Thank You Jeffrey Steingarten
If you only watch "Iron Chef" you might forget that Steingarten is more than just a grumpy old guy with a prodigious belly bickering with an ever-changing roster of dubious food experts on the judge's panel about whether or not Flay used enough chipotle.
Steingarten, along with Calvin Trillin, was one of the first food writers I ever read and worshipped. Both he and Trillin happened upon my radar before I had ever set foot in a kitchen, Steingarten in Vogue and Trillin in the New Yorker. Two magazines I read or, in the case of Vogue, ogled regularly. Slipped in amongst the umlauts of the New Yorker were Trillin's wanderings around New York city searching for black, knobbly pumpernickel bagels and in-between shots of models with deep salt cellars set in their collarbones were Steingarten's tenacious tinkerings with yeast and mold and pork.
Steingarten was a lawyer before the Vogue column and Trillin doesn't really think of himself as a food writer. Here's what Trillin said in an interview I did with him for the Globe & Mail last winter,
"I don’t think I’ve ever read a food piece or a food book. I don’t cook. I don’t have any serious interest in the subject. I started writing about food because of barbecue and where I grew up in Kansas City. I’m an amateur food writer. I actually don’t know anything about it. I’ve never reviewed a restaurant. I’ve never been interested in fine dining.
What interests me is what you might call vernacular writing, writing that connects you to a place. I was interested in the fact that people in Cincinnati argue about where to get the best chili, but to decide whether Empress chili is better than Skyline chili, that’s not what I do. People in central Florida don’t like farm-raised catfish, it doesn’t taste muddy enough for them. What interests me is what ties people to a place and one of those things is food."
But this is about Steingarten, so today I stumbled upon an interview with him that helped me remember why his writing so moved me all those years ago when I first read his column on a road trip to Georgia. As the truck rumbled past kudzu-covered trees as far as the eye could see I escaped into Steingarten's crazy bread experiments in his New York city home. He's funny in such a mild, relaxed way. He doesn't show off, his humour and intelligence are right there at a slow burn under everything he says. It is reminiscent of, dare I say, the greatest of all time - Salinger. It really is, just read this bit here:
"I was taking out a young man — I consider him a young man — to lunch. I have a feeling that, unlike me, he has a positive attitude about most things. He’s a student at Columbia Journalism School, and they assign them all to some neighborhood in the city and he was assigned the Midwood part of Brooklyn. I've only been out there to get DiFara Pizza, which — like Tomoe Sushi on Sullivan Street — is way overrated. Anyone who thinks DiFara is a shrine doesn't know what God is. I'm afraid I'm very immoderate in this, and I actually hate people, hate them, really dislike people who worship DiFara's. Still, I had told him to go there because it was the only place I knew in Midwood."
Here's another bit of that interview, enjoy.
"I was going to make the shoulder sous-vide. Sous-vide is fading as a method, really. One reason is that the Health Department in New York is brain-dead. You’re allowed to cook something like a chicken or beef or something in a regular oven at the worst temperature for bacteria, they don't mind that, but as soon as you put it in a plastic bag they monitor it. They have extremely incorrect information about botulism. They really should go to jail, those people, they’re just stupid. There are a lot of people doing sous-vide in New York and they have to hide it.
Alain Ducasse is one of the early chefs who used sous-vide for gastronomic purposes in France. He has a recipe for a kid shoulder with what he calls Moroccan spices — the kind of white people's French version, which is a bit bland, but still it's good. So I got all the spices, I ground them in a mortar and pestle, and rubbed the goat with it, put it in a plastic bag with some frozen olive oil, because liquid just gets sucked out of it if you use a food-saver, which is my way of sealing the bag. And I put the bag underwater. That was on Saturday, and on Sunday it was over — we took it out of the water and we seared it, and it was delicious. That was our main food for the day. It was a day, like all days, of peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon, and bread with tomatoes, but when it came time for the meat course, it was the day of the goat."
Read the rest of the article here.
Steingarten, along with Calvin Trillin, was one of the first food writers I ever read and worshipped. Both he and Trillin happened upon my radar before I had ever set foot in a kitchen, Steingarten in Vogue and Trillin in the New Yorker. Two magazines I read or, in the case of Vogue, ogled regularly. Slipped in amongst the umlauts of the New Yorker were Trillin's wanderings around New York city searching for black, knobbly pumpernickel bagels and in-between shots of models with deep salt cellars set in their collarbones were Steingarten's tenacious tinkerings with yeast and mold and pork.
Steingarten was a lawyer before the Vogue column and Trillin doesn't really think of himself as a food writer. Here's what Trillin said in an interview I did with him for the Globe & Mail last winter,
"I don’t think I’ve ever read a food piece or a food book. I don’t cook. I don’t have any serious interest in the subject. I started writing about food because of barbecue and where I grew up in Kansas City. I’m an amateur food writer. I actually don’t know anything about it. I’ve never reviewed a restaurant. I’ve never been interested in fine dining.
What interests me is what you might call vernacular writing, writing that connects you to a place. I was interested in the fact that people in Cincinnati argue about where to get the best chili, but to decide whether Empress chili is better than Skyline chili, that’s not what I do. People in central Florida don’t like farm-raised catfish, it doesn’t taste muddy enough for them. What interests me is what ties people to a place and one of those things is food."
But this is about Steingarten, so today I stumbled upon an interview with him that helped me remember why his writing so moved me all those years ago when I first read his column on a road trip to Georgia. As the truck rumbled past kudzu-covered trees as far as the eye could see I escaped into Steingarten's crazy bread experiments in his New York city home. He's funny in such a mild, relaxed way. He doesn't show off, his humour and intelligence are right there at a slow burn under everything he says. It is reminiscent of, dare I say, the greatest of all time - Salinger. It really is, just read this bit here:
"I was taking out a young man — I consider him a young man — to lunch. I have a feeling that, unlike me, he has a positive attitude about most things. He’s a student at Columbia Journalism School, and they assign them all to some neighborhood in the city and he was assigned the Midwood part of Brooklyn. I've only been out there to get DiFara Pizza, which — like Tomoe Sushi on Sullivan Street — is way overrated. Anyone who thinks DiFara is a shrine doesn't know what God is. I'm afraid I'm very immoderate in this, and I actually hate people, hate them, really dislike people who worship DiFara's. Still, I had told him to go there because it was the only place I knew in Midwood."
Here's another bit of that interview, enjoy.
"I was going to make the shoulder sous-vide. Sous-vide is fading as a method, really. One reason is that the Health Department in New York is brain-dead. You’re allowed to cook something like a chicken or beef or something in a regular oven at the worst temperature for bacteria, they don't mind that, but as soon as you put it in a plastic bag they monitor it. They have extremely incorrect information about botulism. They really should go to jail, those people, they’re just stupid. There are a lot of people doing sous-vide in New York and they have to hide it.
Alain Ducasse is one of the early chefs who used sous-vide for gastronomic purposes in France. He has a recipe for a kid shoulder with what he calls Moroccan spices — the kind of white people's French version, which is a bit bland, but still it's good. So I got all the spices, I ground them in a mortar and pestle, and rubbed the goat with it, put it in a plastic bag with some frozen olive oil, because liquid just gets sucked out of it if you use a food-saver, which is my way of sealing the bag. And I put the bag underwater. That was on Saturday, and on Sunday it was over — we took it out of the water and we seared it, and it was delicious. That was our main food for the day. It was a day, like all days, of peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon, and bread with tomatoes, but when it came time for the meat course, it was the day of the goat."
Read the rest of the article here.
My Favourite Cookbook Review Ever
It's not easy being married to a genius. Luckily my husband is very modest about his gargantuan talents.
Every once in a while though, some of his writing slips out into the world leaving my juvenile attempts at the written word exposed for the popinjay prose that they are.
From the latest issue of Good Food Revolution - "Wassup Cupcake?"
Read it and weep.
Every once in a while though, some of his writing slips out into the world leaving my juvenile attempts at the written word exposed for the popinjay prose that they are.
From the latest issue of Good Food Revolution - "Wassup Cupcake?"
Read it and weep.
The Sexiest Salsa Battle This Side of the Rio Grande
Every May I get nostalgic for the wild Cinco de Mayo celebrations we'd see each year in Texas. This year I decided to do something about it, so with the help of my pals Mary Luz Mejia and Carlos Feunmayor Bolivar I pulled together a bunch of competitors who were ready to take the staple of Mexican kitchen to the next level in the hopes of winning salsa supremacy!
To keep things interesting, the hottest burlesque performer in North America graced us with her presence and her pasties for a very hot Mexican dance routine.
I made sure everyone got their votes in before Anastasia began shaking it on stage. No one could be expected to make an informed decision after that amount of stimulation.
To keep things interesting, the hottest burlesque performer in North America graced us with her presence and her pasties for a very hot Mexican dance routine.
I made sure everyone got their votes in before Anastasia began shaking it on stage. No one could be expected to make an informed decision after that amount of stimulation.
Competitors brought some very distinct flavours to the table making the final vote a tough decision for all. Food writer Signe Langford lamented over having to choose only one, while Drake GM, Bill Simpson, found his favourite with his first taste and Van (pictured) competing for Niagara St. seemed swept away by every one he tasted.
Rebozos Restaurant
Salsa Roja with refried beans, Choice of mild or spicy
Sabrosito
La Bandera Salsa with 12 chiles, avocado and tomatillo
L.A.B.
Smoked Tequila Salsa with pineapple (pictured above right)
Buddha Dog
Sweet Salsa Verde
Niagara Street Cafe
Chorizo and Lobster Salsa
Bellfountain Inn
Palmitos (hearts of palm), Avocado & Tomato Salsa
The votes were cast, I counted, re-counted and announced the winners.
3rd went to the newest restaurant in the battle, 2 month old L.A.B. and chef/owners Howard Dubrovsky and Chris Scott.
2nd place went to Chef Indalecio Marroquin (pictured below) from Rebozos Restaurant and 1st place went, by a hair, to the chef who traveled over an hour to get to the competition - Chef Rossy (pronounced Rosie) Earle from the Bellfountain Inn.
I was lucky enough to be able to give away some great prizes, including a few passes to the upcoming Wine and Spirit Festival.
Thanks to everyone who came out and ate, drank, competed, shimmied or ogled. Tequila!
All photos courtesy of Beverly Wooding.
Rebozos Restaurant
Salsa Roja with refried beans, Choice of mild or spicy
Sabrosito
La Bandera Salsa with 12 chiles, avocado and tomatillo
L.A.B.
Smoked Tequila Salsa with pineapple (pictured above right)
Buddha Dog
Sweet Salsa Verde
Niagara Street Cafe
Chorizo and Lobster Salsa
Bellfountain Inn
Palmitos (hearts of palm), Avocado & Tomato Salsa
The votes were cast, I counted, re-counted and announced the winners.
3rd went to the newest restaurant in the battle, 2 month old L.A.B. and chef/owners Howard Dubrovsky and Chris Scott.
2nd place went to Chef Indalecio Marroquin (pictured below) from Rebozos Restaurant and 1st place went, by a hair, to the chef who traveled over an hour to get to the competition - Chef Rossy (pronounced Rosie) Earle from the Bellfountain Inn.
I was lucky enough to be able to give away some great prizes, including a few passes to the upcoming Wine and Spirit Festival.
Thanks to everyone who came out and ate, drank, competed, shimmied or ogled. Tequila!
All photos courtesy of Beverly Wooding.
Sustainable Ceviche Smackdown
People in Toronto are crazy for ceviche if the other night is any indication. This past 86'd Monday we were packed into the lounge like sardines (ha!). Thankfully, with nine competing restaurants there was plenty of fish to go around.
Check out what they came up with:
Qualicum Bay Scallops with cucumber gelee and crispy barbecue chicken skin - Scott Vivian, Alex Feswick of Wine Bar
Spot Prawn & Hokkaido Scallop with Thai basil compressed pineapple salad and Luigi's oyster lettuce and 'pond scum' shooter - Luigi, of C5
Scallop with asparagus, tomato & chili - Derek Bendig, Martin Kouprie of Pangaea
Pacific Halibut with wild leek & maple mignonette on a wild rice cracker - Jamie Kennedy, Ken Steele of Jamie Kennedy Kitchens
Port Hardy Halibut, Dungeness crab and smoked plantain salsa verde with ancho, lime, grapefruit & cilantro garnished with basil seedlings, celery heart, baby Cash's corn nutz & crispy shallots - Cory Vitiello of the Harbord Room
Laughing Bird shrimp with wild leek and grapefruit, garnished with chipotle popcorn - Darren Glew of the Drake Hotel
Spot Prawns with blood orange sorbet, blood orange caviar and pickled jalapeno - Jason Innis of Amuse Bouche
Peruvian ceviche of Laughing Bird shrimp and albacore tuna with roasted capsicum salad - Morgan Wilson of Trios Bistro
Purdie's Pickerel with radioactive rhubarb featuring Randy the Robot - Mark Cutrara of Cowbell
All of it free and open to the public. After an hour of madness and mayhem it was time to vote, the crowd voted with enthusiasm to the point where the ballot box/champagne bucket was overflowing. Many enthusiastic voters professed their love for JK and Cory Vitiello, decorating their ballots with hearts and sexy sentiments. Vitiello asked to keep these.
He'll show them to anyone who asks if you drop by the Harbord Room.
After a long count I finally had my winner and the finalists were:
Third prize, a selection of Chateau de Charmes wines, went to Jamie Kennedy and Ken Steele. Second prize, a side of black cod from Seacore went to Cory "Maraschino Cherry" Vitiello.
And the big winner was:
The grand prize was still swimming around the in the waters of Haida Gwai, BC when I announced the winner. The boys from C5 will have a hook and line caught 10-12 pound wild Northern coho salmon delivered to their kitchen this week courtesy of Steve Johansen at Organic Ocean. The coho is one of Steve's favourite fish, "Its an awesome fish. Its just pure love."
photos by David Kruger
Check out what they came up with:
Qualicum Bay Scallops with cucumber gelee and crispy barbecue chicken skin - Scott Vivian, Alex Feswick of Wine Bar
Spot Prawn & Hokkaido Scallop with Thai basil compressed pineapple salad and Luigi's oyster lettuce and 'pond scum' shooter - Luigi, of C5
Scallop with asparagus, tomato & chili - Derek Bendig, Martin Kouprie of Pangaea
Pacific Halibut with wild leek & maple mignonette on a wild rice cracker - Jamie Kennedy, Ken Steele of Jamie Kennedy Kitchens
Port Hardy Halibut, Dungeness crab and smoked plantain salsa verde with ancho, lime, grapefruit & cilantro garnished with basil seedlings, celery heart, baby Cash's corn nutz & crispy shallots - Cory Vitiello of the Harbord Room
Laughing Bird shrimp with wild leek and grapefruit, garnished with chipotle popcorn - Darren Glew of the Drake Hotel
Spot Prawns with blood orange sorbet, blood orange caviar and pickled jalapeno - Jason Innis of Amuse Bouche
Peruvian ceviche of Laughing Bird shrimp and albacore tuna with roasted capsicum salad - Morgan Wilson of Trios Bistro
Purdie's Pickerel with radioactive rhubarb featuring Randy the Robot - Mark Cutrara of Cowbell
All of it free and open to the public. After an hour of madness and mayhem it was time to vote, the crowd voted with enthusiasm to the point where the ballot box/champagne bucket was overflowing. Many enthusiastic voters professed their love for JK and Cory Vitiello, decorating their ballots with hearts and sexy sentiments. Vitiello asked to keep these.
He'll show them to anyone who asks if you drop by the Harbord Room.
After a long count I finally had my winner and the finalists were:
Third prize, a selection of Chateau de Charmes wines, went to Jamie Kennedy and Ken Steele. Second prize, a side of black cod from Seacore went to Cory "Maraschino Cherry" Vitiello.
And the big winner was:
The grand prize was still swimming around the in the waters of Haida Gwai, BC when I announced the winner. The boys from C5 will have a hook and line caught 10-12 pound wild Northern coho salmon delivered to their kitchen this week courtesy of Steve Johansen at Organic Ocean. The coho is one of Steve's favourite fish, "Its an awesome fish. Its just pure love."
photos by David Kruger
Meatless Mondays for Morons
Al Gore wants you to give up meat on Mondays and Paul McCartney is backing him up. It's such a simple thing to do and it has such a huge impact. You can literally save the motherfucking planet by hitting the bean curd a little harder.
But maybe you've got a standing date for pork chops and trotters on Mondays or that's your night to host the Royal Order of Water Buffaloes meeting, well there is no need to worry the Grand Pooh-bah with a schedule change. Going meat-free for 24 hours doesn't have to be relegated to that particular day of the week.
Change it up to suit you, Tofurkey Tuesday one week then Flesh-free Friday the next. But whatever you do, just do it.
Stop being a caveman sporting morals based on a fucking Budweiser ad. Put down that factory farmed chicken wing and grab a cucumber you asshole.
Drama Queen
bathing in a sink, what a loser!
It's been a tough couple of months for little Peabody. He endured the indignity of a bath in the kitchen sink, had to wean himself off some heavy duty meds and then endured some very intense surgery that took away his tiny family jewels.
Extensive dental work was required and in the end the vet was only able to save seven teeth which he now exercises daily on sardines mashed with brown rice and quinoa (he's such a hippie).
Extensive dental work was required and in the end the vet was only able to save seven teeth which he now exercises daily on sardines mashed with brown rice and quinoa (he's such a hippie).
Peabody rocks the pink sweater!
Now that he's feeling better and off the painkillers he's throwing himself into a new project. Directing a play.
That's right, he's directing and starring in a production of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Peabody, who has zero issues with gender (as you can see by this photo of him sporting his favourite pink, bejeweled sweater) will play the lead role of Goldilocks.
That's right, he's directing and starring in a production of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Peabody, who has zero issues with gender (as you can see by this photo of him sporting his favourite pink, bejeweled sweater) will play the lead role of Goldilocks.
hard at work during rehearsal, did I mention it's a musical?
Peabody Feels the Love
Peabody the puppy was rescued from a bad situation by Trish Donnelly (chef at Oyster Boy) over the Christmas holidays. Kerry and I adopted the little guy and in the face of some heavy duty vet bills, held a fundraiser at Buddha Dog last night.
Thanks to the generous nature of our dog-loving friends, we were able to raise the amount needed and he will go in for surgery on Feb.3rd.
Peabody is currently going to dance classes as part of his rehabilitation, Beyonce is proving to be the most effective at inspiring great moves from him. As you can see by this photo, taken during an especially high energy moment from "All the Single Ladies".
We were able to give away some great prizes last night, here's who gave and received:
Jennifer won a gift certificate to Yummy Stuff - thanks Morag!
Patricia won brunch for two to Niagara Street Cafe - thanks Anton!
Renee won a $50 gift certificate to Sanagan's Meat Locker - thanks Peter!
Tara won a portrait session with Phillipa C Photography - thanks Phillipa!
Trish won a copy of Thomas Keller's new cookbook, Ad Hoc - thanks Lisa Zaritzky and Thomas Allen & Son
Gerry won a cookie gift basket and movie passes - thanks Renee and Anastasia!
Katya won dinner for two at Oyster Boy - thanks Adam!
Ashley won dinner for two at the Drake - thanks Bill!
Jake won the surprise pack that included wine, olive oil, chocolate & a copy of Earth to Table all packed in a gorgeous collectible commemorative Obama bag- thanks Super Budget Discount Savings Store and Jeff & Bettina!
the staff at Film Buff won a cupcake gift box - thanks Morag!
Arlene won a night of debauchery with me + lunch for two at Buddha Dog - thanks Andrews Sisters!
Peabody was humbled by the outpouring of love. Now, time to get back to dance practice. Come on Peabody, put a ring on it!
note - there are no Obama bags left at Super Budget Discount Savings, sorry I bought them all. Also, to Andrew Hunter, thanks for pulling on everyone's heart strings with your artistic plea for funds pictured below.
Thanks to the generous nature of our dog-loving friends, we were able to raise the amount needed and he will go in for surgery on Feb.3rd.
Peabody is currently going to dance classes as part of his rehabilitation, Beyonce is proving to be the most effective at inspiring great moves from him. As you can see by this photo, taken during an especially high energy moment from "All the Single Ladies".
We were able to give away some great prizes last night, here's who gave and received:
Jennifer won a gift certificate to Yummy Stuff - thanks Morag!
Patricia won brunch for two to Niagara Street Cafe - thanks Anton!
Renee won a $50 gift certificate to Sanagan's Meat Locker - thanks Peter!
Tara won a portrait session with Phillipa C Photography - thanks Phillipa!
Trish won a copy of Thomas Keller's new cookbook, Ad Hoc - thanks Lisa Zaritzky and Thomas Allen & Son
Gerry won a cookie gift basket and movie passes - thanks Renee and Anastasia!
Katya won dinner for two at Oyster Boy - thanks Adam!
Ashley won dinner for two at the Drake - thanks Bill!
Jake won the surprise pack that included wine, olive oil, chocolate & a copy of Earth to Table all packed in a gorgeous collectible commemorative Obama bag- thanks Super Budget Discount Savings Store and Jeff & Bettina!
the staff at Film Buff won a cupcake gift box - thanks Morag!
Arlene won a night of debauchery with me + lunch for two at Buddha Dog - thanks Andrews Sisters!
Peabody was humbled by the outpouring of love. Now, time to get back to dance practice. Come on Peabody, put a ring on it!
note - there are no Obama bags left at Super Budget Discount Savings, sorry I bought them all. Also, to Andrew Hunter, thanks for pulling on everyone's heart strings with your artistic plea for funds pictured below.
An Excerpt From "Eating Animals"
Jonathan Safran Foer's latest book is unlike anything he's written before. This non-fiction work delves deep into the world of factory farming. Read it once and you won't be able to eat a factory farmed animal ever again, you may not even be able to get through the whole book and you will definitely have nightmares.
Here's what he has to say about Free-Range.
"Applied to meat, eggs, dairy, and every now and then even fish (tuna on the range?), the free-range label is bullshit. It should provide no more peace of mind than 'all-nautral, 'fresh', or 'magical.'
To be considered free-range, chickens raise for meat must have 'access to the outdoors,' which, if you take those words literally, means nothing. (Imagine a shed containing thirty thousand chickens, with a small door at one end that opens to a five-by-five dirt patch - an the door is closed all but occasionally.)
The USDA doesn't even have a definition of free-range for laying hens and instead relies on producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims. Very often, the eggs of factory-farmed chickens - chickens packed against one another in vast barren barns - are labeled free-range. ('Cage-free' is regulated but means no more or less than what it says - they are literally not in cages.)
One can reliably assume that most 'free-range' (or 'cage-free') laying hens are debeaked, drugged, and cruelly slaughtered once 'spent'.
I could keep a flock of hens under my sink and call them free-range."
Jonathan Safran Foer
Now, we could simply say that Jonathan is some bleeding heart veg-head using his considerable literary talent to paint the situation in the worst way possible just to get us to stop buying eggs.
His response:
"This book is the product of an enormous amount of research, and is objective as any work of journalism can be - I used the most conservative statistics available (almost always from government, and peer-reviewed academic and industry sources) and hired two outside fact-checkers to corroborate them."
Here's what he has to say about Free-Range.
"Applied to meat, eggs, dairy, and every now and then even fish (tuna on the range?), the free-range label is bullshit. It should provide no more peace of mind than 'all-nautral, 'fresh', or 'magical.'
To be considered free-range, chickens raise for meat must have 'access to the outdoors,' which, if you take those words literally, means nothing. (Imagine a shed containing thirty thousand chickens, with a small door at one end that opens to a five-by-five dirt patch - an the door is closed all but occasionally.)
The USDA doesn't even have a definition of free-range for laying hens and instead relies on producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims. Very often, the eggs of factory-farmed chickens - chickens packed against one another in vast barren barns - are labeled free-range. ('Cage-free' is regulated but means no more or less than what it says - they are literally not in cages.)
One can reliably assume that most 'free-range' (or 'cage-free') laying hens are debeaked, drugged, and cruelly slaughtered once 'spent'.
I could keep a flock of hens under my sink and call them free-range."
Jonathan Safran Foer
Now, we could simply say that Jonathan is some bleeding heart veg-head using his considerable literary talent to paint the situation in the worst way possible just to get us to stop buying eggs.
His response:
"This book is the product of an enormous amount of research, and is objective as any work of journalism can be - I used the most conservative statistics available (almost always from government, and peer-reviewed academic and industry sources) and hired two outside fact-checkers to corroborate them."
Kerry's Amazing Cocktail Concoctions
This is a Caesar. Kerry makes it unique by garnishing his with a Red Hot pepperette and serving it in a plastic, stemmed goblet. This is a good drink to have in the morning or when you just can't take life anymore. Just looking at it will cheer you up. It's called The Wein-a-Bomber.
What a Bender
The past ten years have blasted by so fast I feel like Y2K was only yesterday. There was a lot of Bud Light consumed and a lot of cooking done. In 2000 I was cooking in Texas with no clue that I'd be moving to Toronto next. Since coming here I've been lucky enough to pal around with and learn from some of the best in the business.
I've recently been thinking of relocating to the Bahamas, which happens every year around this time, and every year I put it off because I don't want to miss out on a night of shots at the Double Deuce with Cory, Mitty and Jeff, or the Beaconsfield with Nick Liu and Chris Brown, or a night of Schooner at Boston Pizza with Kristina, Chuck & the Unicorn, or those wild Screech-fueled jig offs with my Newfie pal Ashley.
While the Bahamas beckon with palm fronds and pina coladas, Toronto holds me in it's icy grip. Lest you think that all I do is drink, I eat a lot too and I can't say goodbye to the Drake burger or miss out on hitting Perogi Night In Canada at Oddfellows, Mitty's cocktails at the Harbord Room, industry nights at Niagara Street Cafe and 86'd Mondays at the Drake. Then there's the Acadian Sturgeon caviar at Oyster Boy, dim sum at the Bright Pearl, grilled cheese at the Skyline Diner and gnocchi at Local Kitchen. Anything at the Gallery Grill, Canoe and Trevor Kitchen and Bar.
I just joined a facebook group called Vegan Drinkers Unite and I'm not even vegan. I can't wait to go on a tear with these veg-heads. I don't want to miss out on the meatball competition on January 25th that will put Zane Caplansky's balls to the ultimate test nor can I stand the thought of Valentine's Day without some Henry of Pelhman Cuvee Catherine and raspberry buttercream cupcakes from Yummy Stuff. And Buddha Dog, I honestly can't live without Buddha Dog.
The palm trees and coconut bra will have to wait. For now I'm staying in Toronto, Winterlicious be damned.
I've recently been thinking of relocating to the Bahamas, which happens every year around this time, and every year I put it off because I don't want to miss out on a night of shots at the Double Deuce with Cory, Mitty and Jeff, or the Beaconsfield with Nick Liu and Chris Brown, or a night of Schooner at Boston Pizza with Kristina, Chuck & the Unicorn, or those wild Screech-fueled jig offs with my Newfie pal Ashley.
While the Bahamas beckon with palm fronds and pina coladas, Toronto holds me in it's icy grip. Lest you think that all I do is drink, I eat a lot too and I can't say goodbye to the Drake burger or miss out on hitting Perogi Night In Canada at Oddfellows, Mitty's cocktails at the Harbord Room, industry nights at Niagara Street Cafe and 86'd Mondays at the Drake. Then there's the Acadian Sturgeon caviar at Oyster Boy, dim sum at the Bright Pearl, grilled cheese at the Skyline Diner and gnocchi at Local Kitchen. Anything at the Gallery Grill, Canoe and Trevor Kitchen and Bar.
I just joined a facebook group called Vegan Drinkers Unite and I'm not even vegan. I can't wait to go on a tear with these veg-heads. I don't want to miss out on the meatball competition on January 25th that will put Zane Caplansky's balls to the ultimate test nor can I stand the thought of Valentine's Day without some Henry of Pelhman Cuvee Catherine and raspberry buttercream cupcakes from Yummy Stuff. And Buddha Dog, I honestly can't live without Buddha Dog.
The palm trees and coconut bra will have to wait. For now I'm staying in Toronto, Winterlicious be damned.
Krispy Kremes are a Staple in any Well-Equipped Kitchen!
Gourmet, the grand dame of the magazine game, has folded but rags like Woman's World are still around. This cut and paste crappy little magazine is the ballsiest publication on the racks right now. Last week they had Oprah on the cover!
But they didn't really have Oprah, she didn't come into Woman's World for a cover shoot then do an interview with them. Nothing like that.
As far as I can tell, they just took an image of Oprah, the most powerful broad on earth, and slapped it on the cover. I'm just speculating, but I think Oprah actually posing for Woman's World would be on the same level as Obama actually posing for The National Enquirer.
Now this week they've got Paula Deen. Inside they give a healthier version of her Krispy Kreme bread pudding recipe.
Leave it to Paula, one of the biggest celebrity chefs in North America, to use donuts as a baking ingredient.
I love how they've photoshopped an apple in her hand, probably replacing the deep-fried bacon-wrapped Twinkie she originally had.
But they didn't really have Oprah, she didn't come into Woman's World for a cover shoot then do an interview with them. Nothing like that.
As far as I can tell, they just took an image of Oprah, the most powerful broad on earth, and slapped it on the cover. I'm just speculating, but I think Oprah actually posing for Woman's World would be on the same level as Obama actually posing for The National Enquirer.
Now this week they've got Paula Deen. Inside they give a healthier version of her Krispy Kreme bread pudding recipe.
Leave it to Paula, one of the biggest celebrity chefs in North America, to use donuts as a baking ingredient.
I love how they've photoshopped an apple in her hand, probably replacing the deep-fried bacon-wrapped Twinkie she originally had.
But the best part of the cover is the wonderful promises they make. Check this out.
Become a fan on facebook and read all the lovely comments.
Pam Guillory Wyman says of Paula's cover
"I love her, she is a darling"
Robin L Allan adds
"No one else gives you that warm feeling in your heart"
Robin, I couldn't agree more. I've got to head out now to pick up some Grand Theft Auto, feeling a fever coming on.
Become a fan on facebook and read all the lovely comments.
Pam Guillory Wyman says of Paula's cover
"I love her, she is a darling"
Robin L Allan adds
"No one else gives you that warm feeling in your heart"
Robin, I couldn't agree more. I've got to head out now to pick up some Grand Theft Auto, feeling a fever coming on.
I Demand To Have Some Booze!
This 86'd Monday was reminiscent of a Beatles concert. The kids went absolutely apeshit!
I barely finished introducing our competitors before the hordes broke down the barricades and rushed the stage.
All eight of my competitors brought more than just hot chocolate to this battle - they brought boozy hot chocolate! Plus a few of them even made their own marshmallows, like these pictured from Rosebud.
I barely finished introducing our competitors before the hordes broke down the barricades and rushed the stage.
All eight of my competitors brought more than just hot chocolate to this battle - they brought boozy hot chocolate! Plus a few of them even made their own marshmallows, like these pictured from Rosebud.
Competitors included Jesse Vallins from Trevor Kitchen and Bar (he used Ovaltine), Robert Rubino from Romagna Mia Ristorante 9 he made an eggnog gelato to garnish his entry), Christian Fontolan from Vertical (he used 3 different kinds of chocolate), Michelle Tham from Colbourne Lane (she used Mill Street and Jose Cuervo with triple-roasted marshmallows), Chrystal Porter and Michael Sacco from Chocosol Traders (they made their own chocolate!), Scott McNeil from The Stop Community Food Centre (he made peppermint marshmallows), David Chow and Brittany Peglar from the Drake Hotel (they made their own Irish Cream) and Matt Cowan (he used Averna - the Italian Jaeger) from Rosebud.
The people voted, some leaving comments on the ballots
"Michelle Tham's entry was nice and boozy, with some good spice for a winter day."
"Loved the malt and Ovaltine in Jesse's. Like Grandma used to make, sans booze."
"I loved the eggnog gelato."
"All I want for Christmas are more homemade marshmallows."
"I came here to get drunk but instead I got an exhaustive education on the history of chocolate! Thanks Chocosol."
and the winners were:
1. Jesse Vallins (that's him in the foreground)
2. Matt Cowan
3. Robert Rubino
Robert took home an Oyster Boy gift certificate courtesy of Chef Trish Donnelly, Matt received a maple syrup gift pack courtesy of Ninutik and Jesse was presented with some Cuban cigars and a signed copy of Chef Rob Clark's new cookbook, C Food, compliments of Whitecap Books.
Coming up:
Dec. 14th - Potato Party
vodka specials, delicious frites and a DIY Holiday Card station with professionaly carved potato stamps!
Dec. 21st - I F**king Hate Xmas!
DJ Johnny Strychnine will be blasting punk rock, bartender Dave 'Jaguar' Elliott will be pouring shooter specials and we'll all take a break from holiday hell!
Jan. 11th - Women in Food
not as boring as it sounds, I promise! A bunch of broads from Toronto's food and wine industry will get together for a night of completely debaucherous boozing!
"Michelle Tham's entry was nice and boozy, with some good spice for a winter day."
"Loved the malt and Ovaltine in Jesse's. Like Grandma used to make, sans booze."
"I loved the eggnog gelato."
"All I want for Christmas are more homemade marshmallows."
"I came here to get drunk but instead I got an exhaustive education on the history of chocolate! Thanks Chocosol."
and the winners were:
1. Jesse Vallins (that's him in the foreground)
2. Matt Cowan
3. Robert Rubino
Robert took home an Oyster Boy gift certificate courtesy of Chef Trish Donnelly, Matt received a maple syrup gift pack courtesy of Ninutik and Jesse was presented with some Cuban cigars and a signed copy of Chef Rob Clark's new cookbook, C Food, compliments of Whitecap Books.
Coming up:
Dec. 14th - Potato Party
vodka specials, delicious frites and a DIY Holiday Card station with professionaly carved potato stamps!
Dec. 21st - I F**king Hate Xmas!
DJ Johnny Strychnine will be blasting punk rock, bartender Dave 'Jaguar' Elliott will be pouring shooter specials and we'll all take a break from holiday hell!
Jan. 11th - Women in Food
not as boring as it sounds, I promise! A bunch of broads from Toronto's food and wine industry will get together for a night of completely debaucherous boozing!
Mmmm....Beefcake
Stephen Alexander recently hosted a party for his team at Cumbrae's. As a surprise, Anthony Rose asked pastry chef, David Chow, to make a special cake for the occasion. A rough sketch is the starting point...
After the fondant goes on, with the help of pastry assistant, Brittany Peglar, it's time to start laying out the design.
David was very nervous that he might get the name of one of the cuts wrong. He had everyone in the kitchen come and double-check.
According to Stephen Alexander, "The cake was awesome, it was the best Cumbrae party yet!"
That's nice for David to hear, considering he has about a dozen more cakes to create over the next few days.
That's nice for David to hear, considering he has about a dozen more cakes to create over the next few days.
nice work kids!
Pickle Party
This week's 86'd Monday was all about pickles with fourteen entries from all over Ontario vying for top pickle bragging rights. As the official after party of the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance Summit I got the crowd to act as judges considering the discerning palates in the room.
There was also a huge amount of cheese (five different kinds, including the amazing Blue Haze. Have you ever had smoked blue cheese? Go buy some right now loser.) donated by the very generous Cole Snell of Provincial Fine Foods with bread courtesy of the Drake.
Of course, in order to eat that many pickles you need a lot of beer, which is why our bartender, Dave "Jaguar" Elliott, had that hunted look in his eye.
There was also a huge amount of cheese (five different kinds, including the amazing Blue Haze. Have you ever had smoked blue cheese? Go buy some right now loser.) donated by the very generous Cole Snell of Provincial Fine Foods with bread courtesy of the Drake.
Of course, in order to eat that many pickles you need a lot of beer, which is why our bartender, Dave "Jaguar" Elliott, had that hunted look in his eye.
The contenders for best Ontario pickle were:
1.pickled carrots - Pickles eh!
2.peach & pear chutney - McCully's Hill Farm, Stratford
3.plums with rooftop honey & Niagara ice wine - Fairmont Royal York (they used honey from their own bees)
4.pearl onions with sundried tomato and chilis - Palais Royale
5.beets with honey - Dave Smythe of Mill Pond Cannery, Bloomfield
6.eggs, pickled two ways - David Chow of the Drake Hotel
7.pears - Niagara Street Cafe
8.sweet & sour tomatillos - Elmhirst Resort
9.Japanese style daikon - Zen Kitchen, Ottawa
10.Jamaican jerk eggplant - Zen Kitchen, Ottawa
11.dill pickles - The Pickle Patch, Ottawa
12.bread & butter pickles - The Pickle Patch, Ottawa
13.spicy garlic dills - Graham & Deb Dalziel, Elora
14.Ken's spicy perkles - The Pickle Guy Company, Flesherton
Pictured from left to right: Guy who died in the first Die Hard movie, Chris Brown- chef at the Stop, me, Nick Liu- chef at Niagara Street Cafe, Trista Sheen-Liu- sous chef at Crush and Andrew Mackenzie of Buddha Dog.
The votes were cast, the winners were announced and the prizes were handed out.
1st - Pears - Niagara Street Cafe
2nd - Jamaican Jerk Eggplant - Zen Kitchen
3rd - Ken's Spicy Perkles - The Pickle Guy Company
The lucky winners took home prize packs of pickles!
pictured - Chris Brown gets a very important phone call from John McClane "yippeekiyay motherfucker!"
1st - Pears - Niagara Street Cafe
2nd - Jamaican Jerk Eggplant - Zen Kitchen
3rd - Ken's Spicy Perkles - The Pickle Guy Company
The lucky winners took home prize packs of pickles!
pictured - Chris Brown gets a very important phone call from John McClane "yippeekiyay motherfucker!"
Join me next Monday for the first in a series called "I Quit" because if there is one thing everyone in the restaurant business has in common it's that they want to quit their stupid job on a regular basis. This series will delve into the myriad of possibilities for opportunity in the food and wine industry, starting with your very own television show!
See you on Nov.16th for "I Quit - I'ma Be a Food Network Star!"
pictured - Cassandra, Debra & Taunya
See you on Nov.16th for "I Quit - I'ma Be a Food Network Star!"
pictured - Cassandra, Debra & Taunya
Michael Smith is Amazing. Seriously.
Mister Milk and Cookies had a lot to say when I interviewed him recently. We talked in front of a few hundred people during a stop at First Canadian Place (fcpevents.com) on his book tour promoting "The Best of Chef at Home". Not interested in talking about safe topics like how he came to live on PEI or what Gabe's favourite dish is these days, he asked that we talk about important issues in food like sustainable seafood and factory farmed chickens.
He spoke about vegetarianism, Kraft Dinner and Michael Pollan.
When I arrive, Smith is suggesting to the women in charge of the event that he’ll pre-sign the cookbooks so he has more time to talk to the room as a whole. “If they line up one by one they’ll each want a moment to talk and take pictures and I don’t want to turn them down or rush them. I won't do that.”
This gives us the opportunity to talk about some things he feels very strongly about. He talks about how people come up to him full of praise for the show and details of dinner parties they plan to throw, but then confess their kids eat Kraft Dinner. His response to that “Bad parenting. Sorry to be blunt but your eight year old can’t drive to the grocery store and buy it, you’re the one buying it. If you don’t have crap in the house then your kids can’t eat crap, it’s that simple.”
He explains that "Chef at Home" and "Chef Abroad" are not venues for soapbox rants, so he wants to use this face to face opportunity with his audience to drive home some important facts. "Chef Abroad" is wrapped and won't shoot another season, "It takes seven days out of my life to shoot twenty minutes of that show" he tells us. While "Chef at Home" will go in a different direction, Smith will be taking his wife and child out of the show, "I sometimes wonder if they should have been on the show in the first place. I want Gabe to have a normal childhood."
Future seasons of "Chef at Home" will focus more on the local farmers and food artisans of Prince Edward Island.
It seems like all you hear these days out of hammy celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri is "pork, pork, pork.", while Smith considers himself a "vegetarian who eats meat" and encourages everyone to eat more vegetables, using a quote from Michael Pollan as his mantra “eat food, not a lot, mostly plants.”
He spoke about vegetarianism, Kraft Dinner and Michael Pollan.
When I arrive, Smith is suggesting to the women in charge of the event that he’ll pre-sign the cookbooks so he has more time to talk to the room as a whole. “If they line up one by one they’ll each want a moment to talk and take pictures and I don’t want to turn them down or rush them. I won't do that.”
This gives us the opportunity to talk about some things he feels very strongly about. He talks about how people come up to him full of praise for the show and details of dinner parties they plan to throw, but then confess their kids eat Kraft Dinner. His response to that “Bad parenting. Sorry to be blunt but your eight year old can’t drive to the grocery store and buy it, you’re the one buying it. If you don’t have crap in the house then your kids can’t eat crap, it’s that simple.”
He explains that "Chef at Home" and "Chef Abroad" are not venues for soapbox rants, so he wants to use this face to face opportunity with his audience to drive home some important facts. "Chef Abroad" is wrapped and won't shoot another season, "It takes seven days out of my life to shoot twenty minutes of that show" he tells us. While "Chef at Home" will go in a different direction, Smith will be taking his wife and child out of the show, "I sometimes wonder if they should have been on the show in the first place. I want Gabe to have a normal childhood."
Future seasons of "Chef at Home" will focus more on the local farmers and food artisans of Prince Edward Island.
It seems like all you hear these days out of hammy celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri is "pork, pork, pork.", while Smith considers himself a "vegetarian who eats meat" and encourages everyone to eat more vegetables, using a quote from Michael Pollan as his mantra “eat food, not a lot, mostly plants.”
He’ll aquiesce to the fact that overworked parents sometimes end up having to cook factory-farmed boneless, skinless chicken breasts for dinner because they don’t have a CSA set up yet or didn’t have time to get to the farmer’s market that week. Regardless of the fact that there is a page in the new cookbook with ten different variations on how to jazz up those bland breasts, it doesn’t mean he wants you to buy them. He tells the crowd about factory farming and how bad it is. Not only for us, but also the farmer, the economy and the environment and just think how insanely bad it is for the chicken.
He even goes so far as to tell his audience they don't need to buy the book, that most of the recipes can be found online for free. Who knew we had such a rebel on our hands. When you've had the top-rated show on Food Network for a couple or six years you can be as honest as Smith is.
He even goes so far as to tell his audience they don't need to buy the book, that most of the recipes can be found online for free. Who knew we had such a rebel on our hands. When you've had the top-rated show on Food Network for a couple or six years you can be as honest as Smith is.
His biggest problem is with “spirit-draining” factory food. For us in the restaurant business this is old news, we’re all on the Slow Food bandwagon, but out in the real world the message is just starting to be heard. When Michael spoke honestly about how bad ‘big food’ is for us, our kids and for the environment these people were wowed. Some even coming up to him afterwards to thank him for his honesty. A refreshing thing to see, a Food Network celebrity taking the opportunity to educate a crowd and telling them not to buy his book.
Smith, milquetoast and gentle on television, wants to get the message out so badly that he's wiling to risk pissing off his loyal fans in order to do it. Even if that means telling a roomful of 9-5ers that they are all bad parents for buying Kraft Dinner. I love this guy.
All photos by Johnny Lam
http://johnnylamphoto.com/blog/
Smith, milquetoast and gentle on television, wants to get the message out so badly that he's wiling to risk pissing off his loyal fans in order to do it. Even if that means telling a roomful of 9-5ers that they are all bad parents for buying Kraft Dinner. I love this guy.
All photos by Johnny Lam
http://johnnylamphoto.com/blog/
Cardio Friggin' Sucks
I'm going to the gym for the first time in my life. My husband, Kerry, and friend, Burger, have been giving me little workouts to do. It's great, I lift a few puny weights, I read outdated Chatelaine's on the elliptical, I roll around on a big beach ball and then I go home.
Well, I made the mistake today of telling Burger today that my problem area is not turning into a 6-pack and wondered why?
"You need to start doing cardio." he said. Visions of spinning classes and Jane Fonda flashed through my head. He gave me a 30 minute workout to do on three different machines. I turned it into a 15 minute workout and attempted a quick hobble out the door but no luck. Burger grabbed me and started going on about calories and said that I should probably do 10 minutes of hard cardio for every beer I drink! I don't eat garbage, I'm practically a health nut! A meat-obsessed health nut, with a penchant for butter and cheese...but all from artisanal sources and local and sustainable and organic and kid-friendly and earth-healing and community building and gender equal and non-racist.
Why do I get punished? I drink light beer for frig's sake and now with every dead soldier I have to jump up shouting "and a 1! and a 2! and a 3!" while performing some painful task that steroid users and masochistic jogger nerds take great pleasure in.
Well, I made the mistake today of telling Burger today that my problem area is not turning into a 6-pack and wondered why?
"You need to start doing cardio." he said. Visions of spinning classes and Jane Fonda flashed through my head. He gave me a 30 minute workout to do on three different machines. I turned it into a 15 minute workout and attempted a quick hobble out the door but no luck. Burger grabbed me and started going on about calories and said that I should probably do 10 minutes of hard cardio for every beer I drink! I don't eat garbage, I'm practically a health nut! A meat-obsessed health nut, with a penchant for butter and cheese...but all from artisanal sources and local and sustainable and organic and kid-friendly and earth-healing and community building and gender equal and non-racist.
Why do I get punished? I drink light beer for frig's sake and now with every dead soldier I have to jump up shouting "and a 1! and a 2! and a 3!" while performing some painful task that steroid users and masochistic jogger nerds take great pleasure in.
If I don't do what Burger says, I will end up with the dreaded middle-aged spread. I will become another dumpy broad wandering through the mall, maybe grabbing an US Weekly to read up on how the "other half live". My slack mouth will turn into an "O" of wonder as I ogle slender starlets in bikinis.
Just because I love beer! It's so unfair!
I wonder what time it is in that picture?
Just because I love beer! It's so unfair!
I wonder what time it is in that picture?
See, if I had big boobs like the fun-loving swingers here, I wouldn't care. But I've got no precipice for people to ponder that would leave the gut below swathed in a breast-y shadow of mystery. I'm forced to keep my bowl full of jelly in check. Cardio is the only non-surgical answer.
It totally sucks but it's the sacrifice I must make for one the greatest loves of my life,
Bud light in a can.
And a 1! and a 2! And a 3!
It totally sucks but it's the sacrifice I must make for one the greatest loves of my life,
Bud light in a can.
And a 1! and a 2! And a 3!
Boobs Rock!
A group of very serious food professionals from Toronto's most esteemed culinary circles gathered on the lakeside patio of the Palais Royale last Monday and got insanely frigging wasted. The main reason for the party was just to get everyone together for a fun time but we also decided it might be a good idea to try and raise money for a family that has become very important to our food scene. The Akiwenzie family live on a reservation in Wiarton,ON. They sell their fresh and smoked fish at farmer's markets in Toronto and have become beloved by chefs for their exceptional product. Unfortunately, a health inspector shut them down a few months ago for not having the proper equipment in their facility. With no way to sell fish to make money to upgrade their operation they were forced to blow through their savings and the job still wasn't done. Thanks to the generosity of chefs like Jamie Kennedy and Anthony Rose and everyone at Slow Food - they were able to finally finish the job but were still looking at a pretty bleak winter.
We hoped this party would raise some funds to help them out.
We hoped this party would raise some funds to help them out.
Because the people on our guest list are professionals (or should I say 'were'), co-hosts Arlene Stein, Steffan Howard and myself, made sure to give them the VIP treatment.
We secured the finest beers (Creemore, Flying Monkey and Cameron's Breweries), cider (The Cider Company), wine (Norm Hardie and the Vine) and hard stuff (Jaeger!!!!) for our guests to drink while the beautiful burlesque bombshell Anastasia wowed them with her sequinned pasties. DJ's Michael Stein and Jamie Drummond both spun sexy grooves and the guys from White Cowbell Oklahoma pumped out live band karaoke.
We secured the finest beers (Creemore, Flying Monkey and Cameron's Breweries), cider (The Cider Company), wine (Norm Hardie and the Vine) and hard stuff (Jaeger!!!!) for our guests to drink while the beautiful burlesque bombshell Anastasia wowed them with her sequinned pasties. DJ's Michael Stein and Jamie Drummond both spun sexy grooves and the guys from White Cowbell Oklahoma pumped out live band karaoke.
The theme was potluck, with this crowd the contributions were stellar. Bread from Ancaster Old Mill, red Texas chili from the Drake, proscuitto from Sabrosito, oysters from Oyster Boy, heirloom tomato salad from Deb at Cookstown Greens, a rice dish from Signe Langford that was the talk of the party (see recipe below), lamb sausage from Slow Food Toronto, meats from Mario Pingue's Niagara Specialty Products and beef from Scotch Mountain Meats prepared by the team at the Palais Royale (led by Steffan Howard and his volunteer sous chefs for the evening - John Lee, Tawfik Shehata and Debra Mckay). Plus salads from David Kirkwood, Howard Dubrovsky and the Palais.We had a slew of different BBQ sauces entered in competition for BBQ Sauce King or Queen of Toronto. There were nine entries in total, from sources as diverse as "Monty, a friend of Jamie Drummond's" to 89 year old Jean, from Scotch Mountain Meats. The sauces themselves were diverse as well, from Maple-Apple Smoke by Palais sous Eric Marshall to Sweet Potato Pie BBQ Sauce from the Andrews sisters (Andrew Hunter and Andrew Mackenzie) at Buddha Dog. But, as we all know after watching "Highlander" - There can be only one!
So we did an applause-o-meter and Jeff Crump's sauce took it. "It's just a very basic tomato, molasses, brown sugar based BBQ sauce. I simmered it with chipotle, ancho and pasillo chilis in my hearth for eight hours over applewood. I finished it with a ton of rice wine vinegar for that Carolina kick." he disclosed after learning of his win.
So we did an applause-o-meter and Jeff Crump's sauce took it. "It's just a very basic tomato, molasses, brown sugar based BBQ sauce. I simmered it with chipotle, ancho and pasillo chilis in my hearth for eight hours over applewood. I finished it with a ton of rice wine vinegar for that Carolina kick." he disclosed after learning of his win.
After Anastasia had popped all her balloons, the live band karaoke started up, with superstar songster and Drake sommelier, Al Fox belting out some Zeppelin. Then the Dakota's brunch cook, Pat Conway, busted out with "Psycho Killer" and the party started to get nuts. We pulled out five large bottles of Jaeger and started selling shots, at $2.50 each it was quite a deal. We ran out in 15 minutes.
All in all the party raised close to $2000.00 for the Akiwenzie family. That's mostly from selling beer and wine tickets for $2.50 each.
See, now I knew I could find a way to make getting loaded and acting like a maroon something to be proud of. Top of the world Ma!
Many thanks to our volunteers on the door, behind the bar and behind the scenes:
Daniel Gallay (he did pretty much everything!), Denae Peters, Zanette Zukowski, Chris Campbell, Christopher Hamburger, Patrick Leahy, Will Chafe, Tadashi Yamazaki, Al Fox and Ashley Shortall
photos by Matt Harsant,
http://www.matthewharsant.com
with the exception of the BBQ sauce shot - that's by John Gundy
http://www.johngundy.ca
Recipe for Signe's Rice, in her words:
"no real recipe. Just mix cooked rice with melted butter, sea salt, pepper, any combination of chopped prunes, dried apricots, dates, figs, almonds (or other nuts). In a pan, heat oil and butter, fry thinly sliced purple onion, canned chick peas, more salt and pepper. Fry until all brown and a bit crunchy in parts. Mix all of this including pan scrapings into the fruit and rice mixture. That's all there is to it."
- Signe Langford
All in all the party raised close to $2000.00 for the Akiwenzie family. That's mostly from selling beer and wine tickets for $2.50 each.
See, now I knew I could find a way to make getting loaded and acting like a maroon something to be proud of. Top of the world Ma!
Many thanks to our volunteers on the door, behind the bar and behind the scenes:
Daniel Gallay (he did pretty much everything!), Denae Peters, Zanette Zukowski, Chris Campbell, Christopher Hamburger, Patrick Leahy, Will Chafe, Tadashi Yamazaki, Al Fox and Ashley Shortall
photos by Matt Harsant,
http://www.matthewharsant.com
with the exception of the BBQ sauce shot - that's by John Gundy
http://www.johngundy.ca
Recipe for Signe's Rice, in her words:
"no real recipe. Just mix cooked rice with melted butter, sea salt, pepper, any combination of chopped prunes, dried apricots, dates, figs, almonds (or other nuts). In a pan, heat oil and butter, fry thinly sliced purple onion, canned chick peas, more salt and pepper. Fry until all brown and a bit crunchy in parts. Mix all of this including pan scrapings into the fruit and rice mixture. That's all there is to it."
- Signe Langford
My Secret Identity
According my sous chef, Nick auf der Mauer, this is what I look like. Noddy, the elf straight outta Toyland. That's me rollin' in my sweet ride.
This is what my friend, Jeremy Gries, thinks I look like when I'm wearing chef whites. The coats are always too big for me so I end up with a bit of a flying squirrel look.
But, this here is what I actually look like. This is what I wear when I wash my sweet ride, before cruising through Toyland.
I Love the Whole World, especially Canada
July started with my favourite holiday, Canada Day, and a BBQ hosted by David Chrystian and his folks at the family farm near Grimsby.
David, along with his kitchen crew from Victor, including Alex Tso and Mario Paz, roasted 2 whole pigs and the guests provided the salads and sides.
Renee and I drove up together with the Tragically Hip blasting through the speakers and the smell of her freshly baked bread wafting out the windows.
We planned to camp out with a bunch of friends. After taking close to an hour to set up the tent we hit the beers. Actually we cracked the first beers as soon as we parked the car, but we paid them some serious attention once that damn tent was set up.
Did you notice I said it took us almost an hour to set up our tent? We had our friends Pat (pictured rockin' the rubbers) and Ashley helping us too! When our other friends, Phillipa and Nathan showed up, they got their tent finished in about 5 minutes.
Screw you guys, I'm a car-camper.
David, along with his kitchen crew from Victor, including Alex Tso and Mario Paz, roasted 2 whole pigs and the guests provided the salads and sides.
Renee and I drove up together with the Tragically Hip blasting through the speakers and the smell of her freshly baked bread wafting out the windows.
We planned to camp out with a bunch of friends. After taking close to an hour to set up the tent we hit the beers. Actually we cracked the first beers as soon as we parked the car, but we paid them some serious attention once that damn tent was set up.
Did you notice I said it took us almost an hour to set up our tent? We had our friends Pat (pictured rockin' the rubbers) and Ashley helping us too! When our other friends, Phillipa and Nathan showed up, they got their tent finished in about 5 minutes.
Screw you guys, I'm a car-camper.
Adam Colquhon (http://www.oysterboy.ca) had already set up his tent and his shucking station for the dinner and built up a nice pile of wood for a bonfire later. He was busy sorting his fireworks for the pyrotechnic display he had planned for later that night.
He spent almost $1000.00 on fireworks and he planned to shuck 300 ice-cold Malpeques for us.
Adam is a great Canadian, more beloved in my mind than Pierre Trudeau.
David is one of my best buddies and one of the best chefs in the city (http://www.victorrestaurant.com
He's doing deep-fried pickles on his summer menu at Victor!)
He's also one of my favourite Canadians.
We once took a road trip from Prince Edward Island to Toronto and listened to the Tragically Hip the entire way. Our favourite song is "Fireworks", it's got Gord's best lyric of all time:
"She said she didn't give a fuck about hockey. I never saw someone say that before. She held my hand and we walked home the long way. She was loosening my grip on Bobby Orr."
David thought that 'Bobby Orr' referred to Gord's dick but I think it refers to Gord's obsession with hockey. David is kind of a nut.
Soon it was time to eat so we all headed up to the house where a long table had been set up on the lawn to hold all the food. We added our little contribution to the groaning buffet.
Besides the bread, Renee had made a potato salad and I brought along a chopped salad with the Drake’s house Ranch dressing and some herbed butter. Everyone sat on the grass or in folding chairs and had a picnic while The Sure Things (catch them every Sunday at Salvador Darling in Parkdale) played hillbilly music.
David welcomed all of us and got everyone to stand and sing "Oh Canada" before we all headed down to the barn to square dance and jig to some more music from The Sure Things.
They even played "Bud the Spud", my all time favourite song after "Roller Skates" and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree".
There's me below in my trusty Gilligan hat with famed photographer Phillipa Croft (http://www.phillipac.com), breadmaker extraordinaire, Renee Bellefeuille and the most gorgeous man in Canada, Kerry Knight.
Besides the bread, Renee had made a potato salad and I brought along a chopped salad with the Drake’s house Ranch dressing and some herbed butter. Everyone sat on the grass or in folding chairs and had a picnic while The Sure Things (catch them every Sunday at Salvador Darling in Parkdale) played hillbilly music.
David welcomed all of us and got everyone to stand and sing "Oh Canada" before we all headed down to the barn to square dance and jig to some more music from The Sure Things.
They even played "Bud the Spud", my all time favourite song after "Roller Skates" and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree".
There's me below in my trusty Gilligan hat with famed photographer Phillipa Croft (http://www.phillipac.com), breadmaker extraordinaire, Renee Bellefeuille and the most gorgeous man in Canada, Kerry Knight.
Adam put on a wild fireworks show before the non-campers headed back to Toronto in a school bus David had rented.
We got the bonfire going and everyone had a blast (look how happy Renee is in the photo), especially when Adam threw some fireworks into the fire. We all had to duck and cover. What a dink!
We could hear them zinging through the air, but luckily no one got hit. Many of us, Renee included, were saved by the fact that we were already on the ground.
Definitely the best Canada Day ever.
We got the bonfire going and everyone had a blast (look how happy Renee is in the photo), especially when Adam threw some fireworks into the fire. We all had to duck and cover. What a dink!
We could hear them zinging through the air, but luckily no one got hit. Many of us, Renee included, were saved by the fact that we were already on the ground.
Definitely the best Canada Day ever.
I Heart Bud Light in a Can
June is usually a time when the last of the snow melts and I put away my toque for a few weeks, this year was no exception and I kicked it off with a road trip. Paul Finklestein has asked me to be his food writer in residence at Stratford Northwestern Secondary School (I’ve always thought of Stratford as Canada’s Berkeley, CA and Fink as a less slutty version of Alice Waters), so I thought I’d head up to Stratford with my friends, John Gundy and Jeremy Gries, to check it out.
We rode into town on opening night for the famous Stratford Theatre Festival and the place was abuzz. Fink had arranged for us to stay at the Ritz http://www.bbcanada.com/7987.html, a B&B owned by the hospitable Ritz family (their son Jared appeared on Finklestein’s show “Fink” for Food Network). We quickly checked in and headed out for dinner at Pazzo with Danielle Broadhagen from Stratford Culinary Tourism (that's her with Jeremy and I in the picture). Jeremy’s entrée was a very simple but perfectly executed pasta dish – spaghetti with mussels, oven-dried tomatoes and artichokes in a delicate mussel-scented broth-y sauce (this sentence has been brought to you by the hypen -). If you go to Pazzo that’s the dish to order.
We rode into town on opening night for the famous Stratford Theatre Festival and the place was abuzz. Fink had arranged for us to stay at the Ritz http://www.bbcanada.com/7987.html, a B&B owned by the hospitable Ritz family (their son Jared appeared on Finklestein’s show “Fink” for Food Network). We quickly checked in and headed out for dinner at Pazzo with Danielle Broadhagen from Stratford Culinary Tourism (that's her with Jeremy and I in the picture). Jeremy’s entrée was a very simple but perfectly executed pasta dish – spaghetti with mussels, oven-dried tomatoes and artichokes in a delicate mussel-scented broth-y sauce (this sentence has been brought to you by the hypen -). If you go to Pazzo that’s the dish to order.
Early the next morning we went to the first breakfast place we could find, an ugly little joint called Tango where a very hungover Jeremy and I watched with frustration as the hopeless line cook gabbed away while our order flapped in the pass. Our server was the saving grace, I can’t remember her name but she knew a hangover when she saw one and took care of us accordingly with lots of liquids, laughs and winks.
Then we took off to see Fink (pictured below) at the Screaming Avocado, the student-run restaurant at SNS School that acts as a real food alternative to the cafeteria’s offerings. After introducing us to group of totally uninterested adolescents Fink gave us a tour of the school. I found it somewhat disheartening to listen to all the plans and projects this guy has come up with that have just turned to shit because of a seeming total lack of support from the rest of the faculty.
At one point we walked past the auto shop where a few boys in monkey suits were tinkering around, a radio was playing “Piano Man” and I was fifteen again.
Back with Fink’s kids, Jeremy and I challenged them to a black box competition. I got three great girls on my team, while Jeremy got what looked like a four year old, a loco tattooed girl and a kid who had the “I wish I was anywhere but here” look perfected.
For the black box each team was given a cabbage, porkchops, collard greens and button mushrooms. Me and my girls made a coleslaw with apple, mushroom caps stuffed with garlic butter and pan-seared chops glazed with apple juice (from a juice box) served over wilted collards.
Jeremy’s team ended up with a pretty good plate, probably because Jeremy did most of the cooking. The star on his team ended up being the tiny girl but halfway through she confessed that she was skipping class and took off back to her grade 7 curriculum. Grade 7! Tattooed nutter made a pretty decent cheese sauce, which they garnished their sautéed cabbage and collards with. She told me it was something she made for the kids that she babysat and to get them to eat it she’d use food colouring to dye it pink or green. There’s a great tip for you reader!
Me and my girls won.
Under perfect summer skies we headed to C’est Bonne cheese next where Danielle introduced us to this guy who gave us a pretty intense talking to about his operation. He’s retired from TSN and used his chunk of change to start making goat cheese. His is the only place in the country where the goats and the cheese made from their milk are on the same property. His cheeses are fantastic and in limited supply because he is a one-man operation so his batches are small. If you check out Provincial Fine Foods on Church you might be able to pick up some C’est Bonne.
Then Danielle took us to McCully’s Hill Farm where we got to see the tiniest rooster in the world. He was about as tall as a corn cob and had the flashiest pimped-out feathers I’d ever seen. His name was Jonesy, how perfect is that? Jonesy the pimped out rooster is Jeremy’s favourite animal in the world right now. We also got to see some tiny black lambs and I held a baby bunny while baby chicks ran everywhere. If you can stand in a sun-dappled barn while doing all of the above your hangover will go away, I promise.
Then we took off to see Fink (pictured below) at the Screaming Avocado, the student-run restaurant at SNS School that acts as a real food alternative to the cafeteria’s offerings. After introducing us to group of totally uninterested adolescents Fink gave us a tour of the school. I found it somewhat disheartening to listen to all the plans and projects this guy has come up with that have just turned to shit because of a seeming total lack of support from the rest of the faculty.
At one point we walked past the auto shop where a few boys in monkey suits were tinkering around, a radio was playing “Piano Man” and I was fifteen again.
Back with Fink’s kids, Jeremy and I challenged them to a black box competition. I got three great girls on my team, while Jeremy got what looked like a four year old, a loco tattooed girl and a kid who had the “I wish I was anywhere but here” look perfected.
For the black box each team was given a cabbage, porkchops, collard greens and button mushrooms. Me and my girls made a coleslaw with apple, mushroom caps stuffed with garlic butter and pan-seared chops glazed with apple juice (from a juice box) served over wilted collards.
Jeremy’s team ended up with a pretty good plate, probably because Jeremy did most of the cooking. The star on his team ended up being the tiny girl but halfway through she confessed that she was skipping class and took off back to her grade 7 curriculum. Grade 7! Tattooed nutter made a pretty decent cheese sauce, which they garnished their sautéed cabbage and collards with. She told me it was something she made for the kids that she babysat and to get them to eat it she’d use food colouring to dye it pink or green. There’s a great tip for you reader!
Me and my girls won.
Under perfect summer skies we headed to C’est Bonne cheese next where Danielle introduced us to this guy who gave us a pretty intense talking to about his operation. He’s retired from TSN and used his chunk of change to start making goat cheese. His is the only place in the country where the goats and the cheese made from their milk are on the same property. His cheeses are fantastic and in limited supply because he is a one-man operation so his batches are small. If you check out Provincial Fine Foods on Church you might be able to pick up some C’est Bonne.
Then Danielle took us to McCully’s Hill Farm where we got to see the tiniest rooster in the world. He was about as tall as a corn cob and had the flashiest pimped-out feathers I’d ever seen. His name was Jonesy, how perfect is that? Jonesy the pimped out rooster is Jeremy’s favourite animal in the world right now. We also got to see some tiny black lambs and I held a baby bunny while baby chicks ran everywhere. If you can stand in a sun-dappled barn while doing all of the above your hangover will go away, I promise.
Back in Toronto a few days later, my friend Renee and I ended up on Hemingway’s patio having drinks with some chefs from the Chef’s Congress in town for a few days. Scott Pohorelic from the River Café in Calgary, Jeremy Charles from Atlantica in Newfoundland, Chris Aerni from the Rossmount Inn in New Brunswick and Aaron Joseph Bear Robe from Eigensinn. Michael Dixon had brought us all together to this shit patio. I hate Hemingways, I hate all covered patios where I can’t smoke but Hemingways actually punishes it’s guests for smoking by putting them in this weird, tiny penalty box. Fuck that place. Seriously.
We left and headed to Kensington Market for dinner at Torito. The food there is amazing, pomegranate-glazed squash, a freshwater bass ceviche, crab croquettes…..
We finished up on the Sky Yard patio at the Drake where they serve exquisite ice-cold Bud Light.
The next night Renee and I went to Oyster Boy and partied with the same chefs plus some other favourites, Anthony Rose (the Drake), Marko Skof (Loire), Graidhne Lelieveld Amiro (Auberge du Pommier), Carlos Fuenmayor (Sabrosito http://www.sabrosito.ca), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell) and Ray Lovell from Nunavut with his wife Valerie who are wicked.
Michael Stadtlander gave a speech about the upcoming Congress in B.C., plans are coming along well for 2010. We ate loads of oysters, then Mark Cutrara threw my drunk ass in a cab and took me home. What can I say, Adam "Oyster Boy" Colquhon doesn’t have any light beer on tap. I can’t handle the real stuff!
On the 7th, I was invited to participate in a veggie dog tasting. It was so gross, read all about it here http://shelflifetastetest.com/?p=1493
It turned me back on to regular hot dogs, which I hadn’t eaten since childhood. I’ve been getting the beef dogs from Rowe Farms, really good and about the only thing I can afford from that place.
We left and headed to Kensington Market for dinner at Torito. The food there is amazing, pomegranate-glazed squash, a freshwater bass ceviche, crab croquettes…..
We finished up on the Sky Yard patio at the Drake where they serve exquisite ice-cold Bud Light.
The next night Renee and I went to Oyster Boy and partied with the same chefs plus some other favourites, Anthony Rose (the Drake), Marko Skof (Loire), Graidhne Lelieveld Amiro (Auberge du Pommier), Carlos Fuenmayor (Sabrosito http://www.sabrosito.ca), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell) and Ray Lovell from Nunavut with his wife Valerie who are wicked.
Michael Stadtlander gave a speech about the upcoming Congress in B.C., plans are coming along well for 2010. We ate loads of oysters, then Mark Cutrara threw my drunk ass in a cab and took me home. What can I say, Adam "Oyster Boy" Colquhon doesn’t have any light beer on tap. I can’t handle the real stuff!
On the 7th, I was invited to participate in a veggie dog tasting. It was so gross, read all about it here http://shelflifetastetest.com/?p=1493
It turned me back on to regular hot dogs, which I hadn’t eaten since childhood. I’ve been getting the beef dogs from Rowe Farms, really good and about the only thing I can afford from that place.
The 9th had me at a press conference at JK at the Gardiner where Jamie unveiled his new line of Speedos and even modeled a few pairs. I bought three pairs for Kerry.
Actually, that is a lie. I only bought one pair for Kerry. Jamie (pictured) was promoting his new direction for the Gardiner joint and now it’s a much more accessible spot where you can grab a $25 three-course lunch every Wednesday. I had the three course lunch and it was, of course, incredible. Jamie is going broke putting the absolute best food on the plate and never ever cutting corners, take advantage of his lunacy and dine like a king for a measly $25. It’s definitely the best deal in town.
Kerry and I joined Lynn Crawford and friends for dinner at Trevor Kitchen and Bar. We sat at the Chef’s table and were wowed by Jesse Vallins. He is such an under the radar chef – christ he’s talented! My only complaint, $7 for a Coor’s Light! I’d pay that for a Bud Light but not a Coor’s, no way.
June came to a close with an opening, my gorgeous friend, Phillipa Croft opened her brand new photography studio,http://www.phillipac.com . At Phillipa's request, I brought my famous deviled eggs, which received a “meh….” from Philly’s future mother-in-law Audrey.
It was a great party, probably the best party I’ve ever attended in my life. Every time I even thought I might like another drink a handsome bartender would slide a cold Bud Light into my hand. Bud Light in a can! Heaven.
Want to know what happens when you drink as much Bud Light as I do?
Well, this is what I look like now:
Actually, that is a lie. I only bought one pair for Kerry. Jamie (pictured) was promoting his new direction for the Gardiner joint and now it’s a much more accessible spot where you can grab a $25 three-course lunch every Wednesday. I had the three course lunch and it was, of course, incredible. Jamie is going broke putting the absolute best food on the plate and never ever cutting corners, take advantage of his lunacy and dine like a king for a measly $25. It’s definitely the best deal in town.
Kerry and I joined Lynn Crawford and friends for dinner at Trevor Kitchen and Bar. We sat at the Chef’s table and were wowed by Jesse Vallins. He is such an under the radar chef – christ he’s talented! My only complaint, $7 for a Coor’s Light! I’d pay that for a Bud Light but not a Coor’s, no way.
June came to a close with an opening, my gorgeous friend, Phillipa Croft opened her brand new photography studio,http://www.phillipac.com . At Phillipa's request, I brought my famous deviled eggs, which received a “meh….” from Philly’s future mother-in-law Audrey.
It was a great party, probably the best party I’ve ever attended in my life. Every time I even thought I might like another drink a handsome bartender would slide a cold Bud Light into my hand. Bud Light in a can! Heaven.
Want to know what happens when you drink as much Bud Light as I do?
Well, this is what I look like now:
all photos by John Gundy, except the last one - that's a self portrait.
Nuts in May
I'm just looking at the calendar for a reminder of what else went on in May, I sure get to do a lot of cool things for a broke-ass line cook.
I spent a beautiful sunny Mayday at Langdon Hall, where I got to meet the famed Michelin-starred Chef Michel Roux. He was a hilarious rake and a wild flirt. The lunch was reminiscent of some glorious scene from “I Served The King Of England”, which if you haven’t seen yet I recommend you go out and rent asap. You can read all about Chef Roux’s new book on pastry and the amazing lunch Langdon Hall’s Chef Jonathan Gushue and his team prepared from it that day in the upcoming issue of City Bites.
On May 2nd I got to go turkey hunting with Chef Anthony Walsh at his family farm in Cobourg. In lieu of turkey, (Those birds are hard to catch, especially if you're holding the gun the way I am in the picture. You can read all about it in the Toronto Star, see link below) he grilled up some gorgeous Rowe Farms steaks over the wood burning grill on the outdoor parilla (Anthony's wife Suzanne is Argentinian, which should solve the mystery of the parilla instead of a barbecue).
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/633268
After dinner we sat around the fire and downed a few nightcaps under the stars while Chef Walsh quoted some very deep lines from “Withnail and I” – most notably Uncle Monty’s speech to the boys.
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new. And God fulfills Himself in many ways. And soon…I suppose…I shall be swept away by some vulgar little tumor. Oh, my boys. My boys, we’re at the end of an age. We live in a land of weather forecasts…and breakfasts that ‘set in’, shat on my Tories, shoveled up by Labor. And here we are, we three…perhaps the last island of beauty in the world. Now, which of you is going to be a splendid fellow and go down to the Rolls for the rest of the wine?”
He didn’t actually quote that, he mostly just continuously repeated the quote “proper rubber boots” rolling the r’s as much as possible each time. I think I love Anthony Walsh so much because he reminds me of my pot-head Dad, not that Anthony is a toker he’s not, but because he loves repeating himself. Dad’s nickname in our family was “The Broken Record”. Seriously, as in Mom (aka Rosebud, the Diva and Betty - because one time in the early 80's she got a haircut that made her look like Betty Rubble and no one in PEI would ever let her forget it) saying “what the hell is The Broken Record going on about now?”
I spent a beautiful sunny Mayday at Langdon Hall, where I got to meet the famed Michelin-starred Chef Michel Roux. He was a hilarious rake and a wild flirt. The lunch was reminiscent of some glorious scene from “I Served The King Of England”, which if you haven’t seen yet I recommend you go out and rent asap. You can read all about Chef Roux’s new book on pastry and the amazing lunch Langdon Hall’s Chef Jonathan Gushue and his team prepared from it that day in the upcoming issue of City Bites.
On May 2nd I got to go turkey hunting with Chef Anthony Walsh at his family farm in Cobourg. In lieu of turkey, (Those birds are hard to catch, especially if you're holding the gun the way I am in the picture. You can read all about it in the Toronto Star, see link below) he grilled up some gorgeous Rowe Farms steaks over the wood burning grill on the outdoor parilla (Anthony's wife Suzanne is Argentinian, which should solve the mystery of the parilla instead of a barbecue).
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/633268
After dinner we sat around the fire and downed a few nightcaps under the stars while Chef Walsh quoted some very deep lines from “Withnail and I” – most notably Uncle Monty’s speech to the boys.
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new. And God fulfills Himself in many ways. And soon…I suppose…I shall be swept away by some vulgar little tumor. Oh, my boys. My boys, we’re at the end of an age. We live in a land of weather forecasts…and breakfasts that ‘set in’, shat on my Tories, shoveled up by Labor. And here we are, we three…perhaps the last island of beauty in the world. Now, which of you is going to be a splendid fellow and go down to the Rolls for the rest of the wine?”
He didn’t actually quote that, he mostly just continuously repeated the quote “proper rubber boots” rolling the r’s as much as possible each time. I think I love Anthony Walsh so much because he reminds me of my pot-head Dad, not that Anthony is a toker he’s not, but because he loves repeating himself. Dad’s nickname in our family was “The Broken Record”. Seriously, as in Mom (aka Rosebud, the Diva and Betty - because one time in the early 80's she got a haircut that made her look like Betty Rubble and no one in PEI would ever let her forget it) saying “what the hell is The Broken Record going on about now?”
On May 10th I hosted a clam boil for all the Drake staffers who worked the busiest service of the year, Mother’s Day Brunch. Everyone got very tipsy and ate a lot of juicy, tender clams while I played the “Roller Skates” song and Zappa’s “Bobby Brown” a few hundred times. It was perfect. Then I got plastered with some 19 year olds on the 16th and spray-painted graffiti on the side of my house. No I didn't, just kidding. Sometimes I can be a total moron.
On the 19th Renee Bellefeuille and I attended Arlene Stein’s Terroir think tank at Hart House where we presented my proposal for a Culinary Stage Scholarship for cooks and chefs. It was greeted with enthusiasm but is something that will probably be shelved for now what with the economic state of the world these days. If you know of any millionaires just aching to help young, destitute chefs get out and gain international experience to bring back to our city tell them to give me a ring.
On May 24th I headed to Eigensinn farm for the Wild Leek and Maple Syrup Festival (Check out the picture, look at how much fun that woman was having. That young chef had her eating out of the palm of his hand, he's going places for sure whoever he is.) with Oyster Boy Chef Trish Donnelly and Oyster Boy server Kiyomi McCloskey. We served up cured lake trout on buttermilk-buckwheat crackers with a wild leek and rhubarb slaw tossed with maple vinaigrette. My two favourite Anthonys, Walsh and Rose, both did pork. The Drake’s maple-smoked pork belly was served on foccaccia (made by the Drake’s brilliant pastry chef David Chow) with maple-mustard glaze and grilled Eigensinn ramps. Anthony’s OB crew had pulled BBQ pork with leek salsa verde on freshly grilled leek flatbread.
Jamie Kennedy did some buffalo milk yogurt in little terra cotta dishes. The clay of the dish lets the water weep out helping to set the yogurt. I wanted to steal one of the little pots to put on my Jamie Kennedy love shrine but firmly chose not to, the shelf holding up the shrine is already buckling under the weight of the shit on it already. Sometimes I can be very strong-willed.
We filmed the opening segments for Lynn Crawford’s new Food Network show with Red Apple Productions at the Drake on the 25th. After which I was invited to producer Daniel Gelfant’s sexy penthouse for dinner (elk and Rioja) with Lynn and got to cook with her (amazing) then got very drunk with her (fucking awesome). We ended up at Sweaty Betty’s with Lynn giving away knives from her kit to the staff while I yelled at them that there was no vodka in my drink. Sometimes I can be a fucking douche.
Recipe for Clam Boil
Get a big stock pot with lid
throw in clams
top clams with stock or beer (lobster stock is highly recommended)
add bay leaves, seasoning
top with whole medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes
top with corn on the cob, cobs cut in half
bring stock up to boil
turn down to slow simmer
put on the lid and don't touch it for 2-3 hours
be careful with the seasoning, the clams add their own saltiness
all photos by John Gundy
except for the one of Withnail and Uncle Monty, which is a still from the second greatest movie ever made.
The first being of course, "Back to the Future".
On the 19th Renee Bellefeuille and I attended Arlene Stein’s Terroir think tank at Hart House where we presented my proposal for a Culinary Stage Scholarship for cooks and chefs. It was greeted with enthusiasm but is something that will probably be shelved for now what with the economic state of the world these days. If you know of any millionaires just aching to help young, destitute chefs get out and gain international experience to bring back to our city tell them to give me a ring.
On May 24th I headed to Eigensinn farm for the Wild Leek and Maple Syrup Festival (Check out the picture, look at how much fun that woman was having. That young chef had her eating out of the palm of his hand, he's going places for sure whoever he is.) with Oyster Boy Chef Trish Donnelly and Oyster Boy server Kiyomi McCloskey. We served up cured lake trout on buttermilk-buckwheat crackers with a wild leek and rhubarb slaw tossed with maple vinaigrette. My two favourite Anthonys, Walsh and Rose, both did pork. The Drake’s maple-smoked pork belly was served on foccaccia (made by the Drake’s brilliant pastry chef David Chow) with maple-mustard glaze and grilled Eigensinn ramps. Anthony’s OB crew had pulled BBQ pork with leek salsa verde on freshly grilled leek flatbread.
Jamie Kennedy did some buffalo milk yogurt in little terra cotta dishes. The clay of the dish lets the water weep out helping to set the yogurt. I wanted to steal one of the little pots to put on my Jamie Kennedy love shrine but firmly chose not to, the shelf holding up the shrine is already buckling under the weight of the shit on it already. Sometimes I can be very strong-willed.
We filmed the opening segments for Lynn Crawford’s new Food Network show with Red Apple Productions at the Drake on the 25th. After which I was invited to producer Daniel Gelfant’s sexy penthouse for dinner (elk and Rioja) with Lynn and got to cook with her (amazing) then got very drunk with her (fucking awesome). We ended up at Sweaty Betty’s with Lynn giving away knives from her kit to the staff while I yelled at them that there was no vodka in my drink. Sometimes I can be a fucking douche.
Recipe for Clam Boil
Get a big stock pot with lid
throw in clams
top clams with stock or beer (lobster stock is highly recommended)
add bay leaves, seasoning
top with whole medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes
top with corn on the cob, cobs cut in half
bring stock up to boil
turn down to slow simmer
put on the lid and don't touch it for 2-3 hours
be careful with the seasoning, the clams add their own saltiness
all photos by John Gundy
except for the one of Withnail and Uncle Monty, which is a still from the second greatest movie ever made.
The first being of course, "Back to the Future".
G'Day Toronto Lunch during Australia Week
On the 14th I went to Crush for a wild press lunch with Chef Michael Smith and Australian Chef Mark Olive (pictured) as part of the G’Day Toronto festival. Chef Olive is considered Australia’s Jamie Oliver and is an advocate for aboriginal ingredients. Kangaroo would be on the menu for lunch. Chef Olive told me, “The meats of Australia are the emu and the kangaroo. Yes, they are on our coat of arms but they’re also very tasty. We eat possums, wallabee and crocodile too.You have a cow you call it beef, a pig is pork, once we have a name for kangaroo I think it will take off around the world.”
Adds Chef Smith (pictured with Crush sous chef Trista Sheen-Liu and Chef Michael Wilson) “We Westerners have to let our preconceptions go in how we see something like kangaroo. Over there it’s just meat out on the land, the same as deer would be to us here.”
After a crazy didgeridoo performance by an aboriginal in full on body paint and loincloth we sat down to lunch.
All of the dishes, cooked by Chef Olive and the Crush team, were enhanced with a selection of indigenous Aussie ingredients. From a Tasmanian leatherwood honey served with the bannock-like Aussie damper biscuit to the lemon myrtle mango salsa served with the wild barramundi to the peach-like quandong sauce served with dessert.
The star of the meal and the whole event though was the kangaroo. Indistinguishable from a perfect rare steak, enhanced with a crust of native herbs the meat was fantastic. Hey Steve at Cumbrae's! You're an Aussie, could you start raising kangaroos?
all photos by Phillipa Croft www.phillipac.com
After a crazy didgeridoo performance by an aboriginal in full on body paint and loincloth we sat down to lunch.
All of the dishes, cooked by Chef Olive and the Crush team, were enhanced with a selection of indigenous Aussie ingredients. From a Tasmanian leatherwood honey served with the bannock-like Aussie damper biscuit to the lemon myrtle mango salsa served with the wild barramundi to the peach-like quandong sauce served with dessert.
The star of the meal and the whole event though was the kangaroo. Indistinguishable from a perfect rare steak, enhanced with a crust of native herbs the meat was fantastic. Hey Steve at Cumbrae's! You're an Aussie, could you start raising kangaroos?
all photos by Phillipa Croft www.phillipac.com
Slow Food Fundraiser at Hart House
Jeremy Gries is a cook at the Drake Hotel. He originally started there as a co-op student 2 ½ years ago, when his placement ended he was hired on as a dishwasher and last year he finally got to go on the line. He now runs the lunch line by himself during the week, sending out expertly cooked steak frites and burgers, while also putting together a buffet for the hotel’s picky office staff. On Saturdays and Sundays he holds down the egg station during the six hour brunch service. With only three or four non-stick pans that aren’t scratched to hell, and therefore the only ones that live up to their name, he manages to feed perfect eggs to 400 frenzied brunch customers every weekend. Jeremy is currently on the waiting list to get into Stratford Chef’s School, he wants to go there more than anything else and is living at home to save money for school.
I’m working on a new project that will hopefully end up funding stages for young cooks, to give them more experience in the global restaurant scene and, in turn, bring those experiences back to the restaurants of this city. So, I chose Jeremy as my escort for the Slow Food Banchetto with that in mind.
I wanted Jeremy to come to the dinner so he could experience a very important event, for Canada’s food scene, as a diner and not as a chef. Jeremy and I were the only other working cooks I saw dining that night, it was a very special evening. The family-style meal forced everyone at the table to interact, which was a good thing, considering the way Torontonians tend to behave in polite company, giving off a slight chill with raised eyebrow and extended pinkie.
The food was of course amazing, I won’t go into detail, I’m sure you’ll be reading all about it in the mainstream media soon. I will say that the next morning as Jeremy and I got ready for another grueling brunch service he said, “Last night I thought my favourite part was the final course with the Tamworth pig done so many different ways, but the one I remembered the most and wanted to taste again when I woke up this morning was the veggie course.”
I agreed that the first tiny fiddleheads and morels of the season were the most memorable for me as well.
We were lucky to have Elizabeth Baird and Paul Finkelstein at our table, both of whom were very generous to young Jeremy with their advice about Stratford and the Ontario food scene in general. There were a number of speeches, wherein the words ‘local’ and ‘sustainable’ were spoken so often that it may have been taken as an attempt at brainwashing, by certain senile bloggers, had the audience not already been filled with converts.
The final speech of the night by Antony John (pictured above, photo by John Gundy) was more “Celebrity Roast by Wayne Newton” (complete with a few bars of “Danke Schein”) than “Earnest Plea for the Earth by Organic Farmer”. His slightly awkward attempt at comedy was refreshing and allowed everyone, those that were able to anyway, to laugh at themselves. His re-casting of Star Wars with Slow Food members, Arlene Stein as Princess Leah, the Buddha Dog’s Andrew Mackenzie as Luke Skywalker and Jamie Kennedy as Hans Solo, hit the perfect note when he suggested Gremolata’s Malcolm Jolley as C3PO.
I spoke to Han Solo in the kitchen as the desserts were being plated, he was thrilled with how things had turned out, "Petrini is enjoying himself, I doubt any other city has shown him such an original take on a gala dinner. This has been so relaxed and informal, it's perfect."
The evening ended with Arlene introducing each contributing chef and having them walk through the grand dining hall to the podium, the line of white coats seemed to go on forever. All these chefs had collaborated on everything so that instead of thirty separate dishes, each one showcasing the different chef’s individuality, we had five courses of mash-ups that just showcased the incredible ingredients.
The parade of white coats made it appear as though the Chef’s Congress had just crashed a Slow Food shindig, which wouldn’t be a bad idea actually, the resulting explosion of ideas from passionate workaholics would probably change the world in a matter of hours, just as long as everyone kept their focus on the future of food with nary a thought to their pocketbook.
Jeremy was thrilled, after having met James Chatto, Arlene Stein, Elizabeth Baird, Fink, Jamie Drummond, Malcolm Jolley and a number of other food luminaries. The honoured guest of the evening, Slow Food Founder Carlo Petrini, looked like he was pretty stoked too. When it came time for a picture of him surrounded by all the best chefs in the city Petrini called out something in Italian, which roughly translated to “Bring me the crazy man!” his translator quickly ushered Antony John to his side.
What Arlene and Scott Vivian pulled off was an evening that showed what Slow Food is all about, because really what’s slower than a church potluck dinner?
Chef's Congress Press Conference at Oyster Boy
At 5pm there was barely room to squeeze through the door into Adam Colquhon’s restaurant/living room, Oyster Boy, on Queen Street West. Chefs and media packed the space while Samantha Ravenda pulled non-stop pints of Creemore.
(with Chef Trish Donnelly occassionaly stepping in to pour a Guiness, pictured at right. Photo by John Gundy)
Tyler Scherer's beautifully tattooed arms were a blur as he shucked his way through mountains of West Coast oysters and sent them out to the room on plates of ice, only to refill them again moments later. Chef Trish Donnelly brought a platter of latkes (made by Chef Anthony Rose at the Drake) topped with smoked Arctic Char from Nunavut before hurrying back to the kitchen to pull the pig from Eigensinn Farm out of the oven.
Dick Snyder, Sasha Chapman, Pamela Cuthbert and others could be seen scribbling in notepads, while John Gundy slipped around snapping photos rapid fire.
Stadtlander made the official announcement that British Columbia will host the next Congress in 2010 and that Newfoundland will host in 2011, the theme for both will be the oceans.
The Canadian Chefs Congress brought Toronto’s culinary leaders together like nothing ever had before, everyone who went out to Eignesinn Farm in September came away changed. The Congress turned a bunch of strangers into a community, a pack, an organized mob of people with their thoughts and minds and hearts all in alignment and pushing towards the same future for themselves and for this country. While it tightened up the Toronto scene it also opened it up to the rest of the country, giving some of the attendees their first glimpse of a chef from Nunavut or the Yukon or Saskatchewan and then having the opportunity to not only taste their food but to drink with them around a bonfire.
That chef from Nunavut, Ray Lovell, is sitting at a table giving an interview with a huge platter of oysters in front of him. He’s staying at the Drake, a glimpse at the faded green tattoo on his arm tells you he hasn’t spent his whole life giving interviews and crashing in chic hotels. Everyone in the room knows him and is glad to see him here, his presence dispelling any whispers of doubt that what happened in September might have been a one-night stand. Nunavut is represented along with British Columbia in the form of Rob Clarke. It wasn’t all a bunch of talk, there will be another Congress.
"We think we have everything in B.C. but one thing we don't have is Stadtlander."jokes Chef Clarke, who will organize the 2010 Congress with Vikram Vij. "Vikram is going to be the face, the personality and the money, I'll just be the worker."
The pig comes out and some of Stadtlander’s interns carve it up and serve it with wild leek jus. Samantha is still pulling pints, Dick Snyder is still scribbling but John Gundy has put down his camera for a moment to eat some of that pig.
In 2010 we will be in British Columbia and this gang will get bigger as all the groups being formed in every province come together. Like the iconic Central Park scene in “Warriors” when Cyrus urges them all to unite and beome one big mighty gang of New York, so too will the Chef’s Congress bring us together en masse and soon we will see the world begin to take notice.
Warriors come out and play.
Suggested Reading for the Revolution:
“Apples to Oysters” Margaret Webb
A tour of the country province by province, highlighting ingredients unique to each area
“Bottomfeeder” Taras Grescoe
Know the state of the oceans in order to fully participate in the movement to save them
"The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food" Wayne Roberts
A guide to the world's food system and how to change it
Slow Fish Dinner at Cowbell
I wanted to go ice fishing so badly, but it just wasn't meant to be. A group of local chefs spent Sunday dipping their rods into a hole cut into a frozen lake out by Mark Trealot's farm. I was supposed to join them but commitments and deadlines got in the way. They celebrated their day of drinking and fishing with a Slow Fish dinner at Cowbell last night. A unique affair in that there were no reserved or assigned seats, open bottles of wine throughout the restaurant with a help yourself policy as there were no servers or bartenders. I arrived and immediately went in search of wine, I was told by Katie Shierlaw (cook at JK at the Gardiner and aspiring food writer learning under, Canadian food wrting genius, Margaret Webb) to grab a wine glass of one of the tables, that would be my seat for the evening. I was lucky enough to choose a great table and sat beside Queen East's Table 17 bartender Mike Morrow and caterer Karen Viva-Haynes (www.vivatasting.com). We were instructed by Paul de Campo and chef Mark Cutrara to send a rep from each table to pick up the family style plated courses in the kitchen and bring them out to our table. I got our first course from the kitchen, which was packed with some of my favourite chefs, Scott Vivian, David Chrystian and Jamie Kennedy. They handed over a platter of Soiled Reputation greens topped with cured lake trout, creme fraiche and capers Cutrara brought back from Terra Madre. After that course I went behind the bar and put together a few more bread plates (featuring Cowbell's organic house-made butter- which I used to make when I worked there briefly, such a messy job!), while the Blonde Twins, Arlene Stein and Rebecca LeHeup, delivered them to the tables. The main course featured beets and potatoes from Mark Trealot's Kawartha Ecological Growers, along with collard greens and squash, this was topped with seared pickerel garnished with mignonette. The dessert, from Scott's fiancee, Rochelle was a chocolate tart in a shortbread crust garnished with a coffee creme anglaise and chocolate cigarettes. A great night with nary a stuffed shirt in sight.
The photo is a blurry shot I took of Chef Mark Cutrara breaking down some pork in the early days after Cowbell had just opened. I took the picture with a haunted digital camera I bought off craigslist for $20.