Colatura di alici di Cetara - Italian Fish Sauce

Colatura di alici di Cetera is an Italian fish sauce made from anchovies, and the best is from the small fishing village of Cetara, Campania. One of the premier producers is Delfino Battista. It sells for about €160 per litre and is usually sold in a 100ml bottle.

The flavour is quite intense: I saw a chef adding to a pasta dish with an eye dropper! 

Caviar

The term "caviar" has come to used for the roe of any fish though most people think of caviar as the roe  from sturgeon with Beluga having the cache of being the finest, which it is to most people. 

Most other top quality caviar comes from Russia, but Amur caviar comes from the Amur River which is in both Russia and China. In China they farm the Amur breed of caviar sturgeon.

Beluga, Kaluga, Osetra, and Amur caviars differ in sturgeon species, egg size, color, and flavor profiles. 

• Beluga Caviar (Huso huso): The rarest and therefore most expensive, it has large, soft, delicate grains ranging from light to dark grey. Its flavor is mild, buttery, and creamy. 
• Kaluga Caviar (Huso dauricus): Also known as "River Beluga," it is a large, freshwater sturgeon producing large, glossy eggs ranging from grey to deep olive-brown. It has a similar buttery and rich flavor to Beluga but with a firmer, more "popping" texture. 
• Ossetra Caviar (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii): Features medium-sized, firm eggs ranging from dark brown to gold. It has a complex, nutty, and savory flavor profile. 
• Amur Caviar (Acipenser schrenckii): Derived from the Amur Sturgeon, this caviar is sometimes referred to as part of the "Amur Kaluga" group. It generally features a firm, creamy texture with a nutty and buttery taste.

In Canada, top quality caviar can be bought from Concord Caviar located in Concord, Ontario. They also sell online, shipped on ice within 48 hours. They sell sturgeon and salmon caviar. Of sturgeon caviar they sell Beluga, Kaluga and Ossetra.

Also in Canada are three online only sellers: Luxe Caviar, Caviar Hub and Lemberg Canada. Luxe Caviar sells strictly sturgeon caviar. Lemburg Canada sell everything from reasonably priced Salmon Trout to Beluga. Besides beluga, they also sell less expensive sturgeon caviar. Unfortunately Lemburg Canada are frequently out of stock on the more expensive items.

Salmon Trout

Beluga

Another source of caviar is La Maison Nordique in France. Their products can be purchased online or at their boutique located at 221 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, 75008 Paris (Ternes metro stop). They sell exclusively sturgeon caviar whether from Iran or France. The selection below (left to right) is from cheapest to most expensive. Price is per 15 gram tin.

Shadi (€30)

Imperial Caviar of Sologne (€33)

Imperial Osetra Caviar of Sologne (€42)

Beluga Caviar (€115)

La Maison Nordique also sell a nice presentation tin containing a mother-of-pearl spoon and the Imperial Caviar of Sologne caviar.. It comes in a nice padded, zippered carry case. The caviar was quite good.

Imperial Caviar of Sologne & mother-of-pearl spoon (€45)

Mother-of-pearl Spoon

If you're going to spend all that money on caviar, you might as will spend a few more euros and buy the caviar tin key at La Maison Nordique to open the container with ease without damaging the tin.

Caviar key

As with most caviars, beluga is usually handled with a caviar spoon made of mother of pearl, bone, or other nonmetallic material, as metal utensils are said to impart an unwelcome metallic taste to the delicate roe.

SERVING CAVIAR 

Beluga caviar is usually served by itself on toast, unlike other less expensive caviars that can be served in a variety of ways, including in hollowed and cooked new potatoes, on blini, or garnished with sour cream, crème fraîche, chopped onions, or minced hard boiled egg whites. (Source: Wikipedia)

For my caviar, I did the standard way of serving caviar on blinis. See my recipe here. 

Caviar with blinis

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Lemberg Canada is a subsidiary of Lemberg Kaviar, Germany. Their Beluga Caviar 50gm jar sells for €140 in Germany which equals approximately CDN$200. They sell the same jar here for $260, a 27% premium!

Sauces

Based on Marie-Antoine Carême's classification of sauces established early in the 19^th century, this is a catalog of the various classic sauces of French cuisine. These were later codified by Auguste Escoffier toward the end of the the 19^th century into the sauces and their derivatives used today.

First are the four grande or "mother" sauces: Béchamel, Espagnole, Velouté and Allemande.

• Béchamel sauce was originally made with a fish stock and a little onion and parsley to which milk is added and thickened. It is now mostly made by thickening milk with a white roux and adding a pinch of ground nutmeg to enhance the flavor.
• Espagnole sauce in Carême's original version was made with ham, veal, and partridge braised in water, thickened with a roux and garnished with parsley, chives, bay leaves, thyme, sweet basil, cloves and parings of mushrooms. It is now a brown sauce made by thickening dark beef stock with a dark roux, then simmering with a classic mirepoix¹ and a bouquet garni² until greatly reduced. More recently pureed tomato or tomato paste is added.
• Velouté sauce is light in colour, made by reducing clear stock (made from un-roasted bones), usually veal, chicken or fish stock, thickened with a white or blond roux. Velouté is the French word for "velvety".
• Allemande sauce is based on a light-colored velouté sauce (typically veal, chicken, fish or shellfish), but thickened with egg yolks and heavy cream, and seasoned with lemon juice.

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And Carême added five petites sauces: Poivrade, Suprême, Tomate, Hollandaise and Mayonnaise.

• Poivrade sauce is made of a cooked mirepoix thickened with flour and moistened with wine and a little vinegar, then heavily seasoned with black pepper. More traditional versions in French haute cuisine use Sauce Espagnole as a thickener.
• Suprême sauce consists of Velouté thickened with cream and strained.
• Tomate sauce consists of tomato purée or fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt belly of pork, bay leaves, thyme, roux, salt, sugar, and pepper.
• Hollandaise sauce is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice. It is usually seasoned with salt, and either white pepper or cayenne pepper.
• Mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil, egg yolk, and an acid, either vinegar or lemon juice.

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1. mirepoix - a mixture in equal proportions of onion, carrot and celery, all diced.
2. bouquet garni - a bundle of various herbs used to season sauces; in most French recipes it is made of thyme, bay leaf and parsley.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is among one of the best fats to use in your diet. Many other types of fats, whether vegetable or animal based, promote health.

Oils to avoid are the seed oils: corn, canola, cotton seed, soy, sunflower, safflower, and, found mostly in restaurants, ricebran oil and grapeseed oil. These are what Dr. Cate Shanahan calls the "hateful eight," oils that cause so much damage to our health. To her, the good oils are unrefined peanut oil, 

It comes as a surprise to most people to find out that most of the extra virgin olive oil sold is not. Sometimes it is pure olive oil but not extra virgin, sometimes it is not even pure olive oil. Some imported olive oils in the U.S., when tested, where found to have no olive oil in them! Canada seems to have more stringent labeling requirements than the U.S.

Even some of the leading brands can be misleading consumers. Canadian Food Agency testing found that Bertolli Extra Virgin oil was found to be merely "virgin." Because true extra virgin oil is a premium product, it invites imposters. Canada used to have more stringent labeling requirements than the U.S. When I looked a few years ago the regulation stated that, for example, an olive oil labeled "Extra Virgin" had to be 100% virgin olive oil. Those specifications are no longer there, instead they list minimums and maximums amounts allowed for various acids in the oils. They do state that the oil must come from the olive oil tree (Olea europaea L.).

Here is a list from the North American Olive Oil Association from spring 2022. They test olive oils to see if they meet the standards set out by the International Olive Council. Not on this listed but noted by Vinnie Tortorich as, in his opinion, the finest olive oil available in the U.S., is Villa Cappelli. It is very expensive so that might be an indication of quality: a 750ml bottle is US$45.

Aldi
Carlini Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Carlini Olive Oil
Simply Nature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sicilian PDO Certified Val Di Mazara Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Botticelli
Botticelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Colavita
Colavita Premium Selection Olive Oil
Colavita Premium Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Colavita Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Colavita 100% Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Premium World Selection
Colavita 100% Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Premium World Selection
Colavita Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Colavita 100% Pure Olive Oil

Filippo Berio
Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil Delicato
Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil Robusto
Filippo Berio Light-Tasting Olive Oil
Filippo Berio Olive Oil
Filippo Berio Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Filippo Berio 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Filippo Berio California Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Goya
Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Goya Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Goya Unico Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Goya Puro Olive Oil
Goya Light-Tasting Olive Oil

Guillen
Guillen Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Iliada
Iliada Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Iliada Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

La Tourangelle
La Tourangelle Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Napa Valley Naturals
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Origin 846
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pompeian
Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil Robust
Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil Smooth
Pompeian Classic Olive Oil
Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Light-Tasting Olive Oil
Pompeian 100% Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Familia Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Familia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian November Moon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Organic Smooth Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Organic Robust Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Mild-Tasting Olive Oil
Pompeian Rich-Tasting Olive Oil
Pompeian Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Gourmet Selection Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pompeian Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil
Pompeian Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Primal Kitchen
Primal Kitchen Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sprouts
Sprouts Farmers Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sprouts Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Italy
Sprouts Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Greece
Sprouts Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Spain
Sprouts Farmers Market Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Star
Star Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Star Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Star Robust Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Star Original Olive Oil
Star Extra Light Olive Oil
Star First Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Terra Delyssa
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

U.S. Foods
Roseli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Roseli Sexton Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Roseli Olive Oil
Rykoff Sexton Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Italy
Rykoff Sexton Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain

Whole Foods
Whole Foods Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Italy
Whole Foods Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Seville
Whole Foods Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Greece
Whole Foods Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Portugal
Whole Foods Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Morocco
365 Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
365 Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
365 Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
365 Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Unfiltered
365 Mediterranean Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil
365 Mediterranean Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Organic

Zoe
Zoe Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Zoe Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

They suggest looking for the North American Olive Oil Association quality seal when shopping for olive oils in the U.S.

Auguste Escoffier

Auguste Escoffier (1846 – 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods (Wikipedia). His masterwork Le Guide Culinaire (1903) is the reference work for classical French cuisine. I have a copy and have used many times to prepare some classical dishes and sauces. It is interesting just to read the intricate methods used to make these traditional dishes.

Le Guide Culinaire can be read in English at Archive.org.

Marie-Antoine Carême

Marie-Antoine Carême (1784 – 1833) was considered to be the beginning of haute cuisine in France. Carême is credited with creating the standard chef's hat, the creation of new sauces and dishes. He was first to classify sauces into groups. The four premier grande or "mother" sauces: Béchamel, Espagnole, Allemande, and Velouté. He added five petites sauces: Poivrade, Suprême, Tomate, Hollandaise and Mayonnaise. See the section on sauces here.

Michelin Guide

Without doubt the most influential restaurant guide in the world is the Michelin Guide. Achieving a star or three can bring renown and success, and the loss can be devastating. Published since 1900 it has become the guide for restaurant excellence, although it is challenged by the more recent Gault Millau guide. Michelin is considered more conservative in stressing the continuation of haute cuisine, whereas Gault Millau was inspired by the emergence of nouvelle cuisine in the 1960s (the guide began in 1965). Lesser known and regarded is the Frommer's guide, and the now virtually defunct Zagat guide.