Blog assignment #3 "Hug a Farmer"

      Today i visited a local fish shop named Coral Sea Fish at Kensington
Market where I  interview the owner to the shop  and this is what
I got.

Lovis Qarlos and man who was born in Portugal at The Azores Island. When Lovis was a young he started selling fish to help with a family business. Lovis started working with fish at the age of six. After he got older he moved to Canada where he then open a fish shop this started 19 years ago.


This is Lovis' philosophy on choosing non-organic vs organic foods.  

What he think about non-organic and organic foods is that these food are to satisfy the customers. What he does is buy both organic and non organic foods to support both types of consumers.


I asked Lovis where does he get his fish from he told me that they were shipped from all over the world from the west coast to the east cost.

This is Lovis though on environment waste.

What he said was the in a huge disappointment that a lot of wood goes to waste he said that he wishes people would understand how hard it is the get these food that is should he cherish.

I asked Lovis what he does with his waste he told me that he recycles them.

What i learn from is experience was that it does not matter if your a high end restaurant or a small bakery it doesn't matter because if you love what you do that's all it matters. When i saw Lovis he was enjoying what he did interacting with his customer to satisfy  there needs. Lovis taught me that u need passion for your work if you want to succeed.

 The Azores Island-http://themindunleashed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/atlantic.gif

     

Blog assignment #2 cooking the meat and game

Braise Ox-tail
Aka: For my Onii-Chan 
  2 carrots-150 g
 1 celery -100 g
 1 onion - 200 g
  beef stock - 900 ml
  Ox-tail- 2 lb
  red wine- 200 ml
 3 garlic cloves
 4 sprigs of thyme
 dry Rosemary- 1 g
 1 bay leaf
 vegetable oil - 50ml
  salt

My chose of animal is beef cattle and my cut is ox-tail. The cooking method for my ox-tail is braising because ox-tail has a lot of connective tissue and it takes long to break down connective tissue so braising is the best method to break down these connective tissues.













1. prepare mirpoix and other ingredients next season the ox-tail with salt and add oil to a pan or roasting pan. preheat the oven to 300 degrees Celsius
2. Next start browning the ox-tail after remove any left over oil. In the same pan add a little of oil and start sauteing mirpoix. First start with Onions then add carrot after that add celery.

3. Once onions start to get translucent add the garlic and saute for another minute. After deglaze the pan with red wine and reduce liquid by half.













4. Once the red wine is reduce add the beef stock and herbs and bring to a boil.
5. Once the liquid starts boiling add back the ox-tail cover with a lid and place it into the oven for 2 hours

6. After the 2 hours remove the lid and the ox-tail and strain the liquid into a separate pot or pan.
Reduce the liquid to a Jue lie consistency

Final product


Consistency for the Jue Lie is able to coat the back of the spoon.












The ox-tail is fork tender

Blog assignment #1 purchasing meat

My local grocery store Hong Tai super market is located on 2555 Victoria Park Avenue. Has a large selection of meat cuts for a cheap price it also has a wide selection of fish and charcuterie.  My chose of animal is beef cattle and the cut is ox-tail. The reason why I chose ox-tail as my cut is because ox-tail is cheap piece of cut and has gelatin-rich meat.

http://www.blogto.com/listings/grocery/upload/2011/10/20111020-hong-tai-supermarket.jpg

          The Cattle was first domesticated 10 000 years ago and was raised in all region from America to Asia. Study shows that there are currently 134 different types of cattle and the average weight 60-100 pounds when they are born and are slaughter after 6-10 months and the average weight before there slaughter is 450-700 pounds. There are two sexes of cattle male and female the male is used for meat, leather and sports. The female is used for dairy and meat as well.

                          

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/beef

The ox-tail comes from cattle’s tail and has an average weight of 2-4 pounds. Ox-tail is a bony cut and the meat is very tough but the meat is very gelatinous and rich. The best method to cook ox tail is any type of slow cooking method examples like stewing and braising.  The reason why ox tail is best for slow cooking because the tail has a lot of connective tissue if you were to pan fry or grill the ox-tail it would still be tough to eat. So slow cooking is the best method for cooking ox tail because it’s the best way to break down connective tissue without burning the ox-tail. When I’m buying ox-tail I make sure that the cut does not have an odor and it has a nice red colour. 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Raw_oxtail-01.jpg

http://caribbeanpot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/guinness-oxtails-13.jpg