Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on July 19, 2008 at 5:54 pm

It's another weekend of scorching temperatures and crazy humidity in Toronto, so it's fitting that all of the food and drink coverage in today's Toronto Star is focused on cool and refreshing dishes and beverages that are perfect for this weather.

In his Dining Out feature, the intrepid Corey Mintz does a ceviche round-up, hitting ten different places ranging from traditional Central and South American restaurants (El Fogon, El Plebeyo, La Bella Managua) to higher end spots (Nyood, Foxley, Milagro) to sample marinated seafood delights. Very few of them let him down, although he's especially happy with the trio of ceviches he finds at Foxley:

Thin slices of sea bream cured in yuzu (an extra astringent Japanese citrus) are sprinkled with the foliage of shiso and mint. A julienne of green apple and ginger rest over bright orange, wild Arctic char. The sugar and bitterness of the little salad wake up the fish's flavour, finished with only a whiff of sesame oil.

Spanish mackerel arrives as more of a traditional chopped salad, animated by cucumber, mango and cilantro. The Scoville level (units used to measure capsaicin, the chemical element of spiciness) begins as a linger in the back of the throat with the sea bream and rises to a great tide of forehead-wiping with the mackerel.

Also in the Star:

• Gord Stimmell recommends five aromatic and flavourful white wines that are perfect for summer sipping.
• Mark Bittman lives up the title of his syndicated column, The Minimalist, with an insanely easy chilled avocado soup.

In the Globe & Mail, Chris Nuttall-Smith goes out on what many would consider a futile quest: looking for a really, really good hamburger in Toronto. He hits three of the city's "gourmet" burger shops - The Burger Shoppe, Craft Burger, and the recently opened Terra Burger - and he finds the latter in particular a big disappointment, especially given the pedigree of the food that they serve:

Terra buys its buns from Brick Street Bakery. Terra offers an elk burger. And a peppercorn-encrusted bison burger. Its meat comes from The Healthy Butcher.

Terra's beef is Ontario-raised organic Black Angus, dry aged for 21 days. Even most white linen restaurants don't offer 21-day dry aged beef (although it's coming). Here they grind it up and form it into patties. And then they cook those patties to a shade of grey that resembles dust.

Terra's buns are thick and dry and crumbly, but they're soggy-bottomed, too, because they're served refrigerator cold, wrapped up in waxed paper with hot, pallid, steaming beef. The elk burger is so gamey (and I love game meat) that I can't manage more than a single, bracing bite.

Also in the Globe:

• A byline-less article reviews Pops!, a book of ice pop recipes by Krystina Castella.
• Lisan Jutras tastes the new Northern Maple and Arctic Berry versions of Polar Ice vodka.
• Sasha Chapman looks at the ultimate in locavoreism: eating weeds.

Over in the Toronto Sun, Anne Marie Males opens her review of Alice's Restaurant with a cute story about the little sister of the restaurant's namesake - and 7 year old daughter of chef-owner John Pekka Woods - being jealous of her sibling's new-found fame, which has led to a promise from Woods that his next restaurant will be named Good Golly Miss Molly. Malles then goes on to review the food, which appears to be great all around:

I strongly consider the pan-seared Ontario trout ($21) before settling on the mushroom dusted B.C. halibut ($28). Seriously, it's hard to imagine a more satisfying choice. I start with a tiny bite of the side -- sauteed enoki mushrooms and leeks -- and almost polish it off before reluctantly turning my attention to the fish. At first, I'm put off by the generous dollop of whipped mascarpone and sundried tomato vinaigrette, until I realize it's melting into a rich and satisfying sauce for the perfectly cooked halibut. Brilliant.

(Oh, and as an aside: if Ms. Males - or her editor - happens to be reading this, I'd like to humbly request that the word "perfectly" be stricken from her vocabulary, or at least used on a much less frequent basis. In the few weeks that we've been including the Sun in our weekly round-up, phrases such as "perfectly cooked" or "done perfectly" have appeared in almost every review, including twice in this week's. Seriously, could someone please get the poor girl a thesaurus??)

Also in the Sun:

• Rick Vansickle sings the praises of screwcaps, and thanks George Fistonich of New Zealand's Villa Maria for being the first vintner to have the guts to make his winery a "cork-free zone" back in 2004.
• Marc Kilchling checks out The Drinks Show.
• David Lipson talks with the brewmasters at Mill Street and Steam Whistle about the increasing cost of malt and hops, and the effect it's having on their bottom line.

Finally this week, the National Post website appears to be screwed up, with the articles in Toronto Magazine section missing from the Today's Paper page, and the search function claiming "Your search did not match any documents" no matter what you search for. So we'll just have to assume that Gina Mallet reviewed a restaurant, and Margaret Swaine wrote about some wine, and Jason Chow went to a food shop, and maybe Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger ate at a place out in the burbs somewhere.

At least the Weekend Post section is online, where you can find some ice cream recipes from Bonnie Stern, and a wire service article on devilled eggs.