I’m one of the few people blessed (perhaps even cursed) with a heightened sense of taste and smell. I found out I was a super-taster years ago when an old boss seemed impressed that I could tell the difference between green and red pepper by smell and taste alone and could use aroma to determine when boiling fish was beginning to overcook. Anna was a self-proclaimed super-taster in her own right and she solemnly warned that my ‘journey’ as a cook would be a different one from the average cook’s experience. She said that while it would definitely help me with perfecting my skills, my ability would also limit the scope of food I’d be able to cook and enjoy by a morbidly wide margin.
No more was this evident than when it came to spicy food. I recently tried the world’s hottest hot wings at Brookside Food Trailer in Harebay and if you ever wanted to see a grown man cry that would have been your prime opportunity to do so. The spiciest thing that I could ever handle was a popular eastern dish that most people don’t even consider to be hot – curries! It was at a restaurant almost a decade ago that I got my first chance to make one and in doing so, learned to use my heightened sense of taste and smell to my advantage.
It was the end of an early night and Anna had told us new hires (or ‘scrubbies’ as she liked to call us with her charming British accent) to gather round to learn how to make a spice blend that she used when preparing her famous curry. Around the island counter were several ramekins filled with various colourful and aromatic powders and their combined aromas were intoxicatingly delicious. As Chef measured teaspoons of this and that in different amounts into a large ramekin and explained the chemistry and flavor impact of each, she invited us to get messy by combining some spices of our own to experiment with some leftover chicken and pork cutlets – that would otherwise have gone to waste – to make our own curries as staff meals to take home. Closing my eyes and using only my nose, I managed to create a curry spice blend that I haven’t even dared to mess with the blend since. That evening, I used that aromatic spice blend (along with a bottle of Yellowbelly Brewery ale and a dash of Screech) to create . . .
Townie curry
For spice blend
– 1 ¾ tsp curry powder
– ½ tsp paprika
– 1 tsp cumin
– 1 ½ tsp turmeric
– ½ tsp chili powder
– ½ tsp garlic powder
– 1 pinch coriander, ground
For curry
– 2 cups rice, cooked
– 1 cup of Newfoundland bakeapples
– 4 chicken tenders, floured
– 2 tbsp olive oil
– 1 tbsp flour
– ½ large Spanish onion, large diced
– 2 cups broccoli flourets
– Appox. ½ bottle of pale ale
– 1 fl oz. of Newfoundland Screech
– Add above listed curry spice blend
Directions
Flour your chicken tenders and deep fry until crispy and slightly darker than golden brown. Cut each into diagonal pieces widthwise and set aside. In a large sauté pan on medium high heat, heat the olive oil and add broccoli and onion and sauté for roughly 5 minutes. Next, add your spice blend along with flour and screech and let simmer for1 or 2 minutes before adding the chicken and bakeapples. Gradually add the ale as the liquids reduce until the vegetables are tender and chicken becomes soft and slightly moist. Serve over freshly cooked basmati, jasmine or instant rice. Makes 1 large portion.
Chef Anna was impressed with this dish that I had put together to smell, taste and intuition. It wasn’t long after that she encouraged me to take a cooking course and from there it sparked a career that ultimately led me to write these articles. Thus, I’d like to dedicate this work to Chef Anna, who inspired and encouraged me to seek a professional culinary education and for being one of the very rare chefs to take the time to her staff the art of cooking, rather than simply ordering them about.
Letter Snacks!
Rob – Charlottetown, PEI
Dear Food Dude,
I’ve been following your articles for a while now and I’m curious. Why is everything always needing to be cooked on “medium high” heat?
Dear Rob,
It’s magic, really. In cooking, unless something needs to be seared or simmered, medium high heat is almost always your best option, just as 350 F is often considered the perfect baking temperature for most baked goods. I try to stay within those parameters with most dishes as it’s far more likely to produce predictable outcomes. Your question was a great one! Thanks for writing!
Terry Bursey, otherwise known as the Food Dude, is a Newfoundland chef transplanted to Ontario who enjoys putting his mark on traditional recipes and inventing new tasty treats with unexpected ingredients. Reach him at [email protected].
