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.

—

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.’