Dining at La Salle A Manger in Montreal last night, I discovered a couple of novel culinary treats. The menu was atypically categorized as just Raw, Cold, Warm, Vegetarian, Meat and Fish. I tried the gravlax with yogurt with orange and fennel salad. It was a burst of flavors, contrasting citrus against the soft salmon. From the Warm, I ordered sweetbread in apple, walnut, and cream sauce. This was my first time eating sweetbread for me, since I am not much of a meat eater. In fact the meat was so tender and creamy, it melted in my mouth, that I could have never guessed I was eating veal throat meat. The restaurant boasted its meat selection in a glass closet which you could view from the dining area. No wonder it was so fresh and delicious! This was my first discovery.
The second one was Farroto. Being an Italian food lover and an excellent cook of risotto, my first guess was that Farroto was its long lost cousin who wasn’t adventurous enough to go out and explore the world, therefore it never got as famous as Risotto. Turns out I was right! Farro is a spelt, hearty, grain from an older generation. It has a nutty texture, similar to that of dirty rice (rice with husk) and cooked the same way as risotto. The vegetarian dish that I ate had well roasted pieces of root vegetables (turnips, potatoes, carrots) with faro in a heavy cheese sauce, topped with parsley leaves. I will have to go back and try this at home.
There were homemade desserts and cheese selection for the last course. I picked the pistachio biscuit, topped with chocolate cream, with a side of oranges, served on a plate lightly painted with Mexican dark chocolate. It looked like artwork that exploded its palette one it entered your mouth.
