Culinary Q & A with Andrea

Occupation: Professional student. Technically, I'm in grade 19.

What did you eat today?

I woke up at 1pm and went to Denny's for breakfast/lunch. I had the Heartland Scramble:

Two eggs scrambled with chopped bacon, country-fried potatoes, green peppers and onions, and topped with Cheddar cheese. Served with two strips of bacon, two sausage links, hash browns and three fluffy buttermilk pancakes.

Instead of the pancakes, I substituted it with French toast.

I also had some mandarin oranges to snack on.

What do you never eat?

Never say never! I mean, I say now that I'll won't eat bugs and rats. But what if I was starving on a desert island? I think I'd have no qualms hunting down and devouring anything remotely edible. Better them than me.

I guess to answer your question: it's not that I'll never eat it but I don't enjoy the taste of cilantro, pineapples, olives, pickles, vinegar, lobster/crab, shark fin, tofu, peanut butter (peanuts alone, I like), cooked citrus fruits (raw is fine), capers, and watercress.

Oh, and I don't really like chocolate either. Weird, I know.

What is your personal specialty?

Everyone seems to like my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I have so many requests for the recipe but I refuse to divulge the secret. You'll never find it in any books or the internet since I made it up.

My mini pecan pies are pretty good too, but an incredible hassle to make. I'd like to think I'm above average in the baked goods department.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Sharp knives. For stabbing.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Appetizer: Deep-fried breaded fresh calimari with tzatziki sauce for dipping, and a lemon wedge for squeezing. An important thing to note is that I want the calimari to breading ratio to be at least 3:1 in terms of volume.

Entree: It's a tough choice but I think I'd choose a gyro over pho. This gyro MUST come from the Greek island of Santorini at a certain restaurant who's name escapes me.

Since that probably won't make me full, I'd also like a prime rib dinner made by my dad, served with Russian Blue Duchesse potatoes and garden fresh vegetables (and I mean GARDEN FRESH).

Dessert: I'm pretty simple in this department -- home-made apple crumble a la mode. The ice cream must be vanilla bean. I HAVE to be able to see those little black flecks.

Beverage: A nice glass of blackberry wine.

Snack: Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Haribo gummie bears.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Hmmm...probably Charles Smart Donair. Jumbo Dim Sum comes at a close second.

What's the best place to eat in Edmonton?

Oooh. This is a tough question. In order to get a green-light from me, there has to be a high quality-to-price ratio and service has to be decent. You know me, I like having my water glass filled frequently and without my asking. Also, I'm not sure if my choices are biased from my meal-mates. I mean, no one would like eating in the best place in the world with their enemy.

In any case, here they are in no particular order:

Cafe Mosaic
Pad Thai
Charles Smart Donair
Jumbo Dim Sum
New Asian Village
Pagolac
Marble Slab (not really a restaurant, but ice cream is still something you eat!) Garage Burgers
Original Joe's
Pho Tau Bay

If you weren't limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

Gyros from Greece; pho from Vietnam; pizza and gelato from Italy; schnitzel and beer from Germany; roast beef dinner from UK (I don't really like Yorkshire pudding, but I had the best pudding there); all sorts of fantastic pastries from France; egg custard tarts from HK; jerky from Vancouver; naan bread from India; and last of all, huckleberry-blackberry pie a la mode from Loula's Cafe in Whitefish, Montana.