Meatball Quest – Episode 3 – Uncovering the Secret Recipe
“A man’s errors are his portals of discovery” – James Joyce
And this was one error that allowed us to come across something wonderful. After peeling off the layers that has wrapped Bin 942 with the false impression of being just another hyped-up tapas bar, the secret that lay within was discovered . . . and what a satisfying discovery it was.
You can download the this week’s format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.
Episode 3 – Uncovering the Secret Recipe
Image cutline: Bin 942’s secret recipe is the essence of simplicity – patience, a whole lotta onions and a dash of port make the best base for extremely juicy meatballs.
Up until recently, we deemed Gord Martin’s menus at his infamous Bin Restaurants as simply glorified tapas items, dished up to the late-night wine bar crowd. Not the most discerning clique from our standpoint, that is, until we sampled their meatballs.
F: Personally, Bin has always been a wine-forward establishment for me, with their dolled-up bar food served as an amenity. This is a spot where truffle oil is not a subtle enhancement, but merely a liberally used condiment on every other menu item.
R: You know, Fury, itwas really worth checking out Bin 942 to take a peek at what’s under all that sass.
F: When we peeled off the superficial layers, we were surprised to discover the labour intensive secret behind the balls’ extreme juiciness. There’s actually no slight of hand going on here.
R: That Gord guy has some serious patience. I mean making the base of his meatballs by caramelizing a potful of onions for hours? What type of maniac does that?
F: Sometimes subtlety is the best approach – like the dash of port to coax out the onion’s complex sweetness.
R: Just throw in the meat and we’ve got some good good balls. In the esteemed words of Glenn Quagmire, the best summation would be “giggitygiggity, alright!”
Editor: To their horror, Raj and Fury later discovered that there was truffle in the accompanying Pinot Noir sauce. They weren’t able to escape it.
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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour. Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.
