Normally, I only bother with the Saturday papers for the weekend food news & reviews round-up. But there's so much food-related stuff in the Toronto Star today (plus a couple of things in the Toronto Sun) that I thought a special post was in order.
Sadly, the first article that came to my attention is not an especially positive one. Catherine Porter reports that despite the best efforts of groups like Local Flavour Plus, it appears that they might be fighting a losing battle when to comes to getting Ontario produce on to people's plates. Not only is it getting harder to convince stores to carry local goods, but even when Ontario-grown produce is available, many customers still reach for imports:
We might all agree that Ontario strawberries taste better. Some of us even seek them out – at local greengrocers as well as at the big chains. But on the whole, we buy California ones. They're bigger, smoother, unblemished. They can last for weeks in the fridge.
By comparison, our Ontario crop looks "not so sexy," says Jack Comella, president of The Garden Basket stores. He sells them in his Markham store alongside California berries at comparable prices. Which ones do shoppers snap up? "They're deciding California because they look better."
While reading this article, I happened to be eating a bowl of fresh berries bought this morning at the Liberty Village Farmers Market. They were fresh and juicy and sweet, and so much better than the bland, oversized California frankenberries that I try to avoid as much as possible, especially during the local growing season. The fact that anyone would choose those mutant imports over fresh Ontario strawberries just because they "look better" boggles my mind.
Another thing in today's Star that boggles my mind: a feature by Andrew Chung on water sommeliers. Now, I may not be one to talk, as I've been known to ramble at great lengths about the unique aromas and flavours and other qualities of a particular beer - but dude, it's water! It's not supposed to have any flavour! And I don't care if it came from some secret cavern deep in the Alps or an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland, I ain't paying 20 bucks a bottle for it. Sheesh.
Chung also has a sidebar piece on maple syrup sommeliers, which is a slightly less ludicrous idea, if only because Agriculture Canada has published a maple syrup flavour wheel that groups them into 13 categories and many sub-categories, including "vanilla", "spicy", "milky", and, uh, "maple".
In the Star's Entertainment section, Jennifer Bain checks out the new location of Freshwood Grill in Kensington Market. The wife and I have never been fans of their original spot on Roncesvalles (check out her review to see why), but the arugula salad featured in the photo and sidebar (not on the website, alas) looks mighty tasty, so perhaps the off-shoot location is worth a visit. And later in the section, Linda Barnard nearly elicits one of my patented "that's not a Martini!" rants with a recipe for something called a Crimson Martini from Lolabar in Leslieville, but since it actually sounds pretty appealing and includes gin as an ingredient (along with ruby port and lime juice), I'll let it slide this time.
Over in the Sun, I discover that they have a restaurant review feature on Sundays. Who knew? (Well, regular Sunday Sun readers, I guess.) This week, Anne Marie Males has a great meal at Didier. And as part of a special Canada Day feature, Vivian Song unveils the results of a Moosehead-sponsored survey looking at the beer drinking habits of Canadians, featuring several quotes from yours truly. I guess Stephen Beaumont wasn't available, so they had to settle for me.
