All Entries in the "Food Review" Category
Red Espresso – Rooibos Tea Espresso
This came in the mail and oh yeah, its a sample for us courtesy of Red Espresso. Please note we are not paid for this blog post if that matters to any of you.
Actually there is a specific way to write the name of this unique product. It is not Red Espresso …
… it is red espresso. That is what I noticed … they made the word “red” red all the time and spelt them all in lowercases. Weird. But smart. That’s branding at its finest if you ask me.
red espresso is the world’s first espresso made of tea. It is made with Rooibos tea which is gaining popularity around the world and we had read about them before. So when red espresso asked if we would like a sample, we said sure. We were curious and wanted to see for ourselves what the fuss is all about.
What we found out was that Rooibos has all the versatility of espresso coffee. With this you could make latte, cappucino, americano, white mocha and even iced tea with apple juice. They even trademarked the red espresso names so that when you ask for these items below, it means Rooibos tea from red espresso:
- red latte
- red cappucino
- red canadiano (he he he … not Americano!)
- red symphony (is actually white mocha)
- fresh red (iced tea with apple juice)
- iced red (iced tea)
Before I continue, I want to point out that these pictures here are all mine. How did you like it? It is not exactly pro level but I am pretty pleased how they all came out.
Anyway, you can prepare a red espresso in a few ways. You could use an espresso machine, a stovetop espresso maker, a french press or even a drip coffee maker.
I don’t have an espresso machine at home. I had always wanted to buy one but Suanne kiboshed that idea because she said does not have anymore space in her kitchen. So we opted for the next best way to make this. We bought ourselves a stovetop espresso maker (above).
So I did a bit of research. Apparently the Rolls Royce of stovetop espresso makers are made by Bialetti. But Bialetti are so expensive with some fancy models costing over $100.
I found the basic one above in HomeSense. It is less than $10. Cheap but it works the same. He he he … I hope this is safe! OK we admit. We are noobs when it comes to this thingy. So, please don’t roll your eyes as I attempt to explain the basics OK?
With the stovetop espresso maker, you basically prepare your brew on top of your stove burner. The pressure from the boiling water will apply sufficient pressure to express a thick concentrated coffee from the beans. There are three sections: on the left is the boiler where the water goes. The middle part is the metal filter for the coffee (or in this case the red espresso). And on the right is the chamber where the espresso is collected.
It is a simple device. It is also the way the Italians make their espresso as I was told.
The Rooibos tea looks kind of like … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
New Jules+Kent and Undercurrents Products from Mad About Food
We have more samples delivered to our home.
This time it came from Mad About Food. We heard of them before. They are the gourmet food gift basket company.
Over the long weekend, Suanne and I had a little project to put into practice a couple of practical tips of taking food pictures. We learned this from Sea Salt With Food whose site traffic stands head and shoulders above every Vancouver blogs we know from the strength of her pictures. [So, Angie, how are these shots?]
The above is Vegetarian Antipasto on Savory Crackers. We topped it with Goat Cheese. Yummy.
This is always a Canadian entertaining appetizer stapple. It had a savoury blend of vegetables and spices prepared in small batches. You can also add to pasta sauce or even use it as a sandwich spread, if you want.
We also had Tomato Chutney, similarly topped with Goat Cheese. The chutney has a pleasant, bright flavour.
It is versatile and is really intended to enhance pork, chicken and fish. You can also use this to cover the top of a wheel of brie and bake. That I got to try someday. How about blending this with cream cheese for an appealing appetizer?
Jules+Kent is the latest product line launched by Mad About Food. It is a range of specialty sauces that are locally-made.
Mad About Food also launched another range of “honey” products at the same time.
The Nutty Hazel Honey is great. I had never tried nuts with honey before. It is organic BC hazelnuts combined with pure, unpasteurized Canadian honey. It is part of the new line of products called Undercurrents.
All these and more came in a nice practical gift basket like this. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Frito Lay’s Flavoured Potato Chips
We did not think that they were serious.
Frito Lay wrote to us some time ago alerting us that they had recently reduced the level of sodium in its entire lineup of Lay’s flavoured potato chips by at least 25% and up to 50% in some flavours. They asked chowtimes if we would be agreeable to feature this in our blog. We replied saying that we do not mind doing so as long as it benefits our readers. We asked them for coupons that we can give away.
Well, they said did not have coupons but said they can ship us samples instead.
Even though they said shipped us some but I did not think that they would ship an entire box.
We always have a bag (or two) at home … but we never had so much before. Oh yeah … Nanzaro was estatic over all the chips.
Frito Lay shipped us six different types of flavours. What’s your favourite? I like the Bar-B-Q the best but hate the Ketchup. The Sour Cream and Onions are not bad.
Oh … about the sodium level of Lay’s potato chips … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
POM Wonderful — 100% Pomegranate Juice
We do get samples every now and then. Molly sent us an email asking if she could send us some coupons to sample. We said yes and true enough the package came in the mail just a couple of days later. That was fast.
Chowtimes had often been contacted asking if we would like samples from food manufacturers. We replied to Molly saying that we’re in Canada because we thought that she may have mistaken us for a US blog site. Very often, the samples comes from the US and the products are not available outside of the US.
POM Wonderful, as it turns out, is available widely in Canada. It is just that we had never paid much attention to it.
We went to the Real Canadian Superstore to get some. Never knowing where to look for it, we spent quite a bit of time looking — thinking that it is somewhere in the beverage section. We actually had thought it was some form of a concentrate because of the word “concentrate” on the bottle.
As it turns out, it was in the section where food like salads are … i.e. at the produce section. POM Wonderful came in a nice and unique bottle and is supposed to be drank cold. They have a few flavours all identified by the colors on the cap. The bottle is so nice, I know it will end up in the drawer where Suanne keeps these kind of cure bottles — she can’t bring herself to throw cute things away.
The above is Mango. To me it tastes like More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Dr. Oetker Jam Express
It’s strawberry season. Ben brought home a 4lb pack one day after work as he found a good deal at the groceries store, $4.98 for 4 lbs. Ben usually does not do groceries shopping. It just happened that he was looking for some stationery in the Real Canadian Superstore and saw the good deal.
With so much strawberries, I quickly check my pantry and found a pack of Dr. Oetker Jam Express Gelling Powder which I bought a couple of months ago. I wanted to make some blueberries jam but do not get down to do it. So, this is just great for making strawberry jam.
I like Dr. Oetker Jam Express Gelling Powder for it’s simplicity to use and no additional sugar is required. You can use it to make jam from various fruit like raspberry, blueberry, blackberry and other fruits or blends. If you use defrosted frozen fruit, include the juice which will enhance the flavour and recipe only requires 1 3/4 cup of chopped defrosted frozen fruit.
Nothing beats some freshly home-made strawberry jam on a toast.
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh chopped strawberries, about 400g/1 lb
- 1 package of 200g Dr. Oetker Jam Express
- Two 250ml washed, rinsed and dried jam jars with sealing lids
Between McDonalds and Starbucks Coffee
Just in case you don’t already know, the coffee war down south had just spilled over the border to Canada.
A few months ago, McDonalds setting its sights on Starbucks fired the opening salvo by putting up billboards that proclaimed “four bucks is dumb”. Dozens of these billboards were erected in the Washington state and from what I read, there is even one erected right in front of the Starbucks HQ in Seattle. It was direct confrontation of the specialty coffee market in the US.
Last week, the coffee war came to Canada when McDonalds announced that you could get a free coffee during breakfast time in all outlets for a duration of two weeks. Starbucks reacted with a feeble attempt by giving free coffee for just a few hours.
Suanne and I do not normally buy coffee. We make coffee at home and there is also a Starbucks coffee dispenser at work. Two cups in the morning is just about the max we consume everyday.
Last Sunday, we decided to go check out what the fuss was. We woke up early, very early and drove to the Starbucks at Ironwood and bought a cup of Starbucks regular coffee.
We then brought it across the parking lot to the McDonalds outlets to get the free coffee. OK, Suanne was afraid of being caught taking a Starbucks coffee into McDonalds, getting a free cuppa and then take pictures. It was quite obvious what we were doing to the people around us. LOL!
Bear with me OK? I am no coffee expert but this is just my way of comparing McDonalds coffee with Starbucks. First off, we are comparing apple-to-apple. Both cups are small coffee (McDonalds Canada does not have espresso yet, I think).
Size wise, Starbucks wins with its taller cup, slightly wider cup.
The Starbucks cup costs $1.65 while McDonalds is 22% cheaper at $1.29. McDonalds wins.
The cup in McDonalds I heard was a new design which does not require a sleeve … Starbucks does. While the sleeve was made of recycled materials, still it is another piece of garbage that needed to be handled by the system. McDonalds wins here.
Starbucks lid is of simpler design. I like the McDonalds one which has a pullback tab which helps keep the coffee hot a tad longer. McDonalds wins.
You probably read about how big a problem these coffee cups are to the environment. They had largely managed to figure out making the cups environment friendly but the biggest problem is with the pastic lids. They still have no solution to making a viable cheap alternative to the plastic lids.
Oh, there are now proposals to start taxing plastic bottle (I know I am digressing here) in Vancouver. I think it’s a great idea but I know the Vancouver City Hall is up against powerful industry lobby groups.
And now to the coffee. Starbucks serve the coffee with just the right temperature. I can just drink it the moment I get it. For McDonalds’, it was scalding hot when we got it that we had to carefully sip it in the beginning. Starbucks wins.
Starbucks will hand you a cup and lets you add in your own sugar and cream — and you get to chose what creamer you want. In McDonalds, they ask you if you want sugar and cream and adds it for you. You, of course , could add in more if you want but what if you wanted less. OK, Starbucks wins.
Taste wise … heck, I don’t know! Suanne says they taste the same … no difference. I felt Starbucks tastes like 2.4% better because I tasted a hint of bitterness in McDonalds’s cup. Starbucks wins.
Smell wise Starbucks has a stronger coffee smell and so I gotta give it to Starbucks. Starbucks wins.
Give me a sec while I tally up the score …
MaxFrut — Gourmet Fruitcicles
“Yes Virgina. Not only are there Gourmet Jerkies, there is such a thing as Gourmet Popsicle”
Anna of MaxFrut invited us to visit their premises to check out their cool new product … fruitcicles, not popsicles. We went right after the lunch we had at Kash Cool. It was just perfect … this will be dessert after the heavy lunch.
MaxFrut is located just around the corner from Kash Cool. They are located in an industrial area on 127 Garden Ave. This is where the MaxFrut Flavour Lab is … the birth place of the many uniquely cool flavours.
We were greeted by the lovely Anna who were so helpful with our many questions. Suanne and I love learning about the food we eat and was lapping up every single word she said.
As much as we were curious, we were more excited when Anna brought this large tray of samples. Oooo … nice!
Hey … these are not your day to day popsicles. These are what Anna calls whole fruit frozen fruitcicles. She had made a new batch of interesting flavour of cucumber lime. What a combination but really, it was quite nice and fresh.
They had all kinds of Classic flavours made from real fruits. Since this is a laboratory of sorts, they even have Premium flavours which is not found elsewhere but here in the flavour lab in North Vancouver.
We noticed they had a $5 bill tagged on the top corner of this poster. Suanne and I guessed that it must be the first $5 they sold here. You think?
It was fun learning about flavours. Out of curiosity, Anna brought out some chili seasonings and use us as guinea pigs. She wanted to see how we react to this odd combination.
Mango fruitcicle is a very Asian flavour since it is a common tropical fruit found abundantly in South and South East Asia. So, Anna figured perhaps some chilli seasonings may go OK with the Mango fruitcicle.
The taste was … errrr … different. It was not bad especially. Who would have thought of putting chilli on popsicles? MaxFruit would, that’s who!
