La Quercia in Vancouver is an Italian restaurant I hadn’t visited previously. We went there with friends recently and I was quite impressed with a couple of dishes. The name means ‘the oak’, which I was able to decipher from a couple of years of Latin plus a long time horticultural hobby and it is small, only holding around 40 people.
Having perused the menu I chose to start with vitello tonnato, an old favourite of mine but one that I rarely make as it takes a fair bit of time prior to assembly, You need to slow braise some veal top round, chill it and slice it very thinly the next day before serving it with a freshly made mayonnaise made with anchovy, tuna and capers. Their approach was a bit different – not to braise but to lightly sear the outside of the veal, and then I expect they froze it lightly and sliced it very thin with a very sharp knife, the way you would do carpaccio. The slices were twisted a little and arranged in rosettes on a round serving plate, topped with a generous supply of the tonnato sauce in the centre. A bit different from the normal prep method but delicious.
The second course was what really impressed me, though. It was braised goat served with garbanzo and diced red peppers served with braised fennel. For those not into goats, the breeders keep the females as milk producers for the cheese trade, but the male goats are surplus (except the odd one for breeding purposes) and are therefore a side product. Accordingly they sell them at under a year old when they are still quite small (and tender) and they are used locally mostly in Indian and Persian cuisine but also as capretto in a few Italian restaurants.
They had obviously lightly seared the meat first before slow braising it as the skin was crisped up. The amazing part was the meat, though, which could literally be cut with a fork. It was one of the tastiest meats I have ever put in my mouth – tender and savory. I offered it around for tasting to the others at the table that would likely never order goat on their own and everyone was astounded at how good it was.
I had a decent Falanghina with the veal and a Teroldego Rotaliano with the goat. I intend to return in future.
The point of this write up is to encourage those who tend to be timid about trying new things – you never know what you may be missing. I am a fan of goat, but after that dinner there were about four others that will possibly try goat in future.
Any other goat fas out there? I may have to reconsider my plans for y terrine event this year and possibly include a goat terrine....
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