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| Eat Better | Pastry Chef Confidential, Eggplant, |
More (Archives + Search) * Contact * Please Subscribe (it's free) * About Us * Wine Agents * NEW: Gremoblog | ||
Gremolata 042 is brought to you by TASTE! A celebration of regional Cuisine | ||
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| Collines du Bourdic Viogner If the 80s were about Chardonnay and the 90s were about Sauvignon Blanc, then perhpas the 00s are about Viognier, the grape Hugh Johnson calls "ultra-fashionable". And why not? The varietal is the staple of Rhône whites, such as the great Condrieu. Lately, it has become the darling of New World small producers, especially in California and increasingly in Southwestern France (and Ontario, for that matter). The 2000 Les Collines du Bourdic Viognier (LCBO# 650259) is a great example of a full bodied white wine, and at $14.95 it's very well priced and competes with comparable labels asking $5 to $10 more. Rod Phillips has suggested that the Bourdic Viognier is the perfect companion to Thai food. Gremolata thinks it's simply a wonderful aperitif. The wine is widely distributed throughout the province. Click here to find an LCBO Vintages carrying it near you. In Toronto, Bayview Village, Bloor & Royal York, Leaside, Avenue & Lawrence, Yonge & Davisville, Danforth & Broadview and Dupont & Spadina are just a few of the stores reporting large stocks. | (Sponsored)
Recent Gremolata Interviews & Profiles
Bob Blumer's Surreal Gourmet Series:
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Ivy Knight on the Miseries of the Pastry Chef So, you think you want to work in a top kitchen? Before you start applying to culinary schools, be sure to read the first column from Gremolata's newest contributor, Ivy Knight. Ivy has worked in some of Toronto's best known kitchens and is currently the Sous Chef at Lure, Sam Girgis' new seafood restaurant at Dupont & Avenue Road. In this Gremolata exclusive, Ivy pulls no punches when she describes the brutal regime of those who prepare desserts...[more] | ||
Finca Antigua Tempranillo Spain is the third largest producer of wine in the world, just after France and Italy. Yet Spanish wines have never achieved the same kind of brand awareness in Canada that other countries enjoy. Outside of Rioja, many of us would be hard pressed to name another Spanish wine producing region. This is beginning to change, partly through the recognition of Spain as a first tier culinary destination, but mostly due to the great value wines that are becoming available to us here, like the 2002 Finca Antigua Temprillo ($12.95 - LCBO# 597070). This wine is from La Mancha in the centre of the country; an area known mostly for whites. Vic Harradine gave it five out of five stars and described it as having a "quintessential 'new world' style (jammy, fruit forward and easy drinking) that should prove a real crowd pleaser with grilled meats e.g. lamb or beef." Although it came out in the August 20 release, there is much of it around the province. Click here to find an LCBO near you that stocks it. In Toronto, look for it at Summer Hill, Queen's Quay, Spadina & Dupont, Leaside, Bloor & Royal York and Bayview Village, to name a few. | ||
Eggplant, Aubergine or Melanzana? Gremolata's spies in the field report back that fresh eggplants are being harvested throughout Ontario now. Dave Perkins of Wyndym Farm has told us that he's already sold out of his famous black ones, explaining he grows Japanese eggplants. He explains: They are tastier, less bitter and have less seeds. We also grow Thai eggplants which are green and round with more seeds. But they have a very distinct texture good for stuffing. The Japanese varieties are skinny, 4-7" in length and in white and dark purple. The Thai variety are green striped and about 2" around. This is the best time of year for them. In Japan, eggplants traditionally are used in late August for festivals and into the fall in homes and temples. Simmering is the most common cooking method. Ginger is a perfect compliment, dipping sauces are simple and they are eaten at room temperature. Eggplant is a staple in many countries because of its' meaty texture and flavour. Without going into all the science of carbohydrate/protein conversion-amino acid to glutamate/umami processes, the natural flavour of them can be further "meated up" by smoking and seasoning. | ||
Konrad Ejbich's Guide to Ontario Wine Toronto-based wine writer Konrad Ejbich may be best known for his regular appearances on CBC Radio's Ontario Today phone-in program. As resident wine expert, Ejbich has taken thousands of calls from thirsty listeners. Many of the calls, he recently explained, consist simply of, "What's a good Ontario wine?" A Pocket Guide to Ontario Wines, Wineries, Vineyards & Vines answers this question exhaustively and provides the best overview of the province's viniculture yet...[more]. | ||
The Love of A Good Butcher Do you know your butcher's name? And does he or she know yours? Traditional butchery is making a come back with new operators like The Healthy Butcher on Queen Street West, in Toronto fighting back against industrial meat packing and Styrofoam trays in the supermarket cooler. In a Gremolata web-exclusive, Eric Rumble's article from the current issue of City Bites magazine explores the difference a good butcher can make...[more]. | ||
Thirteenth Street Winery Gremolata's roving wine correspondent Chris Willsher returns in this issue to look at another Niagara boutique wine making operation: Jordan Station's Thirteenth Street Winery. Willsher discovers how managing and harvesting by hand, combined with a commitment to keep their wines affordable, has put Thirteenth Street on the wine lists of some of Ontario's best restaurants for Susur to Starfish...[more]. | ||
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| More from Gremolata 040 | ||
The Meyer Lemon Quick: name three types of lemon! Until recently, most of us would be stumped to name just one. And chances are, if you can name one it's "Meyer". The Meyer lemon may not be the world's first designer fruit, but it may now be the most ubiquitous, at least on the menus of high-end restaurants and in the pages of celebrity chef cookbooks. Joshna Maharaj traces the history of the Meyer lemon and offers her recipe for Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette... [more]. | ||
Gorwydd Caerphilly From Wales comes a lesson on how to reclaim, or even reinvent culinary traditions. Though Caerphilly is synonymous with Welsh cheese, production nearly ended for good in the last century. First, industrial production techniques in the 1910's meant that cheaper English cheeses outsold domestic ones. Second, improved rail links meant that Welsh dairy farmers could cheaply export their milk, rather than make cheese from it (perversely, most "Caerphilly" cheese is still made across the border in England). And finally, rationing during the Second World War meant that, apart from home consumption, only Cheddar could be produced in Britain. And yet a traveler in Wales will now find domestically produced farmstead cheeses in the humblest of food shops in nearly all the towns in the country. Much like in Quebec, a combination of gastronomic interest and pride of place has rekindled old techniques and nowhere is this more evident than in the Gorwydd Caerphilly, made with raw milk. Production started in 1996 by the Trethowan family at their farm in Western Wales. The cheese has been described as "a fresh, lemony taste, slightly salty and well-rounded; it lasts in your mouth". In Toronto, look for Welsh Caerphilly at the Cheese Boutique, Whole Foods, Alex Farms and other fine cheese shops. As suitable to a sandwich as to the cheese platter. | ||
Marcello Cabezas Marcello Cabezas is the Artistic Producer of macIDeas, a stage/film/TV production company that burst onto the Toronto theatre scene in the fall of 2003 with their staging of This Is Our Youth, directed by Hollywood Actor Woody Harrelson. While working with Harrelson, Cabezas adopted a raw food lifestyle. Now, with a short film, Leo, about to premier at the Toronto International Film Festival, Cabezas spoke with Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley about what he's up to and why he avoids cooked food... [more]. | ||
Tomato Recipes The Summer of 2005 has produced erratic tomato crops across the Northern Hemisphere, but those fruit that made it and flourished are available now. Few enjoy the hard-won harvest of the tomato in a cold climate as much as the British, and in this spirit Gremolata offers the following four simple and seasonal tomato recipes from the UK, and one from the US for good measure: 1) Heston Blumenthal's Confit Tomatoes, 2) Nigel slater's Various Roasted Tomato Recipes, 3) Jamie Olver's Tomato and Horseradish Salad, 4) Nigella Lawson's Old-Fashioned Tomato Salad, and 5) Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman's Tomato Towers with Basil. (Note: The last two come from David Leite's superb collection of cookbook recipes at his site, www.leitesculinaria.com.) | ||
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| More from Gremolata 039 | ||
Donna Dooher's Ontario Food Terminal Ever wonder what it would be like to shop like a chef? Up at the crack of dawn, browsing through fruits and vegetables long before any mere shopper will see them Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley got up very early on a recent Thursday morning to find out. Celebrity chef Donna Dooher took him to the fabled Ontario Food Terminal - where the OPP ensures the riff-raff stay out - to find out what it's like to buy a box of vegetables right off the truck...[more]. | ||
Mel Watkins' Big Green Egg Mel Watkins is one of Canada's best known political economists, but few who follow his work know about the new great passion in his life: his Big Green Egg. Part barbecue, part oven, part smoker, Watkins revels in the BGE and delights in his new role as someone who can cook. Even better, he explains, the Big Green Egg has given him a brand new story for his grandchildren...[more] | ||
Cusumano Syrah Alberto and Diego Cusumano are two young winemakers who are very much behind the Sicillian wine revolution. This earned them a place in The Wine Spectator's list of '50 Top Producers'. Earlier this summer, Gremolata featured their 2003 Angimbé, which blended the indigenous insolia grape with ubiquitous Chardonnay. The Angimbé is one of their labels that is from a specific property, but they also have a line of wines made from single varietals sourced form across their holdings on the island. At $13.95 the 2003 Cusumano Syrah is a great example of a New World-style wine from the old. Rod Phillips gave it four out of five stars and writes: "A big Syrah from Sicily that's competition to Shiraz from that bigger island down south." Indeed: a great alternative to your regular Friday night Australian. The Cusumano came out in the August 20 Vintages Release. You can find a bottle near you at the LCBO's website by clicking here. In the GTA, the following stores are stocking large inventories: Summerhill, Bayview Village, Queen's Quay, Bloor & Royal York, Dupont & Spadina, Leaside, Yonge & Davisville, Avenue & Lawrence, to name just a few. | ||
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| From Gremolata 038 | ||
Gourmet Woodbridge There are as many, or even more, people who live in the belt of developments surrounding the city of Toronto than who live in it. In this update, Michele Chandler explores one of the more vibrant food scenes in this area, colloquially known as "the 905". Her first stomping ground: some of the gourmet stores in and around Woodbridge, just northwest of Toronto and known for it's dynamic Italian-Canadian community. Exploring with resident and dedicated foodie friend Andrea Peric, Michele discovers everything from fresh Mediterranean fish to proper Italian pastries...[more]. | ||
Bob Blumer is The Surreal Gourmet Bob Blumer may be Canada's best known chef. His Surreal Gourmet TV show is currently shooting it's fifth season in and around Toronto, and is seen by millions of the hungry and curious around the world. His cookbooks - starting with the breakthrough The Surreal Gourmet: Real Food for Pretend Chefs, which he illustrated himself - continue to challenge and amuse us with their combination of fanciful high concept presentation and no-nonsense technique. All of this is more remarkable since Blumer is self-taught and describes his celebrity chef career as "accidental". Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley caught up with Blumer recently to discuss what he's up to now and how he became the Surreal Gourmet...[more]. | ||
Crémant de Loire: Yves Lambert's Brut Rosé Legend has it that the great economist John Maynard Keynes was asked on his death bed if he had any regrets. "Just one," he replied, "I wish I had drunk more Champagne." And don't we all. But at $60 for a lesser bottle from a well known brand, and at least $40 for a smaller producer (if and when they come through the LCBO), our bottles-drunk-to-death-bed-regrets ratio will remain unsatisfactorily low for most of us. So we look for bubbly alternatives like the charming Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé Yves Lambert (NV - LCBO# 656488) at rather reasonable price of $17.95. This is a great aperitif and it's salmon pink pallor (from Cab. Sauvignon and Cab. Franc grapes) makes it fun to drink as much as its crispness. A perfect wine to end the summer. In the GTA, look for it at Bayview Village, Sherwood Forest, Queen's Quay, Leaside and Queensway & 427, among others. You can look for a store near you that carries it at the LCBO website by clicking here. | ||
Summer Peas in the Pod Pity the poor pissum sativa, or common pea in the pod. The traditionalists around here get all worked up every August at the prospect of fresh sweet corn. And Ontario foodie credentials must include a devotion to properly picked heirloom tomatoes (see Sasha Chapman's excellent feature in this month's Toronto Life). By the time the first peas in the pod appear on the shelves, our veggie attention is in danger of being exhausted. But this late summer treat has a noble pedigree and should not be ignored. Doubters need only read M.F.K. Fisher's An Alphabet for Gourmets for the finest tribute to sweet round morsels ever written. But if there's no Fisher on the shelf, then ten minutes of picking the peas out of their pods (taking care to deposit more peas into the pot than into the picker's mouth), followed by a biref boil in salted water, and a quick dressing in butter, salt, pepper and mint form the garden will convert the most ardent resister. | ||
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Alain Besré and the Quebec Cheese Revolution From his perch at Montréal's famous Fromagerie du Marché Atwater, Alain Besré has watched Quebec's artisan cheese scene explode into dozens of makers, producing some of the most acclaimed cheeses in North America and the world. On a recent trip to Toronto, Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley sat down with Besré at the Cheese Boutique, where they were joined by two of the city's food luminaries: restaurateur, teacher, TV chef Donna Dooher and James Beard Award winning author Gina Mallet. The four of them discussed what went so right in Quebec and what could happen in Ontario...[more]. | ||
Old Cookbook Outsells Harry Potter Visitors to Amazon's UK website, who check the list of top selling books, will discover at its top an 11 year old cookbook, written by a professional chef who hasn't been in a commercial kitchen more than 10 years. Simon Hopkinson's slim 1994 book Roast Chicken and Other Stories (co-authored by Lindsay Bareham) has long been a cult favourite. As a young chef he became one of Elizabeth David's favourites in the early 80's, capturing the attention of Terrence Conran, who installed him as chef at Bibendum when it opened in 1987. There he cooked for seven years, until he had a nervous breakdown on a New Year's Eve service and gave up his toque for good. The book was named The Most Useful Cookbook Ever this month by Waitrose Food Illustrated, a popular glossy magazine published by a British supermarket. Within a day Roast Chicken has bumped J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince off their top sellers list...[more at Gremoblog]. | ||
Réserve de Gassac Mas de Daumas Gassac has been called the 'Lafite of Languedoc' back when the region was known mostly as France's 'wine lake' and most producers simply sold grapes to big industrial concerns. Proprietor Aime Guibert was a Parisian glove maker (!) who bought the property as a vacation spot. Only after a visit from a Bordeaux professor of oenology was he convinced to plant vines, which he did in the mid-70s. The rest is more or less history, and Guibert is probably best known now as one of the irascible artisan-stars of Jonathan Nossiter's film Mondovino. In the film Guibert rails against the Mondavi wine corporation, who had planned to develop a winery on a neighbouring hill. Guibert and the local townsfolk successfully fought the Mondavi's off by electing a Communist town council! Whether Guibert is a genuine fighter for small wine makers or a shrewd capitalist who beat off the competition is still a source of controversy in the wine world. Anyway, the 2003 Réserve de Gassac Rouge (LCBO# 608760) is a second wine from the Mas and a fun way to try one of the Mondovino products. At $18.95 it's not exactly a steal, but offers good value in the just under $20 range. It's actually a relic of the February 5th release, and at the time Rod Phillips gave it four stars and said "the fruit is complex and generous, beautifully balanced..." Click here to do an inventory search at the LCBO website, to find a bottle near you. There's lots Réserve around, but it's spread throughout the LCBO chain. GTA stores that are reporting decent sized inventories include Bayview Village, Queen's Quay, Laird & Eglington, Manulife, 401 & Weston, Sherwood Forest, HWY 10 & Eglington and Bloor & Royal York, among others. | ||
 Gremolata 041 is brought to you by The Cheese Boutique. The Cheese Boutique supplies fine restaurants such as Eigensinn Farm, Truffles, Splendido, Perigee, Luce, Fat Cat and Via Allegro. Next time you visit, be sure to ask about their new "Meat Program". Using a proper aging room, which dates from the 1930's, the Boutique is able to properly "rail hang" their AAA Alberta beef the old-fashioned way for a minimum of 40 days. Dry aging allows natural enzymes in the meat to tenderise the flesh, often reducing the original weight by two thirds, and delivering truly subtle and delicious flavours. Open 7 days a week: www.CheeseBoutique.com. |
More Gremolata People: | ||||||
 David Miller |  Leah McLaren |  Matt Galloway |  Paula Wolfert |  Natalie MacLean |  Claudia Dey | |
Copyright © Gremolata Media Group Inc. 2005.
