I attended the Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival in November and came away with memories of sunsets, rum punches and fascinating food. The highlight , for me was meeting Fergus Henderson, the British chef who was the pioneer in nose to tail eating.

I first spotted Henderson sitting quietly behind a stack of copies of his new book, Beyond Nose to Tail. He was all alone. No one had lined up for his signature but he was amused and relaxed, and not at all fussed as he surveyed the crowds washing the hors d'oeuvres down with rum punch. The term 'character' in Britain describes a person who has those certain qualities which make him extraordinary and Henderson certainly fits that bill. He now owns several London restaurants including his flagship St John and will also be the proprietor of the about-to-be-opened The St John Hotel in a slightly seedy part of Chinatown. "A restaurant with rooms", he says "so people can eat and drink well and not have to travel."

He opened his first restaurant St John in London's Smithfield market in 1994 serving parts of the animal people previously dismissed, including his now famous Roast Bone Marrow. It was a huge hit, with long waiting lists, and the catalyst behind the worldwide nose to tail trend. It also put modern British cooking firmly on the food map.

Henderson grew up in Northern England, tutored by a mother who cooked tripe and kidneys and other good honest food and a father who took his children to France to try out the newest restaurants. And so a chef was born who  learned respect for the whole animal not just the choicest parts. His admiration and cooking skills with all these parts means that today beef cheeks are taken for granted as are pigs trotters, head cheese and fried pig's head. It all started in his kitchen.

Meeting Henderson was a personal goal as my respect for him knows no bounds. He has such a positive personality and a life affirming attitude that not only helps him deal with his challenging Parkinson's Disease but also keeps all of us enthralled with his spoken and written words. When given his first (long overdue) Michelin star recently, he said "I'm afraid it's not the first thing on my mind."

Later I met Ming Tsai, host of the award-winning Simply Ming cooking shows on the Food Network. He is an affable warm man with lots of personal style. His food is a combination of East West ingredients techniques and styles. His parents had a Chinese restaurant in Dayton, Ohio where he learned the basics of Chinese cooking before receiving more formal training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. His cuisine is a blend of the two styles and works because he understands the ingredients and techniques from both backgrounds, blending them together to produce his own superb interpretation .His restaurant Blue Ginger in Boston has won many awards. He believes cookbooks are a source for inspiration not a bible and his latest One Pot Meals is a sprint through many different cooking styles while still retaining the essence of Ming. His Ginger Chicken Thighs with Parsnips is a favourite.

In his cooking class in Barbados he talked of his Canadian connection as he is a close friend of Susur Lee's (who shares a similar culinary background) and considers PEI mussels the finest. He has said that he will never become one of those chefs who open many restaurants around the world—he believes in a balance in life as well as food.

Apart from Rihanna, Barbados biggest export is rum. Rum punches are the standard drink across the island and they vary in taste, sweetness and punch depending where you get them. My favourite was in a little rum shop on the island, full of Bajan drinkers washing down the traditional souse (pickled pigs head) with punch.

Sadly native Bajan have found that construction work trumps farming, so there is not much local food available. We did find a local market where they mostly sold sweet potatoes and other roots, fresh herbs and peppers. The vendors told me that native Bajans grow their own fruits and vegetables and only sell what they do not need, the rest is imported.

Much Bajan food is fish based and one of the best ways of tasting is to go to the Friday night Oistens Fish Fry where hundreds of vendors fry or barbecue fish such as wahoo, flyingfish or marlin served with macaroni or sweet potato pie. Sitting at long tables with food from your favourite vendor, knocking back beer and letting the music move you is a superb way to spend an evening. Here are some of my favourite dishes from my trip, including Fried Fish Cutters, Thai Green Curry Shrimp with Fried Basil and a delicious Bread Pudding with Rum Custard Sauce.

Today what is important in Berlin is the freedom. Freedom to party, to experiment, and indulge in sex, drugs and techno music. The city teems with young people living on next to nothing (some on literally nothing) as squats are still available. They are painting, staging experimental performance art, designing intriguing clothing and taking lots of photography. Today it is the cheapest capital city in Europe and the young are having the time of their lives. Paris in the 20’s, London in the 60’s, today Berlin.

However, Berlin is still a fascinating city to try to better understand the history and the people. Take a guided walking tour for the day. The history of Berlin is spread out for you and you can visit all the sites from the war and after. The controversial holocaust memorial is made of 2711 slabs of concrete each one the same size but of differing heights. The huge area is sloped giving you a feeling as you walked through of order gone astray. The architect had said he wanted people to feel free to use it anyway they chose and children were jumping from stone to stone.

The transportation system is un-paralleled with the U underground (U2 is named after the underground) and the S overhead. Go to the Hacheshemer Market to see fresh food and also to explore the whole area where little alleyways curve around with little shops and galleries.

But the food. If you judge a society by how they eat, then Berlin falls very far down the line. When currywurst (basically a sausage with curry ketchup and fries) is the standard you have to be concerned. On the other hand you can drink beer on the street while eating it (or not eating it).

I was surprised to find that there is absolutely no homage paid to seasonality.  First of all, vegetables seem to only exist as cucumbers and cabbage and dill is the only herb.  The only exception is asparagus. There is no observance of seasonal cooking either.  It was lamb shanks, heavy Bavarian pork, sausages galore. Fish is marinated herring or smoked salmon.

There are of course exceptions to all this. I found a few good restaurants and the best was Fischers Fritz in the Regent Hotel. A two star Michelin with beautiful service, a serene room and a 35.00 euro menu for lunch. It  was a pleasure to eat there. I had superb poached egg with slivered yellow beans in a lobster bisque and chiporones which are like a small octopus with pea foam and puree, encased in leek leaves.

We also liked the schnitzel at Florian (not the best we've ever had but for Berlin quite O.K.) and Jules Verne had a nice atmosphere and acceptable food with a woman chef--something I always like.

The cafes were the best place to be. Berlin is a cafe society. All day, people sit in cafes and drink beer or coffee, eating the occasional kuchen (cake). Breakfast is the big meal and is usually served until 4pm (probably to cater to last night's party-goers). Our favourites were Cafe Einstein in Kurfürstenstraße 58,
which is the original (not the one on unter der linden--very touristy) and Café im Literaturhaus Wintergarten, a charming place for conversation and good food in an old villa with a bookstore on the premises. The cafes are open until late and the menu changes with the time.

On to Munich where the food again was so porky and heavy that we flamed out and went to Acquarello which turned out to be the best meal of our stay. A 4-course prix fixe with delicate and delicious food restored our faith in Italian food at least. Today Germany is in deep distress about the now thousands of pork farms that have fed their pigs with feed contaminated by dioxin. Maybe chicken and fish will now go to the top of the list. 

I had never been to South Korea before this year, and in just a few short months I have now been twice! The first time was to view the impressive food operations at Korean Airlines, the only airline to fly non-stop from Toronto to Seoul. It was mind-boggling to see how many different types of meals can be prepared daily for these long flights that serve food all the time. For the second visit I was honoured to be asked to represent Canada at the C20 conference in South Korea. This cultural conference was a foretaste of the G20, which will take place in Seoul in November. Each G20 country sent a representative from either fashion, cuisine, art or culture and it included such people as Vittorio Missoni from Italy, French economist Guy Sorman (who views South Korea as the country of the future) and Mexico's finest living sculptor Sebastian Carbajal. Interacting with conference participants and exploring Korean culture was a fascinating experience. The museums were beautifully designed and the treasures within were magnificent. And so was the food.

 Korean food is strongly flavoured, savoury and very healthy as many medicinal herbs and vegetables are used. The food is culturally interesting. Koreans are family-orientated so many dishes are served family style. Restaurants are often famous for just one thing although they may have a full menu. I went to a restaurant that specialized in raw octopus-you either ordered it with cold spicy noodles or cold noodles in vinegar. I was a little leery of the dish especially after I stuck my chopsticks into the raw fish and it wriggled. Rather off-putting but I ate it anyway. Once one restaurant becomes famous for a dish, other restaurants offering the same fare group together around it.

The cuisine is not like that of any other Asian country. Koreans believe in healthy eating and they believe that pickled and fermented vegetables are important to the diet. They use herbs, roots (ginseng appears in many dishes), wild greens from the mountains (often pickled to last through the cold season) and of course kimchi, which has been in the news lately. Much of the food is spicy and the spiciness is usually from gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste) which give dishes a deep red hue and spicy kick. However chillies grow abundantly and Korean dried chillies are a great addition to many dishes. Other common flavourings are sesame oil, soy sauce, chillies, sugar, garlic and ginger. Noodles are used everywhere including the chewy delicious sweet potato noodles which are the star of jap chae, a popular noodle and vegetable stir fry. Korean food is very meaty. Kalbi or barbecued short ribs have whole restaurants devoted to them and there are many beef stews using all the off cuts. A popular breakfast is a strong beef soup with beef bones and tofu in it. There are restaurants that just serve soup usually a spicy rich broth with tofu, seafood or dumplings in it.

The Koreans are masters at preserving and each meal is served with banchan, little side dishes including pickles, the ubiquitous kim-chi and other preserved items or small salads. These dishes are fun to make but also available pre-made at Korean grocery stores. Most Korean ingredients are cut into matchstick size pieces so no knife is needed at the table. There are also lots of stews with meat so tender that it does not need to be cut. Koreans use stainless steel chopsticks and large spoons.

One of the questions asked at the conference was: can Korean food be successfully exported to the world? While it is already popular in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles where Koreatown restaurants serving tasty, inexpensive home cooking are always packed, upscale food is a different story. Today attempts at gourmet Korean menus are being made at high-end restaurants in Seoul. Dishes are served one at a time instead of family-style and there are many courses. Beautiful presentation is a hallmark of this cuisine. We tried many modern, gourmet takes on traditional Korean cooking: here are some of my favourite dishes from my trip including Pistachio Fried Chicken and Hanwoo Grilled Sirloin With Kalbi Reduction.

A good sign is that two Korean-American chefs have made a big impact in the US market. The first is Momofuku's David Chang who was on Time Magazine list of 100 most influential people in America. Chang successfully introduced upscale Korean-influenced food full of American innovation to his restaurants. The second is Corey Lee who was the executive chef at The French Laundry before he decamped to his soon-to-open restaurant Banu in San Francisco. At this rate, I'm sure it won't be long before excellent gourmet Korean restaurants begin popping up all over the world. I for one, can't wait.

We all buy packaged chicken broth of some kind. It's a great short cut if you don't want to make your own stock. However, there are issues. After tasting 8 different kinds, we found a huge variety in quality, taste, saltiness and overall appeal.

We chose to stick to primarily tetrapak stocks because they tend to come in quantities that are most useful in the kitchen (the cans are quite small). They keep well in the fridge after opening and they are shelf stable. The process they go through should preserve the flavour better and keep it fresh. By chance we also tried a new chicken concentrate product from Knorr which seemed smilar to our much loved and sadly missed PC chicken concentrate which, in their wisdom, PC took off the shelves. We chose brands that we thought most people would use and are readily available in most grocery stores. Here are the 8 contenders:  

All the stocks are approximately 1 L and retail for between $3.99 and $4.99 although prices vary depending where you get them. 

Pacific Organic Chicken Broth

Pacific Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Broth

Campbell's Chicken Broth (with 25% reduced salt from their regular brand)

Campbell's Organic Free Range Chicken Broth

Imagine Organic Chicken Broth

President's Choice Organic Chicken Broth

Loblaws Blue Menu Chicken Broth (no sodium)

Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock Concentrate

In our judging criteria, we were looking for a stock that could be used as the basis for soups and sauces, something with a rich flavour, not too much salt and could be reduced to make a tasty sauce. We tasted all the stocks blind--they wered heated and served in numbered bowls. Overall the colour of all the stocks looked similar to a homemade stock, however this is where the comparison ends. We were very disappointed in the flavour of most of them and none met our criteria for a great homemade stock substitute. We were shocked at how bad so many of them tasted and wondered how they could possibly pass as chicken stock as there was little to no chicken flavour. Several also had an off-putting, yeasty, molasses-like flavour. Others had so much salt in it was left on the tongue. After tasting them there was definitely only one which came the close and even then we had our reservations. Here are our top three qualified picks:

In third place was the Knorr Homestyle chicken stock concentrate, which was slightly fresher tasting and less salty than the traditional Knorr powder. Dilluted according to package directions, you can easily use it to make soups. We don't recommend reducing it, as the end product tastes only of salt. We were surprised with this selection because when we later looked at the package, we found that chicken was distressingly far down on the list of ingredients. However, it did have the familiar Knorr chicken stock flavour and would work just fine for soups.

In second place was Imagine Organic Chicken Broth. This had a good flavour that was quite vegetably and peppery with a balance of chicken flavour. It would work very well for soups, but again we wouldn't recommend reducing this one for sauces either. When we reduced it by half it was inedible.

Our top pick, was the Campbell's Chicken Broth with 25% less salt than their regular chicken broth. This one had a balanced chicken and vegetable flavour and was the only one we would even consider having straight as a soup with noodles in it. This one tasted the best reduced for a sauce although it was still quite salty. 

You could make sauces with any of these as long as it did not call for reduction. In other words sauce thickened with flour or cornstarch would be OK but the modern pan sauce - reduced stock and an acid would not work.

Making your own stock substitute

As these were mediocre at best, making a stock substitute yourself is an option or buying it frozen from reputable butcher shops. Ask first if they salt it or not - my butcher (Cumbrae) does not. 

Another option is to make a fast chicken stock by taking the packaged stock and adding in a couple of chicken legs, 3 cups of water and some onions, carrots,  celery and maybe a clove or two of garlic. Let it simmer gently for 45 minutes or until flavourful. Doing this will improve the flavour immeasurably and allow you to reduce it to make a sauce...not to mention, give you two cooked chicken legs to nibble on!