The Tomato Food and Drink March April 2015 by Tomato

Take a bite of your city | March April 2015 | thetomato.ca

The Westin’s Ryan O’Flynn takes gold at CCC The Tomato Top 100 Mary and Juanita’s excellent London adventure

ALIFORNIA

WINE

A FUNDRAISER IN SUPPORT OF

CALIFORNIA

WINE

CALIFORN

WINE

FAIR FAIR FAIR WEDNESDAY APRIL 22, 2015

7:00 PM–9:30 PM

SHAW CONFERENCE CENTRE, HALL D

TICKETS $75 780•425•1820 citadeltheatre.com

Contents Editor Mary Bailey marybee@telus.net

Features

Publisher BGP Publishing

Copy Editor Don Retson Machel Reeves

Contributing Writers Peter Bailey Robert Beauchemin Sid Cross Rose Marie Sackela Judy Schultz

To eat or drink in Edmonton

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The Tomato is published six times per year:

5 Dish Gastronomic happenings around town

20 Beer Guy Prairie boy | Peter Bailey

26 The Proust Culinary Questionnaire Nate Box, micro restaurateur

Distribution Greenline Distribution

24 Ode to Rosalind Another Canadian champion | Rose Marie Sackela

Printer PrintWest Communications

18 2015 Canadian Culinary Championships Edmonton chef Ryan O’Flynn takes gold

Design and Prepress Bossanova Communications Inc.

16 The Sides of March What’s at the markets now?

Advertising Sales John Quark

12 Mary and Juanita’s Excellent London Adventure Five Days in London | Mary Bailey

Illustration/Photography Yuri Akuney Curtis Comeau Photography Demetri Giannitsios Gerry Rasmussen To Be In Pictures

6 The 3rd Annual Top 100 Best Things

30 Wine Maven Mary Bailey

32 Kitchen Sink What’s new and notable

34 According to Judy The pea shoot dilemma | Judy Schultz

Cover photo: Yuri Akuney (www.digitalperfections.ca)

January/February March/April May/June July/August September/October November/December by BGP Publishing 9833 84 Avenue Edmonton, AB T6E 2G1 780-431-1802 Subscriptions are available for $25 per year. thetomato.ca The Tomato | March April 2015 3

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Dish

gastronomic happenings around town

dining downtown for all

Merle Prosofsky photo

Don’t miss the chance to dine in some of Edmonton’s most delicious restaurants during Downtown Dining Week, March 13-22. “We want to shine a light on great dining downtown and the many amazing chefs working there during what is usually a slow period,” says Katherine Hoy, Downtown Business Association. “We ask them to do creative two-course lunches and threecourse dinners at special prices; a saving of at least 10 per cent over the a la carte menu.” There are usually about 30 restaurants in the program; so far the Blue Plate Diner, Confederation Lounge and the Harvest Room at Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, Hardware Grill, Hoang Long, L’Azia, the Marc, Normands, Ruth’s Chris, Sabor, Select, Sorrentino’s, Tzin and Zinc have signed up. “It’s a ten day food celebration,” says Katherine. “For example, last year the Harvest Room offered ostrich; we were shocked at the value offered at L’Azia with their steak and lobster dish. So many restaurateurs embrace it and it helps brand downtown as the dining district.” Visit the website for the full list and menus, dowtowndiningweek.com

want to shape edmonton’s food future?

NAIT photo

a good cuppa joe Edmonton’s first Coffee Week, created by Sarah Jackson, runs March 7-15, opening with A Film About Coffee, 3pm, March 7 at the Metro Cinema, followed by a reception at Transcend Garneau. During the week enjoy a coffee roastery tour, latte art seminars, knit night (is there a better place to knit than in a café drinking coffee?) a barista jam and competition demo, coffee tastings, even a coffee inspired dinner. Bravo to Sarah for pulling this together and bringing some attention to our vibrant and growing coffee culture. Block 1912, Café Bicyclette, Café Blackbird, Cavern, Dauphine, Earth’s General Store, Elm Cafe, Farrow, Glasshouse Bistro, Leva, Remedy, Spinelli’s, Zenari’s and Zocalo are some of the coffee merchants and houses participating. Drink up! For the full schedule of events visit: yegcoffee.com

The Edmonton Food Council is recruiting new team members, citizens looking to help shape food and agriculture in the city. The two-year-old Food Council advises the City of Edmonton on matters related to the implementation of fresh: Edmonton’s Food and Urban Agriculture Strategy. The council is looking for people with previous board experience and expertise in the following areas — farming, food production; food service or restaurant experience; public health; working with municipal government, private sector, or the business community. Visit edmontonfoodcouncil.org to apply. The deadline is 5 pm, March 16.

Bonjour Bakery photo

bonjour bakery wins big

meet NAIT’s Hokansen Chef in Residence Michael Stadtländer Every year NAIT brings in a chef of note to work with their students — to tell stories, teach skills, mentor, and most importantly, help young culinarians see a bigger picture, to imagine a big career in food. Notable chefs have included Lynn Crawford, Susur Lee, Chris

Cosentino and Rob Feenie. This year’s choice is another brilliant selection. Michael Stadtländer, whom we would call the father of the farm-to-table movement in Canada, has had a profound influence on several generations of restaurants and cooks; starting in 1980 at Scaramouche in Toronto with Jamie Kennedy, followed by Sooke Harbour House, near Victoria, then Stadtländer and Nekahh in Toronto. Chef Stadtländer and his wife Noboyu now cook from Eigensinn Farm and Hasai Restaurant and Bakery, creating dining experiences with what they grow on their farm, and fish from nearby Georgian Bay. There might still be a few tix left for lunch prepared by the students with this important chef, 780-471-8676.

From top: Hardware Grill’s popular seabass; NAIT Chef in Residence Michael Stadländer; Yvan and Ritsuko Chartrand of Bonjour Bakery.

Yvan and Ritsuko Chartrand’s Bonjour Bakery has won the Bakers Journal’s 2014 Business Innovation Award. Bonjour specializes in breads made by the slow rise fermentation process, using grains grown on nearby farms. Bonjour Bakery topped 11 other Canadian bakeries for the Bakers Journal award, which evaluates nominees on several criteria including new products or product line, social media and marketing strategy, specialty products, or use of new technologies or processes. Restaurants buy their rustic loaf and baguettes for crostini and sandwiches; we love the rye for toast and can’t resist the occasional pain au chocolat. Many customers still call the Mill Creek bakery by its original name, Treestone, opened by Nancy Rubiliak who sold to the Chartrands in 2010. Bakers Journal, a trade publication that has written about the Canadian baking industry for 70 years, pegged Calgary’s clever Jelly Modern Donuts as the runner-up. Bonjour Boulangerie, 8612-99 Street, 780-433-5924, yvanchartrand.com The Tomato | March April 2015 5

THE 3RD ANNUAL

THINGS TO EAT OR DRINK IN EDMONTON

Filliep Lament, left, and Kevin Cam of North 53. Curtis Comeau Photography

6 March April 2015 | The Tomato

We ask readers for their recommendations, we ask Facebook and Twitter, we check our notes, we ask friends and colleagues: what were the best things you ate and drank last year? An alien to this planet would think we live on sweets and pasta, as they dominate the Top 100 again for the third year. On the flip side, we are seeing more votes for primary producers — one of our favourites this year was the tweet that recommended the honey crisp apple, to our way of thinking a very good thing. Top dishes come from great raw material and we won’t keep good producers in business unless we purchase their products.

Trends? Put an egg on it. Lovers of runny eggs are thrilled to bits. Everybody else, not so much. Whichever camp you belong to, there’s much food for thought and some great eating and drinking to be done. We have room for 35 in this issue along with photos by Curtis Comeau and To Be in Pictures. Find the rest in our online edition and refer to it often. We could publish a novel with the amount of words written about our top dish. Perhaps offered by English majors who, after a long night discussing David Foster Wallace at Three Boars, crave nourishment next door at Farrow? Keep them coming, we loved every word.

Farrow Grick Middle Sandwich

To Be in Pictures photo

Andrew Ironmonger (Andrew the ironmonger?) was one of the multitude to nominate the Grick Middle sandwich from Farrow. “It is the most balanced sandwich; the soft yolk burst in the first few bites, coating sandwich and fingers in bright orange rich deliciousness; the crispness of the fresh greens and the light use of jam. Farrow incorporates local ingredients whenever they can. Their bacon alone is deserving of the award of best, custom-made by Sangudo Farms. In an ocean of over-processed, can’t-tellif-this-egg-is-real-or-not early morning options, Farrow is the lighthouse saving the famished from drowning in artificialness.”

The Tomato | March April 2015 7

Top 100 Continued from page 7

Bar Bricco Uova da Raviolo

A whole egg cooked inside ravioli with ricotta, then showered in a lavish dusting of pecorino. We watched Chris Hyde prep this knock-out dish early one evening — carefully cracking the egg on to a whisper-thin layer of rich eggy pasta he had made earlier that day, gently crimping the top layer, then gingerly sliding the tray into the refrigerator. Thank God eggs are good for us again. The dish is delicious shared, with a glass of bubbly in hand.

Cibo Bistro Grilled Octopus

Octopus is hellishly difficult to get right, and Cibo’s dish hits the mark, tender grilled octopus with a warm cannellini bean salad in a spicy lemony vinaigrette, the smoky flavours created by the grill playing off the briny meat. Their most recent incarnation of arancini, the savoury rice balls so beloved of their customers, is wild mushroom with sage and brown butter, also a big favourite with voters. We are also fans of the richly-flavoured braised oxtail, in fact, we’re fans of the whole menu.

Rosso Pizzeria Pizza Bianco Rapini e Salsiccia

Is it the wood-oven fired crust with its tasty burnt bits and chewy texture? Is it the variety of toppings in the right proportions? Voters love Rosso pizza. We’ll call the white pizza with rapini and fennel sausage the winner but the funghi dal bosco breakfast pizza and the classic redsauced Rosso with spicy soppressata also have rabid fans.

Corso 32 Tagliatelle Bolognese

88 March March April April 2015 2015 || The The Tomato Tomato

A perennial favourite with diners and Top 100 voters due to its depth of flavour, savouriness and perfect texture. Soulful cooking abounds in this stylish room; refreshing rainbow trout with almonds, radicchio, cavolo nero and pink lady apple; the cavatelli with the pork and fennel sausage ragu; sweet and sour beets with pistachios and aged ricotta, it’s all delicious.

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ULTIMATE SOCIAL EXPERIENCE Privada Wine and Tapas Charcuterie and Bread Plate

What one voter had to say; “Privada has a wonderful ambiance and offers tasty variety in a small menu. Cheeses and fresh-made bread are a terrific start to the meal. The two young chefs’ daily specials offer great creative variety and are always mouth-wateringly delicious. Owner Kaylan Como and his staff welcome customers and take time to explain the chef's offering. A special mention to our favourite server Melissa whose vivacious attitude always enhances the dining experience.”

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Rge RD Beet and Pear Salad

One reader rhapsodized about the beet and pear salad, another the Scotch eggs, and let’s not forget the unmentionable buts, where chef/ owner Blair Lebsack does culinary alchemy with the parts of the animal we would rather not think about. So many wonderful dishes in a room that makes us feel as though we’re in a rock star’s farmhouse. Another accolade, reaching number four on EnRoute’s 2014 Canada’s Best New Restaurants list. Bravo! Facing page top: Bar Bricco Uova da Raviolo; bottom: Cibo Bistro Grilled Octopus. This page top: Corso 32 Tagliatelle Bolognese. All photos Curtis Comeau Photography.

Please see ”Top 100” on next page

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The Tomato | March April 2015 9

good bread with good cheese Being a family business, we share your values, we make true artisan European breads that are both nutritious and tasty.

Continued from page 9

Sunworks Farms

Sunworks has a lot of fans, particularly for their organic, practically hand-raised chicken. Owner Ron Hamilton spends almost every Saturday morning grilling turkey sausage for Old Strathcona Market shoppers to try before they buy. We applaud their dedication to raising good food.

P ro u d w in n er o f th e A ll C an ad ia n 20 14 B ak ers Jo u rn al In n ova ti o n Aw ard

You can now enjoy our new selection of fine Quebec cheeses from Fromagerie Domaine Feodale.

bonjour boulangerie artisanale a rt i s a n

Top 100

b a k e r y

8612-99 Street 780.433.5924 www.bonjourbakery.com

Coming soon! A new array of fine charcuteries to further help you enjoy our breads.

To Be in Pictures photo

Corso 32 House-Made Goat Ricotta with Rosemary Oil, Maldon Salt and Crostini House-made soft cheese served with crostini. Simple? You bet. Easy? Not on your life. The reason people tell us they dream about this appetizer? The perfect balance of flavours — oil, sea salt, cream and toast. Try to have just one.

Ampersand 27 Pastrami Pork Cheeks, Braised Red Cabbage and Rye Spaetzle with Sauerkraut Crème

There’s a lot to love about Ampersand 27’s menu; the excellent flatbreads, the large and small plates, the pickle menu, but it was this dish captured the voter’s attention. Served with braised red cabbage, crunchy rye spaetzle and sauerkraut gentled with cream, Ampersand 27’s version of pork with red cabbage is a modern take on a traditionally humble dish. The cheeks are brined, dried, seasoned to chef Nathan Bye’s specifications, then lightly soaked and steamed, typical of the care and attention of this kitchen.

To Be in Pictures photo

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10 March April 2015 | The Tomato

Cavern Ploughman’s Lunch

Many shout outs on Twitter for the Cavern’s ploughman's lunch, a riff on the classic English board of cheese, pickles and bread. Caverns’ version may include Canadian cheddar, or one of their other well-conditioned cheeses, slices of baguette, piquant chutney and pickled onions. Have it with Newcastle Brown Ale and raise a glass to the queen.

Sabor Bacon-Wrapped Dates We’re loving the direction Sabor restaurant is moving in, with more fresh Ocean Wise fish and many voters’ favourite, bacon-wrapped dates.

Wildflower Grill Warm Brioche

The warm brioche served at the Wildflower Grill is a reminder that it’s the grace note that people remember — the friendly smile while taking your coat, the amuse bouche and this incredible housemade, just-baked, crispy-crusted warm brioche. The little things do count — they create true hospitality.

16 17

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Three Point Vodka Eau Claire Distillery Alberta-grown spirit from Turner Valley. Small batch, premium priced, put it on your wish list, it’s that good.

Your European Taste of Home

HIDe tHem FROm tHe kIDs

Thanh Thanh Noodle House Beef with Lemongrass in Spicy Coconut Sauce Charles Rothman was the first to talk about Thanh Thanh’s toothsome beef dish. Thanks Charles!

Red Star Pub Grilled Cheese Not your typical pub food and not your typical grilled cheese. Though, what does typical mean anyway? All pubs should have food this good.

Earth’s General Store Organic Espresso Blend Coffee “This espresso blend of three roasts is my daily morning mantra,” said Scott Whetham.

Drinks at Three Boars

Best beers @ThreeBoars said the tweets. We wanted something more specific so asked barkeep Chuck Elves for the most popular drink these days. He said:

Gins & Needles 1¾ oz

Spirit Bear gin

¼ oz

Dolin dry vermouth

½ oz

Spruce Syrup

Dash

Scrappy’s cardamom bitters

Stir and strain into glass

Curtis Comeau Photography

Float Fernet Branca on top Facing page top: Sunworks Farm; bottom: Ampersand 27 pork cheeks. This page: Chuck Elves of Three Boars. Please see ”Top 100” on page 22

The Tomato | March April 2015 11

Mary & Juanita’s excellent London adventure. Bring money. Buckets of it. That’s the best advice I can give anyone going to London soon. Our dollar against the pound is atrocious and we are talking one of the most expensive cities in the world. Don’t let this stop you. Absolutely not. Mary Bailey 12 March April 2015 | The Tomato

London is worth it. I went to London to receive the Wine Spirit Education Trust Diploma. It’s a rigourous course of study in wines and spirits, (following the WSET Foundation to Advanced levels, which I teach in Edmonton). I had tackled it part-time, flying to Vancouver to write the exams. (Not the easiest way, but when I started, the only way. Now, there are diploma classes in Vancouver and Calgary.) Juanita Roos’, owner of Color de Vino, story is similar. ‘Why not go to London and receive our diplomas in person?’ I’m sure there was wine involved when we came up with that idea. That we might meet Jancis Robinson and Pippa Middleton had something to do with our decision.

We gathered our sheckels and left on a snowy morning in January. That’s the only bad thing about traveling to London. You arrive early in the morning. We hadn’t booked the night before and the hotel had no rooms until check-in later that afternoon. We dropped our luggage and stumbled to the restaurant for toast and coffee (£50) then it was off to Old Spitalfields Market. Thursday is antique day.

terrible). Anyway, tired and, perhaps, a bit hungover, we knocked about Old Spitalfields marveling at the most eccentric and hilarious British junk; families of gnomes spray-painted black, vintage rock posters, vinyl, old clothes, fur in various stages of rattiness; silverplate galore, tea cups, art, books, much taxidermy, including our favourite: stuffed baby chicks, hideous, but summing up my state of mind at the time. I felt exactly like that stuffed chick, staring out at the world with empty eyes. We couldn’t even think of having lunch at St. John Bread and Wine right across the street, nor do more than pop into the fabulous grocery store Verdi’s, right next to A. Gold, which sells a spectacular line up of all-British, smallscale provisions. Too tired and stupid to buy anything, we were finally able to stumble down the High Street to the tube, get into our rooms and fall into bed. We needed energy for dinner that night at Hibiscus. Please see “London Adventure” next page.

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@themarcedmonton

Shop where the chefs shop.

278 Cree Road in Sherwood Park • 780.449-.3710 Open Monday to Thursday 10-5 • Friday to Saturday 9-6

Have you read that a lack of sleep is equivalent to being impaired? Maybe we had one glass too many of Champagne on the flight. Or, we really didn’t need that whiskey (the wine selection in the United Lounge in Chicago is Facing page from top: Mary Bailey, Juanita Roos, a Clerkenwell alley near St. John. This page from right: cafe sign on Portobello Road; black gnomes in Spitalfields; Hahn/Cock, Trafalgar Square’s blue rooster. Mary Bailey and Juanita Roos photos.

The Tomato | March April 2015 13

Top Ten Things for Food & Wine People to do in London 1 Hibiscus is in an upscale neighbourhood, ideal for windowshopping pre-dinner. Say hi to Bastien for us. 2 Borough Market Once to nosh at the market stalls, and once to go to Elliot’s for lunch. Check out Vinopolis before it closes at the end of the year and Tate Modern is around the corner. Also, visit Spa Terminus Market on a Saturday. 3 River Café Take the tube to Hammersmith for Sunday lunch. 4 The bar at St. John in Clerkenwell to save a bit of dosh and still eat good food. The shortish wine list has many excellent St John bottlings, good value by London standards. Give yourself enough time to wander the neighbourhood, beautiful and atmospheric. 5 Berry Bros. & Rudd A bit stiff upper lip with an amazing selection of wines and spirits in St James. Combine a visit with a museum night and drinks at Terroirs. 6 Visit Hedonism for the opposite reasons, young and friendly with an eye-popping collection, completely fun. Plan to spend a few hours there, then walk the neighourhood and count the Bentleys. 7 Old Spitalfields on Thursdays for great junk with a stop at Verdi’s, A. Gold and St. John Bread & Wine for lunch. Close by is Shoreditch, still a bit scruffy around the edges. Excellent walking about, lots of artsy shops including BoxPark right across from Lyle’s in the Tea Building. Stop there for a glass of wine and a bite at the bar. 8 Museums There are so many excellent ones in London — let’s call this the capsule collection. Visit the V&A and have lunch in the spectacular William Morris-decorated rooms. The food is good and well-priced. The National Gallery is a must, especially for the free, one-hour guided tours. With better planning than ours you could go several times, an excellent way to knock that massive collection into bitesized pieces. Friday night is the only night museums are open: this could be a wonderful museum plus wine bar night. The bonus? Museums are free! Yaay! 9 Buy a weekly Oyster card The tube, though a bit disconcerting — I always felt as though I was a mole in a Whack-A-Mole game, popping up and having no idea where I was — is efficient and fun. It’s where you’ll find Lola’s Cupcakes, and is the quickest and cheapest way to get to Heathrow. Let’s not forget the people-watching. The money you’ll save on cabs pays for lunch. Works on buses too. 10 The Champagne breakfast at Searcy’s in St Pancras Station is the fitting good-bye to London before getting on the tube to Heathrow.

14 March April 2015 | The Tomato

London Adventure

Make a spreadsheet.

Continued from page 13

Sure, you could depend on luck or fall into the nearest Prêt a Manger but we were determined to enjoy amazing food made by some of the best chefs working today and drink interesting wine we couldn’t find at home. London is ground zero for the natural wine movement. (We chose Hibiscus based as much on the wine list as anything else.) We wanted to try English bubble. As we are both easily distracted — by alleyways, shiny things, store windows, street food, architecture, wine, the scent of baking, a well-dressed bloke, dogs, and so on — reservations were in order.

London has a stellar concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants, game changers such as St. John and the River Café, Indian food both high and low, exceptional wine bars, food markets and wine shops. Plus we had a laundry list of recommendations from friends and colleagues ranging from detailed instructions to, ‘I don’t remember the name but it’s great and right by the tube, really easy to find! (We never found those places). Plus you need time for serendipity. How to fit it all in?

Some were easier than others, some online systems never worked; some were impossible to book at a decent time. We were booked for Ledbury at 10pm. Two days before, we realized it wasn’t going to work. We cancelled. Yes, a tragedy, I know. We bypassed the trendiest wine bar in London, Sager & Wilde, not enough time. Ditto Chiltern Firehouse and Clove Club. Others we couldn’t get into at all. We missed Arbutus, which has an Edmonton connection; the chef, Patrick Leano used to work at Hardware, but we just couldn’t fit it in. And, we got lost a lot. Juanita made fabulous routes — which tube to what bus then how long a walk. But when we popped up out of the tube, or got off the bus, we invariably went the wrong way.

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We would investigate something or stop to take a pic, then have no idea where we were. Asking a Londoner for directions is a bit like asking an Italian for directions — in Italy it’s ‘1000 metres down the road’. In London it’s ‘turn right at the Pizza Express.’ Both wrong. Yes we have heard of GPS and maps, but they are really small on your phone and you have to take your sunglasses off to read. Actually, there’s a lot to be said for traveling by whim, especially in a city like London where there is always something fabulous around the next corner. It’s how we found the woman trying on her wedding dress at Vivienne Westwood.

Right, back to Hibiscus The thing about tasting menus. They require a high degree of trust in both chef and sommelier. Hibiscus, Claude Bosi’s Michelinstarred restaurant in Mayfair, rewards trust in both chef and sommelier. The food? Subtle. Delightful. Delicious. Impeccably prepared. It started with the bread and butter. Remarkable. Creamy not cheesy, not oily, just, buttery. It redefined buttery. “It’s from Shropshire,” said the waiter. Claude Bosi’s first restaurant was in Shropshire. Edmonton wine geeks meet London wine geek. Sommelier Bastien Ferreri shared our enthusiasm for discovering what’s new — the natural, the biodynamic, the cosmo-culture, the orange, the murky, the slightly funky fizzy. We wanted to know what was up and he delivered, selecting wines from Campania, Alsace, Corsica and southern France. Some were fun to try, once,

others were exquisite wines, and all were fabulous pairing.

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The atmosphere was warm, playful, the people friendly and caring, the food and drink one of a kind. At the end of the night the host presented us with a small gift, nougat made with sweet winter vegetables, beet and carrot and parsnip, along with our own printed personal menu. At that moment, it occurred to me that if they had offered to walk us home, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

The Pilgrimage to Hammersmith

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I have a treasured copy, dog-eared and oil-stained, of the blue River Café Cookbook. So do most people interested in Italian food, because, as Daniel Costa puts it, they cook as if they are in Italy. The River Café is as famous for its alumni (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver, April Bloomfield) as for the food, and for the prices. Cole Notes version of the story: Rose Grey and Ruth Rogers started the restaurant as the employee cafeteria for her husband Richard Rogers’ architectural group in a warehouse complex by the river in west London. Almost 30 years later it continues to thrive. We went for a British Sunday lunch. Sunday lunch at River Café felt like an anthropological experience — Margaret Mead studying an exotic tribe. What was the net worth of the room, filled with well-preserved people air-kissing, wearing expensive watches and beautiful tailoring. Juanita, facing the room, kept up a running commentary on the gorgeously dressed kids. Lord Richard was in the house, in a grass green Please see “London Adventure” on page 28.

Facing page from top: Bastien Ferreri, sommelier at Hibiscus; seafood at River Café. This page top: raw material at The Botanist.

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The Tomato | March April 2015 15

What’s at the markets now? Onions, carrots, cabbages, kale, more kale and oh, yeah, turnips and their cousin the rutabaga. Eating seasonally can become mind-numbingly boring in early spring. While we’re waiting for fresh Edgar asparagus, those peppery early radishes and tangy ramps, indulge in a little richness. These recipes are root veg and winter greens dressed up in a little black dress.

Kale with Miso and Mushrooms Adapted from a dish by Portland chef Trent Pierce. 4

T butter, divided

large shallot, thinly sliced

cloves garlic, thinly sliced

4-6 c packed kale (about 2 bunches Tuscan kale, stems removed, roughly chopped) ½ c shiitake mushroom tops 1

T low-sodium soy sauce

¼ c dry vermouth (or dry white wine or fino sherry) ½ c heavy cream 1 T shiro (white) miso, or more to taste sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large, sturdy pan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook over low heat until they are transparent but not golden, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the kale in stages and continue to cook for a few more minutes until it’s all wilted and glossy. In a small pan on medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add mushrooms and cook until softened and cooked through, about 5 minutes, adding more butter if the mushrooms seem too dry. Stir in soy sauce, cook another minute and turn off the heat. They will be salty and savoury.

Kale Tabbouleh Tabbouleh is traditionally made with parsley; try this kale version for variety. ½

c bulgur wheat

1-2

bunches curly kale

large bunch mint, chopped

2-3

spring onion, finely sliced

cucumber, diced

When kale is wilted and soft, increase the heat to medium high, add vermouth and cook until it’s just evaporated, about 1 minute. Add the cream and miso, stirring until completely incorporated. Reduce heat to medium and cook about 2 more minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and coats the kale.

4 Roma or 8 cocktail tomatoes,

To serve: Place kale on a warm platter and drizzle with the cooked mushrooms.

juice and zest of ½ medium

Serves 6-8.

deseeded and chopped

pinch ground cinnamon

pinch ground allspice

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper 6

To serve, place lettuce leaves on 4-6 plates, spoon tabbouleh on to the lettuce, and scatter feta and zest over. Serves 4-6.

Kale Gratin This rich baked kale was inspired by a dish created by Seattle chef Renee Erickson. 2-3 medium bunches Tuscan kale, ribs removed, chopped into approximately 3-inch pieces

T fruity olive oil

3 c heavy cream (minimum 33 per cent)

lemon ½-⅓ c feta cheese, crumbled 1 small head lettuce, leaves separated

Place bulgur wheat into a glass bowl and just cover with boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Chop kale in a food processor until finely chopped. The bulgur by now should have taken up all the water and be quite tender.

16 March April 2015 | The Tomato

Fluff with a fork then fold the kale, mint, spring onions, cucumber and tomatoes into the bulgur. Add spices and seasoning, then dress with the oil and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning, remembering that the feta is salty.

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper ½ t freshly grated nutmeg 1

c grated young Sylvan Star Gouda

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Whisk seasoning into cream and reserve. Pile the kale in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish; it will be piled high, but will shrink down during cooking. Drizzle cream mixture over the kale, and cover

with the grated cheese. Place the gratin dish on a baking sheet to catch any drips as the gratin cooks. (You could surround the dish with a foil “collar” for the first half of cooking to catch all the drips and prevent a kale avalanche to the cookie sheet.) Bake for about 1 hour, until the dish has cooked down to an unctuous creamy mess and the cheese is brown and crispy in spots. Serve hot.

Sift flour and add salt. Mix the flour and butter together until it resembles small peas. Make a well in center of the mixture and add egg yolk and water. Using finger or fork, turn liquid, gradually adding all flour mixture. Give the dough 2-3 quick kneads to shape into ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours. Use for tart, Quiche Lorraine, etc.

Serves 6-8.

Tarte à l'Oignon (Onion Flan)

T butter

T canola or olive oil

T flour

T crème fraîche or plain yogurt

recipe Béchamel sauce (below)

salt, pepper, nutmeg, thyme

1 egg

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Prepare and line 8-inch tart pan with pastry. Reserve in fridge. Sweat onion in butter, oil, salt, pepper and thyme on low heat for 40 minutes until transparent with no colour. Sauté bacon, drain, and reserve. Combine onions with béchamel sauce. Gently incorporate bacon, then egg. Pour filling into crust. Bake in 450ºF oven on bottom rack for 25-30 minutes. Take ring off during last 5 minutes to brown edges, set on cooling rack and keep warm. Serves 6-8.

Red Cabbage with Walnuts Delicious hot or cold with roast meats. 1

red cabbage, finely sliced

T butter

apple, peeled and grated

bay leaf

3 cloves ½ c red wine or apple cider vinegar 1

T honey

handful walnuts, toasted and

Most chefs weigh ingredients for accuracy when baking. Keep all ingredients very cold for a flakier crust. Use your own piecrust recipe if preferred.

Put the cabbage in a wide shallow pan with the butter, apple, bay leaf and cloves. Cook, stirring, until the cabbage starts to wilt. Add vinegar (be careful not to breathe in the vinegar fumes) then continue to cook until the vinegar is well-integrated. Stir in honey. Cook for a few minutes to allow flavours to blend. Toss over walnuts before serving.

g flour, with a bit more in reserve

g butter

egg yolk

pinch salt

20-25 mL water

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper to taste

salt and freshly-cracked pepper

Pâte Brisée (short crust pastry)

125

chopped

1¼ c milk, heated

chopped

Serve 4-6.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan, then stir in the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add ginger and cook for about a minute. Add cabbage and cook, for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage has softened and caramelized. Turn the heat to low. Add crème fraîche and scrape any browned bits up from the pan bottom. Cover and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Uncover, check seasoning and cook, stirring for a few minutes more if it’s too liquid. Serves 4.

Turnip and Apple Casserole By pastry chef Lori Grein, recipe development coordinator for Kinnikinnick Foods. 1

large turnip, peeled and diced

T butter

medium apples, sliced and peeled

¼ c plus ⅓ cup packed brown sugar

on the top. Combine Kinnikinnick allpurpose flour blend, ⅓ cup brown sugar, and the rest of the butter until crumbly, and top prepared casserole dish. Pat crumbs down slightly. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour. Serves 6-8.

medium yellow onion, finely

T (heaping) grated fresh ginger

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown — about 2 minutes. Add hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Cover with waxed paper if not using right away to prevent a skin from forming.

strips bacon, diced

recipe pâte brisée (below)

thinly sliced

Béchamel Sauce

strips, as opposed to chopped)

1 medium green cabbage, cored and

cloves garlic, minced

half an onion crosswise in long thin

Fresh and light, a wonderful dish if you feel a cold coming on.

Andrew Fung, exec chef, X1X nineteen

1 half large onion, emincer (to cut

Ginger Cabbage

pinch cinnamon

⅓ c Kinnikinnick All-Purpose Flour Blend

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook turnip until tender (approximately 20 minutes). Drain turnip and mash with 1 T butter. Set aside. While the turnip is boiling, toss sliced apples in ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon. Oil a 9x13 casserole dish. Place the apple slices and turnip mash in the dish in layers, starting with turnip on the bottom and finishing with apple slices

Roasted Carrots with Vin Cotto, Pistachios and Parmigiano “Don’t be scared of the slightly burnt carrots, they are the best bits. You can find vin cotto or saba at the Italian Centre Shop.” – Daniel Costa, Corso 32 2 bunches medium carrots, (about 2 lbs) peeled and halved 3

T extra virgin olive oil

2 knobs unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1

sprig rosemary

3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed (cloves should remain together) 3 T vin cotto or saba

parmigiano reggiano for grating

¼ c peeled pistachios sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Place pistachios on a baking tray. Roast for 5-8 minutes, stir frequently to avoid burning. Remove and allow to cool. Raise the oven temperature to 400ºF. Place the carrots, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, a large pinch of salt and about 15 cracks of black pepper in a large bowl. Mix with your hands until all carrots are dressed. Place the dressed carrots on a baking tray and put in the oven. Roast the carrots for 25-30 minutes or until nicely caramelized, stir often to avoid uneven cooking. Scatter the butter over the carrots evenly, return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the carrots from the oven. Place the carrots on a platter, pour any roasting juices over the carrots. Top the carrots with drizzled vin cotto, finelygrated parmigiano and pistachios. Serve immediately. Serves 6-8.

The Tomato | March April 2015 17

2015 Canadian Culinary Championships

Ryan O’Flynn takes gold Congratulations to Ryan O’Flynn, executive chef at The Westin Edmonton Hotel who topped the podium at the Canadian Culinary Championships. “It was a fascinating competition,” said James Chatto, Gold Medal Plates’ national culinary advisor and head judge of the event featuring 11 competitors from across the country. “I felt we might have had the strongest lineup of chefs ever, with a very serious contender from every single city — some of them established stars, others dark horses with powerful experience. We were not disappointed.” Chef O’Fynn impressed the judges from the first challenge. Ryan’s bravura use of Canadian sturgeon and expert technique wowed the 14 judges from across the country at the three-day event in the heart of BC wine country. He guessed the mystery wine, a brash Pinotage from the southern Okanagan, and paired it beautifully (and not without some risk) with sturgeon with a smoked beet purée in Friday night’s Mystery Wine Challenge. He played Saturday

morning’s Black Box challenge safely with a well-executed pan-seared duck breast and yam purée, which kept him in the top three. Ryan’s grand finale dish was as thrilling to the national judges and Kelowna guests as it was to Edmonton’s Gold Medal Plates judges and attendees last fall. The 2013 Sandhill Small Lots Viognier was an ideal choice with the creamy textures and bold flavours of the Quebec foie gras and pine-smoked sturgeon terrine with Northwest Territory-sourced morels. During his presentation of the final dish to the national judges, Ryan talked about being a garde-manger in a restaurant in France and spending six months cleaning foie. This depth of experience, superb skill and obvious talent set him apart, even in this group of chefs, who were brimming with talent and desire. We congratulate Ryan, his sous chefs Juan Pablo Mendez and Vikram Redgaonkar and the Okanagan College culnary students who worked on Ryan’s team in Kelowna. This is Edmonton’s first big win in 10 years of CCC. Let’s have a little swagger!

Gold medalist Ryan O’Flynn (centre) is flanked by silver medallist Antonio Park (left) and bronze medal winner Kristian Eligh (right).

The winning dishes from far left: silver, gold and bronze (above). Yuri Akuney photos

18 March April 2015 | The Tomato

Silver Antonio Park, Restaurant Park, Montreal, Queec There are chefs who are expert technicians, and some who are capable of transferring ideas, producing concrete realisations from mind to plates, like magicians of the senses. Antonio Park combines both qualities with virtuosity. Argentinian-born of Korean-descent and Quebec-educated, formed in Japan, Brazil and New York, Park gives weight to the idea of blending cultures, ingredients, techniques and seasonings in what amounts to cooking a primordially Japanese “storm”. His is a cuisine so clear, tidy and unadorned, in which ingredients are skillfully amalgamated with almost surgical precision. In the restaurant that bears his name, this is what customers will be presented with: raw, almost primitive produce from the sea, but also from gardens and forests, assembled rather than transformed. We could call it a cuisine of sincerity, almost pastoral, vivacious in its approach and fuelled by a formidable energy. This slant on Japanese cuisine, proposed for the competition in Kelowna, impressed the jury but mostly convinced them that Antonio Park was a chef to be taken very seriously. Over the weekend, he cooked blood pudding with Jerusalem artichoke purée and a tataki of almost raw duck breast alongside a softly-poached piece of lobster tail, made to look like a sashimi. For the gala evening, he made a dish which sounded complex rather than complicated and featured a deconstruction of a typical bibimbap, the Korean national dish, made unrecognizable yet vaguely familiar with a layer of gochujang, the fiery chilli paste, transformed into a strip of robust and tangy bright-red ribbon. The flavours were profound yet the touch by which they were executed, light as a feather.

Bronze Kristian Eligh, Chef de Cuisine Hawksworth Restaurant, Vancouver, British Columbia All foodies in BC respect our talented chef Kristian Eligh and congratulate him on bronze. We admire how he always strives to create new contemporary dishes that are light and vibrant using the finest of fresh ingredients. This focus was exemplified at the Bitish Columbia Gold Medal Plates held in Victoria with his unique confit pork neck with Granny Smith apples, puffed Avonlea cheddar and mâche. His mystery wine pairing of Fraser Valley duck breast delicately spiced with fennel, cinnamon, and allspice (but no strong peppercorns) cooked á point on a bed of lentils with textured parsnip duo of purée and crisps was an outstanding start.

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Bad luck to open the Black Box with a repeat duck but a to-die-for, silkysmooth yam puree with a sophisticated turnip Parisienne and pan-fried crispy onion rings showed innovation. A very fresh and lively mustard-bacon vinaigrette/gastrique sauce gave the dish lift. His coast-to-coast refined chowder of Pacific sablefish and Atlantic lobster covered by a lacy bread bowl inverted into a dome paired brilliantly with one of Canada’s most complex chardonnays, the elegant 2012 Meyer Micro Cuvée. Admirable sophisticated culinary skills plus team leadership continue to emerge from one of Canada’s best young chefs. Sid Cross, Vancouver Judge Proceeds from Gold Medal Plates and the Canadian Culinary Championships are given to the Canadian Olympic Foundation. To date, more than $9.5 million has been raised to support high-performance athletes.

Robert Beauchemin, Montreal Judge

The Tomato | March April 2015 19

Beer Guy Prairie Boy “Saskabush is pretty, yup she’s pretty flat. Lord knows I’m a Prairie boy so I’m pretty used to that,” sings Alberta musician Corb Lund. I’m no Prairie boy myself, was born and raised in Ontario. But I moved west in the 80s, married an Alberta gal, returned to Ontario for the 90s and realized that my few years in Edmonton had turned me into a westerner. I found myself defending Alberta to Ontarians, for example, maintaining that the rednecks of small-town Alberta were no different than the rednecks of small-town Ontario. Or that driving the Prairies is less boring than driving the black spruce tunnel of northern Ontario. I stopped saying that after driving from Edmonton to Saskatoon for a friend’s wedding. Let’s agree: they’re both tedious. I did grow up in a small town though, so I know that the weirdness of Blue Velvet is a more accurate depiction of small town life than the wholesomeness of It’s a Wonderful Life. But small towns have changed a great deal over the past decades. I spent two weeks in February visiting Alberta towns for my day job as a librarian, from Cold Lake to Camrose, from Strathmore to Stony Plain, and I could see changes from years past.

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20 March April 2015 | The Tomato

On the negative side, towns have been homogenized, with quirky local cafes replaced by cookie-cutter Tim Hortons or Boston Pizzas. On the plus side, the people of rural Alberta are doing some pretty cool things, particularly with food production. The Tomato publisher Mary Bailey and her pal Judy Schultz foresaw this in their classic 2003 book, The Food Lover’s Trail Guide to Alberta. The Guide revealed the foodie delights of rural

Alberta and predicted the local food and farm-to-table trends to come. The late Ed McNally, Big Rock founder, understood the power of rural Alberta too. A small town Alberta lawyer and barley farmer, McNally was head of the Western Barley Growers Association in the 1980s, trying to better market barley. Back then most Alberta barley was used as cattle feed. But McNally knew that Alberta two-row barley is ideal for malting and brewing. Inspired by Fritz Maytag and Anchor Brewing, McNally decided the best way to grow a market for Alberta barley was to use it in an Alberta brewery: Big Rock was founded in 1985. In turn, McNally inspired people across the Prairies to take excellent local raw materials and start brewing. Barley is made into malt right here in Alberta by Canada Malting in Calgary and Rahr Malting in Alix (near Red Deer). The first wave of Prairie microbrewers set up shop in cities – Alley Kat in Edmonton, Paddock Wood in Saskatoon, Half Pints in Winnipeg and Big Rock and Wild Rose in Calgary – but increasingly craft breweries are popping up in small towns. In Alberta alone there’s Ribstone Brewing, which launched in 2012 in Edgerton, and Norseman Brewing in Camrose, launched as a brewpub in 2011. Projected to open in 2015 is Half Hitch Brewing in Cochrane, Wild Craft Brewing in Lethbridge, Two Sergeants Brewing in Fort Saskatchewan, Bench Creek Brewing in Edson, and Troubled Monk Brewing in Red Deer. Next door in Saskatchewan, there’s Black Bridge Brewery in Swift Current and Nokomis Craft Ales in Nokomis. Finally, in answer to Corb Lund, here’s Saskatoon band Rah Rah: “I am a Prairie girl, straight to the bone. I’ll cut you off on the drive back home. I spend my winters alone.”

Peter Bailey

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Prairie Six-Pack Prairie beer has come a long way from the days of Old Style Pilsner carrying the flag. Pil is brewed in Vancouver now, so give one of the new style Prairie beers a try.

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Olds College Brewery Prairie Gold, IPA, Olds, AB Helping this rural brewing renaissance is Olds Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brewmaster program. Olds is creating the brewers of the future, the ones who will take Alberta craft beer forward. Students brew for Oldsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; commercial brewery, with the beer available through their college retail store. Try Prairie Gold IPA, which marries sweet Prairie malt with big Pacific Northwest hops.

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Dandy in the Underworld Sweet Oyster Stout, Calgary What helped smaller brewers get into the game recently was Alberta shrinking the minimum capacity rule for brewers in late 2013. This made Dandy Brewing, Albertaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first nanobrewery, possible and four Calgary homebrewers answered the call. No oysters were harmed in the making of this smooth, sweet English stout, but it would accompany a plate of shellfish admirably.

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Village Blacksmith India Black Ale, Calgary Ironically, Village Brewing is located in a big city, but their heart is in the right place. They dream of a community brewery supporting Calgaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artists and craftspeople. Their American black ale, or Cascadian ale, is a nice blend of Prairie and Pacific, matching Alberta two-row barley, roasted black, with plenty of Pacific Northwest hops.

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Ribstone Creek Old Man Winter Porter, Edgerton, AB Ribstone has solid Prairie credentials, located in a tiny town on the Prairie, brewed in a renovated farm machinery dealership building. Since launching in 2012 Ribstone has grown carefully, beer by beer. Their English porter is deep, dark and roasty, perfect company for weathering a cold Prairie winter.

Black Bridge Centennial Rye Ale, Swift Current, SK A beer for the Last Saskatchewan Pirate, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stealing wheat and barley and all the other grainsâ&#x20AC;?. The other grain here is rye, which brings forward a sharp, spicy quality. Coupled with citrusy centennial hops, this is a big beer from a small city. Black Bridge only launched in late 2014 and already theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re brewing intriguing, full-flavoured beer.

Mill St. 100th Meridian Organic Amber Lager, Toronto What heresy is this â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a Prairie beer brewed in Toronto? Call it a classic Canadian compromise, Alberta barley married with Ontario water, with a name that calls to mind a great Tragically Hip song (â&#x20AC;&#x153;At the hundredth meridian / Where the Great Plains begin.â&#x20AC;?). This sweet, malty, biscuity lager might be just the beer to keep the peace in the stands during a Leafs-Oilers Stanley Cup Final. Peter Bailey is pan-Canadian, comfortable drinking craft beer anywhere in this great land. He tweets as @Libarbarian.

The Tomato | March April 2015 21

Top 100 Continued from page 11

Riverbend Gardens Fresh Corn

“Fresh corn from Riverbend Gardens. Love that Janelle and her family work that beautiful piece of land so we can have such amazing vegetables all summer. Hats off to Janelle,” said Cindy Jewell. Cindy, you said it! Riverbend Gardens is a city treasure.

North 53 Popcorn Chicken

North 53 has simplified their offerings, created a more casual atmosphere, and the cooking of chef Filliep Lament is seriously good. Twitter raves about the popcorn chicken pictured here. We also like the whole roasted chicken with the haggis-influenced stuffing. Yup, oats and innards, try it if you dare.

Curtis Comeau Photography

DRINK SUPERIOR Hardware Grill Buffalo Mozzarella on a Crostini

Keg n Cork Liquor Company

Crystal Armstrong talks about the perfect bite at Hardware Grill. “Buffalo mozzarella on a crostini laced with fennel jam made in house and a little salt — so crazy delicious, it was like a happy new year fireworks party with each sweet, savoury, creamy bite.”

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Chef Corey McGuire makes tasty food out of the tiniest kitchen in town. There’s no lack of big flavours from the small space, such as the popular bacon and apple tapa— braised Irving’s bacon with a smidge of apple-scented mayo and apple compote accented with maple syrup and balsamic, finished with a bit of Calvados (Normandy apple brandy) gastrique on a crostini.

Rostizado Chilean Sea Bass Ceviche Rostizado’s Chilean sea bass ceviche comes highly recommended from the twitterverse.

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22 March April 2015 | The Tomato

X1X Nineteen Ahi Tuna Twist

Café Blackbird Blackbird Pie

X1X Nineteen’s ahi tuna appetizer served on a spoon with spicy Thai noodles and a garnish of Asian-inspired slaw is still a winner. Voters’ also love the winter menu’s deeply-flavoured lamb shanks.

Many voters like the vegetarian pie at this new Crestwood café, including Sylvia Cheverie; “Super yummy creamy mushroom pie, a must try if you’re in the west end.”

Tzin Wine Tapas bacon apple crostini.

29 30 31

To Be In Pictures photo

Cally’s Teas Scones This whimsical teashop on Whyte Avenue has a very good baker. The scones are exactly as they should be; delicately textured, best eaten with a slather of jam and a cup of tea.

New York Bagel Café Polish Blood Sausage Eggs Benedict Another delish offering via Charles Rothman — blood sausage eggs benny at the south side’s New York Bagel Café.

Continental Treat Fine Bistro Goulash with Potato Pancake A must eat at the Whyte Avenue fixture is their richly-flavoured goulash with the crispy potato pancake. Voters also love the warm atmosphere of the room and the dill pickle soup.

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Tres Carnales Fish Tacos What’s not to love about the fish tacos at Tres Carnales?

Little Italy Pasta Chicken Prosciutto Mac and Cheese Little Italy Pasta in Acheson has loyal and happy customers who love the chicken prosciutto mac and cheese and the spicy escarole with sausage and tomatoes.

Whimsical Cakes Bacon Caramels

We were bombarded with online odes to Whimsical Cakes, generally containing several exclamation marks. Intrigued, we went and discovered new ownership with a whole new vibe plus some delish candy. Voters love the not red red velvet cupcake (a well-made vanilla cupcake) and the bacon caramels.

Empress Bakery Bismarck

The Bismarck, aka the jelly donut, is just not worth it if it’s not done right. Why spend all those sugar calories on something meh? This simple bakery near K&K makes the prefect Bismarck — yeasty, jammy, optional sugar dusting, as far from meh as you can get. Get them when they’re warm at 11am. But don’t wait too long, they’re gone by noon.

Hazeldean Bakery Apple Fritter

34 35

If we’re going to chat about bismarcks we have to chat about apple fritters and the best are at the Hazeldean Bakery for about a dollar. It’s what fried dough aspires to, crispy and sweet with an ethereally light and fluffy interior.

The Honeycrisp Apple The most delicious apple developed in Canada in the past 50 years. The Tomato | March April 2015 23

Ode to Rosalind Rose Marie Sackela

Ode to Rosalind Travel back to 1912, the year when an Albertan named Rosalind was crowned Butter Queen of the British Empire. The Red Deer Board of Trade organized a festive and formal banquet to honor this Jersey Queen. The guest list included many distinguished politicians and illustrious businessmen like Mr. Edward Michener, MPP; Dr. Rutherford of the Canadian Pacific Railway; and the Hon. Duncan Marshall, Minister of Agriculture. Members of the Press were invited to the banquet and used news wire services to launch Rosalind’s international fame. Word of her feat spread beyond Alberta. People in North America and all over the British Empire fell in love with this cow. Rosalind won the title because of the volume of her milk production and its high butterfat content. Over three years, Rosalind produced 38,000 pounds of milk, yielding 2,500 pounds of butterfat. She held the title for four years in a row.

24 March April 2015 | The Tomato

Rosalind, Butter Queen of the British Empire, Time and circumstance Have passed you by. Like so many queens Your reign was brief, Your fame A passing fancy. But you were like no other. Born of good breeding, You were elevated to Butter Queen of the British Empire, A coronation, at the tender age of four. Oh, how you were feted! A banquet in your honour, Your photograph gracing The menu card. Attended by dignitaries Of Business, State, and Empire. The speeches, Eloquent and flattering. Oh, how proud Red Deer, Alberta, Was that day.

Thrust into The international scene By no other than you.

But, truly Upper crust.

Two sonnets, Over eighteen hundred articles In U.S. papers alone.

Alas, Modern Times Have not been kind To your descendents.

(But, alas, no more than you deserved.

Marred by margarine, Battered by BSE, Some would cull Your progeny.

No more than befitting One named by Shakespeare, himself.)

Oh, Rosalind, Lovely Lady. The world awaits the return of one as wonderful as you.

Regally Toasted with Your very own Sweet drink. You, a vegetarian, Beef on the menu. Oh, how you handled it With royal grace. Rosalind, Born a colonial,

– Rose Marie Sackela Rose Marie Sackela, First North American rights. Rose Marie Sackela is a poet and humorist who lives way out — rural. She travels Alberta, reading, writing and researching in libraries, archives and private homes. With a nod to the real Rosalind, her new favorite food is butter cream icing.

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The Proust Culinary Questionnaire Nate Box, Micro Restaurateur In the late nineteenth century, French novelist Marcel Proust participated in an exercise which could be thought of as the Facebook of its era — he answered a questionnaire about himself in a friend’s Confession Album. Proust’s answers have been published, in one form or another, for more than a century. Many have used the questionnaire for their own devices, the most notable being Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire featuring celebrities. The Tomato now gives it a culinary twist. Nate worked at Joey’s through school, then as the chef at Sugarbowl before opening his first place in 2010, Elm Café, in an unlikely corner of an Oliver apartment building. Elm quickly became a neigbourhood favourite. In 2014 his District Coffee Co. moved into a moribund coffee shop space in the government centre area, which was followed by Burrow, Edmonton’s first retail space in the LRT. Little Brick, a combined cafe and retail space in the Riverdale home of JB Little (of the historic JB Little Brickyard) is scheduled to open this spring. We can’t wait to see what Nate ends up doing with the backyard. People love how Nate’s small cafés fit into their neighbourhoods. Don’t be surprised if one pops up in yours soon.

Hometown? Edmonton.

Where would you like to live? I’m living there, downtown Edmonton.

What would you be doing if you weren’t cooking? Some form of property development, space planning.

What do you most appreciate in your friends? Honesty and openness.

Your favourite qualities in a dish? Simplicity and balance.

26 March April 2015 | The Tomato

A cook?

Mentors?

Willingness and humility.

Clark Murray and Ron Hinz.

A wine?

Favourite casual cheap and cheerful/afterwork food?

Freshness, crispness.

Who would be at your dream dinner table (dead or alive)?

Pizza, doesn’t matter what and where.

Philosophy?

Danny Meyer, Louise from Gravity Pope, Scott Benoit, and Erica Vliegenthart, a baker at District.

The pillars of our company — quality, simplicity, stewardship, servantheartedness and sustainability.

Who would cook?

What’s next?

Dan Barber.

After Little Brick? I have a list of 10 things, from opening a bar to doing more consulting.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? The word totally, makes me feel 14. Totally embarrassing.

Current culinary obsession/exploration? Walking through a brand new building; it’s not so much about cooking for me now.

Best (cooking) thing that ever happened to you? Talking with Sean Heather (Heather Hospitality Group, Vancouver) and dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns with Dan Barber.

The Tomato | March April 2015 27

London Adventure Continued from page 15

sweater, having lunch with family. Rose Grey died in 2010. Chef Rogers carries on, wearing chef ’s white in the open kitchen and working the room, saying hello to friends. Fish and pasta were the

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28 March April 2015 | The Tomato

The bus went by several cheek-by-jowl curry shops and money-wiring places but by the time our stop came around the shops were Jill Sander and organic veg. We were in the chicest heart of Notting Hill and a short walk from the Saturday Portobello Market. Every little café looked delicious, all with a two-hour wait. We had a gin 4:26:22 PMand tonic at the Ginstitute, (really, how could we resist) then a curry dog later in the market after trying on fur hats and looking at old silverware. Portobello isn’t about food, it’s about people watching and fun junk. The Borough and Spa Terminus markets are

all about the food. Spa Terminus was formed by disgruntled Old Spitalfields food vendors who left to form their own food-centric market under a series of railway arches in Bermondsey. It’s part of a more ambitious scheme to bring back food production to this part of London, using rail to supply the rest of the country. Wholesale during the week, with some retail on the weekend: several coffee wholesalers; natural wine vendors Dynamic Vines and 40 Maltby Street; fruit, veg and cheese merchants, St. John Bread and the intriguing Bermondsey Gin. Borough is the market in all the movies, filled with butchers, bakers, wine, beer, coffee tea; ice cream makers; fruit and vegetables; provisionists selling truffles, and oils and vinegars; cheese mongers including Neil’s Yard Dairy; flowers, and food stands selling kid, duck, paella — a veritable edible delight. Remarkably, these markets are outdoors, and filled with people eating, drinking and chatting outside in temps just above zero. I say remarkably due to Londoner’s apparent disregard for weather compared to Edmontonian’s aversion to being outside in anything less than 22 degrees. Also at Borough is Elliot’s, a smallish resto with a menu ranging from wild rock oysters and Isle of Mull scallop to

FINE WINE, SPIRITS AND ALES mallard, 35-day-aged Dexter beef, and winter greens like puntarelle. We had several courses with a half glass of every natural wine the waiter could muster. Midway through lunch he’s hauling out bottles of elixirs from France thinking we’d like to try them. Handmade by Laurent Cazottes, who grows the fruits and vegetables, crushes all by hand, then distills in a small copper pot still. We had to try the tomato version.

Swanning about Sloane Square We stumbled into Sloane Square in Chelsea while looking for something else. (Just a typical day in London town for Juanita and Mary.) I love those early Princess Di references about Sloane Rangers, so we had to have a drink there, in a bar called The Botanist, filled with attractive people and interestinglooking drinks, which turned into an evening as we chatted with many of those interesting-looking people and drank those attractive drinks. Excellent Negronis, by the way.

Wine bars and wine shops We were keen to visit a long list of London wine shops and wine bars. True to ourselves, we got to four. The historic Berry Bros. & Rudd was tops on that list. We chatted with a rather terrifying American woman who was curious about our wanting to go to the River Café; ‘it’s so far away,’ she said. We bought corkscrews, and a few special wines to bring home. Terroirs was close by, one of the first bars in London to celebrate small production, bio-dynamic and natural wine. We spent a few hours tasting and chatting with the enthusiastic manager in the cosy subterranean room. At the tiny Newcomer Wines at BoxPark in Shoreditch we discovered an allAustrian selection. We wanted to stay

longer but had reservations across the street at Lyle’s. On the other end of the scale is Hedonism, an extravagant and absolutely luscious wine shop in Mayfair. We spent a few hours drooling over the collection of high-end French, Italian, American and Australian wines and tasting at the Enomatic downstairs. We hoped to meet Derek, a staff member originally from Saskatchewan. Julien, who showed us the lay of the land and opened the vault filled with pre-war Burgundy, Bordeaux, Madeira and Champagne told us it happens all the time — fellow Canadians, but total strangers, stopping in to say hi to Derek. It must be a Canadian thing.

Now in Edmonton Centre!

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hardware grill est. 1996

hardware grill hardware grill est. 1996

est. 1996

Monday night was graduation night in the impressive 12th century Guildhall. Pippa did not pick up her award in person (security concerns they said) and Jancis’ term as WSET honourary chair ended last year. Instead it was a kiss on the cheek from the new honourary chair, Gerard Basset, MW, MS. We weren’t disappointed. Please see “London Adventure” on page 33.

Facing page top left and bottom: vendors at Borough Market; upper right, The Ginstitute at Portobello. This page from top, Boxpark and Berry Bros. & Rudd wine shops.

seasonal prairie cuisine • the evolution of tradition www.hardwaregrill.com / 780.423.0969 / 9698 Jasper Ave also visit our newest downtown restaurant: tavern 1903 at alberta hotel

The Tomato | March April 2015 29

Wine Maven

Left: Daved Leeder of Get Cooking plates the umami meal. Candace Fraser photo. Above from left: Eberhard Tam of Enotri; Andreas Bender; Marcia J Hamm and Doug Hicks of Hicks Fine Wines.

It was Andreas Bender week with sold-out events at Hicks Fine Wines in St Albert, Kitchen by Brad and the Get Cooking studio. There, chef David Leeder cooked a five-course tasting menu starting with dishes created to help guests experiment with umami

It's here! April 22. The event that lovers of wine from the sunny state wait for all year — the California Wine Fair rolls into the Shaw Conference Centre Wednesday, April 22. Proceeds to the Citadel Theatre.

Meet several of Canada’s winemakers from across the country and taste their wines at the walk-about tasting March 28 at the Shaw, part of Northern Lands: The Great Canadian Wine and Craft Beer Adventure. Over 45 Canadian wineries will be there, including Culmina Family Estate Winery, Tyler Harding, Covert Farms, 50th Parallel Estate, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, Henry of Pelham, Baillie-Grohman, Painted Rock, Norman Hardie, Mission Hill, and Le Vieux Pin. Elaine and Don Triggs of Culmina discuss pruning in their vineyard south of Oliver on the Okanagan’s Golden Mile.

30 March April 2015 | The Tomato

— kelp roasted celeriac, charred onion, pistachio and roasted yeast and foie gras. Andreas Bender makes thoroughly modern wines from old estates in the Mosel and Pfalz wine regions of Germany. Guests also enjoyed wines from Château Laulerie in Bergerac.

Mary Bailey Embrace the cold with a drink. Enjoy the winners of the Winter City Signature Drink Competition 2015.

Yegnog

Travelling Mercies

An Edmonton tradition since 2011, brewed up by the Tea Girl, Sarah Proudlock.

A joint effort by Edmonton AM and Transcend Coffee

t Tea Girl's Market Spice

c boiling water

½ c milk

2½ oz Alberta Premium Rye Whiskey ¾ oz red vermouth

A hat for every head.

syrup 2

dashes of Peychaud’s bitters

orange rind

Steep the tea in boiling water 3 minutes. Add the milk and eggnog, and heat to 160ºF. Strain into mug and top with chai sprinkles.

CHEF GEAR

1¼ oz cascara (coffee cherry husk) infused simple

½ c eggnog Tea Girl chai sprinkles

Locally made

Mix and stir gently, pour into a chilled Canadian whiskey glass and enjoy the journeys of an Edmonton winter.

Top: Yegnog creator Sarah Proudlock with Edmonton City Councillor Scott Mckeen. Above Transcend Coffee’s Poul Mark and Edmonton AM host Mark Connelly with their winning drink — Travelling Mercies. Photos by Demetri Giannitsios.

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The Tomato | March April 2015 31

what’s new and notable Kitchen Sink Restaurant Buzz We’re excited about new dishes at Rosso Pizzeria (8738 109 Street, 780-433-5382, pizzeriarosso109.com); envoltini, eggplant roasted in the wood oven with three cheeses, basil and tomato sauce; asparagi e patate calde, fire-roasted asparagus, kale and potatoes, with a Dijon and white balsamic dressing and topped with a hard-boiled egg, parmigiano, and a smattering of truffle oil. For dessert: crumble di mele, fire-roasted Granny Smith apple with cinnamon, caramel, oats, pecans, walnuts and gelato. We love that Rosso is open for breakfast. Try the new French toast with house-made bread, creamy vanilla sauce, berries, icing sugar and maple syrup. When will Daniel Costa’s new downtown resto be open? “We’re about four months out,” says Daniel. Regarding the rampant speculation about the name of the casual trattoria-style room Daniel says, “no we don’t have a name yet. We didn’t have a name for Bricco until about two weeks before.” The atmospheric Boardwalk resto Sabor (10220 103 Street, 780-757-1114) is getting into the pizza biz, opening the Urbano Pizza Co. in early April. Expect a casual menu to eat in or to take-away. Sal di Maio has just opened an eight-seat coffee bar beside Red Star Pub (10534 Jasper Avenue, 780-428-0825). Jesse Gado is the barista and also the baker of a delicious brown butter almond tart. Sal’s inspiration was a trip to Australia. “There are all these four-, six-, eight-seat coffee bars that open early and close by late afternoon. That works perfectly for us — we have this great space and Red Star doesn’t open until 5pm.” Expect a larger breakfast and lunch menu as they work out the kinks and a killer patio come summer. Also coming soon to this part of Jasper Avenue is the Coffee Bureau. Chef Rino Lam former chef at Tavern 1903 has joined the kitchen team at XIX Nineteen, (5940 Mullen Way, 780-395-1119, dinenineteen.com) Andrew Fung’s popular south side restaurant.

wine tastings, happenings and events Hold the date! Indulgence, the Canadian epic of wine and food is on Monday, June 8 at the Delta. Tickets go on sale May 1. Join Kinnikinnick’s chef Lori Grein on location, preparing a selection of gluten-free items for your upcoming Easter feast at Kinnikinnick Foods 32 March April 2015 | The Tomato

(10940-120 Street, 780-732-7527, getitfresh.ca) on March 19, 20 and March 26, 27 from 10am-1pm. Get your tickets for the 20th Annual Mac & Cheese fundraiser for the Inner City Agencies Foundation, March 19, at ICAF.ca. New this year, visit participating restaurants for creative takes on the classic dish during the Month of Mac, charles@misonconsulting.com for more info. Upcoming tastings at Aligra Wines & Spirits (Entrance 58, West Edmonton Mall, 8882 170 Street, 780-483-1083, aligrawineandspirits.com): March 3, The Best Wine You Have Never Heard Of, $30; March 24, Rum, $40; April 14, Wines from the Loire Valley, $30; May 5, Cinco de Mayo Tequila Tasting, $45. Tastings run from 7pm-9pm unless otherwise noted and pre-registration is required. Book online aligrawineandspirits.com/events. Upcoming events at Kitchen by Brad (10130 105 Street, 780-757-7704, kitchenbybrad.ca): March 17, Alberta Scotch Society features Irish Whiskies and storytelling by Andrew Wall, starting at 6pm. Tickets are $100+gst for members, $125+gst for non members. March 24, Vinetalk with Color de Vino, $75+gst starting at 6:30pm. April 13, Ex Nihilo Wine Dinner with co-owner Jay Paulson, $125+gst starting at 6:30pm. Upcoming tastings at Color de Vino (9606 Whyte Avenue, 780-439-9069, colordevino.ca), March 24, Bourbon and Canadian whiskey exploration with Ramon Miranda, 7pm, $25; April 7, Iberian Penninsula with Stacey Jo Strombecky, 7pm, $20. Call to reserve your seat, 780-439-9069. Cooking classes at Seasoned Solutions Loft Cooking School: Learn to make A Quick Spring Menu express demonstration class, 6:30-8:30pm, on April 1, $49.95+gst. The Cooking of Peru is a longer hands-on cooking class on May 2, 11am-4pm, $175+gst featuring recipes from Gail’s recent culinary tour of Peru. To register, email gail@seasonedsolutions.ca. Upcoming tastings at Hicks Fine Wines (109-150 Bellerose Drive, St. Albert, 780-569-5000, hicksfinewines.com): A Taste of Portugal with StaceyJo Strombecky, Renaissance Wine Merchants, March 5, 7pm $25; Winetasting101, with Marcia J Hamm, March 19, 7pm $40; A Taste of Italy with Hayley McRae, Vendemmia Wines, April 30, 7pm $25. Book at hicksfinewines.com/events-classes. The Edmonton Epicurean Society holds monthly food and wine dinners at different restaurants in the

Edmonton area. Upcoming dinners are on March 24, April 28 and May 6. The cost for members is $80 and for guests $90. Curious? Visit EdmontonEpicurean.com. Upcoming tastings at Unwined Fine Spirits and Ales (512 St Albert Trail #2, St. Albert, 780-458-4777, unwined.biz) The Accidental Sommelier Series travels the Silk Road, Wine Pairing with Asian Food, March 10, Thailand; April 14, India; May 12, Vietnam. On March 11, Days of Wine and Proses Book Club with Laurie Greenwood discusses The 1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. All tastings are $25 and start at 7:30pm. Enjoy the third annual Edmonton Craft Beer Festival, presented by Sobeys Liquor, a celebration of craft beer and delicious food at Northlands Expo Centre, June 5 and 6. Tickets and info: albertabeerfestivals.com. Enjoy a walk-about tasting of Canadian wines and craft beers, seminars led by winemakers and a Ping Pong tournament if you dare at Northern Lands: The Great Canadian Wine and Craft Beer Adventure, March 28. There are lots of winemaker dinners on March 27, such as the Kitchen Dinner with Tinhorn’s Sandra Oldfield and viticulturalist Andrew Moon, or Mission Hill’s Ingo Grady and Wade Stark with Henry of Pelham’s Paul Speck at the Hardware Grill. Buy tickets for all events at northernlands.ca. Upcoming events and classes at Get Cooking (11050 104 Avenue, 780 934-8058, getcookingedmonton. com): April 10, Wine & Food Pairing Class with the wines of Penedes estate Can Rafols dels Caus and Cava estate Agusti Torello Mata, with special guests Eleonora Infuso and Antonio Alvarez, and a menu by chef David Leeder. In the works are classes with Allan Suddaby (sausage, Austrian cooking); Evert Maris (classic and modern French, Belgian cooking); Alexei Boldireff (charcuterie) and Israel Alvarez (Mexican cooking). For the latest info and to register visit the website. Porkaploooza rides again! For all the details for the Father’s Day weekend event, June 19-21, and to register your team, volunteer, become a judge or a sponsor, visit porkapalooza.ca.

product news Newget, one of our favourite Edmonton-made treats will be at the Make it-Enjoy Centre Show (101 Riel Drive, St Albert, makeitproductions.com) April 10-12. Check out their online store at Newget.ca for Easter goodies. The Organic Box will deliver the Riverbend Garden’s CSA this summer. What’s a CSA? Community

supported agriculture, or, fresh veggies delivered to your door every week. Clients pay a fee at the beginning of the season in exchange for weekly deliveries of fresh in-season produce. Want to sign up? Visit riverbendgardens.ca. K&K Foodliner (9944-82 Avenue, 780-439-6913, kandkfoodliner.com) suggests ordering your house-smoked hams ($7.99/kg) and Hutterrite-raised turkey ($7.49/kg) for Easter dinner as soon as possible. In stock now: German chocolate and charmingly edible marzipan animals — rabbits, sheep, pigs, hedgehogs and ladybugs ($4-$7) just the ticket for an Easter egg hunt. Kudos to home economist Pat Inglis and Linda Whitworth, the market development manager for Alberta Barley. Their book Go Barley: Modern Recipes for an Ancient Grain (TouchWood Editions) is the winner of the Best Historical Recipes Book: Canada, by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Next up is Gourmand Best in the World competition, to be announced in June. Some happy news for Ritchie residents: The downright ugly four-way stop at 97 Street and 76 Avenue, brightened only by the presence of nearby Blue Chair Café and Acme Meats, will have a brand-spanking new building in 2016. Craft beer lover Greg Zeschuk, former vice-president of Bioware, plans to open the Ritchie Market with a brew pub, a Transcend Coffee shop and a bike store. Acme says they’ll move across the street to complete the project. Sweet! Send new and/or interesting food and drink related news for The Kitchen Sink to thetomato.ca.

London Adventure Continued from page 29

After the presentation of the diplomas, photos, Tio Pepe reception, more awards and final Champagne reception, we walked along deserted streets towards the Moorgate tube. We were going to stop at a tapas place close to our hotel called Pepito, which another grad had recommended. Rising up in front of us, like a mirage, was a pub. A pub, a real British pub! We hadn’t actually been in a pub yet. We stopped in, got a pint and realized we were too late for Pepito. Down to the tube and back to the hotel. We finished up the night in the hotel bar eating crisps and chatting with a sketchy guy from Athens.

The high-end kitchen store with the in-store kitchen

All-Clad: An original lasts a lifetime. Featuring Stainless Steel, D5 and Copper core collections

Why did it take me so long to go to London? Certainly the cost, a week in London pretty much gets you three weeks anywhere else. Usually my trips are to where they grow wine not just drink wine.

Sign up for weekly cooking classes Gift Cards also available! #550, 220 Lakeland Dr., Sherwood Park 780.464.4631 www.thepantree.ca

And, I had this idea that because we speak the same language it wouldn’t be different enough, or exotic enough, or whatever. Obviously, I’m an idiot. More than a dozen trips to Italy later, I know it takes a lifetime to get to know a place. I’m just starting with London now.

@PanTreeKitchen

/ThePanTree

So many things we didn’t do, so many places we didn’t experience. Then again, you could easily spend an entire week getting to know just one neighbourhood. One thing I know for sure, when people ask New York? Or London? I say London. Mary Bailey publishes The Tomato in Edmonton.

THE EDMONTON FOOD COUNCIL IS RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS If you want to be part of a dynamic team that is helping to shape the future of food and urban argiculture in Edmonton, then the Food Council is looking for you!

Apply now at edmontonfoodcouncil.org Deadline is March 16, 2015

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2015-02-12 3:49 PM

The Tomato | March April 2015 33

Nourishing Entertainment! Metro Cinema is a community-based non-profit society devoted to the exhibition and promotion of Canadian, international and independent film and video. metrocinema.org Vampanorama - Vampire Cinema in a Global Vein March - April, 2015. Details and times at metrocinema.org

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - Persian w/ subtitles What We Do in the Shadows Let the Right One In - Swedish w/ subtitles Thirst - Korean w/ subtitles

Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party!

Spring has sprung! Celebrate the end of the winter deep-freeze with another super-fun sugarfrosted cartoon event!

April 4 @ 10:00AM

Inner Visions

Yoga in Practice and on Screen

Adult: $14, Student/Senior: $12, Child: $10 Admission includes cereal.

$30 pass incudes yoga, film & post-film discussion. shop.metrocinema.org

SATTVA Yoga Practice and film - The Fountain. Immortality and its consequences, the tension between science and art, and the immortality of love.

April 19 Yoga @ 10:00AM Film @ 1:00PM

Metro Cinema at the Garneau 8712-109 Street | metrocinema.org

34 March April 2015 | The Tomato

Metro Cinema receives ongoing support from these Arts Funders:

According to Judy

Judy Schultz

The pea shoot dilemma Every year, I buy a garden calendar. Two reasons: I love its optimism, and I need a good laugh. In March, says my calendar, “Plant lettuce, spinach, chard and peas, when first the lilac shows its leaves.” I did say optimistic, didn’t I? Still, here comes St. Patrick’s Day. Greens are required, and the springiest, trendiest green is the pea shoot. Sure and begorra, they’re a lovely vegetable – sweet, tender, and ruinously expensive. The Chinese, who call them dou miao, have been growing them for stir-fries since Confucius was a pup, but I’d never eaten pea shoots, scientific name pisum sativum, until they started showing up in chi-chi restaurants. Now they’re everywhere. One waiter told me the chef had grown them himself, in his hydroponic garden. (He had not. The chef doesn’t even have a dirt garden, let alone hydroponic.)

soaked them overnight. Filled an egg carton with potting soil; planted my pisum sativum thick as hair on a dog. Kept them moist, but not sodden. Covered them with plastic. Stuck them in a sunny spot. In short, pea shoot heaven. Then I waited. One Internet site predicted it would take four days, another said ten. I was diligent. A whole week of sprinkling, watching, waiting. Nothing. Nine days, still nothing. Finally at day 13, up came not one shoot, but seven. A crop! They weren’t exactly green and curly, more pale and stiff, like bean sprouts, but what the heck? I gave them a big drink and covered them up again. I expected to harvest salad by the weekend. By March 17, a second crop. Two egg cartons at least. Next morning four shoots had flopped over. The other three had produced gray fuzz. The rest of the crop…well, there wasn’t any.

I checked the Chinatown source, but the shoots were leggy and tough. Smaller ones in an organic spot cost a bundle. The answer was clear: grow my own. They’d be sweeter, younger, cheaper. I’d be the 2015 equivalent of those ancestral women who shot their own bison from the back of a fast-galloping horse.

Seven shoots? SEVEN? I called a gardening friend who knows about these things.

I was encouraged, not to mention misled, by a lot of Internet blarney about how easy these little devils are to grow. One Irish site had trialed 40-odd varieties to find the best. Another site insisted that any old dried pea would work just as well.

I had loved my pisum sativum to death.

To be safe, I invested heavily in two packages of organic snow peas and

Judy Schultz grows her own vegetables. Sometimes she’s successful.

“You have two problems. Damping off, and mould.” Both my fault, he said. “Too much water. Start again. And lose that plastic cover thing.”

I’m still determined to have pea shoots for St. Patrick’s Day. I know where I can buy a salad’s worth for about the same price as half a dozen exotic orchids.

D & od

o F o mat

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The Tomato Food & Drink

Kitchen Design Awards Submissions open: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 Submissions Deadline Wednesday, April 29, 2015 Finalists notified by The Tomato Food & May 29, 2015

n g i Des

Bread makes the sandwich. (And we make the bread — even during renovations.)

o t a m e To

n e h Kitc

s d r Awa

d o o F

k n i r &D

n g i Des

s d r a w A

Drink

Kitchen Design Awards

8720–149 Street bonton.ca

Find all submission details at thetomato.ca To enter your kitchen click on “Celebrate the kitchen! Tomato Food & Drink Kitchen Design Awards”

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