Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on April 19, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Those who keep up with foodie gossip have probably read plenty about the kerfuffle in the UK surrounding the recent publication of an updated version of Delia Smith's How to Cheat at Cooking. Plenty of gourmet-minded critics have been slamming the book, which features recipes based around a multitude of canned and frozen ingredients. Smith, meanwhile, has targeting chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - known for their championing of local and organic ingredients - accusing them of being food snobs who are out of touch with what real people are eating.

Toronto's very own culinary contrarian Gina Mallet entered the fray a month or so back with a blog post on the issue, and in today's National Post, she writes what is ostensibly a review of the book, but it's mainly an essay that extends and refines her own thoughts on the matter. Also included is a sidebar on the tough time she had trying to find many of the ingredients called for in the recipes in the book. Although honestly, I can't say that I'm too upset about the fact that canned minced lamb or frozen char-grilled eggplant have yet to become common items on local grocery store shelves.

Mallet also contributes her usual restaurant review, this week featuring a visit to Alice's Restaurant, where she personally takes the blame for the worst aspect of the meal:

The TG orders roast black cod ($23). Then he spots rare roast rack of lamb going to another table. "How I wish?" he shakes his head, but when his order comes, his choice is totally vindicated. Superb is the verdict on the black cod with sweet potato galette and pea shoots with some black bean broth messing about. Now why did I order grilled Cornish hen ($22)? My teeth ache in memory of Cornish hens past. The Cornish hen is a fowl aberration bred for the resto market and it is notoriously dry. A test for Woods. I'm rewarded by a fragrant side of Cornish hen surrounded by an array of veggies as exquisite as a Mantegna garland. Woods must have a dehydrator in the back because the plate is dotted with Jerusalem artichoke chips. Lovely little artichoke halves, pearl onions, parsley and lemon salsa; yup, the ingredients are all there, but oh, the treacherous fowl. It's tough.

Also in the Post:

• Jason Chow gets in touch with his inner Jew and checks out the good kind of schmaltz.
• Margaret Swaine reviews some high-end spirits alongside a couple of Vintages wines.
• Bonnie Stern adapts some Passover recipes from Jayne Cohen's Jewish Holiday Cooking.

Over in the Globe & Mail, Joanne Kates agrees with our own Melissa Bell about both the service and food at Chakra not being anywhere near what's expected from a supposedly "upscale" Indian restaurant:

Our table for four is too small to fit both our dinner plates and the platters that food arrives on, so the server pulls up an adjacent table. Are the apps the nouvelle Indian being touted? Eh. Veg pakoras aren't as crispy as elsewhere, seekh kebab is the usual ground lamb delightfully seasoned with cumin, ginger and coriander. Grilled prawns have the requisite trendy pomegranate seed benediction but are otherwise ordinary. And crab cakes, touted as Indian tasting, have way more potato than crab taste. If that's what the subcontinent makes of a crab cake, spare me.

Also in the Globe:

• Beppi Crosariol writes up a marketing-driven pinot grigio that's a much better wine than you might expect.
• Lucy Waverman cooks up some Moroccan-style halibut.

In the Toronto Star, Amy Pataki is off this week, which gives us a chance to put the spotlight on Taste T.O. alumnus Corey Mintz, who makes his first appearance in the Star with a full page spread on a fantastic sounding Seder dinner that he's preparing for friends on Wednesday. (Be sure to click the sidebar links for all of the recipes.) Congrats on making the big time, Corey! Just don't forget all us little people that you worked with on your way to the top.

Also in the Star:

• Mark Bittman makes simple and elegant lettuce-wrapped fish.
• Gord Stimmell highlights five well-priced wines from last weekend's Vintages release.