Oh Canada And Its' Cusiine

Mike Myers makes a joke of his native Canada's cuisine. He said once that" You never hear any one saying "Let's order out Canadian." The problem is that unlike our neighbor to the south, Mexico, the country's cuisine is not well known or popular here. However thanks to the Vancouver, Games, now everyone south of their border is curious. Is it just mooseburgers , Molson's and maple syrup ?Or is it something much more complex ? Is it a blend of indigenous and immigrant foods?.

What is Canadian cuisine?It's a mixture of the First Peoples tribes, European and Asian cooking . It's mostly French around Quebec and Montreal, where the locals enjoy pea soup and tourtieres. flaky meat pies usually eaten after Christmas Midnight Mass. Would you believe that the Chinese buffet, so popular here in the US is really a Vancouver invention? It started as early as the 1870''s when Chinese cooks made lunches for Swedish lumber jacks. The result was combining the smorgasbord with a variety of good provincial Cantonese and Mandarin foods . Indigenous and European cuisines came together in the fried bannock cakes, so beloved by the Inuit people. These were introduced to them when Scottish fur traders began business with them. Native meats are also eaten such as beaver and caribou. Seafood is big in Canada too. The country is basically surrounded by water, from north and th e Arctic Ocean to south with the Great Lakes. The Maritime and Pacific provences also benefit from the abundance of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. too.

Canadians also like their sweets. and there are many to choose from. one popular one is the naimioni which is a loaf cake filled with cream and topped with chocolate. this is from British Columbia. Another is the sugar pie which is similar to a cream pie and made with maple syrup , cream and sugar. Imagine a pecan pie with the the pecans and you have this treat. Canadians also have their version of Dunkin Donuts with Tim Horton's named for its' founder Canadian hockey great Tim Horton. Some Tim Horton's can be found in the states. , namely in Maine and New York(however they're also in Indiana and Kentucky right now too)

Canadian cuisine is varied and multicultural. Like the US and Mexico it is a blend of indigenous ingredients and European style cooking techniques. The food and the provinces it represents are as varied and and as delicious as any other on this continent.

When Good Restaurants Go Bad

What happens when your favorite eatery makes a misstep? Complain to the manager?? Do you go back? Or just move on to more delicious pastures? This has recently happened to me and frankly I don’t know what to do. As a foodie and a customer I’m going to say forget them and move on. As a loyal fan of their other wise good dinners and creative cookery I’m tempted to stay on. However I am wondering about another goof up.
It’s a problem all of us foodies face at one time or another. Our favorite restaurants disappoint us . Food comes cold or greasy. Waitstaff is snippy. The noise level isn’t what it used to be. What do we do? Move onto the next best thing and take our custom there? Write bad reviews? Tell friends and family not to go there either? That would be the proper thing to do yet it’s not always the right thing. Right now any business needs us and it would be foolish to leave a favorite place in the lurch, especially one that’s suffering during tough economic times. Besides it’s always difficult to find a new favorite.
The next step is what do you do? I think for myself I’ll just let the incident pass. I could easily chalk it up to a bad night and the fact that the food was old. This particular place, despite it’s location (and also celebrity cachet) has not been getting the business it used to receive in past years.. This small Village restaurant was not filled up on my last visit meaning certain ingredients and meat cuts have been there a long time. I’m hoping that on my next visit for Easter, everything will be just as it had been in the past with delicious food and fresh ingredients.

It’s a tough situation when a good restaurant goes bad. The best bet , I feel, is to give them a second chance. Maybe they were just having an off night. Maybe there was as light glitch in the preparation or refrigeration. Yet if it happens again then I know what to do. Leave. For good. There are no third chances in my book

Sundae Kind Of Love

Nothing beats an ice cream sundae even when the temps dip below freezing. There's something downright decadent about th e blend of ice cream, whipped cream and syrup. It may be good out but it's even better at home when you can customize with it all sorts of toppings too.

What sort of ice cream is the best base for a sundae? I prefer a gelato which is lighter than regular ice cream simply for that reason. You want something to be part of the treat,not overpower it. If you're still craving ice cream then stick with a basic vanilla or chocolate (you can try strawberry if you want however realize that you'll be limite d with toppings) You could also go with a chocolate chip or fudge swirl .These are always fun and provide the best foil for a choclate or fruit sundae.

As far as for syrups you can buy them or make your own. Purists may want to create their own which is easy to do these days. You can buy Droste baking powdered chocolate (you can also use Hershey's too) mix in with butter and sugar to create a fudgy, rich glaze. Also Fox's and U-Bet are pretty good and come close to creating that ice cream parlor taste. For whipped cream yes you can make your own going whole hog . I usually like the Cool Whip in a can because it's lighter and blends well with theother flavors. As for other toppings. go ahead and top it with a maraschino cherry or dust with chopped nuts. You can also layer chopped Spanish peanuts between the ice cream and syrup to create the famed Tin Roof sundae.

There's nothing like an ice cream sundae for the definitive treat. Make it as big or as little as you want. Start with a simple base, then add syrups along with fruit and nuts. As long as it tastes good to you and is as decadent as possible.

Gossip Grill

I read recently in another New York Times Dining section article about chefs who maliciously tweet about each other and their respective restaurants. Really? Don't they have things to do? Like order the ingredients for day's special, Try out new dishes? Hire staff? Cook? Isn't that more important than roasting one;s own kind?

Bad enough the catwalks are catty and the fashion industry snips rivals to pieces. Now it's chefs. or this new breed of celebrity cook.The Times',great food writer Julia Moskin delves into this. She has found that chefs write their own blogs and tweets to protect their restaurants and reputation? Really? Wouldn't you think that cooking good food and being humble would cut it? I can understand designers like Michael Kors or John Galliano tearing each other and their creations to well - shreds. The fashion industry has had a long and bitter history of rivalry and fighting. I can definitely understand it in the entertainment business. That's been going on since before Shakespeare? But therestaurant industry? Again, really?

I don't know how we managed but we place too much emphasis onto the cult of celebrity chef. What we need to do is place more stress on how good the food is and the atmosphere of the eatery. Prima donna chefs (and there have been them since royalty employed cooks) have been around for centuries. However they contained their rants and raves within their kitchens. They did not purposely set out to ruin other restaurateurs. If they did , it was by word of mouth and only reached a few select diners. Nowadays everyone , even the Dali Lama gets tweeted. Everyone knows when a restaurant is purposely trashed for no reason at all.

The best bet is judge a restaurant by what it's given you. If the food is delicious and the waitstaff courteous and attentive , then that's all you need to make a favorable judgement. If not,then don't go back. Don't let a chef's. viciousness deter you from trying good food and wine. Ignore the gossip grills as I call them, Follow to your palate.

Napa's Wine Selling Problem

Yesterdays' New York Times Dining section had an interesting article about Napa Valley wine sellers. It seems wineries are practically giving away their wine due to an overstock of them. In fact it's even gotten so bad that actual Cabernet grapes are being hawked roadside like home grown tomatoes and lettuce. Why is this happening?Why is the wine industry suffering so much?

The answer , of course is provided by an author whom I've mentioned numerous times here, Katrina Heron interviews various Napa valley vintners. It seems that the economic downturn has some shops throughout the US lax in their reordering. Mostly it's because the Valley only produces high end wine. Diversity to other markets should have been the key, with some well established vintners catering to tastes across the board. Another factor are the laws governing direct trade from wineries to shops. Surprisingly only ten states currently allow wineries to ship directly to retail outlets and restaurants A third reason is that wineries need separate licences from the states that they do business with/ Another has to do with many state embargoes that are the direct cause of poor business.

The bright side is that wineries are going online and can bring the best products to their customers. Another plus is that smaller vintners can easily go on such social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook,Some offer virtual wine tasting (this is worth looking into ) on the last enabling oenophiles to get a feel for the company and their products.This should provide a rise in sales for those smaller wineries.


Napa may be selling out by using the internet but it's the only path for them to take. If it increases more business then fine. It also enables them to get out their product to many different customers and widen their limits.This may be the best and possibly the only solution to a bad year. Otherwise we may be seeing a few vintners opening up Cabernet stands along Napa roads.

The Start of Lent

Today marks Ash Wednesday , the beginning of Lent for Catholics and some Protestants the world over. It means meatless Wednesdays and Fridays for most of us observing. It also means giving up a favorite food until Easter Sunday. The Lenten season could also mean more thoughtful eating as well.
Many people give up meat along with butter and milk as the Greek Orthodox do for their Lent (which falls on different dates than the Catholic and Protestant).This is a chance to have a diet more enriched in fish and the benefits it brings. Eat more salmon and you’re going to be healthily infused with Omega 3s. Fish is also low in calories especially if it’s grilled and just served with a spritz of lemon. You can give up meat all together and stick with vegetables and pasta. Again this is heart healthy and low in nitrates and sodium. There’s nothing like steamed veggies over rice, flavored by all natural ginger and other spices.
Of course Lent is a time to give up favorite foods. Most people usually forgo cake , cookies or chocolates. Some hardier sorts do last until Easter . However many do fall prey to temptation. This is the period to switch over to healthier sweets such as cranberries and bananas, along with grapefruit and oranges. This is also the time to think about giving up savory snacks, such as potato chips nuts or any other salty, oily treat. Some even abstain from alcohol. Whatever you give up doesn’t matter, What matters is giving up something you love and fasting from its‘ temptation.
Lent is a time for introspection and abstinence. It’s a time for giving up what’s bad for you and discovering healthier alternatives to meat , sweets and snacks. These next few weeks will be good for both your soul and body.

Dishpan Foodie

Unfortunately with the cold weather and cooking comes dishpan hands. Even we can't escape dry rough skin and reddened knuckles. What to do? Eat out more often? Just make sandwiches ? Devour more instant , less mess foods. No, prepare ourselves with some helpful aids that deter any cracked m scaly skin. Good bye lizard claws, hello nice looking hands.

The most obvious answer is to use gloves. I don;t because for some reason I enjoy dipping my hand s into overly hot water and getting food bits under my nails. Unfortunately my fingers, cuticles and manicure suffer mightily. Rubber gloves do protect and they 're great if you have to use any scouring agent on especially messy pots or pans. Using a mild, aloe infused dish soap is another must. Dawn dish detergent is about the best. Besides being gentle it's also pleasant smelling and comes in a variety of fruity and floral scents. (some soaps smell too medicinal)I also like Dawn because it vows to protect the environment as well and it's used on wildlife that have had a run in with oil spills. Another bonus - it leaves everything sparkling clean with out any filmy residue.

Lotion is another must have for the kitchen active foodie. I recently discovered Skin MD Natural an all natural paraben free lotion. It's quickly and easily absorbed into the skin and practically melted into my hands. There's no greasy film afterwards and I don't have to wipe off any leftover lotion the way I normally do with most kinds. This is a great one to have on hand especially if you do a lot of general kitchen cleaning. Let's face it most of th e stuff we use to scrub our burners and ovens are harsh and are chock full of nasty irritants.These might be good in getting rid of that bake d on coffee stain however they're sheer havoc on skin. Skin MD helps to alleviate any side effects that comes with those products.

Keep your hands looking just as nice as your kitchen. Nothing is worst than having dry, rough dishpanned hands. Treat them as you would an elaborate meal. Use tenderness and care especially during these cold , rough days

CVS and A&P stores sell both Dawn and Skin MD