21 March 2014

With Hints of Peat Moss

            Hello! I'm back to share some memories of a trip to Toronto. I was able to skip over to the big city and see one of my besties! She is adorable and hilarious and we never fail to cause a bit of a ruckus :) 
            When I visited most recently, we went to a little gem of a restaurant called Sheherzade Dizi and Grill. I can’t recall ever having Persian food before and my foodie soul was excited to discover a new cuisine! Lo and behold, t’was a good idea. Our food was deeeelectable!! My friend and I both ordered the “dizi or abgoosht” which is sort of like a deconstructed stew. The main elements of the meal were each separated: the red, savory broth of the stew in one bowl, the tender, spiced lamb in another ceramic container, and generous slices of soft flatbread laid over the top of the broth. I know nothing about Persian food, but Sheherzade’s dizi was quite wonderful to me. I definitely want to eat more Persian food!! Amidst chatting and dipping our little flatbread into the silky broth, we recalled a time a few years ago wherein we decided to try "raw" chocolate. Yep.


            Near the end of the spring semester, in Montreal, I had gotten word of this little vegan joint that apparently sold raw chocolate. Well, you know what needed to happen. I needed to experience these raw chocolate shenanigans and I needed to experience them quickly. My friend was immediately down for the excursion and we set off in the Plateau to find this nouveau chocolate. We made it to the shop and walked into a chic, bright and clean space. Lovely! In typical Caitlin and M. style, we threw caution to the wind and wound up ordering a chocolate shake to go along with our big chocolate bar. 

Yeeeep. 

After securing our purchases, we sat down at a classy wooden table and smiled at eachother; YAY we’re gonna have some raw chocolate!



           Do you know what happened?


            Oddly enough, we don’t know either. You see, the thing that we had bitten into, a supposed chocolate bar, was quite stunningly, not a chocolate bar. All I can say is that, alfalfa sprouts and peat moss came to my mind as I stared at my friend in confusion. But…I…I just don’t….underSTAND!
            No words were needed for communication as we just stared at each other while slowly chewing. Actually, my friend is not at all very talented at masking disapproval and one look at her face was enough to tell me all I needed to know. She had tasted the peat moss, too.



          Within about 2.8 seconds, raucous laughter flowed. We may not have known what had happened to our “chocolate” but we did know that it was downright hilarious. I’m pretty sure we didn’t speak during this time, but just laughed and laughed at our plight. We were caught completely and hysterically off guard. 
          Soon, though, our eyes strayed towards something looming near the side of the table, something forgotten. Our big chocolate shake. With wide eyes we looked at each other. Again, laughter abounded. 



Luckily at Sheherzade, there were no traces of peat moss. Of course, there was still lots of ridiculous laughing (how hilarious was this night, M?!!? major lols.) and the obligatory ordering of dessert which was...rosewater sorbet! At first, it was like eating perfume, but then the flavor deepened and became creamy and luscious. Wow, stunning, surprising, and delectable. 
   

I don't get to see my friends super often now, but when I do, I'm smiling for days! 
Bonne semaine!
xoxo