata is made simply with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper and is delicious.

Sicilians are fond of their Caponata, a dish made with fried vegetables (mostly eggplants and peppers), seasoned with chopped celery, olives and capers.

The French  love their Aubergine caviar.  Baked, peeled eggplant is mixed with garlic, tomato, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil. It is served as an appetizer with French bread, possibly along with olive tapenade (another of my favourites.)

I’m not sure of the nationality of my version as I incorporate various influences in my cooking.  However, I can say, unabashedly, that this dish is delicious with crusty, fresh bread or served as a pasta sauce.  You could even serve it with steamed rice and salad.  However you serve it, I hope you enjoy!

Brenda’s Aubergine Salad Recipe

• 2 large or 4 smaller aubergines
• Olive oil
• Chopped onion
• Garlic
• Fresh tomatoes or a small can of top quality plum tomatoes
• Smoked paprika
• Salt
• Optional:  Fresh Basil

Wash the aubergines.  Cut off the stems and cut into strips lengthwise.  If the aubergines are very “foamy” inside, keep some of that to make a dip, e.g. baba ghanoush.  Cut the aubergine into small squares, each with a piece of skin.  Saute chopped onion until it is just starting to turn golden and then add the aubergine.  Cook for a while until the cubes have softened and then remove from the pan.   Meanwhile, saute garlic in some olive oil and add the tomatoes.  Once the sauce is ready, add the cooked aubergine and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add paprika and basil.  Serve hot or cold.

Tip:  It’s delicious next day on crusty European-style bread!