| Fresh Food | David Wood's Cheese, Featherstone, |
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| Fresh Food | David Wood's Cheese, Featherstone, |
More (Archives + Search) * Contact * Please Subscribe (it's free) * About Us * Wine Agents * NEW: Gremoblog | ||
| Browse or Search All of Gremolata  Gremolata; gremolada: [greh-moh-LAH-tah] A garnish made of minced parsley, lemon peel and garlic. It's sprinkled over osso buco and other dishes to add a fresh, sprightly flavour. (Source: Food Network Encyclopaedia) More Gremolata Articles... The Cheese
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| David Wood's Cheese Odyssey David Wood’s name is familiar to Toronto foodies who harken back to the pioneering gourmet shop he opened in 1984, and which dominated the larders of the city’s carriage trade for most of that decade. In the early 90s, Wood and his family fled the Big Smoke to the pastoral paradise of Salt Spring Island, where they started a new life making what is widely hailed as some of the best goat's milk cheese in Canada. But, things were not so easy fifteen or so years ago in the world of handmade cheese. Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley recently spoke to Wood about his Cheese Odyssey and how he became one of the nation's top producers…[more]. | Gremolata's Classic Summer Cookbook List: Lulu's Provençal River Cafe Easy The Cooking The Harry's Bar Cookbook And bear Two Towns Garlic and Gremolata's
Escape to Please contact Gremolata with story ideas, questions or comments. We welcome enquiries for hard to find products, meats and vegetables. If we don't know where to find it, we'll find someone who does. Contact us anytime. |
Featherstone Estate Winery Gremolata's roving Canadian wine correspondent, Chris Willsher, returns this week with a look at another boutique winery from Niagara: Featherstone Estate. Established in 1998 by the husband and wife team of David Johnson and Louise Engels, Chris reports that this Vineland winery's holistic approach to winemaking sets them apart from many contemporaries in the region and has led to significant success over a short period of time. Chris recently set out to Ontario wine country to see where the award winning wines come from up close...[more]. | ||
Dominique and Cindy Duby Spain has Ferran Adria's El Bulli, The UK has Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck, Chicago has Grant Achatz' Alinea, but where can you go in Canada to experience molecular gastronomy, the mad scientist cuisine that's taking the epicurean world by storm? Would you believe a Vancouver chocolate shop? Husband and Wife team, Dominique and Cindy Duby, were recently in Toronto explaining the revolutionary techniques behind their Wild Sweets line of confectionary, made with weird contraptions engineered at UBC (one is a kind of cross between a microwave and a centrifuge) and ingredients one would never associate with chocolate like wild rice or barley grain. Belgian born Dominique explains that the pioneering chocolates "view science and psychology as an integral part of a modern food experience." Visit their website at www.dcduby.com to learn more. (For links to the restaurants above, see our Celebrity Chef List.) | ||
Toronto by Table Four of Toronto's top restaurants, Splendido, Didier, The Fifth and Via Allegro have joined forces to create a new organisation called Toronto by Table. Gremolata contacted Splendido's co-owner Yannick Bigourdain this week to find out more about the project. Bigourdan explained that with each restaurant offering a mid-priced $65 tasting menu they hoped together to raise awareness of what's coming out of the city's upper tier kitchens among a broader audience. Bigourdan was adamant that Toronto by Table was in no way trying to compete with Summerliscious, which also offers discount menus at selected restaurants, although at a much lower price point (between $15 and $35). The group hopes to focus on seasonal and regional themes over the year. Their kick-off feature Canadian menus in honour of our delicious Dominion's birthday, but Bigourdan foresees future promotions focusing on farmstead cheeses, or truffles or other specialty items. The group also hopes to catch the attention of Tourism Toronto and partner in Culinary Tourism projects and expects to grow its membership beyond the four founding restaurants. For more information and to view Splendido's menu, click here. | ||
Jason Collett Jason Collett is probably the most in demand singer-songwriter in the Canadian music scene today. Organiser of Toronto's renown Radio Monday concerts, guitarist for indie-rock superstars Broken Social Scene and accomplished solo artist. Collett's new album Idols of Exiles has just been released to critical acclaim as varied as NOW Magazine and Maclean's. Gremolata caught up with Collett on a sun-dappled patio in Little Italy to talk about food, wine, the road and a rock'n'roll life...[more]. | ||
Little India Toronto's Little India neighbourhood, set along a strip of shops and restaurants on Gerrard Street East, holds some of the city's most delicious treats, for people who know where to go and what to get. Gremolata's Michele Chandler found a great guide in cooking school teacher Arvinda Chauhan. Chauhan, an accomplished cook, writer and recipe developer, barred no holds and their trip along Gerrard Street covered several regions on Indian food and just about every course...[more]. | ||
Domaine Calcaire Carrie and Dan Taylor left the Big Smoke in the Millennial year of 2000 for the green pastures of Prince Edward County and a new life of making wine. The Taylors' Domain Calcaire released their 2003 Hillier Pinot Noir this spring to much fanfare, and are seen as up and comers in the County's flourishing wine scene, struggling with the famously fickle varietal along with veterans Geoff Heinricks and Jeff Connell. Gremolata caught up with Dan to talk about his new life as a vintner and what's happening eastward on the 401...[more]. | ||
Ontario Strawberries Michelle Shabatura is indeed a Farmer's Daughter just like the name of her new store at 946 Kingston Rd. (between Main and Victoria Park). So it's fitting that Michelle would be the first to contact Gremolata with the best news of June: fresh Ontario strawberries are in season, being picked and arriving on the shelves of the city's better purveyors. The Farmer's Daughter gets their berries directly from Michelle's family's farm near Waterford, where she also has a specially marked pesticide-free plot for the store's fresh produce. No recipe required: just a little cream and maybe a sprig of mint from the garden. Save the balsamic and cracked pepper for the California imports. | ||
The Spice Trader The first of two new Queen West gourmet stores to share an address, The Spice Trader opened recently, featuring all organic or wild harvested spices. Neil Bougourd, who started the store with partner Alison Johnston, explained that he was tired of spending a lot of money on beautiful organic produce and meats and then throwing on spices that could have been made any way at all. Bougourd also told Gremolata that the volatile oils, which give dried spices their flavour are lost when exposed to light, which is why The Spice Trader's wares are packaged in opaque tins. The store also features certified organic sea salts, which may only be harvested in heritage reserves in three countries: New Zealand, Wales and France. 805 Queen St W, call 647 430 7085 or email info@thespicetrader.ca | ||
The Olive Pit The second of the two new Queen West stores to open recently is the Olive Pit, which carries 36 varieties of extra virgin, cold pressed, olive oils from nine different countries. Owner Shirley Bougourd (mother of Neil, see above) is particularly proud of her single estate oils from France, which feature single varietal pressings - very rare to find in this country. The Olive Pit also carries the fabled Minus 8 ice wine vinegar from Niagara and has three varieties of EVOO that can be purchased in bulk (you can bring your own container, if you like). These can always be tasted first, as can at least one of their flavoured oils (porcini when Gremolata visited recently). 805 Queen St W, call 647 430 7085. | ||
Cusumano's 2003 Angimbé Gremolata prides itself on having the insider's edge: on knowing about the fantastic bottle of wine that's under $20, that's been hand crafted in way that would make Jonathan Nossiter proud and has a characteristic (a different varietal or a region that's just a little obscure) that only a savvy buyer would recognise and welcome. The sort of wine one can bring to the dinner party triumphantly and confidently brag about how little was spent for so much. Alas, the 2003 Angimbé from Sicilian house Cusumano is not one of these wines, since it's actually the Vintages (white) Wine of the Month. Never mind this dubious honour, it's one of the very best valued whites to come to Ontario this summer. The secret seems to be the 70% of its blend, which is the indigenous Scillian grape Insolia. The remaining 30% is good old Chardonnay, the come back kid of white grapes, and the two play wonderfully off each other. The Wine Spectator gave it a 90 and listed its Cusumano as one of the World's Top 50 Producers. There is a lot of love out there for this wine. And the good news is that it's all over the place and in all the decent sized Vintages stores - too many to even list a few. As always, you can find the store nearest to you that stocks the 2003 Angimbé by clicking here. | ||
Wyndym Farm Gremolata has been corresponding with "Farmer Dave" Perkins from his Niagara Wyndym Farm. Our conversation is part of a new Gremolata initiative this growing season to report on what some of the province's leading organic farmers are planting and harvesting, so our readers can look for the freshest produce that's perfectly in season. Wyndym, which was recently featured in Gourmet magazine, is a favourite source for many Niagara and Toronto chefs and will be operating a "farm stand" beginning this month. Stay tuned to Gremolata, or check Wyndym's Website for more details. When we asked what was going into the ground, Farmer Dave said:
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Dionisos Albarino, Rais Baixas Watch for Spanish Albarinos, especially from the Rias Baixas region in Galacia, to pop up on the city's trendier wine lists this summer. Much like the Viogner craze of a few years ago, Albarinos (or Alvarinho in Portugese) is the hot white wine varietal of the season. At $18.95 the 2003 Dionisos (full name: Adegas Galegas O Deus Dionisos Albarino, LCBO# 586602) is a wonderful example of this full bodied wine. Beppi Crosariol describes it as "racy", and we don't disagree. Look for it at stores with larger Vintages sections like Summerhill, Queen's Quay, Bayview Village, Avenue & Lawrence and Dupont & Spadina. It is widely distributed and you can find the bottle nearest you at the LCBO site. |
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