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Posts Tagged ‘Parmigiano’

Il Giardino Restaurant

Posted in Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Joyce, Vancouver, tagged Agnolotti, al dente, Antipasto, Dine Out Vancouver 2010, Il Giardino, Italian, Parmigiano, Umberto on April 28, 2010| 1 Comment »

My Dine Out Vancouver 2010 kicked off with a location that I’ve been wanting to go for a few years: Il Giardino, part of the Umberto Group. I couldn’t wait to try it such that I had to book it for the first day of the event! (OK, a little bit exaggerating but there’s some truth to it!)

Food

The advantage of doing DOV with 2 or more people is that you are more likely to try everything on the menu, as restaurants usually offer 3 options for each of the 3 courses. In this case, my parents and I did just that – we ordered one of everything, vegetarian dishes included.

Overall I was quite happy with the quality of the dishes. I personally had the Antipasto + Black Cod + White Chocolate Ganache Cake. The Antipasto Misto was of a generous portion and captured the essence of an antipasto plate you’d find in an Italian restaurant. I have to confess, though, I still haven’t learned to appreciate olives. Alaskan Black Cod was not bad; I liked that it had a crust that added texture to the soft, flaky meat. I also appreciated that they put a lot of vegetables on the side, a good balance to a heavy meal. Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache Cake was probably my favourite of the 3 desserts. Although it’s white chocolate, it’s not too sweet. And it’s very creamy. I wish the cake part was slightly thicker; now it’s so thin that it’s barely there.

As for other dishes, (more…)

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The Cracking of Parmigiano-Reggiano by Whole Foods

Posted in Culinary Events, Guest Post, Vancouver, tagged Cheese, Guinness World Record, parmesan, Parmigiano, Parmigiano Reggiano, Whole Foods on March 19, 2010| 1 Comment »

As mentioned in Joyce’s earlier post, we were made aware of the event put up by Whole Foods. On February 27th, all Whole Foods stores in Canada, the US, and the UK cracked a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano at each location. I witnessed the spectacle at the Whole Foods store near Cambie and 8th Avenue.

Sean, the guy who brutally broke the 40 KG cheese in half, explained to the shoppers and me (since I wasn’t there to shop) the uniqueness of this cheese. A local opera singer was there to serenade the legendary cheese. Did you know that Parmigiano is actually lactose-free? I am not sure if this also applies to the domestic or the under-aged ones, but for the real 24-month aged stuff from Northern Italy, it’s supposed to be the case. Sean also mentioned that the Parm made from milk in Spring and Summer is better as the fresh grass tends to give the cheese a slight sweetness. (more…)