Bleak Roe

WHAT? Roe v. Fish. It doesn't take much of a cognitive leap to suppose that bleak roe comes from bleak fish (Alburnus alburnus). But when you probe a little deeper, you discover that the English term most Scandinavians use for their fish-egg delicacy—löjrom in Swedish, muikunmätiä in Finnish—is misleading. Traditionally, bleak roe actually comes from the vendace (Coregonus albula), a fish once abundant in northern lakes such as Sweden's Lake Vänern, but increasingly harder to find. Sometimes the generic "golden caviar" is used to describe these small, golden-colored eggs that find their way onto Scandinavian tables, often served with potato pancakes, red onion, and sour cream. You'll see it called "whitefish caviar," too. One theory for the confusion is that the word bleak derives from an Old English word meaning to "bleach" or to "whiten," and it was used to describe the light color of the roe as it was used to describe the light, silvery color of the fish.


WHEN? June 7, Conny Andersson, Morgan Larsson, and Marcus Samuelsson; June 10, Rick Laakkonen, Ilo

Chateau Musar

WHAT? An oasis of wine. Up there with the great wine producing valleys of the world—like Napa, Rhône, and Pò—is Bekaa Valley. What's Bekaa Valley, you ask? It's in Lebanon, where, amid war and civil unrest, the Hochar family has been making great wine since 1930. Located in Ghazir, about 15 miles north of Beirut, Chateau Musar is known the world over for luscious, thick red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault, with some Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Merlot occasionally mixed in for good measure. The wines are aged for two years in French oak barrels and then released about three years after that. Jaime Goode of www.wineanorak.com, who's a fan, sums Chateau Musar's wines up nicely, "They're quirky, but they are always interesting, have a loyal following, the prices aren't too high and they have a remarkable capacity for aging."


WHEN? June 14, Derek Morgan, T. Cook's

Tourtière [toor-tee-YEHR]

WHAT? French pasty. As is so often the case with French words, tourtière means something slightly different in France than it does in French Canada. In Paris the word tourtière is obscure. It refers to a generic meat pie (sometimes also called a tourte) in a pastry crust that's baked in a mold called a tourtière. (Like tagine, terrine, and tian, the name of the dish comes from the name of the vessel in which it is cooked.) In Montréal, tourtière refers to a specific meat pie, usually ground pork, that's seasoned with cinnamon and clove and baked in a lard crust. It is traditional at Christmas, but it is eaten throughout the year. There are regional variations, such as the tourtières made along the Saguenay River that are filled with potatoes, onions, and cubed meat. Whereas in France it's unlikely to find someone who has ever had a tourtière, in French Canada, just about everyone has probably had one within the last year.


WHEN? June 5, Owen Steinberg, JOV Bistro