“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” – Lao Tzu

And so the journey, or rather, the quest for Vancouver’s finest crème brulée has taken me to familiar and unfamiliar places.  The single step that started the journey began at the Glowbal Restaurant with their Crème Brulée Shooter – an alcoholic crème brulée dream come true. Bacon on a crème brulée? Well, that was what Pastry Chef at Society had to offer – the Maple Bacon Crème Brulée. On my third stop, French pastry chef Thierry Busset used Italian amarena cherries for his creation the Amarena Crème Brulée. The Citrus Crème Brulée proved to be my toughest assignment to date, after demonstrating my negotiating skills, I was able to taste this Christmas-inspired crème brulée at the Terminal City Club. During my last crème brulée quest, I went back to a place that evoked a lot of memories as well as a crème brulée made from sake kasu – the Sake Kasu Brulée.

My latest quest leads me to East Hastings in a local restaurant that was sticking to its traditions in creating their own version of the crème brulée.

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

Episode 6 – Grand Marnier Finale

Image cutline: Chef Brad Miller delivers the perfect ending to the six weeks of the crème brulée quest

Years ago, I embarked on the journey to create Vancouver’s comprehensive guide to crème brulée. After some investigating, several tastings and a little bit of scribbling, it became apparent that no guide would ever be complete or accurate. Crème brulée recipes tend to change on a whim – be it a change in season, or a change in the chef’s twitter status and compiling such a guide would be an impossible task. When I found out a local restaurant was sticking to their original recipe and had no plans of change, I was intrigued. I figured we’d seen enough ‘change’ with Obama’s administration.

Au Petit Chavignol, is a wine and cheese bar based on the beloved ‘Les Amis du Fromage’ cheese stores around town. Located on East Hastings, eight daunting blocks past Main, the tale of a stable and much lauded crème brulée was worth the travel through the junction of Main and Hastings and subsequently Cracktown. When I arrived on scene, the Vancouver Table Tennis Club across the street put me at ease. This was no longer the neighbourhood where you roll up your windows and pray for a green light, I was just outside of Japantown one block East of the Astoria Hotel in enchanting Strathcona.

The restaurant, the fare, the grower champagnes, all exquisite (how can you go wrong with wine and cheese?) For the grand finale, the Grand Marnier Crème Brulée delivered what was expected. A one-two punch of Grand Marnier and orange zest, balanced with vanilla, topped with sugar and burnt to perfection. The best part? This one isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut 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.’

Denman Street is home to Kingyo, a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant that serves their own exquisite version of the crème brulée. The location is memorable to me since this is where the small bistro Enthuze used to be located – the place that inspired me to create Vancouver’s comprehensive guide to crème brulée many years ago.

In this quest, I’m back to my old devices – seeking a crème brulée worthy of worship, and I think I’ve found one – at Kingyo, of course.

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

Episode 5 – Didn’t See That One Coming!

Image cutline:  On a shadowy corner of Granville Island, famous Sake maker Masa Shiroki conspires to create a new batch of his craft sake. What’s intriguing about the sake brewing process is that nothing is wasted. Not even the slightly gritty paste which is left over from the fermentation process. It’s called Sake Kasu and has long been used in Japanese cuisine and now, in this crème brulée.

A quaint little spot along Denman Street brings back memories in my search for the best crème brulées in Vancouver. A couple of years ago, on this street stood a small bistro called Enthuze, whose enthusiastic owners wanted to share their love affair with food to the world. This was one of the few places where I first tasted and enjoyed the Matcha Green Tea Crème Brulée – an eye-opening experience that led me to believe that somewhere in the world there is a myriad of crème brulées yet to be discovered and not just one as some may argue. After its owners left to study in a world-renowned culinary school, a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant, Kingyo, took its place in the same exact locations along Denman Street. The location must have good food karma as I’ve always gleaned something amazing upon each visit there.

This Sunday evening, I eagerly awaited for the new crème brulée creation that Kingyo had in store for me. Following the Japanese tradition of enhancing or adding their own unique twist to an original work, Kingyo has created their own renditions of the crème brulée. Their remarkable line of crème brulées ranged from a green tea crème brulée to its more recent sweet potato rendition.

Tonight, Chef Makoto Kimoto unveiled the Sake Kasu Brulée, a creation made from sake kasu – “sake lees” – the left over from the production of sake. This crème brulée rendition is similar to the typical creme brulee with an infusion of the Japanese sake taste. With the pudding covered with a delicate caramelized sugar coating, this rendition of the crème brulée has a rich, exquisite and unique taste akin to the Amazake – a traditional sweet, low-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. It had a hint of nutty aroma about it but the crust was a bit soft. The brulée was not quite smooth and almost had a similar complexion to kasu. The brulée was garnished with sesame crackers like the French sour cracker with a Japanese twist making it semi-sweet. Priced at less than five dollars, this is another brulée you’ll want to place up on a mantle.

Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut 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.’

The Terminal City Club is one of the world’s most respected private business clubs. The members have a multitude of facilities at their fingertips – a full-size pool, fitness facilities, snooker room, grill, wine bar, fine dining and more.

The Club’s Pastry Chef, Fumiko Moreton, recently gained some notoriety by competing in the International Culinary Exhibition aka the Food Olympics in Erfurt, Germany, as part of the team which placed third overall in the World and gained three gold medals.

As usual, I’ve contributed my thoughts relating to Creme Brulee and featuring a creation by Moreton in Friday’s edition of Vancouver’s 24hrs. 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 4 – The Private Business Crème Brulée

Image cutline: Pastry Chef Fumiko Moreton likes her crème brulée simple – no fillers, no fruit, no fuss; it’s all about the creamy and smooth texture of the sweet sweet custard.

The search for Vancouver’s undiscovered crème brulée can sometimes be a daunting one. Secretly plotting against Vancouver’s food community, standing in alleys hoping to get a glimpse of the kitchen, recording every intimate account and photographing the evidence certainly lives up to the name of cloak and dagger.

My toughest assignment yet was to infiltrate the guarded walls of the Terminal City Club in the heart of the financial district – the private business club founded in 1892 features an admirable wine bar and some of the city’s finest dining all built for the sole entertainment of members and their very lucky guests. Deep within its luxurious recesses, Fumiko Moreton, Pastry Chef Extraordinaire concocts her next great dessert. Convincing Moreton, part of the crack team that recently earned a Gold Medal and third place in the world’s most important cooking competition, the Culinary Olympics, was no small feat. I had to look the part, talk the part and even smell the part.

After some smooth negotiating (begging), Moreton imparted to me, a taste of her Christmas-inspired Citrus Crème Brulée. Topped with a raspberry, some blueberries, a couple orange slices, a snowflake-like sugar garnish and a mini cranberry and pistachio biscotti, the crème brulée’s presentation  was elaborate enough to make me feel like a giddy youngster, all excited to unwrap a new gift.

Below the delicately caramelized top crust lay simple elegance. The uncomplicated custard infused with lemon and orange zest and lightly flavoured with real vanilla bean invoked the kind of euphoria that is usually incited by illicit substances available on the other part of Hastings Street, far from the club.

It’s no wonder that if you want to join the Terminal City Club, two members in good standing have to vouch for you. It’s just that good.

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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 a song from the 90s and it’s come back to haunt you. Well….  not really. The folks at CinCin put together a crème brulée with a type a cherry that sounds kinda like it. What’s better is the crème brulée is pretty kickass and when the food is kickass, through some mystic power, my thoughts get published in the Friday edition of Vancouver’s 24hrs newspaper. This week we’re talking about the Amarena Cherry Crème Brulée prepared by Thierry Busset.

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 3 – Hey Amarena

If hearing the name ‘Amarena’ isn’t cause enough to get up and dance to a familiar and similarly named 90’s tune, the tale of this crème brulée will.

On a recent pilgrimage to France, seeking to discover the Country’s nascent cocktail culture, what consistently evaded me was a drink composed of the world’s finest sweet vermouth – the Italian made Antica Carpano. What I discovered was that the highly nationalistic French don’t necessarily look outside their borders for excellence, even if you are drinking at what’s supposed to be an authentic Italian spot.

When I heard that French pastry chef Thierry Busset from CinCin Ristorante was using Italian amarena cherries in his crème brulée, I thought of the move as an enlightened one. These wild cherries, soaked in amarena syrup using a secret 80 year old technique, have made them the most sought-after cherries in Europe, and for good reason: the small, dark, slightly sour cherries, grown mostly in Bologna and Modena resemble olives in texture and are addictive, delicious and bursting with flavour.

Back to the brulée, Chef Busset undoubtedly experimented long and hard to get the right mix – three halved amarena cherries, masterfully inserted into the dessert gives ample opportunity for all good things crème brulée to stand out – a crisp caramel crust, the perfectly consistent custard and the cherries, the sweet sweet cherries, will make for you to want to kick your chair back and yell “Hey Amarena!”

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Image cutline: Pastry Chef Thierry Busset’s Amarena Crème Brulée is so popular that he’s seeking to open up his very own bake shop on Alberni Street within the next year. The crème brulée will definitely be on the menu.

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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.’

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.’

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.’