Your appreciation for what goes on in the kitchen of your local dim sum or dumpling haunt is about to be taken to a new level. Thanks to a tantalizing tour designed by Worldwide Quest, Canada’s experts in nature, adventure and cultural travel, you’ll get the rare chance to sample the culinary traditions of three of the great centres of Chinese cuisine, and visit local markets where you’ll buy your ingredients and then transform them into a delicious dish. Departing Toronto on March 5, 2010, this 11-day tour to Shanghai, Xian and Hong…

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In Italy, nearly every town has its own signature risotto. In Milan, it is flavored and enriched with saffron, which gives it a golden color. 6 cups chicken stock ½ teaspoons saffron pistils 7 tablespoons butter, cubed, at room temp. 1 small yellow onion, minced 1 ½ cups Vialone Nano rice or Arborio rice ½ cup dry white wine ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano ½ tsp salt Heat the stock to just below boiling. Remove ½ cup of it to pour into a bowl, and drop in the saffron to dissolve. Set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter…

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January marks the end of one of my favorite seasons of the year. The Truffle season begins in mid September and lingers aromatically until the end of December. During this time, upscale restaurants throughout the world add truffles to their menu, knowing that a certain clientele will be waiting to indulge in the annual truffle fest. In Los Angeles, while lunching at Wolfgang Puck’s Bistro Garden, I see him table-hopping as usual, schmoozing with guests many of whom are movie and TV stars, all the while carrying a cumbersome cardboard box under his arm. When he strolls over to…

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Guilt is good. It is an emotion that I savor with each blissful tablespoonful of Butter Pecan ice-cream straight from the carton; with each profoundly satisfying bite of crispy skin chicken; with each euphoric morsel of USDA Prime sirloin steak, marbled with rivulets of sizzling, juicy, flavorful fat. Oh, come on, we all love fat. Is there one among us who will speak for delicious fat while there is a witch-hunt going on? “Fat Police” and nutrition educators are plying us with information--instructing us on how to find hidden fat and flush it out before we swallow--pouring on the…

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