That’s right folks. She who pens foodiePrints’ wine reviews on Wednesdays and a handful other forays into fine food will give up her bachelorette status on Sunday. Please join me in wishing she and her beau much love and happiness as they move onto the next stage in their relationship.

That said, we have not been sitting still, keeping much of our social media foot print active. Some of our past projects, however, have come to fruition.

One of which involves our again partnering with the Dairy Farmers of Canada to promote cooking with Canadian milk and milk products. We are again competing in their Anyday Magic – Dairy Goodness campaign that pits food bloggers, professional food stylists, and the odd chef against one another.

This month, the challenge was “creamy seafood.”

We came up with crispy seafood pancakes. [And yes, we will be asking you to vote for our entry, but more on that later...]

Crispy Seafood Pancakes

What are essentially panko-breaded and stuffed crepe pockets were inspired by something Chef Marc Lepine of award winning Atelier Restaurant (540 Rochester Street) prepared for one of the Knives Out dinners. Knives Out is a group of Ottawa chefs, coming together to prepare themed multi-course dinners at various local restaurants. For the #Escoffierdinner, Lepine prepared and served a take on classic lobster thermidor.

Chef Marc Lepin’s Scallop Thermador from #Escoffierdinner

[with Qualicum scallops, mushrooms, Parmesan, pickled chanterelles, dehydrated fennel, lardons, and smoked paprika]

Rich and savoury we wanted to replicate some of his scallop thermidor’s flavours and textures, so looked to what may well be a comfort food for British expats, the crispy pancake. Mass produced even today by Findus in the UK, we stuffed ours with something reminiscent of chowder and shallow fried them.

Click here for the recipe. [And vote...]

More of a seafood stew, the filling could actually be covered in bread or cracker crumbs and broiled to prepare something more familiar to North American palates.

Crepes are readily available at the mega-mart, so this dish can be made easily.

Separated by pieces of parchment paper, freshly-made crepes freeze well.

Crispy Seafood Pancakes Make a Convenient Meal

Crispy pancakes make great solutions for leftovers, as well.

Care to vote for ours? Click here.

Wish us luck!

Have a great Victoria Day weekend!

Last Wednesday, the City of Ottawa hastily put together a launch event, asking food trucks and carts to assemble at Marion Dewar Plaza (City Hall) and help raise funds for the Shephards of Good Hope.

Pandemonium ensued.

Over 500 bracelets sold out between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on which media outlet you follow. At $10 a pop, the bracelets raised $5250 for the religious organization that offers “inclusive” support programs from shelter services to soup kitchens, grocery and clothing drives, and Christmas hampers. This number likely does not include funds raised by Paul Meek and Grayson McDiarmid (yes, formerly of Stephen Beckta’s Play Food and Wine and Gezellig Dining) of Kichesippi Beer Co. who emptied kegs of Harvey and Vern’s Olde Fashioned Soda at $1 donation/cup. Their cream soda taps ran dry a half hour into the event.

Lineups for Food

more Lineups

Lineups Just Grew Longer

and Longer…

How was the street food showcase hastily assembled and somewhat poorly planned? There was no coordinated start to the event. As lines formed to purchase meal bracelets, longer lines formed at the various food carts and trucks. Many weren’t prepared to serve food at the noon-time start of the event. Most were ill-prepared to serve the onslaught of people wanting to sample what new vendors will offer. Two vendors showed up a half hour late. After enduring the lineups, people who reached the front took multiple servings. Food quickly ran out.

There were expletives.

Ottawa Streat Gourmet Truck

Ottawa Streat Gourmet partnered with Kichesippi

Harvey and Vern’s Bottle Caps

Harvey and Vern’s Cream Soda

Streat’s Quinoa Endive Salad w/Crispy Leeks

Streat’s Beef Sirloin Corn Tortillas w/Salsa

Streat’s Grill Cheese Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Streat’s French Toast Duck Confit w/Celeriac Slaw

“Wednesday was insane!” remarked Hana Jung when we caught up with her at Raon’s Kitchen stall in Brewer Park on Sunday. Before looking to license a food cart, called “bap” (“rice” in Korean), she and her husband Iruk Cho, who is taking courses at Algonquin College’s culinary program, sold vegan-friendly kimchi and other Korean sauces at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market. They returned to Brewer Park this season.

“We didn’t expect so many people!”

Raon Kitchen’s Bap Cart

Raon’s Hana Jung and Iruk Cho

“Raon” means joyful or pleasant. Jung and Cho will serve a take on bibimbap from their cart. Bibimbap is a rice dish, topped with combinations of blanched and sauteed vegetables, pickled roots, blanched shiitake, and spicy meat or tofu.

Handing us a loyalty card, Jung said she and her husband were racing to get their cart ready for this Wednesday.

Several newly licensed vendors are in the same boat. Tarek Hassan doesn’t have his Gongfu Bao cart yet; he raising funds to purchase it through Indiegogo crowd-sourcing. Miriam and Mario Burke’s mobile seafood stall Ad Mare is back-ordered.

Tim Van Dyke unveiled his hand-painted LUNCH truck just-in-time for Bon Appetit last Monday, but a “broken belt and bearing pulley” kept him driving in first gear, even stranding him on Heron Road.

LUNCH’s Truck

Jackie Joiliffe of Stone Soup Food Works is presently overseeing maintenance on “Sweetpea,” her green truck that barely survived its trip to Toronto for a street food rally last year. That rally also saw long lineups.

Indeed, just as many street food vendors learned “trial by fire” that they need to optimize their food service to accommodate crowds during the lunch hour, Ottawa will learn what queuing for food is like. That is, our stomach for street food will be tested now that the city-imposed moratorium on on-street food vendor licenses has been lifted.

Before, no new licenses were issued since 1996. Existing licenses, ostensibly for fry trucks or hot dog carts, were passed from parent to child.

The eighteen new on street vendors were chosen by a volunteer panel made up of five members representing the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA), Canadian Culinary Federation (Ottawa Branch), Savour Ottawa, Just Food and Ottawa Public Health.

Urban Cowboy

Layne Belcher

Urban Cowboy’s Smoked Brisket on Potato Bun

Urban Cowboy’s Smoked Brisket on Potato Bun

[Called the "Belcher" burger, the brisket was sauced with house barbecue sauce.]

While the hype behind new street food generates clicks, sells newspapers, and even got Ottawa named a top 10 street food city on CheapFlights.com (our beating out Portland and Vancouver), reality may put a bad taste in peoples’ mouths.

Discontent was palpable at the launch event, office workers checking their watches impatiently, typing angrily on their smartphones, and muttering incoherently to themselves.

Here are realizations I think Ottawa will come to this summer:

1. Food trucks are prone to the same challenges as any other food-service operation, so there will be bouts of slow service and shortages of menu-items. Popular carts will sell out of items for the day, quickly.
2. Popular food trucks will have lineups. Even optimized, limits in space and equipment permit only so many dishes to be prepared at a time.
3. Food truck dishes differ significantly from restaurant dishes. One goes to restaurants to dine and food trucks to eat. Food truck fare is crafted to be mobile, requiring few utensils. There will be compromises in quality and complexity.

[This said, the dishes served at the launch event are likely not representative of food that the food trucks will serve. As Chef Jason Laurin of Essence Catering (430 Parkdale Avenue) pointed out, they were hints of what "could be." The "bites" were specifically chosen to be quickly served. Because the event was also a fundraiser, they were also inexpensive to prepare.]

Here are realizations I think the new operators will come to this summer:

1. The newly issued licenses will prove restrictive, preventing licensees from moving to wherever there will be higher traffic during the day or evening. Trucks and carts, for instance, still cannot congregate in public spaces for dinner hour unless the space is privately-owned. Some of the assigned locations are simply not tourist-friendly.
2. There is limited privately-owned property from which to operate a food truck or cart. Many spaces are already spoken for.
3. How food is served may be more important than what food is served. Interactions between food truck or cart operator and patron can be more intimate through a service window than between server and patron in a restaurant.
4. Street food season is weather dependent. In poor weather, few patrons will venture out, preferring shelter in brick and mortar establishments. Most operators will not be able to operate in the winter, so will need to consider alternative income for 6-8 months of the year.
5. Festivals are not cash cows. Concession rental space can be very costly. Many festivals restrict operators to one or two dishes to prevent competition amongst concessions. If the weather is too warm, festival go-ers simply won’t eat.
6. There will be increased competition in the catering market with so many mobile kitchens. Event organizers will have an abundance of choice.
7. Operators will need to be very mindful of potentially confrontational relationships with surrounding brick and mortar businesses, especially food-service operations. Food trucks and carts offer no “plumbing.” Brick and mortar businesses pay for overhead like property taxes and utilities.
8. Repaying debt generated by investing in a street food operation will be slow. Food trucks can cost as much as luxury apartment condominiums. Try paying off a home mortgage $8/sale.
9. Road-work and construction turns away prospective patrons whether you are a cafe with a patio or a food truck or cart.

To everyone in Ottawa that has street food fever, please bear in mind new licensees are scrambling to start operating. There will be stumbles. Treat new trucks and carts like new restaurants. They really are trying to please.

To food truck and cart operators, good luck this season!

Aside: Oh, I was on-hand at the launch event to taste food for a segment with Robyn Bresnahan and Chef Laurin on CBC Ottawa Morning Live.

It follows:

Particulars:
“Streat” Gourmet
Location: North side of Queen, west of O’Connor

Roan Kitchen
Location: West side of Bank between Albert & Slater

LUNCH
Location: North side of Albert, east of Lyon

Urban Cowboy (FB)
Location: East side of Bank, north of Glen

Yesterday, he tweeted:

@sushiumiottawa (May 7, 2013 4:01 pm) warning to all clients. this post is invalid. sushi umi never agreed to such promotion or was aware. Do not buy… http://fb.me/2iK78tFKt

Randy Fitzpatrick and Dave Loan, restauranteurs of Petit Bill’s Bistro (1293 Wellington Street W.) an Zen Kitchen (634 Somerset Street W.) respectively, followed suit, tweeting the following.

@petitbills (May 8, 2013 7:51 am) Beware of this page: http://www.giftly.com/gift-card/sushi-umi-ottawa … I know the owners of Sushi Umi and he is… http://fb.me/1FWBhIy74

@petitbills (May 8, 2013 7:56 am) We do not honour anything from this website: http://www.giftly.com http://fb.me/24AZDcCLP

@ZenKitchen613 (May 8, 2013 12:11 pm) Scam alert: a site called “Giftly” is selling bogus gift cards for ZK and other Ottawa restos. Total scam, and we can’t honour them.

Firstly, Giftly isn’t quite a scam. The company’s business practices, however, are suspect. Combined with extremely poor communications with merchants, everything feels awfully sketchy.

Giftly was founded by Timothy Bentley, formerly of Aardvark, which was acquired by Google for $50 million USD. In December 2011, Bentley launched Giftly with 12 employees and approximately $1.8 million USD in funding to carve out a piece of the approximately $100 billion USD industry that is gift cards. His idea, create the “better” gift card.

Bentley opted not to make Giftly “location-specific.” Users select a Facebook friend to send a gifted amount, ranging from $10 to $250, and attach a suggested venue. Giftly, the web or mobile application (available on Android and iPhone), does the rest. Though, the “gift” can be used anywhere.

How does this work? Giftly has made a new type of gift card called a Giftly. When a consumer receives a Giftly, they redeem it on the web or using their smartphone rather than giving it to the merchant. The consumer pays the full amount at the point-of-sale and receives the gifted funds directly from Giftly as a credit on their credit card or to a PayPal account.

Source: Giftly FAQ

What do I do if someone presents a printed Giftly at my business? Simply tell them that they should redeem the Giftly on Giftly.com or through the Giftly mobile app.

Source: Giftly FAQ

Essentially, wire someone small sums of money via an app, notify he or she via a social media network, and let the credit card companies sort it out.

Problem? The $100 billion gift card industry has made us all accustomed to printed and uniquely identifiable “coupons” that can be used against payments at businesses. “Giftlies,” complete with suggested venues, require another step to be redeemable. This step means merchants at those venues have to explain payment is still due and the “Giftly” cannot be accepted directly.

Wrinkle? Giftly, the company, automatically opts-in merchants around the world, using lists it purchases. Since Giftlies, the “gifts,” do not directly involve businesses, Giftly, the company, doesn’t bother contacting them to explain patrons will soon be visiting, armed with what amounts to worthless fund transfer receipts.

Dozens of Ottawa restaurants are already setup for Giftly-giving, from Stephen Beckta’s Play Food and Wine to Whispers Bar and Restaurant. Click here for a list.

Ottawa Businesses on Giftly

Don’t worry! Giftly, the app, uses Yelp (via Yelp’s surprisingly robust API) to make sure gift-ers suggest the right venue to prospective gift-ees.

It is no wonder local restauranteurs and chef-entrepreneurs are less than amused. The three above have already asked their businesses be removed from the site, wanting nothing to do with Giftly.

So, to other local merchants, what do you think of Giftly?

Would you like to be affiliated with it?

This year, I was sent a lovely basket containing all the fixings for a “Passionate Sangria”: a bottle of Solaz Tempranillo Caberbet Sauvignon (a great summer red at a great price $10.95), a bottle of Duff Gordon brandy, a bottle of Cinzano sweet red Vermouth, fruit juice, whole fruit and even a pitcher in which to mix my sangria (a nice touch, by the way).

Sangria is traditionally a fruity red wine wine based drink to which fruit and fruit juice are added.  I’ve written about Solaz before; the Tempranillo in this basket is a nice choice for sangria as it is low in tannins, nicely balanced with red currants and serves nicely chilled.

But, much like margaritas and martinis, today, anything goes!

Sangria fixings to go

The instructions I received with the basket were to “have fun” with the ingredients I was sent.

Although I am sure the recipe that was included with the basket would have been yummy, I decided to take the basic ingredients they had sent me and put on my own twist. A few tweets by Don elicited a flurry of ideas.  He and I then brainstormed via Instant Message over the lunch hour. Inspired by the hot day, the passionfruit juiceand lemon in the suggested recipe, and my need for bubbles, I created a drink that is, much to my surprise, really really drinkable.

Herewith, I give you the @GadgetGirl Sangria, a fitting drink for any mother this Mother’s Day.

@GadgetGirl Sangria

What You’ll Need:

• 1 bottle Solaz Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon (or similar)
• 4 oz (or more if you like it sweeter) Alize Passion Fruit liqueur ($24.95 LCBO)
• 2 cups carbonated lemonade (make your own: juice of two lemons, 2 tsp ssugar, 2 cups club soda)
• Sliced lemon

Method:

1. Combine in a pitcher, refrigerate until chilled
2. Add carbonated water or club soda for extra bubbles
3. Serve over ice with lemon slices

The @GadgetGirl Sangria

Once you’ve given my recipe a try, check out the Passionate Sangria:

What You’ll Need:

• 1 bottle Solaz Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2 oz Duff Gordon brandy
• 2 oz Cinzano sweet red vermouth
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup passion fruit juice
• Slices of oranges, lemons and limes

Method (same as above):

1. Combine in a pitcher, refrigerate until chilled
2. Serve over ice with orange, lemon and lime slices

The forecast highs during the first week of May averaged 24 C (75.2 F). The heat and sunshine were unexpected, but not unwelcome.

As you can likely discern, Canadians are adept in talking about the weather. It probably has something to do with practice, our experiencing nearly all possible weather phenomena from blistering heat to bone-chilling cold, even the odd torrential downpour.

The sheer range of weather does however make the heart grow fonder for farmers’ markets. Many opened this past weekend: Ottawa Farmers’ Market (Orleans and Brewer), Main Street Farmers’ Market, ByWard Market Farmers’ Market, and the Parkdale Farmers’ Market.

What I most look forward to when the snow recedes are the producer stalls with fresh tender greens. After a long winter, peppery and earthy leaves should be celebrated. A close second would be farm fresh eggs. Though, Bekings’ eggs can be had year-round from shops like Herb and Spice and The Piggy Market.

When a television producer from CTV Ottawa Morning Live, a local morning show, asked us to put together and demonstrate spring recipes on-air, we scrambled to find ramps and fiddleheads. With the farmers’ markets yet to open, we turned to an old favourite, ricotta pasta.

A confession? That recipe, while employing freshly-made cheese, was always meant to mimic the textural components of traditional pasta carbonara: aldente pasta, egg (yolks or whole), cheese (parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino romano), cured but unsmoked pork (usually guanciale or pancetta), and black pepper. Never, bacon…

Less than Classic Carbonara

Carbonara is dead easy to make, but one has to be able to make peace with raw egg. It is the naturally occurring emulsifier in egg yolks, called lecithin, that imbues carbonara with richness.

Otherwise, if you’ve an immune deficiency or if you’re with child, consider “slow poaching” your eggs (aka: poor man’s sous vide). Essentially, create a water bath with a pot set over a burner, bring the water to 145 F (63 C), add your eggs (shell-on), bring the temperature of the water back to 145 C (293 F), and let the eggs sit for an hour. If the heat climbs too high, add a splash of cold water. If the heat falls below, boost the heat temporarily or add a splash of boiling water. Most bacteria do not survive temperatures 140 F (60 C) or above. When you crack open your 145 F eggs, you will have something resembling under-poached eggs, just coddled enough to behave mostly like raw. David Chang serves “slow poached” eggs on house-made ramen at his Momofuku noodle bars.

Classic carbonara amounts to cracking an egg (chicken or duck) into a bowl, grating on plenty of hard cheese, adding just cooked (but wet) pasta, tossing with lardons of crisped cured pork, and seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. For a richer carbonara, use only egg yolks.

This leaves lots of room for “embellishments.” Carbonara purists had best not continue any further. To refer to our wine blogger’s family recipe, click here.

You have been warned…

An Embellished Spaghetti Carbonara

Me, I cure my own pork belly for carbonara, “easy bacon.” I like to add fresh herbs: sage, basil, cilantro. Like Matt Leduc (friend to foodiePrints and former cook at Chef Marc Lepine’s Atelier Restaurant), I make sacrilegious additions: peas, butter sauteed mushrooms, fried onions, (“gasp”) nori. Sometimes, I even swap out pasta for udon noodles.

This time, I wanted to up the richness, so I cured some farm fresh chicken egg yolks to grate over the noodles with the cheese.

Cured Egg Yolk

Technique for Curing Egg Yolks

1. “harden your yolks” by water-bathing in zip top bags at 150 F (65 C) for an hour (an alternative would be to freeze the yolks overnight and thaw)
2. prepare enough dry cure (50:50 salt:sugar by weight) to surround each egg yolk by approximately 2.5 cm (1 inch)
3. take a lidded container and line with 2.5 cm (1 inch) of cure
4. make wells for your yolks
5. post water bath, peel away any remaining white
6. gently wrap your yolks in a single layer of cheese cloth
7. place the enrobed yolks into the wells and cover with another 2.5 cm of cure
8. cure refrigerated for 48 hours
9. remove the yolks from the cure and hang in the fridge for at least a week

We are presently testing a batch of eggs, cured in miso, salt fermented soy bean paste. To cure in miso, we surrounded water-bathed egg yolks in white miso for 5 days. They have been hanging three weeks.

Curing and air drying your egg yolks creates an almost cheese-like texture. Adding spices or herbs to your salt cure, flavours the resulting egg “cheese.” To date, we’ve tested black pepper and five spice.

Spring Spaghetti Carbonara

What You’ll Need:

• one 145 F (63 C) duck egg (or chicken egg)
• enough pasta for a single serving (refer to packaging)
• grated hard cheese to taste (more for garnish)
• grated cured egg yolk to taste
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper (more for garnish)
• chopped cured pork belly (preferably crisped)
• embellishments like garden peas and fried sage

Method:

1. prepare your pasta as directed on the packaging for “aldente” (toothsome)
2. in a bowl add the egg, cheese, and cured egg yolk
3. season the egg and cheese mixture with salt and pepper to taste
4. whisk the mixture until combined
5. when your pasta is done, place it into the bowl with the egg and cheese mixture, draining the pasta conservatively
6. sprinkle the pork belly and embellishments onto the pasta
7. combine everything together
8. plate with more cheese and freshly ground black pepper

Done

That’s it!

Tara Simpson, Manager of Communications and Events for the Ottawa Farmers Market, recommends buying farm fresh eggs at Reinink Family Farms on Sundays at Brewer Park.

Did you visit a farmers’ market this past weekend? What did you buy? What do you plan to cook with your purchases?

[Noma fell to number 2 on the just-released San Pellegrino "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" 2013 list.]

Both Sweden and Denmark being Nordic (and arguably Scandinavian) countries, the ingredients Redzepi and Nilsson celebrate are indigenous of those regions: lumpfish, langoustine, seabuckthorn, bulrush, juniper, currants, sorrel, elderberries, birch, pine. What about Canadian northerly cuisine? We also have access to an Arctic larder. Game meats, wild and farmed, are slowly filtering down to urban Canada, mostly through specialty suppliers like Ottawa’s Saslove’s and Bear Brook Farms. There is even an elk farm in Kanata, The Elk Ranch.

Chef John Morris of the NAC

These events are part of the Northern Scene [du Nord] festival. It being “mayday,” we are presently in the midst of the last week of the sixth in a series of national “Scene” festivals, celebrating Canada’s artists. Northern Scene began April 25th. With more than 250 artists from Yukon, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut participating, there have been over 50 events featuring the talents of musicians, visual and media artists, actors, dancers, filmmakers, and storytellers. Morris was tapped to contribute something culinary to the portrait of the region.

We were lucky enough to see and taste some of the dishes Morris created during a media event several weeks ago.

Consider caribou. Morris coated a caribou loin in black pepper, seared it, and sliced it thin, serving it as tataki with an umami rich soy shitake sauce and young radish leaves.

Pepper-Seared Caribou Loin Tataki

Consider smoked goose breast, served with a cracked juniper aioli and a rye crisp.

Smoked Goose Breast

Consider ragout of hare (not rabbit), which he prepared by marinating it overnight in wine, beer, crushed juniper, thyme, and dehydrated blackberries. Then, he braised it for 6 hours; simple and hearty fare meant to keep you warm.

Ragout of Hare

Morris served the ragout with wild rice croquettes, roasted root vegetables, mushrooms, and sun-dried blackberries.

While the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, a federal agency, spends time redefining what local “ought” to mean, Morris points to wild food as far more ambitious. Eating wild foods means truly living with the seasons.

Sourcing wild foods is problematic, presenting challenges to even the most resourceful chef. Both the aboriginal and federal governments enforce strict regulations to ensure healthy bison and caribou herds. It can be three years between culls.

“Too [often people] expect everything to be available,” said Morris.

“We can learn from [the people] of the North. They respect the land. Survival means, if something is not available, then they have to eat something else.”

To paraphrase, we rely on a food system engineered for instant gratification. For instance, strawberries can be had year round.

Indeed, organizers of the Taste of Arctic event, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), claim the Inuit invented the 100 mile diet.

Moreover, Inuit traditions demonstrate a nose-to-tail philosophy. For caribou, there are dishes, employing everything from flesh to bone marrow and hooves.

While wild meats tend to be “tougher” and leaner, Morris was inspired. Asked for his favourite wild ingredient to work with, he was torn between hare and acrtic char.

Candied Char Tartare with spiced Crowberry Salsa

Seared Arctic Char with Birch and Chili Gastrique

Curried Arctic Shrimp on Canberry Bannock

Wild-berry Crumble with Lavender Cream

There is also a flavour difference. According to Chef Murray Wilson, formerly of Atelier Restaurant (Sous) and The Courtyard Restaurant (Sous and Executive Chef), “Wild foods are great, they offer a variety and flavour that is unmatched [compared to] most farmed [or] mass-produced food.”

“Flavour is influenced by the diet of the animal so deer from [British Columbia] will taste different [from deer] from Yorkshire. Wild plants and such are also unrivaled in flavour.”

Before Wilson left Canada to return to England to cook at 1 Michelin Star The Yorke Arms, he organized a wild food event at the Courtyard Restaurant. He took a different cut of caribou, leg, marinating it in herbs and black pepper. Then, he cooked it sous vide (very controlled braising) at 56 C (133 F) for 48 hours. Finally, it was seared and carved.

Ottawa once hosted an aboriginal-themed restaurant called Sweetgrass. Opened in November 2003 by then husband/wife team of Warren and Phoebe Sutherland, the aboriginal “bistro” at 108 Murray Street quickly garnered critical acclaim. Featuring a menu of game meats, wild greens, smoked fish, and native breads with Mexican and Caribbean influences, it was a reflection of their cultures as Warren was born in Jamaica and Phoebe, a Cree, was from James Bay.

Sadly, Sweetgrass closed July 2011.

Also sadly, the Taste of Arctic event was held this past Monday with little media coverage and tonight’s North-South Fusion event is sold out.

North-South Fusion

Tonight, Morris will pair with Rebecca Veevee, the “Laughing Chef,” to demo and serve “char tartare with crisp seaweed, sweet potato crisp, juniper aioli and Arctic char Shepherd’s pie.”

Joining them, Chef Robin Wasicuna of Yellowknife’s Wiseguy Foods will pair with Ottawa’s Ross Fraser of award-winning Fraser Cafe to demo and serve “reindeer with asparagus and a charred spring ramp and rhubarb romesco sauce.”

Finally, Chef Michele Genest, the “Boreal Gourmet,” will pair with Ottawa’s Charles Part of Les Fougères to demo and serve “elk osso buco with morel mushrooms jus and smoked elk jerky with wild yarrow and juniper.”

It should be a stunning evening.

The aim of these food events is to expose the rich cultures and ingredients of the north.

Presently, aboriginal stereotypes abound. And, there are few books on Inuit cuisine published.

Morris vowed to preserve the straightforwardness of traditional Inuit cooking. He wants to ensure a purity of flavour.

At the same time, ITK wants to showcase the northern entrepreneurial spirit.

Explained Patricia D’Souza, Senior Communications Officer at ITK, while there is a short growing season, producers up North are starting greenhouse projects to harness the 60-or-so full days of sunlight during the summer months. There are suppliers and retailers putting crow berries and muskox on the market.

D’Souza and Executive Director Stephen Hendrie chose Morris because of his sheer enthusiasm for learning about the Inuit culture and traditional foods, most of which he had never seen before.

Patricia D’Souza, John Morris, and Terry Audla

[Terry Audla is the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)]

If you are interested in northerly cuisine and do not have tickets to North-South Fusion event, do not despair.

Le Café will continue to serve wild food-inspired dishes until May 4th.

Northern Flavours in the Capital

And, also part of the Northern Scene festival, Bistro Boréal (100 Rue Laurier, Gatineau) at the Canadian Museum of Civilization is serving a “Northern Flavours in the Capital” menu until May 4th.

Bistro Boréal’s Executive Chef Martin De Board invites you to sample his menu (Warning: PDF) that includes pan-seared Arctic char, elk bolognese and charred venison tartar ($36 for the table d’hote).

Have you had any dishes inspired by Canada’s North? Care to share?

Julia Wine is a wine broker. They buy wine in bulk from producers around the world and bottle them in Canada for sale in the province of Quebec exclusively at Costco. Wine brokerage  is not an inherently bad things.  However, in the same way as the ground beef you buy at the grocery store can come from many beef suppliers, the wine that is bottled by this kind of broker can come from a wide variety of producers. You lose the ability to follow the story of the wine, from “grape to bottle,” if you will. Julia Wine appears to try to address this by labelling some of its wines in blocks, the idea, I imagine, being that a block denotes a particular vintage. They also label certain wines as being of a particular origin, such as Argentina, and have created several families of wines with names such as “French Nose” and “Las Mariquitas” or “Bottle Shock”. At the end of the day though, there is limited information available on each bottle. The website is a better source of information but most of us like to read the label.

The most expensive bottle at the LCBO was a bottle of red “Julia Cellier 60″ wine at $50. This was a pleasant wine to drink. Although impossible to know how it was made, what grapes were used and how long it had been aged, the best I could say at dinner was that it tasted like a California wine, with oak ageing. Although I can’t be sure, I deduce this from the softer tannins in the wine, the hints of tobacco and the general profile of the wine; it reminded me of some of the red wines that I have had from California. As for the grapes, I would say there was Merlot in the wine because of the red fruitiness I could taste. Alas, the details were not on the label.

Numbering a bottle of blended wine does not make it more than what it is.

A first search of the  website did not contain information on the Julia Cellier 60. A Google search for “Julia Cellier 60″ did bring me to a hidden page on the site that gave me more information: the wine was Californian, the grapes were Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and the vintage was 2007-2009. The use of grapes from 2007-2009 is a first for me: does this mean the grapes were harvested, pressed and the juice held for years before the wine was made? Or does it mean that wines were made from each of these years and the final results blended? Odd, to say the least.

As for the cork on this bottle, it is a patented closure called a “Zork.” A cross between a twist-off cap and a plastic cork, it was a complete failure for me. Chipping my nail as I was trying to get the plastic twist started (and I have short nails), it was impossible for me to pry the plastic stopper out of the bottle. Three of us took turn, spilling wine when the stopper finally came loose. At $50 a bottle, I wasn’t pleased to lose even a drop.

Zork…get it..it’s not a cork!

Conclusion: While the $50 wine was good to drink, not knowing anything about the grapes used, the winery or its history diminished it. Not every wine encounter needs to end in marriage, but, for that price, I’d like it to at least be a good time.

No, Saturday or Sunday brunch with three egg omelets, bacon, sausage, and biscuits doesn’t count. But, our reverence for weekend brunch underscores how much we neglect weekday lunch.

Usually, navigating the guidelines issued by schools about what not to pack in the kids’ lunch boxes is the upper limit of our consideration.

Lunch, for many of us, is just sustenance to get through the work day.

Thankfully, Tim Van Dyke serves something thoughtful at LUNCH, socially conscious meals that are healthy and delicious, competitively priced (under $10 for sandwich and soup or salad combos), and “prêt à manger.”

LUNCH – thinklunch.ca

Van Dyke’s unassuming three “brick and mortar” locations and one “soon-to-be-released” food truck operation serves an amazing 1000 people a day. That works out to between 250 and 400 cubicle dwellers, dropping into each location during their lunch breaks. And, LUNCH is expanding into Gatineau in July, opening a location next to Tim Hortons in the causeway connecting the office towers that make up Place du Portage Phase III.

[The giant government office complex that is Place du Portage has an extremely high density of office workers, second only to The Pentagon in the United States.]

Tim Van Dyke of LUNCH

“I take a lot of pride in feeding people,” explained Van Dyke.

LUNCH, having celebrated its 5th anniversary on April 16th, originally opened on Bank Street (121), between Slater and Albert. In fact, what is now Van Dyke’s flagship retail outlet once produced all of the food served at his satellite locations. It is the only one equipped with a kitchen. Like Chef Marc Lepine’s Atelier Restaurant (540 Rochester Street), there is no gas line. Van Dyke and his former chef Alex Majpaniw worked with electric hot plates and portable induction burners. Today, all the sandwiches, soups, and salads served at 121 Bank, 99 Metcalfe, and 240 Sparks are assembled at the “commissary,” a central professionally-equipped kitchen in Chinatown (60-A Lebreton).

The characteristic oversized chalk board at every LUNCH location reads like a directory of local producers: The Whalesbone (for sustainable fin- and shellfish), Ferme des Voltigeurs (for chicken), and The Bootleg Porchetta Company (self explanatory), and Ottawa Bagel Shop (also self explanatory). All of the sliced bread served is baked daily from “ever reliable” Le Moulin de Provence (55 ByWard Market Square) in the ByWard Market.

“Our goal is for people [we serve] to be eating a good, honest, and fresh product.”

When we pressed him for his top-selling sandwich, Van Dyke replied, “The chicken tarragon salad sandwich. It’s a classic chicken salad.”

Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwich – $6.95

With the option of white or whole grain bread, who can resist a sandwich filling made with halved red grapes, roast chicken (thigh meat), walnuts, dried cranberries, light tarragon mayo, and lettuce?

[Incidentally, the porchetta sandwich is a take on "The Porchetta" served at Il Negozio Nicastro (1355 Wellington Street W.), where Mike Nicastro crafts the porchetta he sells under The Bootleg Porchetta brand. LUNCH's take is made with roasted garlic aioli, herbal gremolata, and peppery arugula.]

What most people likely don’t know is LUNCH has a catering arm. Van Dyke has 8 catering clients he has been delivering to on a daily basis for 4 1/2 years.

For his food truck, Van Dyke is retrofitting a 1995 Chevrolet P30, which he has every intention of unveiling at Bon Appetit. It will be a mobile retail location, serving the same menu as any other LUNCH outlet. When parked, a diesel generator will power the refrigeration he needs.

“I try to keep everything consistent,” explained Van Dyke.

Seed to Sausage Charcuterie LUNCH Box – $6.95

Curried Chicken Wrap – $6.45

[Left: Charcuterie LUNCH Box with Cranberry and Hazelnut Raincoast Crisps, Fig Jam, Seed to Sausage Sopresatta, salami, and ham; Right: Curried Chicken Wrap with roasted chicken breast, roasted red onion, roasted red pepper, chick peas and sweet mustard mayo]

Asian Noodle Salad – $2.75

[Asian Noodle Salad with rice noodles, snow peas, carrots, red peppers, spring onions, toasted sesame seeds and rice wine vinaigrette.]

The truck itself has been entrusted to local “metal artist” Alan Gustafson. Brandishing a shiny new Blackberry Z10, Van Dyke proudly showed off the logo design graffiti artist Luke Norrad will hand paint onto the truck, sort of a typographic mural. The service window will measure 4′ x 11′, the average dimensions of LUNCH’s chalk boards.

Unlike many food trucks, patrons will also have the option to pay by cash, debit, or credit card.

When his truck is finished, Van Dyke hopes to take his sandwiches in recyclable cardboard “wedges” and sides in compost-able containers to events like the Dragon Boat Festival.

Cardboard Sandwich Wedge Box

Why sandwich boxes? LUNCH’s branded boxes are imported from the UK, which originated the wildly successful “Pret A Manger” sandwich chain. Modeled after Pret’s, LUNCH’s sandwich boxes are meant to showcase a premium but affordable product that office workers can “grab and go.” Van Dyke claims he was the first to use them in Canada. Tracey Clark of local Bridgehead Coffee chain followed suit, phasing out cellophane sandwich wrappers.

“Heat sealed plastic is synonymous with gas station sandwiches.”

When asked about LUNCH’s growth, Van Dyke explained he is trying to build the critical mass to partner with charitable causes and give something back to the community. Participating in Bon Appetit is a first step. Dubbed Ottawa’s largest cocktail party, Bon Appetit benefits no less than 24 local charities. LUNCH is one of over 70 food and beverage partners that will be on hand at the Ernst & Young Centre (4899 Uplands Drive) on May 7th.

In the same vein, Van Dyke introduced a Live Below the Line sandwich special last Wednesday. Approached by organizers of the poverty awareness organization that originated in Australia, he declined the challenge to live on $1.75/day. Instead, he and his new chef Martin Prudhomme (former Sous of the Mill Street Brew Pub) are putting together a Live Below the Line event at The Hub Ottawa that will serve a sample full-day menu. Moreover 50 cents from the sale of every sandwich special will go to Canadian branch of Live Below the Line.

This said, organizers at Bon Appetit have generously issued us a pair of tickets to giveaway.

Here’s the deal:
For one (1) entry, visit the Bon Appetit food and beverage page, choose a familiar food partner, and leave a comment at the end of this post describing something you’ve enjoyed from them: a dish, a glass of wine, anything.

If you choose LUNCH and leave a comment about a sandwich and soup or salad combo, you get two (2) entries (i.e. you will be entered twice).

We won’t ask you to follow us on Twitter or like our Facebook page. Of course, we won’t mind if you do…

Supply us a viable e-mail address (it won’t be shared), so we can contact you.

One comment per person, please!

At noon (EST), Monday, May 6th, 2013, we will use Random.org to choose a commenter to receive two tickets to Bon Appetit. We will contact the winner by e-mail and connect he or she with event organizers. Tickets will be couriered to him or her thereafter.

We should likely point out tickets to Bon Appetit sell out EVERY year. You may not want to gamble with not being able to attend…

Update: This contest is now closed!

We received 23 comments for a final total of 37 entries. They follow:

1. Sasha
2. Sasha
3. Bonny
4. Bonny
5. Beverley
6. Beverley
7. Amy
8. Amy
9. Shawn McCormick
10. Annik
11. Annik
12. Melanie Allen
13. Melanie Allen
14. JoAnna
15. JoAnna
16. Heather
17. Alexis
18. Alexis
19. Lillianne
20. Lillianne
21. Lisa Griffin
22. Lisa Griffin
23. Annabelle
24. Annabelle
25. Katherine
26. pej daddy
27. Isabelle
28. Isabelle
29. Shamima
30. Shamima
31. Carolynn
32. Carolynn
33. Scott Oakley
34. Kasey
35. Tamara Marshall
36. Craik Pyke
37. Jodi Turner

Random.org Generated Value for Bon Appetit Giveaway 2013

Congratulations Kasey, an e-mail will be dispatched to you shortly!

One of the things that makes Paris so fun to visit is their system of municipally subsidized bicycles. Known as “Vélib”, these bikes are found all over the city and are free for trips under 30 minutes, 2 euros per half hour over 30 minutes. Unlike Ottawa’s Bixi bikes, which are aimed at tourists, the Vélib system is very much used by Parisians and visitors alike. The idea is to ”check out” your bike, pedal to your next stop and “check it” back in. The bikes are not sexy but the seats are adjustable, each is equipped with lights and a lock and is kept in good working order. Although you can bring a helmet, they are not mandatory.

To be honest, I found it safer biking around the busy streets of Paris than I ever have in Ottawa: drivers are used to cyclists, the bike lanes are generally respected and motorists drive more slowly. In Canada, I find drivers resent cyclists and are almost universally aggressive; in Paris, there is a lot of weaving in and out of traffic but automobile drivers accept cyclists as having the right to be on the streets alongside them.

In the three days that I was in Paris, I used the system to visit the Musée d’Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, hear the new bells at Notre Dame Cathedral and to generally enjoy the lovely spring days along the banks of the Seine. Despite the tank-like maneuverability, there was something distinctly reminiscent of an Audrey Hepburn movie about bicycling down the Jardins de Luxembourg, scarf flying in the wind, a bottle of wine and a baguette in my basket.

Does life get any more romantic?

Which brings me to the Wine Wednesday part of this post. Wine is openly consumed in public in Paris: you can buy it in the grocery store in convenient lunch-sized bottles of 200mL and you can sit in a park and enjoy it with your picnic of yummy raw-milk cheeses and charcuteries. I remember a few years ago, sitting on the pedestrian Pont des Arts, filling our plastic wine glasses from a bottle of good Champagne as the sun set over l’Île de la Cité. The most wonderful part of the evening were the Parisians all around us picnicked on couscous and saussicons, each with their own bottle of wine; this was not a tourist activity but part of the locals’ nightlight.

The point I am making is that wine is part of the every day in Paris and I enjoyed the freedom while I was there.

My 375mL bottle of pink Charles Courance champagne was not a well-known brand and was purchased at Carefour, a grocery store chain. It cost 13 Euros (approximately $16). Carefour is not the sexist of stores but it seemed a fitting place to buy it: an ordinary store for an everyday purchase. It was a little bubble-gummy in its taste, with strong hints of strawberry, almost like a ready-made Kir Royale, but not unpleasant for a warm spring afternoon. Despite my best efforts I could find no information on Charles de Courance champagne house so one must assume it’s Carefour’s equivalent to President’s Choice, made under that name for their grocery store chain.

Be careful not to drink and ride, though. Enjoy in moderation.

I was ostensibly in Paris on business but I enjoyed my few days of freedom: no plans, no fixed destinations, no appointments. And I enjoyed my champagne, sitting on a bench with a view of the Eiffel tower and watching the people go by.

If you have a chance to visit Paris, I highly recommend using the Vélib system for getting around. No need to book ahead, just follow the instructions on the machine present at every bike station: use a credit or bank card to make a security deposit, take your daily or weekly pass, and check out a bike. Remember to fill your basket with wine and a picnic and away you go!

Each will welcome patrons, host volunteers, and donate 25% of sales to causes that support and house persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Proprieter Dave Loan announced ZenKitchen (634 Somerset Street W.) will even serve a special cocktail, a “Frozen Pineapple Daquiri,” $2 from the sale of each going to his restaurant’s donation.

Eight hours ago, organizers of A Taste for Life released the following Facebook update:

Tomorrow is a VERY important day on so many levels. But if you break it down, tomorrow is all about a generous Ottawa community helping to make life easier for those affected by HIV/AIDS.

A Taste for Life is a key fundraiser that supports HOPE, HOUSING, HEALTH, QUALITY OF LIFE, SKILL BUILDING and DIGNITY.

We are so grateful for the kindness and generosity in Ottawa and we are proud to be of service to those who need it now and in the future.

Support your Taste restaurants, and in turn they will support Bruce House and the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation.

Reserve today, dine tomorrow…change lives forever.

Sadly, Jenn and I will not be able to join in as Ottawa dines out. So, we dined out this evening instead.

If, like us, you also cannot participate in A Taste for Life tomorrow, do not despair. Here’s what you can do:

Step 1: Choose a participating restaurant.

In our case, we chose the Hintonburg Public House (1020 Wellington Street W.).

Jenn and I haven’t eaten at the “retro rustic” chic public house since its chef Kris Kshonze (formerly of the Whalesbone Oyster House) left and former Mariposa Farm chef Mark Currier took the reigns.

The menu has changed accordingly.

The public house, itself, sports new signage.

Hintonburg Public House’s New Signage

Step 2: Make reservations at the chosen restaurant and dine there.

Save for the Public House’s “Harvest Table,” which is located in the rear of the long dining room, adjacent to the kitchen, tables are now “first come first serve.” Seats at the bar are rather popular.

From the regular menu, Jenn opted for the “Kichesippi Beer Battered Fish & Chips/Dill Tarter Sauce”

Fish and Chips – $15

Me, I opted for the “Traditional Beef Burger/Swiss Cheese/Sauteed Mushrooms/House Mayo/Fries”

Burger and Fries – $15

Step 3: Ask for the itemized bill (above) from your server after you pay for your meal.

$15.00 x 2 + $2.50 x 2 = $35.00

Step 4: Calculate 25% of your bill (food and alcohol, before tax).

Normally, I buy my wife a drink. But, because she had to bake a birthday cake tonight, which has something to do with why we can’t participate tomorrow, we stuck with pop.

To compensate, I’m adding a pint of Kichesippi 1855 to our bill ($7). After all, Kichesippi Beer Co. will celebrate three years in operation in the coming weeks.

$35.00 + $7.00 = $42.00

25% of $42.00 is $10.50

[Aside: I really really look forward to being able to order Kichesippi's Harvey and Vern ginger beer at local restaurants.]

Step 5: Visit the CanadaHelps.org website and donate that amount to either “BRUCE HOUSE” or the “SNOWY OWL AIDS FOUNDATION.”

That’s it!

Honestly, if you can negotiate your schedule, save yourself the math and make reservations to dine out on Wednesday. It’s sooo much simpler.

The Hintonburg Public House
1020 Wellington Street W.
(613) 421-5087