Turkey is certainly one of the finest gifts made by the New World to the Old.
-Brillat-Savarin in The Physiology of Taste
The Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend we pick up a turkey from the Four Whistle truck at Old Strathcona, then take it home and cut it up, usually into two suprêmes (breasts with the drumette still attached) and two leg-thighs. I know: bringing the whole roasted bird to the table, and carving that bird in front of the guests, is an indispensable part of Thanksgiving. I appreciate the pageantry of tableside carving, but there are some huge advantages to separating the bird.
With the bird broken up into smaller pieces I can sear them to jump-start the browning. … Continue reading.
Until recently the only bees I knew of were spelling bees, quilting bees, and honey bees. There was a time when there were many other types of bees. Canning bees, for instance.
A “bee” is any gathering called to perform a particular task. In the days of yore it was often implied that people were coming together to help one person or family accomplish a large task in a relatively short amount of time. In rural Canada a community might gather to help a family thresh all their grain. Another threshing bee might be held the following week at a different farm.
A family history book tells me that food and whisky were provided to those who helped. That same … Continue reading.
Most of the highbush cranberries in the nearby park have lengthened into a distinct oval shape, which means they’re ready for picking.
Often when harvesting or foraging in balmy summer, I find myself looking forward to the colder months ahead.
Much of the past year has been devoted to exploring seasonality beyond ingredients: looking at traditional dishes and meals that mark the season. I pick highbush cranberries mostly for use in two meals: Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. (If there’s a little extra that can be enjoyed in November with some game meats, all the better.) So as I romp through the bush in late summer, I’m actually thinking about fall and winter.
Similarly, when candying cherries in August, I might … Continue reading.
Yet ev’n this Season Pleasance blithe affords, Now the squeez’d Press foams with our Apple Hoards.
-John Gay
To most contemporary city-folk the word “cider” implies fermented apple juice. My grandparents made the distinction between “cider” (juice pressed from apples) and “hard cider” (fermented apple juice). For now I have simply made cider, and will leave the discussion of hard cider and its variants for another post.
This week we picked about 150 lbs of apples from three different trees:
one beautiful, well-trained tree yielding large, blushing apples, which I will be referring to as “Ron’s apples”;
one crabapple tree with bright red, tart fruit;
one hideous, unkempt tree in our backyard that grows small green apples. The tree
At left is the first harvest from the yard, largely rhubarb and dandelions.
Describing dandelions as “edible” is misleading. The term suggests that they should only be eaten in survival situations. (Would you ever describe spinach, or cheese, or pork, as merely “edible”?)
In reality, dandelions are a treasured leafy green in several European cuisines. They even have an entry in Larousse. Some excerpts from that article:
“the English name is derived from the alternative French name dent-de-lion (literally ‘lion’s tooth’, referring to its serrated leaves)”
“Wild dandelion leaves should be picked before the plant has flowered…, when they are small and sweet.” This line confuses me a bit. While our dandelion leaves are definitely better when small and
This is one of my favourite ways to showcase my maple syrup. A simple oat cake is baked, then cut into squares and cooled. The baking dish is then filled with hot maple syrup, which the cake soaks up like a sponge. Essentially a lazy man’s pouding chômeur (a lazy man’s poor man’s pudding?)
The food commonly eaten on Easter Sunday is rich in symbolism. The ingredients and dishes are rooted in two traditions: the Jewish Passover dinner, or Seder, and the pagan springtime festival of renewal and fertility. Easter food shows how these two traditions have combined to form our current concept of the holiday.
Bread and Wine
Growing up, Easter Sundays began with a church service that re-enacts the last supper of Christ, which was a Seder. The first “meal” that we ate on Easter Sunday was therefore a meager one: the sacrament of communion, an unleavened wafer and a sip of red wine.
It is said that when the pharaoh freed the Hebrews, they fled Egypt so abruptly that they didn’t … Continue reading.
St. Patrick’s Day, now one of the kitschier holidays we celebrate, has been completely divorced from its origin. March 17 is actually the Catholic feast day for St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The details of St. Patrick’s life are often debated, but for my purposes the popular traditions and stories are more important than the historical facts. It’s the legend of St. Patrick that has informed the beliefs and practices of Catholics for more than a thousand years, so in a sense the legend is truer than whatever the truth is.[1]
Patrick was probably born in Scotland, but at a young age he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery to an Irish chieftain. He escaped, … Continue reading.
As I mentioned in my description of Lent, a 1966 papal decree changed Catholic fasting practices, but when my mom was little Fridays were still fast days. Meat was forbidden, but fish was allowed. This is why in 1963 McDonald’s added the Filet O’ Fish to their menu – so that Catholics could eat there seven days a week.[1]
There aren’t any McDonald’s in Webbwood, Ontario, so in my mom’s house, Friday dinner was always macaroni and cheese, usually with fish cakes. Her family observed these meatless Fridays for decades after 1966. In fact when I was growing up, I had macaroni and cheese for dinner every Friday. We also had this meal on Ash Wednesday. No food … Continue reading.
The time before Lent has always been given to feasting and revelry. Variously celebrated as Carnival, Mardi Gras, and Shrovetide, it represents the last chance for Catholics to indulge in meat, alcohol, and other decadent foods until Easter. The festivities have given rise to several food traditions. Obviously meat and pastry are common, but since the celebrations often include a parade, many types of street food are made. Venetian fritoles (fritters) are an example.
For Canadian Catholics the day before the start of Lent is called Pancake Tuesday. While they are masquerading in Venice and dancing in Rio, we are sitting down with our families to have breakfast for dinner. Apparently the tradition started as a way to use up … Continue reading.
The personal website of Edmonton chef Allan Suddaby
The Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend we pick up a turkey from the Four Whistle truck at Old Strathcona, then take it home and cut it up, usually into two suprêmes (breasts with the drumette still attached) and two leg-thighs. I know: bringing the whole roasted bird to the table, and carving that bird in front of the guests, is an indispensable part of Thanksgiving. I appreciate the pageantry of tableside carving, but there are some huge advantages to separating the bird.
Until recently the only bees I knew of were spelling bees, quilting bees, and honey bees. There was a time when there were many other types of bees. Canning bees, for instance.
