Back in 1972 I was a blissfully-ignorant 18-year-old kid blowing his university tuition on the good life in Europe. Of course I had no idea what “the good life” was, but I believed I did, as I fearlessly partied my way from Paris to Berlin, Athens to Toromolinos, oblivious of culture, art and architecture. Food was for sustenance, wine was for getting drunk, and music was to play. Having a guitar on your back was an instant invitation to party. Then one night, in a tapas bar in the Canary Islands, a raven-haired beauty served me a simple open-faced green pepper sandwich. It changed my life forever.
The intensity of the super-fresh green pepper, the soothing-cool of herbed cream cheese, and the coarse sea salt crunching between my teeth was a revelation. As I chomped away, each sparkling bite demonstrated to me that food can be good, can be transformative, can lead to epiphany!
I hurried home and enrolled in the NAIT Commercial Cooking program. It took me three years to finish the two-year course, mainly due to that year in between when I bought and rode a motorcycle to Mexico. But graduate I did, even got my Red Seal. and then proudly slung my grab bag of cooking knowledge over my shoulder and headed into the kitchen.
I worked in private clubs, in hotels and in restaurants. I spent almost a decade cooking at sea on private charter boats, on cruise ships and on Arctic ice breakers. I found that my culinary path took me on a journey around the world. Travel become my second mistress, an equally seductive sister to the one that drew me always towards food, fire and spice. I took to poking my head into humble kitchens wherever I was in the world.
After 25 years of pursuing these two mistresses, I thought I’d better write something about it, so I took up Journalism. Studied that for two years and dabbled in the profession for a few more, but never forgetting that vivid memory of the raven-haired beauty and the sandwich that changed my life.
I have learned how to cook, I’ve studied wine and spirits, can serve tables and tend bar, and have managed to maintain my chops in the music world, playing and singing. The end result is a Harold of many talents, a builder, a fixer, a gardener, a plumber, a mandolin toting griot always ready to leap on a stage and belt out a tune.
And now, 40 years later, I am the proprietor of a restaurant where my diverse skill set is put to constant use, and not just in the kitchen. I can fix darn near anything that breaks, design and publish menus and ads, and provide my house band lots of gigs!
As lollygagging becomes me, and Journalism begs me, I’ve taken up this blog. In it I will relate my culinary and philosophical memoirs and opinions. There will be talk of eating and drinking, of travel and spice, of art and music, all the basic ingredients of “the good life” that I try my best to cook up here at the Blue Chair. And it won’t just be my thoughts, it will be a full-blown culinary/cultural mind meld featuring the musings others in the Blue Chair clan. I hope you can join me.
Speaking of Green Pepper Sandwiches…
Herbed Cream Cheese.
- 1 cup Winnipeg (or Victoria) style cream cheese. (the soft shiny kind that schmears und schmeks)
- ¼ cup chopped green herb mixture (cilantro, dill, basil will work just fine)
The Bread
- I like an artisan sourdough loaf, baguette or rye bread, even pumpernickel will work.
- Yvan at Treestone Boulangerie Artisanal on 99 St makes just the right stuff.
The Pepper
Of all the peppers, green is the least sweet. Shiny, blemish-free skin is desired as we are eating it raw. Careful about Poblanos, the skin can be tough, but that doesn’t mean you can’t eat it raw. Of course Poblano is a chili, so if you are the type to make a game out of the Scoville count, knock yourself out with Jalepeños or Serranos.
The Method
- Trowel the cheese upon a slice of bread or baguette, thickly.
- Sprinkle with coarse sea salt
- Cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Cut the pepper into bite-sized pieces to match the bread. Lay on top.
- The bite-sized thing is because it’s just easier to pop the bite of delight in your mouth.
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