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Articles Tagged ‘city bites’

CHEW ON THIS: What is Food Day anyway?

It’s Food Day tomorrow, eh Canada?

What’s that? You’ve never heard of Food Day? Apparently neither have some of the restaurants listed as participants on the Food Day website.

What began as one woman’s vision of a nation-wide barbecue to support local farmers during the BSE crisis of 2003 has “evolved into a network of local celebrations, aimed at encouraging people to think about the importance of food and community,” explains culinary activist, educator, and writer Anita Stewart on her website. This year, Stewart says 300 restaurants are set to celebrate Food Day across Canada on June 30.

As far as I can tell it’s a bit like Mother’s Day. Sure, it would be nice if we celebrated our moms every day, but thanks to greeting card companies, flower shops, and women’s magazines, we’re gently reminded to dedicate one particular Sunday each year to celebrating the woman who gave us life. Likewise, Food Day is a day dedicated to eating and celebrating Canadian Food. We may eat food every day — we might even eat Canadian food every day, but Ms. Stewart believes Canadian food deserves a day in the spotlight.

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Shawna Wagman | July 29, 2011 at 10:20 am

THE SCOOP! 6 ice cream innovators who are mixing things up in the capital this summer

It’s looking like nothing but sweltering, soaring temperatures for the foreseeable future. That can only mean one thing: ice cream!!! There’s more to life than Blizzards. Here’s a roundup of some exciting news in the world of cool treats.

Edgar Reinvents the Ice Cream Sandwich

Decisions. Decisions. The ice cream sandwiches at Edgar are works of art.

We know Marysol makes an amazing sandwich so it shouldn’t be too surprising that her latest muse is the ice cream sandwich. And because it’s Marysol, we know everything about it will be painstakingly homemade — the cookies, the jams, jellies, purées and, of course, the ice cream, which she makes in a Cuisinart home ice cream maker. It churns loudly when there’s a lull between the lunch rush and the flurry of take-out dinner customers. She prepares an astounding 8 different kinds of ice cream sandwiches every morning — these include such inspired creations as chocolate cayenne cherry, chocolate banana-butterscotch, and strawberry-basil-balsamic between two orange-ginger cookies.

Edgar, 60, rue Bégin, Gatineau (Hull sector), 819-205-1110

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Shawna Wagman | July 20, 2011 at 9:10 am

EGGVILLE: Breakfast with Ottawa’s obsessive Omnivore, Ron Eade

Welcome to Eggville! In this series created for City Bites, I will attempt to test out some of my unscientific theories over breakfast with icons of the city’s food scene. The question: What does the way we eat our eggs say about us? I am also hoping to discover some of the city’s hidden greasy spoons and old-school diners while getting to know more about our food-world personalities. Each guest — be it a chef, farmer, or restaurant dishwasher — will choose their favourite breakfast joint and walk me through the choices, preferences, and rituals surrounding their morning meal.

The Eater: Ron Eade, Ottawa Citizen Food Editor and blogger behind Omivore’s Ottawa

The Place: John’s Quick Lunch (1365 Wellington St. W.), 8 a.m. on a Saturday

The Order: Two poached eggs on brown toast with beans and sausage, hold the home fries. Side of peanut butter. Coffee and OJ. And a bowl of grits…yes grits…the coarsely ground corn meal porridge popular in the Southern United States. Grits are not technically on the menu at John’s, nor are they even available in Canada. Eade tells me he buys several packages of grits whenever he goes cross-border shopping in Ogdensburg, New York, and leaves one in the kitchen at John’s for his bi-monthly visits. He says John’s is the only restaurant he will go to for breakfast.

The power breakfast kicks off Eade’s Saturday morning ritual of supermarket hopping. “I love grocery shopping,” he says. His regular circuit begins at the Westboro Superstore and then on to Food Basics on Kirkwood. He’ll unload the car and then go to the Metro in Bell’s Corners, followed by Price Chopper and the Beer Store. If there are good specials, Eade says he’ll also go to No Frills in Orleans. “My grocery bills are enormous!” he says with a laugh.

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Shawna Wagman | June 10, 2011 at 9:15 am

SPOTTED AT THE MARKET: Dutch Poffertjes

A squishy-soft vehicle for butter and sugar, poffertjes are popular street food in Holland

I lived in Rotterdam for a short time a couple of years ago. From a tourism perspective, I think the Dutch city is totally underrated. I love its irreverent attitude, its eclectic architecture, its vast collection of public art; not to mention the ability to bike everywhere and never meet an incline. However, I can’t say the food was much of a highlight. That is until I tasted poffertjes

There was a poffertjes stand about 50 paces from my front door in the heart of a pedestrian-friendly passageway crammed with shops. Found throughout Holland, poffertjes — miniature puffed pancakes (not to be confused with popular Dutch pannekoeken which are thick, dense and as large as an Italian pizza)— are popular street food. I never grew tired of watching the poffertjes maker presiding over the polka-dotted cast iron cooktop, pouring batter into small divots, allowing them to partially cook and then quickly and rhythmically flipping over each one with a pair of long metal forks. Moments later they were loaded onto a paper plate, topped with a disproportionately large slab of butter and a hearty dusting of icing sugar before being promptly devoured.

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Shawna Wagman | June 2, 2011 at 9:00 am

BITE: Olivia’s local, certified organic…and raw chocolate

Olivia launched a line of raw chocolate bars for the health food market but it has been embraced by foodies for its diverse flavour profile

Look around anywhere foodies, locavores and health nuts congregate and you are almost certain to find a display of Olivia chocolate bars nearby. Its minimalist black packaging may not scream “local product” however the high percentage certified organic dark chocolate is being produced from bean-to-bar at a factory right next door in Cantley, Quebec.

The company is the brainchild of David A. MacDonald, a manufacturing engineer and Willy Wonka wannabe who discovered a fascination with chocolate making a decade ago when he helped to design the technique for enrobing and packaging Dare’s Puffs, those chocolate covered marshmallow treats that have been around for more than 50 years.

No one would dare call those childhood confections healthy, but these days chocolate is being touted as a healthful product. At least the high-quality ultra-dark stuff that is less of a sugary treat and more often an earthy bitter chocolate that battles against one enemy: astringency. That’s the little shiver you may have experienced after eating some 85%-plus cocoa content dark chocolate.

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Shawna Wagman | May 31, 2011 at 9:15 am

BITE: Kangaroo and ostrich burgers at Dick’s Drive-In & Dairy Dip

I did a double take when driving down Merivale Road the other day. The sign outside of Dick’s, the kitschy but reliable hamburger joint, stated “Ice Cream Milkshakes & Ostrich, Bison, Veal, Kangaroo Burgers & Foot Long Hotdogs.” Wow, that’s one wild lineup of animals! I thought it was perhaps a joke, something designed to grab your eyeballs as you whizz past in your car. But when I stopped in to investigate, the owner, Kelly Nguyen, confirmed that the menu items are no joke. In addition to beef burgers, she offers perhaps the greatest variety of burgers I’ve ever come across.

A few months ago, she found her supply of local bison was running low so she began to call around looking for a new source. She found a supplier in Gatineau and he asked if she’d like to try out the locally-raised ostrich and the kangaroo meat he imports from Australia. “We tried it and we liked it,” says Nguyen. “We gave some samples to our customers and they liked it too.”

The next thing I know, I’ve got a huge chocolate milkshake and a red plastic basket heaped with fries and panko crumb-coated onion rings as well as a charcoal-grilled kangaroo burger. My server warned me that it would have an “acquired odour”, which was a polite way of saying it smells kind of weird. I had to admit, once I got past that odd aroma, the flavour was interesting, surprisingly mild, and not at all gamey. But I can’t say I actually liked it. Nor could I shake the image of those adorable Winnie the Pooh characters, Kanga and Roo.

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Shawna Wagman | May 26, 2011 at 9:00 am

BITE: Downtown Sandwich Smackdown

Hot dog carts and fast-food fare have nothing on the new generation of urban sandwich artists who are popping up around the Bank Street business core. These eco-conscious, independent, food-loving entrepreneurs believe in creative and healthy fare to inspire the appetites of time-pressed cubicle dwellers. All four contenders advertise their use of local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and all offer a unique, fresh take on the humble sandwich. By Shawna Wagman

Cheese Whiz: This Bowich sandwich combines lemon-rosemary braised artichoke hearts and ricotta cheese on a tangy sourdough bread (Photo: Photoluxstudio.com - Christian Lalonde)

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Shawna Wagman | May 16, 2011 at 3:00 pm

WEEKLY LUNCH PICK: Huong’s banh xeo, the addictive golden savoury Vietnamese crêpe

The Place: I hope this charming family-run Chinatown Vietnamese bistro doesn’t find itself overwhelmed by the sudden surge in popularity that comes from a review singing its praises that ran in the Citizen recently. But I confess that’s what led me to Huang’s, an unassuming spot I had missed on my diligent rounds of Vietnamese restaurants clustered around Booth and Somerset over the years.

The Deal: What a treat to discover not just the same old list of springrolls, pho and bun but a menu filled with enticing new-to-me dishes. The invigorating scent of simmering broth and fresh herbs fills the air. I want to bottle it.

The Dish: Scanning the room, everything looks delicious but one dish in particular caught my eye immediately from a neighbouring table. I would later recognized it as banh xeo, the oversized, over-stuffed savoury pancake I once sampled in Paris. The relationship between French and Vietnamese cuisine has a long history and its influence here is an example of what happens when a dish takes the best of two worlds. Banh Xeo crosses the technique behind two French classics, the crêpe and the omelette, with several of the trademark flavours of Vietnamese cuisine: the addition of fresh bright herbs, crunchy lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and bean sprouts, as well as plump shrimp and pork. Most importantly, it gets a boost of umami from the sweet, sour, and fishy-funky dipping sauce. I believe Huong’s is one of the few places in Ottawa that make this dish and for me, it is worth the price of admission alone.

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Shawna Wagman | May 16, 2011 at 10:00 am

TO MARKET! Little Italy Farmers Market launches its first full season

Photograph courtesy of Cheryl Cadrin

There have been rumblings for the past year that the Preston Street BIA is working towards starting up a year-round farmer’s market. I’m sure the area residents and food businesses are salivating at the prospects of having easy access to fresh, local meats and produce nearby.

Last fall, the first Little Italy Farmers’ Market came to life in the Adult High School Parking Lot at the corner of Preston and Gladstone, and again for three weekends leading up to Christmas. Building on the positive momentum, the Little Italy Farmers’ Market returns for an extended run this year: every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from May 7 until October 8. There are two exceptions: the June 11th Market will be held across the street in the Il Postino Parking lot and the June 18th market will be cancelled for Italian Week.

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Shawna Wagman | May 5, 2011 at 9:30 am

OPENING: The Parkdale Field House, a farmer-driven local food boutique

While I live in close proximity to the Parkdale Market, I confess, I rarely do any significant food shopping there. In past years, I have been disappointed with the quality of the produce sold there and disillusioned to discover that only a tiny fraction of what’s available is locally grown. In other words, overwhelmingly, it has been the same sad fruits and veggies I find at the supermarket.

Beyond the food, my interest in shopping at farmers’ markets has to do with the intangible character or vibe of the place. I’ve visited dozens of different markets in different countries and I am always swept up in the energy that markets seem to create. Whenever I travel, I make sure a visit to the local farmers’ market is one of the first stops on my itinerary. It’s the fastest and easiest way to get to the heart and soul of a place. And it’s often a good bet when seeking something good to eat.

Lately I’ve been thinking about what Ottawa’s farmers markets say about us. And that’s why I was so delighted to learn that some serious investment has been made to improve both of these critical aspects — food and vibe — at the Parkdale Market for 2011. This market is the geographic hub for Hintonburg and West Wellington neighbourhoods and it seems to cry out to become a truly great public space in which these communities can gather, linger and shop.

The first step in this direction has been the impressive $1.2 million makeover of the area, which includes the children’s park and the so-called Field House, which has gone from eyesore to an impressive and playful piece of architecture. Then there’s the addition of (gasp!) public washrooms. Apparently these are the first major renovations the Parkdale Market has seen since it opened in 1924.

So what’s going into the Field House besides a trail of potty-trained toddlers from the adjacent playground and wading pool?

Neighbourhood foodies will be falling over themselves when they discover the new tenants who have set up shop at the back of the newly-reno’d building: an innovative co-op of local farmers and food producers who have come together to create a one-of-a-kind indoor/outdoor all-local food market. It’s a pilot project with the potential to function year-round, supported by the City in connection with the buy-local organization, Savour Ottawa.

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Shawna Wagman | May 4, 2011 at 9:45 am