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Gremolata 057
Wine Review

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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)

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A few weeks ago, Zagat published a survey of top US and UK chefs, asking them what they would and wouldn't like to see on menus in 2006. Responses were varied from Anthony Bourdain's hope for "Authentic Vietnamese. Decent Mexican food. Real tapas bars. Baby cuttlefish. Yakitori joints like in Tokyo. Smoking sections. Casual Malaysian. Offal." to Daniel Boulod's call for "Organically produced wine. Waiters in nice, crisp Spencer jackets." When it came to what the chef's didn't want to see, Bourdain's answers, once again, stood off the page: "Truffle oil. "Fusion." Water sommeliers. Over designed dining rooms. Mayonnaise on sushi. "Concept" restaurants. Novelty martinis.". His denunciation of truffle oil was seconded emphatically by Gordon Ramsey, and confirmed by Boulod, who was equally scornful of "truffles in the hands of amateurs who don't know how to use them. " This is about as close to unanimity from this bunch as one could expect, so here's Gremolata's major prediction for 2006 (at least in top international restaurants): less truffle abuse.

Closer to home, Lucy Waverman's 'foodie forecast' in the December 31 edition of The Globe listed 10 trends she saw coming to the fore this year. We were tempted to follow her approach, if only because the odds are that at least some of them will pan out. But in the end we've narrowed it down to the three below. To get a little help, we asked a few of Toronto's major food and wine types and friends of Gremolata for their thoughts, as well.

1. English Mustard: OK, we admit we've just lifted this right off of Gina Mallet's list of hot foods for 2006 in part because we really like hot English mustards like Coleman's or Keen's and because we're sick of Dijon, but also because it relates to another big food trend for the new year, especially for home cooks: greater use of spices (also on Waverman's list under "it ingredients". Donna Dooher, who's been promoting her vision of "seasonality and sustainability" in Wish: Market to Table, explained, "Easy to transport and relatively non-perishable spice can deliver a powerful punch to the blandest of winter vegetables and add new dimensions to lesser cuts of meats - a tastier route to sustainability." It's the transformation of the bland that's key. Especially, as Dooher points out, in winter when produce choices are pretty limited.

2. Charcuterie in Restaurants: There is some shameless self promotion with this prediction, since we made it before in our piece on Michael Ruhlman and his new book on the subject. But it's true: he's made the idea of a curing meat very sexy and every aspiring chef worth her salt (no pun intended) will be expected to cure her own duck bacon, at the least. Tralee Pearce backed us up on this and went further suggesting pork bellies, and Mallet added her opinion to the consensus too. If you count confit de canard as a charcuterie (which Ruhlman and his co-author Brian Polcyn do), then this dovetails nicely with Waverman's prediction that "fat" will be big in 2006. Paula Wolfert has long pointed out that the residents of Southwestern France eat a lot of duck fat, yet coronary disease rates in line with Provencal cousins, who stick to oilve oil. Fine shops around the city are starting to stock it.

3. Ontario Boutique Wines: There are probably as many devoted wine drinkers in this province who don't know the slightest about our domestic output than do. This year saw the publication of Konrad Ejbich's Pocket Guide to Ontario Wine and (what Gremolata thinks is) the tipping point on quality Ontario wines. After fifteen years of serious winemaking and the emergence of boutique wineries like Daniel Lenko, Fielding Estate, 13th Street and Malivoire, to name just a very few, Ontario winos are beginning to appreciate a glass of homegrown. At the same time, the wineries are getting much better at connecting with customers, often online and bypassing the LCBO which charges them (or us, depending on how you see it) a crippling tariff per bottle. Once consumers become acquainted with the superior product, demand will skyrocket and every wine list in Toronto will have at least half a dozen boutique labels on offer. (For more wine trends, see our fall interview with Szabo & Szabo here.)

Enjoy, and please send us your 2006 food and wine predictions at predictions@gremolata.com.

Andy Shay is
Gremolata's
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More
Gremolata Interviews

Trish Magwood

Dufflet Rosenberg

Paula Wolfert

Matt Galloway

Bob Blumer

Leah McLaren

Jason Collett

Gina Mallet

Paul Finkelstein and the Slow Food Youth

Donna Dooher's Food Terminal Tour

Jetsetter
Viia Beaumanis

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Brought to you by The Cheese Boutique, now featuring fresh white and black Italian truffles.

At an average of three to four articles a week, published fifty times this year, Gremolata racked up quite a lot of content for our archives in 2005. Here are only some of our highlights - be sure to scroll down, too, to see more from our recent issues or search everything by clicking here.

Gourmands...
In 2005 playwright Claudia Dey was Gremolata's first interview, followed by Toronto Mayor David Miller. Before winning food writing's most prestigious prize, The James Beard Award, Gina Mallet sat for as Gremolata interview and contributed a piece on her smash book Last Chance to Eat. Fellow Canuck James Beard winner and wine enthusiast Natalie MacLean wrote for us to explain what makes her tick. We met up with Michael Stadtlander, Anthony John  and Ruth Klahsen as they popped in on Paul Finkelstein's Slow Food Youth Symposium. Later we tracked his Stratford Northwestern Highschool class as they travelled to BC and then to Japan. Canadian Food TV stars Bob Blumer and Trish Magwood guided us around their kitchens and Dufflet Rosenberg educated us on butter, sugar and all things good. Rock star Jason Collett made the connection between indie rock and Artisanal food. American food writing heavy weights Paula Wolfert and Michael Ruhlman told us about their new big books. And Finally, no year end review would be complete without a look at self-denial, and the GI Diet guru Rick Gallop told us about the latest cuisine minceur. Of course, there's always more.

Brought to you by The Cheese Boutique, now featuring fresh white and black Italian truffles.

Gourmandises...
In 2005 we exposed the deep dark marketing secrets of Yellow Tail wine, reviewed dozens of Vintages labels and learned about a year in the life of a Prince Edward County winemaker from Domaine Calcaire's Dan Taylor, learned what it was like to be a wine writer from Dean Tudor and got the industry scoop from Szabo and Szabo. Andy Shay explained all things cheesy. Donna Dooher revealed the secrets of the Food Terminal. Michele Chandler took us from Little India to Woodbridge with a pit stop at the Feed Your Mind symposium to wax gastronomical with Jamie Kennedy and Evan Solomon. Matthew Christian explored Gourmet Guelph, while Sara Bornstein and Kevin Brandt let us relax in bucolic Halliburton at their Harmony Farm. Cheryl Young walked along St. Clair West and the mean streets of Leaside looking for good things to eat. Mel Watkins extolled the virtues of the Big Green Egg, while Joshna Maharaj covered everything from Meyer Lemons to the good work of The Stop. Ivy (Knight) Knight revealed the horrors of being a pastry chef and the delights of her Parkdale. And Chris Willsher explored Ontario wineries with dogged determination. And we visited Riverdale and Dufferin Grove Farmers Markets. Of course, there's always more.

Brought to you by The Cheese Boutique, now featuring fresh white and black Italian truffles.

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