Bacon. It’s the greatest food in the world and after this episode of my quest, I’d say it’s one of the most versatile, too! So what the heck do bacon and creme brulee have to do with each other? Well, in Brulee Quest, we’re searching for Vancouver’s undiscovered crème brulée. It’s published every Friday in Vancouver’s 24hrs newspaper and this week features a Maple Bacon Creme Brulee that Amanda Goats of Society created for me.

You can download this week’s version in PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 2 – Even goes good with Bacon

It’s rumoured that the custard which is essential to the creation of crème brulée has its origin in the fining of red wines.

Winemakers, wanting to clarify their wares, used egg whites to complete their task – what was left over was egg yolks a plenty which, with the addition of some cream, sugar and heated ever so slightly, produced the sweet yellow custard that you’d find in the base of any conventional brulée.

So what happens when brilliant young minds go to work? Bacon, the world’s greatest food, gets added into the mix and the result is no ordinary crème brulée!

Amanda Goats, Pastry Chef at Society, Yaletown’s newest hotspot, felt that the best of Canadian flavours was sufficient muse in the creation of her Maple Bacon Crème Brulée.

What I tried one fateful Saturday morning was dyn-o-mite – the custard reminiscent of scrambled eggs in texture, lightly sweetened with the flavour of maple and containing delicious bits of the finest bacon was suitable for any meal of the day, whether it’s just dessert, just breakfast or something more.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media thought leader and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

It’s here, the last of the Mohicans has arrived. A relic or collector’s item right out of the box, the E72 is probably the last Symbian S60v3 FP2 phone that will ever be built by Nokia.

With the recent dismantling of S60.com, N-Gage.com, Widsets.com and other websites, plus the lacklustre performance of the E75, one’s gotta wonder if someone who picks up this phone isn’t some mindless automaton who buys whatever shit Nokia slings.

What’s worse is that if you look at history, the E61 was a pretty good phone, the E61i was an even better phone, the E71 rocked. The E62 was introduced by companies like Fido and Cingular and was essentially carrier branded garbage (sort of like the E71x which was released by AT&T). Nokia would have been smart to stick with the name E71i or the N71i as previously whispered through the blogosphere but they dropped the ball when they let AT&T release the carrier-branded FP2 variant of the E71 as the E71x.

Well (after a rocky start), I can report with great certainty that I probably won’t be smashing my E72 and thus far I’m pretty happy. Or at least, perhaps my time with the E75 has taught me to cope.

I’m not the average user and my needs are directly correlated with my business interests, but keeping that tall list aside, stability and responsiveness should rate really high on the scale what makes or breaks any phone, right? Right!

The E72 is a responsive phone. The hosted Nokia Email solution actually loads up quickly (not in the blink of an eye but still tolerable) and transitioning and loading other software isn’t so bad.

My setup (aka the testbed):

• Nokia E-Mail with Mail for Exchange

My primary mail client – the new ‘Mail for Exchange’ is Nokia’s attempt at shoving bloatware down peoples throats. Thankfully the fast processor in the E72 can cope and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Servers is pretty tolerable. Nokia E-mail also uses FP2′s network destinations feature which replaces access point groups that was available in the E61i.

Shamefully, Nokia E-mail doesn’t give you the ability to select folders for synchronization and doesn’t give you access to all of your top level folders.  Instead, Nokia E-mail syncs all the folders within its grasp based on a single setting – if you ask for it to sync all of your email, you’ll fill up your phone’s memory (imagine a million sent items) and will have to use the three-finger salute to wipe out and reset to factory settings.

The older (downloadable) version of Mail for Exchange (available in the E71 and previous) strikes me as a more stable and mature product.

• DataViz RoadSync

RoadSync is another mail client that syncs with Microsoft Exchange. Setting it up is a bit of a pain since it takes control of your email key, sets itself to the default email program, etc. and whch all has to be undone. Once it’s going, it’s solid and responsive.

In FP2, RoadSync really shines. The same software installed on an FP1 phone can’t see most of the top-level folders and brings up an annoying send dialog if you send immediately (when installed as the secondary e-mail client). Once you’re on FP2, the send dialog has been hidden and RoadSync magically has access to all of the top-level folders.

DataViz – I apologise for all the mean things I said to you in the past, all this time it’s been a limitation of the operating system.

• emoze

emoze is another push email account. It’s a hosted solution that can interface with your POP3, IMAP4 or can also connect to an Exchange Server using Outlook Web Access. emoze also brings view as HTML support to users running the older version of Microsoft Exchange Server (2003) but still has some viewer kinks to be worked out.

In fairness, Nokia E-mail does allow you to set up multiple accounts (one Mail for Exchange account and multiple POP3 and IMAP4 accounts) but falls flat in the ease of setup and stability department. After beating my head against the wall over intermittently receiving emails, I said fuggetaboutit and installed emoze. emoze is lightweight, uses Nokia’s old mail interface and simply works. Thumbs up emoze people for making a stable and lightweight product!

• Killer Mobile TotalRecall

In my E71, I used VoxTalk to record all my incoming and outgoing phone calls. I bill for my time, so it’s important to keep track of phone calls. Well, VoxTalk doesn’t work on the E72 so I’ve installed TotalRecall which is a similar application and thus far, it works like a charm.

• Birdstep SmartConnect

I’m using the European version of the E72 which means the fastest Internet speed I’m going to get is whatever EDGE is capable of. I’m surfing in the kilobits not the megabits (until I purchase an E72-2 which comes out in a few days). To make things worse, most S60 software isn’t aware of network destinations, so I’m stuck using simple access points.

Birdstep launched SmartRoaming in the era of the E61 which allowed for seamless Wifi roaming. Smartconnect is the same software for the E71 and thus far it works perfectly for me E72, too! So now I can have third party programs (like RoadSync and emoze) automatically switch between my various Wifi access points I have at home and in the offices and also roam onto Fido’s GPRS/EDGE network when I’m away. I get to save battery power and improve performance automatically.

• Google Gmail, Google Maps, Google S60 App

The new Google App for the S60 has voice recognition built in and it’s pretty accurate. Kudos to Google.

• Nokia Conversation

Threaded SMSes strike me as a must for any smartphone nowadays. It’s odd that this piece of software has to be installed like a third party product. Rather, it should be installed by default. It’s been a graduate from Nokia’s Beta Labs for some time.

• Gravity

Twitter and facebook status update program that doesn’t suck.

• Escarpod

Okay, I’m fine if Nokia doesn’t want to include N-Gage in the E72. Really, I’m fine with the fact that they want to force all game makers to publish their games to the Ovi store. I’m fine with being penalized for having purchased games in prior iterations of my Nokia phones staring with the N95. I won’t talk about how useless the Ovi store is either. What’s baffling, though, is that Nokia ripped out the Podcasting client that’s been built in their E-series phones for at least three years. Instead, we have t install ‘in-development’ software like Escarpod.

Overall, the E72 does what I need it to do. I’m not craving any additional features and I’m no longer excited about what’s next from Nokia. I’m happy with this phone and its stability but I’ve been beat up too many times. Maemo and S60v5 just don’t turn my crank anymore.

Side note, I hear the Palm Pre will support multiple Exchange accounts.

According to the latest press on the newest flavour of Raincoast Crisps, the ‘cinnamon raisin crackers’ pair a hint of cinamon with sweet golden raisins and go well aged cheddar, manchego or asiago cheese.

So we took that, tossed it out the window and tried our own nutty* concoctions: buckwheat honey, rhubarb & vanilla artisianal preserve and a gourmet mustard.

How did they rate?

Round 1 – Buckwheat Honey – slightly bitter, this monofloral honey is more effective than over-the-counter cough syrup at treating childhood cough.

Result? Well, I don’t have that cough anymore. Crackers took well to the honey, I’d say about a 5 out of 10 on the Raj scale of yumminess.

Round 2 – Rhubarb and Vanilla Artisianal Spread – one of my friends has a theory that the addition of Vanilla to anything makes it better. He cites Vanilla Coke as one of the examples of this triumph. Considering the raging market success that Vanilla Coke has had on the market, maybe he’s talking about a different coke… the South American variety, perhaps? Either way, I ain’t buying it.

Result? Not bad at all. The Artisianal Spread is actually part of Vista d’Oro’s Spring Line. So we’re mixing a fall flavour from Lesley Stowe with a spring flavour from Vista d’Oro and whaddya get? Pure summer! 7 outta 10 on my made up scale of culinary greatness aka the Raj scale of yumminess.

Round 3 – Extra Hot Gourmet Mustard – there ain’t nothing like gourmet mustard. When one old boy points at another old boy and says “he’s got the mustard,” usually giving a slight nod of approval, it isn’t something to be taken lightly. SO here we have it, now Lesley Stowe, or rather, Lesley Stowe’s cracker has the mustard.

Result? POW! I nearly burnt my freaking face off with that extra hot mustard. Note to self, use less! I think I need some sparkling spring water… or buckwheat honey…  hhhhoott. I can’t say this one even makes my scale – the mustard totally overtook the cracker and then burnt a hole in my desk and the floor below it, so we put that in the unrated category and then called the local hazmat team at the fire department.

I spose the sane should stick to aged cheddar, manchego cheese or asiago cheese. Lesley Stowe’s Cinnamon Raisin Crisps – now available in stores but beware!, highly addictive.

Find out more on her website, HERE.

* no nuts were harmed nor were any used in the creation of this blog post (yet)

For background on the delicious little crisps, keep reading, after the jump.
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A new week, a new quest – this time we’re searching for Vancouver’s undiscovered crème brulée and it’s published every Friday in Vancouver’s 24hrs newspaper. You can download this week’s version in PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Brulée Quest – the search for Vancouver’s undiscovered Crème Brulée.

Episode 1 – Sugar on top, party underneath

This week, as we transition from one celebrated food to another, you can’t deny the global appeal of Crème Brulée – one of the world’s most popular and versatile dessert dishes. So popular, that throughout Vancouver’s restaurant scene, you can find a myriad of flavours ranging from brulées filled with mundane vanilla custard to magnificent chocolates, green teas and even lavender.

A crème brulée can be more than just custard sitting in a bowl topped with a layer of hard caramelized sugar. Ideally, the sugary top has to have just been caramelized – so it’s warm to the touch, and it can’t be too thick otherwise you can’t break it with your spoon. It is gratifying to simply chip away and consume the crust but really, the prize is still what’s beyond the wall. Think back twenty years ago to when you saw the Berlin Wall fall. Some of you were probably thinking to yourself, man that’s a wild party. Well, in the same bent, what’s beyond the sugar wall is almost always a party.

Take Glowbal Restaurant’s rendition of crème brulée or the Crème Brulée Shooter as they call it: hand-crafted in small batches by Glowbal’s skilled kitchen staff, the Crème Brulée Shooter possesses all the characteristics of a great brulée – a freshly-toasted caramelized sugar cover hides something similar to a china white shooter. Crack the sugary top and what’s underneath is a great start to the Crème Brulée Quest.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media thought leader and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

Snif! That’s it. This is the last of the Bacon Quest. It’s been a good six weeks writing this piece for 24hrs news. A great opportunity to talk about something I love. You can download the published version in PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below. Stay tuned for a new subject, next week

Bacon Quest – the search for Vancouver’s undiscovered bacon.

Episode 6 – The Final Bacon

My journey to discover new and exciting bacon isn’t just the six week stint you’ve read in this newspaper, but a lifelong journey. Like anything, it has its ups and it has its downs.

I recall in 2007, there used to be a place in Yaletown called Lucky Diner. Lucky was the place for breakfast if you were in the area as, at the time, it was owned and operated by the experienced restaurateur, Sean Heather of the Irish Heather, and if there’s anything the Irish know, it’s breakfast. Well, that and potatoes but we’ll save that for another quest.

So, as the story goes, I’m experiencing Lucky Diner for the first time and I order breakfast from Mr. Heather’s sister, Roisin. Breakfast includes bacon or as they called it on the menu, ‘belly bacon,’ which is really why I ordered it in the first place. So breakfast finally arrived, I look down and am greeted with two strips of bacon.

Two freaking strips, I think to myself. What? They couldn’t spring for the third?

Then I started to analyze the situation a bit – I’m thinking to myself, do these people not like me?

Is Ms. Heather still angry with me for finding out the secret location of Salt before they launched? Am I going to taste bitter almonds next and wind up in an Eastside dumpster?

I bit my tongue and didn’t say a thing and am glad that I did. When I finally did try the belly bacon, it became immediately clear that this is bacon unlike any other – the bacon of the gods, tiny but so rich and salty that eating more than two strips would indubitably be a sin.

I found it, the holy grail of bacon, and I lived to tell about it.

Today when I spoke to Exec Chef Lee Humphries at the Irish Heather, he informs me that they still have access to such a treat. I’ll be there soon, I’m sure.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media thought leader and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp.

Wow! That week went so fast that I forgot to post up the latest Bacon Quest episode! What’s that, you ask? Well, it’s the search for Vancouver’s undiscovered bacon! You can download the published version (that appeared in 24hrs) in PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Bacon Quest – the search for Vancouver’s undiscovered bacon.

Episode 5 – Drink your Bacon

The thought of drinking one’s meal is a foreign concept – I remember years ago when then Captain of the Canucks, Messier, anted up to the table at the Ken Bogas’ Yaletown hotspot Mangiamo (now Goldfish), jug of green liquid in hand, singing the praises of such a beverage.

I thought he was nuts.

In hindsight, regular consumption of this green beverage is probably the reason why Bogas, the Alpha-male I once looked up to, is sporting a new set of tits and goes by the name of ‘kaitlyn.’

Back to Messier, what type of crazy person drinks a jug of green stuff and calls it their breakfast?

Isn’t the consumption of food more than just the process of mastication?

It’s about sitting down at a table and  sharing , isn’t it? Sharing with friends, family, felines and even foes.

Well, a couple of days ago, the talented mixologist and self proclaimed bacon aficionado David Wolowidnyk from West restaurant demonstrated to me that breakfast could be both sipped and shared.

Upon hearing of his bacon-infused bourbon creations, I immediately challenged him to change my mindset, and in response what he created was the ‘All-day Breakfast;’ a bacon and egg flip comprised of Bulleit Bourbon infused with bacon, a whole egg, Cointreau, Angostura Orange bitters, orange juice and garnished with spiced-pear jelly on toast.

Everyone at the bar got a sip that day and we agreed, bacon, eggs, toast, OJ and bourbon is a great start to anyone’s day.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media thought leader and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp.

Up until Monday, the restaurant industry in Vancouver was up in arms. Why, you ask? Because the freaking city was trying to hide some really nasty business in the recent clauses to extend liquor licenses for food primary establishments. One step forward, two steps back.

I smell a conspiracy… or maybe it’s just ‘the machinery’ rearing it’s ugly head. The same machinery which once came into my restaurant and told me that they run the city, not the elected officials. The same machinery that still thinks it’s cool to keep our liquor laws in the 1930s. The same machinery that talks about equality, equity, etc. but says you can’t open a bar because you have to go buy an existing license that doesn’t exist. Yes that machinery. Only now they have a face – it’s called Raymond Louie.

Well, the restaurant industry, thanks to James Iranizad from Hell’s Kitchen, spoke up.

Now the City’s backtracked… until someone brews an even more insidious plan. Or, maybe they’ll make it all hunky-dory and use this as a publicity stunt, because they ‘saved’ the restaurant industry – either way, the fine people that feed us ain’t pleased.

The By-Law No. 4450 amendments regarding the restaurant liquor service that were scheduled to be approved during the city council meeting on Tuesday, November 3^rd has been withdrawn. I did ask the city clerk why the decision to withdraw the By-Law was made and by who and wasn’t provided with further information.

You want details? Get if from the Straight, Hours-of-service bylaw rankles restaurateur, or from the Courier, No-fun city makes a comeback, or perhaps the Sun, City to take a second look at anti-wine bylaw… and watch your back, those ‘No fun City’ types could be lurking in your bushes.