Food In The Hills | Autumn-Winter 2012

A U T UMN|W I N T E R 2012

A culinary education

Vegetarian wisdom

A wilderness lunch

Country pubs

Apple Challenges

This little van goes to market One of the biggest challenges facing the local food movement is distribution – or how to best get produce from the fields and farms to area restaurants and home kitchens. The renaissance of farmers’ markets in recent years has been a boon, both to growers and those of us who crave fresh, homegrown food. But, as effective as markets are for bringing producers and consumers together, any farmer will tell you how difficult it can be to take time out from the demands of planting and harvesting to make it to the weekly market. Likewise, restaurateurs find it difficult to tour farms to pick up the produce they need.

Stores such as Creemore’s 100 Mile Store bridge the producer-consumer gap by doing a lot of farm pickups themselves, and by providing a central drop-off for locally produced food. We wish there were more like it.

You may have seen the Grown in Peel map or the Dufferin Farm Fresh map, which offer detailed listings pinpointing the locations of the region’s farmer/producers.

The new Dufferin map, brainchild of locavore Marci Lipman, also includes

A ticket to ride ide Fines Ford has donated a van to Eat Local Caledon to assist in delivering locally grown food to local markets and restaurants.

farmers’ markets and local-food committed restaurants and retailers. Both maps, and those in neighbouring counties, are invaluable aids in putting food lovers and farmers in touch.

Wonderful as these efforts are, they still involve a lot of driving around by people who have scarce time for the task.

That’s why we’d like to tip our hat to Karen Hutchinson of Caledon Countryside Alliance and Bob Fines owner of Fines Ford Lincoln dealership in Bolton. Karen is always looking for ways to help producers distribute their products. She approached Bob and he generously agreed to arrange a short-term (six-month) lease on a brand new Ford Transit Connect van, allowing the CCA, with Eat Local Caledon, to launch a pilot project that will, in Karen’s words, “move the food system forward.”

In addition to delivering local produce to area restaurants, the van will ferry flour from K2 Milling’s Tottenham-area mill to the Inglewood and Caledon farmers’ markets. As well, Karen intends to make the van an integral part of the HAYville farm incubator program for area youth.

By helping distribute the program’s many food products prepared in the Palgrave Community Kitchen and grown at the Albion Hills Community Farm, Bob and Karen’s souped-up little van brings the dream of an integrated local food network one step closer to reality. And, as Karen points out, “It’s a great example of how non-profit and private partnerships can benefit us all.”

Herewith, the fall 2012 issue of Food In The Hills. Let us know what you think.

cecily@inthehills.ca

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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a taste of our autumn|winter issue 32 | Cooking with James Preparing succulent, tender duck confit isn’t difficult, but it is time consuming. Millcroft chef James Buder gives step by step instructions for this classic French dish, and explains why it’s so

duck confit

pete paterson

worth the effort.

36 | That’s Entertainment Join Emily Worts on a tour of Miriam Streiman’s dream kitchen, where quirky charm and state-ofthe-art convenience set the stage

mk lynde

for the ultimate in culinary theatre.

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

pete paterson

14 | Where the Wild Things Are Cecily Ross goes into the woods with forager Lisa Yates and comes out with wonderful weeds for lunch.

more seasonal specials

always on the menu

The Apple Growers’ Blues | 20 An early spring and a dry summer are wreaking havoc with local orchards. Tim Shuff reports.

Off the Shelf | 10 Goodies and gadgets for those on the go.

Reading, Writing and … Roasted Ribs? | 25 Where better to learn a basic life skill – cooking – than in school? Liz Beatty visits some innovative local culinary programs.

Digest | 12 Food for thought.

A Taste of Spanish Gold | 42 When it come to olive oil, Erin’s Dolores Smith knows an extra virgin when she tastes it.

Nicola Ross reports.

A Cook’s Tour of Country Pubs | 48 Where do you go when you’re hungry for good company and casual food? To your local pub of course.

Maize Index | 54 All about Zea mays.

Chef G illes Roche C aledon Culinary Challenge W inner 2011

Weddings & Special Events Sweets & Fine Chocolate Artisanal Cheese Take Out Dinners & Lunch The Bartlett Room Wine Dinner Club Locally Made Delicacies Gourmet Imports Catering all of life’s special occasions.

What’s Cooking | 56 A calendar of local food events.

End Note | 61 Feast of Fields’ Daniel Gilbert.

Best Bites | 62 Pia’s Bakery French onion soup.

Enjoy our services at the award winning B est Western PLUS O rangeville I nn & Suites

905.584.0005 On Being Vegetarian | 52 When Julie Suzanne Pollock decided to stop eating meat, her friends and family were not amused.

16023 Airport Rd, Caledon E ast

www.gourmandissmo.com Best Customer Service Hills of Headwaters 2011 autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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volume 2 number 2 | autumn winter 2012

Food In The Hills is an independent, local magazine, published twice yearly in mid May and mid August. It is a sister publication to In The Hills.

10,000 copies are distributed through restaurants, inns, specialty food stores, markets and tourism locations throughout the Headwaters region. publisher Signe Ball editor Cecily Ross oper ations manager Kirsten Ball art direc tor Kim van Oosterom Wallower Design

editorial Liz Beatty James Buder Douglas G Pearce Julie Suzanne Pollock Nicola Ross Tim Shuff Emily Worts copy editor Janet Dimond

web manager Valerie Jones Echohill Inc.

ce

photogr aphers Trina Berlo MK Lynde Pete Paterson food st ylist Jane Fellowes events editor Janet Dimond cover Apples by Jane Fellowes and Pete Paterson

advertising sales Sarah Aston Roberta Fracassi advertising produc tion Marion Hodgson Type & Images to advertise Sarah Aston 519-940-4884 sarah@inthehills.ca

advertising deadline The advertising deadline for the Spring|Summer issue is Friday, April 12, 2013. subscrip tions Subscriptions are $11.30 per year (includes hst).

published by MonoLog Communications Inc RR 1, Orangeville Ontario L9W 2Y8 519-940-3299 519-940-9266 fax info@inthehills.ca www.foodinthehills.ca www.inthehills.ca www. kidsinthehills.ca

let ters Letters to the editor are welcome; email cecily@inthehills.ca

on y

Fresh bread made and baked on site ~ Fine elegant cakes, wedding cakes and pastries made with the highest quality ingredients ~ Artisan gelato made with wholesome ingredients and no preservatives ~ Mini gelato bars now available ~ Delicious premium hot food available daily ~ Catering for all business and family occasions

1 queensgate boulevard in bolton 905-857-9040 mercatofinefoods.ca 8

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

Eat Fresh for Better Health!

Owned and Operated for 30 Years

Come in for our famous fresh produce, wide selection of organic meats, specialty foods and organic products, and visit our garden centre with its extensive selection of hanging baskets, annuals, perennials and shrubs.

We proudly carry BERETTA beef and chicken.

We carry frozen organic meats. We also have a selection of fresh antibiotic and hormone free beef and chicken.

Livestock raised within Canada. Canadian Angus Rancher endorsed.

501 Queen Street South in Bolton | www.gardenfoodsmarket.com | 905-857-1227

off the shelf Our roundup of fabulous quality items available locally

T-Local

Caledon cookie maker Keirstyn Eric’s Wicked Shortbread is sinfully delicious. The homemade treats were so popular with friends and family, Keirstyn decided to sell her wares at her local farmers’ market.

When sales flourished, she went one step further and packaged the three basic flavours (classic, toffee bitz and chocolate chunk) for sale in retail outlets around Headwaters, making use of Palgrave Community Kitchen’s commercial food preparation facilities. But this is no commercial cookie. The recipe, inspired by her grandmother and mother-in-law, uses local ingredients as much as possible, is gluten-free and contains no additives or preservatives.

This summer, Keirstyn opened a shop at 96 Broadway in Orangeville called (what else?) Wicked Shortbread. You’ll find her basic shortbread plus several new flavours, as well as a new line of Wicked squares, locally made pies and crisps, and organic coffee and teas.

It’s the evolution of shortbread. www.wickedshortbread.com

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Hot, t, hot,, hot Spicee up your life with Orangeville griller Christian Horner’s dry rubs for meat, fish and vegetables. Horner promises his Fire in the Kitchen dry marinades will impress your guests and heat up your cooking.

Specially formulated for meats, poultry, fish and vegetables, the rubs are glutenand MSG-free and low in sodium. When he isn’t playing around in the kitchen, Christian is a professional firefighter.

“I spend hours cooking and feeding the boys in the hall using all of my spice blends,” he says, and heaven knows, those guys like things hot. Christian recommends rubbing the marinade onto your food two to six hours before cooking for the maximum flavour hit. Shown here are Fire Rub for grilled steak and chicken, Veggie Blaze to give grilled asparagus or corn a kick, and Ocean Rub, delicious on whitefish, salmon and scallops. Fire in the Kitchen rubs are available at From the Kitchen to the Table and Dave’s Butcher Shop in Orangeville, as well as other fine food stores throughout the GTA. www.fireinthekitchen.ca

photos pete paterson

Naughty sweets

Help spread the locavore gospel by wearing one of these trend-setting “eat local” T-shirts. The clever logo, with its fork and knife motif, was designed by Creemore’s Lucas Gordon, a student at the Ontario College of Art and Design. The shirt, which comes in two eye-catching colour combos – black on brown (shown) and turquoise on black – is available in men’s and women’s sizes extra small to extra large. It is made of 100 per cent organic and recycled cotton by me to we style (www.metowestyle.com), a company that promises “sweatshop-free manufacturing” and donates 50 per cent of its profits to Free the Children.

As a bonus, if you buy a tee, the company promises to “plant a tree.” To date, the shirts are only available through the 100 Mile Store in Creemore, but we think the local food movement should adopt this as its official logo. Call 705-4663514 or email info@100milestore.ca and order yours today.

Downtown Alliston 77 Victoria St. East Alliston, Ontario (beside the tracks)

Tel: 705.435.7177

digest

compiled by dougl as g pearce

poor cook

imitation worcester sauce

“We enjoy the cynical story of the old-fashioned doctor who insisted first on going straight to the kitchen of the afflicted household. Not until he had effusively thanked the cook for giving him a new patient did he dash upstairs to see how he could relieve the cook’s victim. The fact is that everyone who runs a kitchen can, in the choice and preparation of food, decisively influence family health and happiness.”

“One gallon of ripe tomatoes washed and cut up. Pour over three quarts of water; let it boil down half. Stir occasionally to prevent the tomatoes from sticking. (A double vessel is valuable in preparing these sauces.)

Strain through a sieve; add two tablespoonfuls of ginger, two of black pepper, two of salt, one of cloves, one of red pepper. Boil down to a quart; add a tumbler of vinegar. Strain, bottle, and cork tight.”

From Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, Bobbs-Merrill, 1975.

peruvian asparagus “Asparagus grown in Peru and sold overseas is commonly held up as a symbol of unacceptable food miles.

Water depletion is another problem arising from its production. Most of the asparagus is produced in Peru’s Ica Valley, a desert area in the Andes and one of the driest places on earth.

The asparagus beds developed in the last decade require constant irrigation, resulting in a plummeting local water supply, as extraction overtakes replenishment. In some places, it has fallen by eight metres a year since 2002, one of the fastest rates of aquifer depletion in the world. Peru is now the largest exporter of asparagus in the world, and the expansion of the industry has been made possible thanks to the World Bank’s commercial investment.

“About 10,000 new jobs have been created in a very poor area.

This development has contributed significantly to Peru’s economic growth, but has produced conflict. It is now obvious that attention has to be paid to water conservation. The water tragedy

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unfolding has wide-ranging implications in all countries that produce fresh fruits and vegetables for shipment to the northern hemisphere off-season.”

From “News of Diversity” by Hugh Daubney, Seeds of Diversity, Seeding/11 www.seeds.ca

no contest “Only 16 per cent of watermelons now have seeds, down from 42 per cent in 2003. Often the melons are not eaten out of hand as they used to be, but are more likely sliced and used in salads.

Chefs prefer seedless melons, which are much more easily transformed into elegant cubes and fine dices. And without seeds, there can be no seedspitting contests that were traditional across America. Alas, it is unlikely that the world record for spitting a watermelon seed will be broken. For the record, the tiny black bullet of a seed was spat 22.9 metres, about a quarter the length of a football field.”

From “News of Diversity” by Hugh Daubney, Seeds of Diversity, Seeding/11 www.seeds.ca

waste “Roughly a third of food is wasted, according to raw statistics from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. That’s about 1.3 billion tons per year.

“In the developing world, over 40 per cent of food losses occur after harvest – while being stored or transported, and during processing and packing. In industrialized countries, more than 40 per cent of losses occur as a result of retailers and consumers discarding unwanted but often perfectly edible food.”

From Small Farm, Jul-Aug/11. www.smallfarmcanada.ca

From Mrs. Hill’s Southern Practical Cookery and Receipt Book by Annabella P. Hill, University of South Carolina Press, 2011.

First published 1872.

just like us “Over fifty million years ago, some ants began to alter their hunting and gathering strategies. Rather than simply killing and eating sap-sucking bugs, they learned to herd and ‘milk’ them, just as we herd and milk cattle and sheep. These ant-shepherds tend their flocks with utmost care, driving off insect predators, and, if the flow of sap on which the herd depends begins to dry up, the bugs are carried to richer pastures. The ants even construct shelters that they herd their charges into in bad weather. At around the same time that this Lilliputian pastoral society was coming into being, other ants took a different path. They learned that instead of killing rival ants they could take them as slaves.”

From Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet by Tim Flannery, HarperCollins, 2011.

Join us at the 23rd Annual

Feast of Fields www.feastoffields.org • 905.859.3609

diet note “... two martinis before dinner count as much as a generous slice of pie for dessert and, if you are trying to keep your weight constant, second thoughts are better than second helpings. In addition, ‘Let your contours be your guide.’”

From Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, Bobbs-Merrill, 1975.

stem cell research “Consumers concerned about the environmental footprint of their diet can look forward to a new food product ... In vitro meat – an animal flesh product produced in laboratories from the stem cells of farm animals – is being billed as a groundbreaking alternative to conventional livestock production.

“Time to sell the farm? Not quite.

Scientists estimate it will take at least another 30 years of research to produce anything more sophisticated than Spam.”

the COLD CREEK CONSERVATION AREA, Sun., Sept. 9, 2012 atin the Township of King.

1 - 5 p.m.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Pick up your napkin, wine glass and gift bag and begin your stroll amongst our celebrated chefs, farmers, vintners and brewers. Your senses are instantly tantalized by the delicious organic creations you are about to experience.

One of your stops will be the “Marketplace” filled with organic products from noted Artisans.

Feast of Fields is the longest running Organic Event in Ontario presented by “Organic Advocates”, a non-profit organization dedicated to the organic lifestyle.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

TICKETS: $100 each or 10 for $90 each

From June 1st-Sept. 8th, 2012.

Visa, Mastercard, Interac accepted. Purchase on-line at feastoffields.org or call.

From Small Farm, Jul-Aug/11. www.smallfarmcanada.ca

peeling tomatoes “Putting tomatoes whole into the freezer saved time and energy at the hottest time of the year. When I was ready to use my frozen tomatoes, I ran a little warm water over them, and the skins slipped off easily.”

A readers’ tip from Molly Peyman, Glenn Dale, Maryland, in Mother Earth News, Wiser Living Series, Winter/11. www.motherearthnews.com

good cook “The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as cooks go, she went.” Saki 왗

Farm-gate market offering drug-free black angus beef, bison, wild boar, lamb, chicken, pork and turkey.

Local gourmet products and seasonal produce.

Taste You Can Trust Tues & Wed 10-6; Thurs & Fri 10-7; Sat 9-5; Sun 12-4

17049 Winston Churchill Blvd, Caledon 519.927.5902 www.heatherleafarmmarket.ca autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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Known as the witch of Mono Centre, Lisa Yates is a wizard in the kitchen, transforming ordinary weeds into uncommon victuals

photos pete paterson

by cecily ross

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The driveway winds through the trees past a sign reading Cailleach Cnoc (Gaelic, I later learn, for “witch hill”), until it ends in a clearing beside a small stone cottage overlooking a pond. Right away, you can feel the magic.

Herbalist, folklorist, wild-foodie Lisa Yates emerges from the cool darkness of the broad veranda with a basket over her arm. Small and slender, with her reddish blonde hair pulled loosely into a ponytail and no makeup, she looks younger than her 53 years. And there is definitely something about her, not witchy, but something – nymph-like, fey, a hint of mystery.

Lisa has invited me for lunch, a meal she will prepare using ingredients we will forage from the grassy meadows and wetlands surrounding her house. We set out in the June sunshine, and before we have gone 10 paces, she stops and crouches down.

“Look at this plant trying to get my attention,” she says. It is wild yarrow, with its feathery leaves and creamy white flower.

“You can eat the leaves,” she says, picking off a few, “or use it as a disinfectant on wounds.”

Oxeye daisy. “I’ve been eating a lot of these lately.” She explains the entire plant is edible, though the stalks get fibrous later in the summer.

We forage ahead through the bee-fi lled morning. Young fleabane: “The leaves taste like spinach. Dry the flowers and grind them into powder. It makes an excellent flea repellent.”

“Milkweed is my favourite plant right now. In June, you can break off the top two inches of the plant, blanch, then stir-fry, and it tastes like mild rapini.” Oh yes, and the “milk” is said to remove warts.

Dandelion. “The buds are great in salads.”

Brine them and they taste like capers. The leaves are bitter, a taste Lisa says we’ve forgotten. Dandelion also helps digestion and aids the body in absorbing minerals.

Queen Anne’s Lace (wild carrot) can be eaten raw in early spring. The leaves taste like parsley. Older plants can be cooked with wild apples to make a broth.

left, top to bottom : Wild grape tendrils, pine tips, milkweed flower tips, oxeye daisy.

Thistle. “Most people would never think of eating thistle,” says Lisa, “but boiled or fried, you can eat them, thorns and all.” They’re also an excellent source of manganese, iron, phosphorus and zinc.

“That’s why we are so malnourished,” she says. “We have forgotten how to use these highly nutritious plants. Wild things have way more nutrients and they make you feel full. Our bodies crave these things and we eat too much of empty foods trying to get them.”

Lisa, who has a doctorate in alternative medicine, grew up in Kentucky. She attributes her lifelong devotion to wild plants to a natural curiosity and the influence of her maternal grandmother.

There is something semimystical about that devotion. She believes in the intelligence of plants, that they have something to tell us.

“Years ago, we had more intuition. We’ve lost that, but I believe that if you listen, plants will teach you.”

Lisa has been listening all her life, and experimenting too. She cautions it’s important to identify plants carefully before eating them, and even then to ingest small amounts before eating the whole thing.

Not all plants are friendly. “I have probably poisoned myself a few times,” she says of her trial and error approach.

We pass a tangled patch of vetch, its elongated purple blooms just emerging.

“Toxic!” she proclaims. Buttercups shimmer in the breeze. “Deadly poisonous. Leave them alone.”

We are barely halfway through our circumnavigation of the pond, and there is still so much to learn. The pollen from cattails is high in protein, add it to pancakes or baked goods. Hop clover can be used to make beer. The oily seeds of plantain are a high-energy trail food. The tender tops of goldenrod taste like mild asparagus. And a tea made from cedar is loaded with vitamin C. Ground spruce tips are excellent as a rub for grilled ribs. Chewing baby pine cones will protect your teeth.

I try one and indeed, it has a lemony, astringent taste that is not unpleasant. As we climb the hill to the house for lunch, continued on nex t page

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where the wild things are

clockwise from top left : Wild dumplings with dipping sauce; wild greens chowder; wild grape leaves filled with cheese. Oxeye daisy pesto.

Lisa’s basket now brimming with green things, I envision (my hunger tinged with th dismay) platters of plantain and sautéed jewelweed washed down with mugs of mint tea, and I contemplate picking up a pizzaa on the way home.

Back at the house, while the “witch” of Mono Centre, as she is known locally,, bustles away at her stove, I sip a cup of slightly spicy “coffee” made from dandelion ion roots. (Chop and roast in a 250°F oven for or an hour. Store in an airtight container).

Beside me, an open cupboard is fi lled with an array of preserves – jars of pickled wild leeks, dried mushrooms, elderberry cough syrup, pickled day lilies, wild quince vinegar, candied violets and dried wild mushrooms.

“I eat something wild every day,” says Lisa as she blanches lamb’s quarters, garlic mustard and dandelion greens. “I believe it connects you to where you live. Eat what you have around you and you’ll feel more grounded.”

Lunch, when it comes, is not what I expected. Despite her reverence for nuts and berries, Lisa’s culinary repertoire reaches well beyond the fields and forests. We sit on the veranda in the warm breeze and lunch on a sumptuous wild-weed chowder garnished with bacon, milkweed-ginger pot stickers with soy-sesame dipping sauce, tender wild grape leaves stuffed with local sheep’s milk cheese, oxeye daisy-black walnut pesto smeared on crusty bread, and for dessert, a simple flan sweetened with pine syrup and candied violets.

And while we eat, Lisa continues her tales of trolls flying about on stalks of dockweed, how placing dogwood leaves in the pages of your journal will make the words invisible, that witches ingest deadly nightshade because it makes them fly.

“I probably would have been burned at the stake if I’d lived 200 years ago,” she says.

Today, Lisa Yates is a walking encyclopedia of the secret lives of plants. “I believe what is underfoot is trying to give us something. We just need to get out and learn.” 왗

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Oxeye Daisy Pesto Excellent smeared on fresh bread or tossed with pasta. ingredients 2 cups oxeye daisy flowers, buds and tender leaf parts 1 cup black walnuts, chopped 1 ⁄ 3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 2 large cloves of garlic Sea salt to taste 1 cup olive oil (approximately) prepar ation Place all ingredients except oil in food processor, and blend until mixed. Slowly add oil (more or less may be used to achieve desired consistency). Makes 2 cups.

Wild Dumplings Dum In sprin spring, these savoury treats ccontain tender milkweed flower tips. In fall, milkwe fi ll them with the roots of young burdock plants. ingredients 2 cups milkweed green flower tips, diced, or 2 cups chopped first-year burdock root* Olive oil 1½ tsp chopped fresh ginger Sea salt Chinese dumpling wrappers ¼ cup sesame oil ¼ cup soy sauce

Award-winning sweet & hard ciders Wood-fired oven artisan bakery & local food shop Light meals served in our tasting room

1137 Boston Mills Rd Caledon 905-838-2530 www.SpiritTreeCider.com Headwaters Tourism Best Culinary Experience 2010

prepar ation For milkweed dumplings, blanch flower tips in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and dice. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté with milkweed and ginger for 5 minutes.

Season to taste with sea salt. Set aside.

For burdock root dumplings, peel root and dice. Sauté in olive oil with ginger until tender. Season to taste with sea salt. Set aside.

Prepare dumplings by placing 1 tsp wild filling on each wrapper. Wet edges of dough and pinch to seal. Steam dumplings for 6 to 8 minutes, or fry in a small amount of oil until browned. Serve with dipping sauce.

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dipping sauce

E X P E R I E N C E D C AT E R E R S

Blend ¼ cup sesame oil, ¼ cup soy sauce and remaining chopped ginger. * First-year burdock root does not have a flower stalk and leaves are close to the ground. Always use proper identification when preparing wild foods.

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114 Broadway, Orangeville 519-941-8968 www.thechocolateshop.ca autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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where the wild things are

seasonal wild fare Wild Greens Chowder

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Use whatever greens are in season and still tender for this delicious and nutritious chowder. ingredients ⁄ cup vegetable or chicken stock 3 medium potatoes, boiled and cut into chunks 4 cups wild greens (dandelion, lamb’s quarters, nettles, chickweed, garlic mustard), roughly chopped 6 slices bacon, diced 1 ⁄ 3 cup celery, chopped 1 ⁄ 3 cup onion, chopped 1¼ cups milk 1¼ cups cream 1 tbsp flour Salt and freshly ground pepper

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To help you identify wild plants, Lisa Yates recommends Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada by Andy MacKinnon, Linda Kershaw, John Arnason, Patrick Owen, Amanda Karst and Fiona Hamersley-Chambers (Lone Pine) and Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons (Allan C. Hood & Co.).

spring

summer

dandelions jewelweed sprouts mustards violets fiddleheads leeks conifer tips 1 cattails 2 watercress 3 milkweed sprouts and green flower 4 asparagus marsh marigolds 5 mint select fungi wild grape tendrils and new leaves 8 locust flowers cleavers

milkweed buds and small pods 4 lamb’s quarters jewelweed stalks, leaves and flowers 7 burdock 6 day lilies wild grapes 8 select fungi watercress 3 dandelions purslane 9 cattail pollen 2 berries (elder, black, thimble, raspberry, goose etc.) wild cherries ground cherries 10 plantain seeds

autumn

winter

wild apples crab apples quince watercress 3 acorns black walnuts 11 chicory root dandelions sumac 12 high bush cranberry 13

Watercress, from streams and ponds that do not freeze 3

prepar ation Heat stock in a pot and simmer greens on low for about 5 minutes until wilted and tender. Add boiled potatoes to greens.

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Fry bacon until crisp, remove from pan and set aside. Sauté celery and onion in bacon fat and add to greens and potatoes.

Stir in 1 cup of milk and all the cream. Simmer on low until heated through. Mix flour with reserved ¼ cup milk and add to chowder.

Heat, stirring until thickened. Add bacon bits. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into heated bowls.

Serve with crusty bread. Serves 2.

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Rowan berries after a freeze are palatable 14 Wildflower heads with seeds (identify before eating) Preserved wild food, canned, dried, fermented or frozen 왗

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A spring freeze that wiped out 88 per cent of Ontario’s apple crop is only the latest in a string of challenges pressuring local growers to squeeze more value out of the humble apple

the apple growers’ blues

b y t im shuff

T

The early spring thaw and April frost hit hardest in Glen Huron, where Bob Giffen, 68, runs a hundred-acre apple orchard and Giffen’s Country Market.

Giffen estimates 97 per cent of his crop was wiped out by the refreeze. It’s the worst crop failure he’s seen in 45 years. Giffen has crop insurance, but that won’t cover the costs of leaving his cold storage facilities empty, his fleet of trucks idle – or the salaries of the 20 employees he would usually hire.

Even in a normal year, Giffen would have plenty to say about his declining fortunes. Ontarians consume more fresh fruit every year, but less and less of it comes from here. We import nearly half our fresh apples. While apple imports from places like China are increasing, Ontario exports are in decline. Apple acreage in the province is less than half what it was in 1994.

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It’s a squeeze forcing local farmers like Giffen to modernize, make more farmgate sales directly to consumers, process their own product to add value, or simply pull out of the business altogether. The situation is partly our fault. Given an array of imported choices, we’re all too likely to pick the Granny Smith from Washington over the McIntosh from down the road. The mainstay varieties that grow best here, like the Mac, aren’t the big sellers they used to be. The other problems are grocery store consolidation and fierce competition in which the major food retailers wield all the power and farmers get squeezed.

“The cost of production has gone up very dramatically in the last decade, and yet the return to the farmer has not,” says Brian Gilroy, chairman of the Ontario Apple Growers. If apples sell for a dollar a pound

“We grow it, take all the risk, but the packer gets as much as we do, and the retailer twice as much.” at the grocery store, the farmer would be lucky to get a quarter.

“We grow it, take all the risk, but the packer gets as much as we do, and the retailer gets twice as much. If you can capture the rest of the 75 cents a pound by retailing it yourself, that’s where your money seems to be in apple growing,” says Gilroy.

The proof is in Giffen’s small produce and baked goods shop nestled amidst the orchards and storage buildings on Station Street in Glen Huron.

“I’d survive a lot better on ten acres of apples and sell all our own just out of the

photo pete paterson photo trina berlo

Freshness and variety: more reasons to buy local

store,” says Giffen, but for now he’s trapped by the inertia of his investments in cold storage and trucking.

The future appears to be in large scale, corporate farms or small pick-your-own operations and farm stores, with mediumsized family farms like Giffen’s gradually disappearing. To grow and be more profitable, he says, farmers have to invest in planting dwarf trees in high density – a thousand or more to an acre instead of his 200. At $20,000 an acre to plant, high density is capital intensive, but the payoff is increased yield and lower labour costs.

Still, few are willing to put up the money. “There’s not many 25 or 30 year olds in this business,” says Giffen. At 68, he has opted to downsize. He recently received a subsidy to rip out 30 acres of trees. From 2008 to 2010, the Canada-

After 2011’s bumper crop, Bob Giffen (above) laments the loss of more than 90 per cent of this year’s yield.

Ontario Orchards and Vineyards Transition Program (OVTP) offered farmers $1,600 per acre to destroy orchards.

The intent was to get rid of “inefficient” trees, says Giffen. “But man, some of those acres we pushed out were not inefficient.”

While other apple producing provinces (B.C., Quebec and Nova Scotia) have funding programs to pay for replanting with modern orchards, for years the Ontario Apple Growers have been unsuccessfully lobbying the province for similar support.

The OVTP came with no incentive or requirement to replant.

“Growers just took the money and ran,” says Giffen. 왘

Apples at farm stores like Giffen’s Country Market in Glen Huron come straight off the tree in season and straight out of storage in the off season, making them fresher than grocery store apples that sit on unrefrigerated shelves. Buying local also helps support local farmers by giving them at least four times as much as they would get wholesale.

Another buy-local advantage is the chance to sample and support heritage varieties. At his farm in Mulmur, Alan Hibben grows some 250 to 300 varieties of heritage apples on a few acres of land. Heritage apples, Hibben says, are basically what we call commercial failures. “They’re the ones that don’t ship, don’t keep. You’ve got to use them quickly after you pick them.”

From the Adams Pearmain to the Zabergau Reinette, Hibben’s list of varieties on the Creemore Heritage Apple Society’s website reveals the bewildering diversity that we’re missing out on at the local superstore, which may carry few local varieties at best.

Some have red or pink flesh, others are as large as a pound apiece. One of Hibben’s favourites is Grimes Golden (illustrated, top), a sweet, greenishyellow apple you’d never find in stores – unless you drop by a local shop like the 100 Mile Store in Creemore, which just happens to sell some of Hibben’s “failures.” — TS

Giffen’s Country Market 55 Station St, Glen Huron 705-466-3080, www.giffens.ca

continued on nex t page autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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the apple growers’ blues

A Caledon East couple is turning Ontario apples into profits at their recently opened Bolton processing and bottling plant. Nick Sutcliffe and Lindsay Smith’s Pommies Dry Cider has made it onto the coveted shelves of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

The timing was right for the couple thanks to a spike in the worldwide popularity of hard cider as a beer alternative in the wake of Prince William’s endorsement of the beverage in the UK. In the last three years, the LCBO has seen a 34 per cent increase in its volume of cider sales, 19.7 per cent last year alone.

“We think we can make a mark in Caledon for cider,” says Smith. “We should. We have lots of apples here.”

Smith and Sutcliffe buy only Ontario apples for their cider (although this year’s crop failure may force them to look further afield). The apples are pressed at Spirit Tree Estate Cidery and transferred to the Pommies facilityy on Healey Road in Bolton for thee fermentation process and bottling. ng.

Eventually, the couple hopess to acquire their own orchard and open a retail store selling their cider directly to the public.

Sutcliffe says it’s the taste that sets Pommies apart from other ciders. “Ontario grows great cider apples with high acidity because of the cold climate.”

Their secret recipe uses a minimum of three to five apple r varieties, no concentrates – ever.

“What you put in you get out,” says Sutcliffe. “You can taste the freshness.” www.pommiesdry.com

photo pete paterson

A soft spot for hard cider

With a spring frost and a summer drought, “This is the worst year I’ve ever had,” says Albion Orchards’ Scott Lunau.

Weather matters at the pick-your-own With a small operation on 50 acres where he grows apples for direct sale from his own store, Scott Lunau is avoiding the wholesale market entirely. Lunau bought his farm 16 years ago. Early on, he realized there was no money in wholesaling apples. So he opened Albion Orchards Apple Farm and Country Market, a pick-your-own business and onfarm store. His success is tied to his proximity to the GTA. He can sell fresh-from-the-farm apples at lower than grocery store prices and still make a profit. Last year, Lunau sold fresh apples for 89 cents a pound. Some of his best customers are older European immigrants.

“I learned you can’t just have a store and sell apples. We sell some cookies and pies, juice, a lot of apple cider.”

“They recognize that if you go to the farm at harvest time, you can buy lots and save money.” A local-eating tradition that predates the notion of a hundred-mile anything. “But most Canadian young people don’t really think that way,” he says.

“They’re not coming to the farm to stock up and save money. They’re just coming here strictly for entertainment.”

Which makes the pick-your-own biz as weather dependent for the selling season as it is for growing. Lunau’s business is open only from mid-August to December. “We count on nice sunny Sunday afternoons. If it’s rainy, we’re dead.” This year, however, he is praying for rain.

Lunau wasn’t hit as hard by the spring frost this year as Giffen, but he still suffered “well over 50 per cent” crop loss on his 6,000 trees. And with the dry conditions this summer, his losses now stand at close to 90 per cent. Province-wide, crop loss prior to the drought was estimated at 88 per cent.

“I will not have enough apples to sell to get by,” says Lunau, who struggles to find enough time to farm as a single father of two young children. “This is the worst year I’ve ever had.

Things are going downhill really quickly.

“I’ve got to find other things to sell,” he concludes. “I learned quickly you can’t just have a store and sell apples. We sell some cookies and pies, juice, a lot of apple cider.”

He grows pumpkins and Christmas trees too, and is looking for other ways to branch out.

Albion Orchards 14800 Innis Lake Rd, Caledon 905-584-0354, www.albionorchards.com

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the apple growers’ blues

photo pete paterson

The market for hard cider as a beer alternative is booming, following in the tracks of the microbrewery trend.

Tom Wilson and Nicole Judge of Spirit Tree Estate Cidery expect to be the only orchard in Ontario that will harvest more this year than last.

High spirits at the Cidery Scott Lunau might look no further than the other side of Highway 10 in Caledon to find a way to add more value to the apple business. Tom Wilson grew up on a pickyour-own farm like Lunau’s, but in 2007 he and his veterinarian wife Nicole Judge ventured in a new direction.

“We wanted to do something that wasn’t as affected by weather, and something more upscale,” says Judge.

The pair bought a property on Boston Mills Road, planted a new high-density orchard, and built an innovative, geothermally heated and cooled timberframe and strawbale building to house a cider press, fermentation room, wood-fired oven bakery, retail store and tasting room for their new year-round business – Spirit Tree Estate Cidery.

They went to Somerset, England, and then Cornell University to take courses from the world’s foremost cider-making expert.

They took pastry, bread making, and wood oven courses to round out their skill set for a food philosophy that is back to basics, from scratch and local. Spirit Tree’s bread is made from locally stone-ground, Hockley Valley– grown heritage Red Fife wheat. On Friday evenings, the wood oven is reserved for thin crust pizza. Commuters and cottagers can call ahead for pick up, stay to eat on the deck, or take away some cider for the weekend with their order.

Today, Spirit Tree’s fledgling orchards are increasing production by about 80 per cent each year. This spring’s frost damage was only about 20 per cent, making them perhaps the only orchard in Ontario that will harvest more this year than last. The market for hard cider as a beer alternative is booming, following in the tracks of the microbrewery trend. And Wilson has noticed a spike in demand for juice apples for the first time in decades. Even large brewers like Alexander Keith’s are launching ciders, but Spirit Tree is ahead of the curve with a product that is truly artisanal and local.

Even as subdivisions close in on the farms and orchards around Spirit Tree, it only means their customer base will grow.

And they no longer dread the autumn rains, which now drive customers into their place to have a snack and drink by the fire. Wilson and Judge are in the right place at the right time, and they seem to represent the future of the local apple, whose value nowadays lies more in what you can add to it – by baking it into pies, opening the farm to tourism, or pressing and fermenting it into cider – than the humble fruit itself. 왗 Tim Shuff is a freelance writer.

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery 1137 Boston Mills Rd, Caledon 905-838-2530, www.spirittreecider.com 24

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

Reading, writing and At Bolton’s St. Michael Secondary School, the hickory stick has been replaced with a baguette, and Chef Gallo is calling the tune | b y l i z be at t y

왘

photos pete paterson

… roasted ribs?

Alysha Muir and platter of succulent roasted ribs. autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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re ading, writing, roasted ribs

“You must be our visitor,” says Grade 10 student Liam McLaughlin, walking through the office door at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in Bolton. Neatly dressed in black chef ’s garb, he looks me straight in the eye, shakes my hand with a grin, then points the way to his classroom. Such poise. Remarkable for a 16 year old, I think. Then I meet Liam’s classmates.

Even as they chop, stir, and scurry between stations in this state-of-the-art professional kitchen, the students in St. Michael’s busy hospitality and tourism program emanate an uncommon confidence.

The vibe here is palpable – clearly these kids feel part of something important, partly because the school’s brand new banquet facility rivals top hotels in the GTA, and partly because they work with a professional caterer to feed the entire school population every day. But mostly these students seem to

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new guidelines for food sold in schools reflect an increased awareness of how high-quality fresh food is key to growing minds and bodies have found a deep sense of purpose in their work with food.

“Food is life,” says chef/teacher Michael Gallo, 29. He reaches between two students preparing fresh pasta and shows them how to shape a pile of flour to hold a raw egg.

“Food starts with elements perfect and whole, and if you approach it with passion, gratitude, creativity and care, you can make something truly magical out of it.” This

is Gallo’s credo, and his program is just one shining example of how schools in the Headwaters region are connecting kids to food in ways that can change lives.

It’s not just that new provincial nutritional guidelines for food sold in schools reflect an increased awareness of how high-quality fresh food is key to growing minds and bodies. Yes, the new standards for sugar, carbs, fats, and sodium are a first step in combatting obesity and a variety of attention and behavioural issues.

But they don’t come close to the vision of this homegrown Jamie Oliver.

A graduate of Humber College’s prestigious chefs’ school, Gallo took his stagiaire (internship) at chef Andrew Fairlie’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. He returned to Canada with offers from some of Toronto’s top hotels and restaurants.

Industry peers expected the Bolton native

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photos pete paterson

left to right : Christopher Sciamarella, Alexandra Terisigni, Vanessa Gutta, Alexandra Rebelo: Meeting the demands of mass food production.

to open his own restaurant in Toronto or New York. But Gallo’s abiding passion for food remained deeply rooted in Bolton. It was here, growing up in a first-generation Italian-Canadian home, that his love of family, community and home cooking were inexorably linked. But it was his wife Josie and her passion for her work as a teacher that brought Gallo home.

“Josie’s stories about her students inspired me,” says Gallo. “I’d pretty much gone to the top of my game, but I knew the greatest reward for me would be giving back to my community. I wanted to pass onto these kids all the amazing things that inspired me to become a chef.”

Fate smiled. St. Michael needed a champion for its new hospitality program.

Gallo started last September, and now the program is operating at full capacity of 200 students to rave reviews.

“Michael really engages students with his

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re ading, writing, roasted ribs

back row, left to right : Paul Rubino, Michael Marriani, Noah Marrano, Daniel Rojas, Matthew Provenzano, Michael Khatib, Roberto Lolli, Christopher Scricca, Samantha Simone, Vanessa Gutta, Krystina Hnatykiw. front row, left to right : Alexandra Terisigni, Antonio Murgida, Liam McLaughlin, Alexandra Rebelo, Alysha Muir, Peter Gonzalez. in front of table : Michael Gallo.

passion for culinary arts,” says Antonio Rosa, head of the technological studies department at St. Michael. “He’s generating candidates for top chef schools, but the respect he commands and his high expectations also do wonders for at-risk students who really enjoy the energized hands-on learning.”

The hospitality and tourism program combines culinary skills focusing on fresh, healthy foods with a commercial kitchen environment where students must meet the demands of mass food production. They also work front and back of house for their popular staff bistro. The goal is to prepare top graduates for work in the catering industry or post-secondary chef school. And if this year’s final project for the Grade 10 class is any indication, they’ll be ready.

At a Titanic-themed dinner theatre event held at the school last spring, Gallo’s students planned the menu, prepared the food, and served dinner to 200 guests. The

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

entrée was New York strip loin. For dessert, they created an eight-foot-long cake in the shape of the ill-fated vessel. “I can’t tell you the number of people who remarked how professional the catering was,” says Rosa.

With his rookie year now complete and the program’s first Grade 11 class in the wings for this fall, Gallo is focusing on his next steps. He’s reached out to local farmers and community gardens. “Our connection to local food sources is something special in our region,” says Gallo. “Now I want to bring that into our kitchen.”

The value of kids connecting with food at its source is something veteran geography teacher Jamie Richards at Orangeville District Secondary School (ODSS) understands well. ODSS was one of the first secondary schools in Ontario to initiate a culinary arts program, and Richards was involved from the start.

His self-sustaining greenhouse program

“our connection to local food sources is something special in our region …

I want to bring that into our kitchen” includes cultivating and selling fresh produce such as beans, peas, lettuce, fennel, cabbage, beats, Swiss chard and more to staff and the very popular student-run cafeteria. If you’re not lined up five minutes after the lunch bell, you’ll miss out. Carrots picked in the morning can end up in a chicken pot pie by lunch. A fresh kohlrabi at 9 a.m. might be mango-kohlrabi slaw by noon. Students grow and prepare foods, some they may have never seen before, and their peers throughout the school are eager to savour the fresh new flavours.

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belfountaininn.com Chef/teacher Michael Gallo demonstrates knife skills with Christopher Sciamarella.

Call it a sensory object lesson for what Richards’ students learn in class. “We were just talking about different forms of agriculture, like factory-farmed chickens versus free-range,” he says. Richards brought in both kinds of eggs, the latter from his own farm. The kids then cooked and ate them in class. “They were blown away by the difference in flavour.”

His goal: “If the greenhouse program inspires kids to have their own little garden at some point in time, we’ll have succeeded in shaping well-rounded citizens who are healthy and can take care of their own food.”

Others are starting even earlier to help local students make the connection between living well and eating well. Belfountain Public School’s eco-focused curriculum has had kids planting and harvesting vegetable gardens for some time. Now their hot lunch program, run by school parent Stacey Fokas of Freshalicious.ca, is helping make that

100% NATURAL Variety of gluten free, vegetarian, vegan snacks and light lunch options 154 Broadway, Orangeville 519-938-5554 | euphoriaorangeville.ca

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re ading, writing, roasted ribs

82 main street, erin phone 519.833.1121 www.bistroriviere.com

every little thing you cut, every little thing you plate, means something fresh food connection for students even stronger. Fokas’ company co-ordinates fresh hot lunch programs for schools in Caledon, Bolton and Orangeville using local chefs who source as many local foods as possible.

“The best measure of the food quality and taste is the near full participation of school families in the program,” says Belfountain principal Raymond Kaake. Their spring menu included roast pepper bruschetta with chicken, beef stir-fry with basmati rice, penne primavera, and for dessert, Stacey’s cranberry cookies or apple cobbler. Allergyfriendly options include gluten-free, lactosefree, vegetarian and nut-free items.

“The kids talk about it. They love the food, and I notice they’re becoming more

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

top : The happy faces of well-fed Belfountain kids. bottom, left to right : Belfountain parents Katarina Prokosch and Jennifer Schill, and Stacey Fokas of Freshalicious: “Making fresh food connections even stronger.”

aware of local seasonal foods on our menus,” says Fokas. “For me, it’s all about the goodness that comes from fresh food.”

Gallo would agree. Back in the kitchen at St. Michael, a student approaches with an outstretched handful of freshly made pizza dough, destined for today’s lunch crowd.

Gallo picks it up, considers it side to side, and then pinches it. “Perfect, absolutely perfect.” He turns to me and suggests, “You try.” I do. Then he hands it back with a proud smile. “Really perfect,” he insists again as the student leaves beaming. He continues, “I guess what I hope to impart here is what I call a Michelin-starred life.

Every little thing you cut, every little thing you plate, means something. It’s really the same passion and care that we should bring to every aspect of life.” 왗 Liz Beatty is a freelance writer and branding consultant living in Brimstone.

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cooking with James by james buder

Any chef can make foie gras and beef tenderloin taste amazing because, in a way, they already are. But to take a challenging food like duck and make it extraordinary is what I really love to do. Duck legs are naturally tough and sinewy because the duck uses them so much.

As a result, they require long, slow cooking at a low temperature to ensure they are not rubbery. If properly prepared, the meat will be moist, buttery and extremely flavourful.

The term “confit” comes from the French word confire, which means “to preserve.”

A specialty of southwestern France, particularly the Occitan region, it is usually prepared from the legs of geese or ducks by slowly cooking the cured meat in its own rendered fat and allowing it to cool. If this

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centuries-old technique is properly followed, confit will last about six months in the refrigerator without spoiling.

Remember to season the meat generously with salt and herbs distributed evenly on all surfaces of the legs. After allowing it to cure in the refrigerator for two days, be sure to carefully wash off all the seasonings. Even traces of garlic or thyme could turn rancid during the cooking process. It is also very important to dry the duck thoroughly before placing the legs in the fat to cook. A few minutes in a moderate oven, just until it begins to brown, will ensure it is completely dry.

Then it can be submerged in the liquefied duck fat. A rule of thumb is the fat should cover the duck legs by at least one inch. This

photos pete paterson

duck Confit James Buder, chef at The Millcroft Inn, demonstrates how to prepare succulent duck confit.

Duck Confit and Swiss Chard Salad ingredients

may seem like a lot of fat (and it is), but duck fat can be kept indefinitely in the refrigerator and reused for many dishes.

The most important part of making confit is to remember “slow and low.” After about two hours or more in a 250° to 275°F oven, check for doneness by inserting a skewer. If it meets little resistance, the confit is done and ready to be stored.

When you’re ready to eat it, allow the duck to come to room temperature before removing from the solidified fat. Brown it carefully in a frying pan and serve. I suggest accompanying it with braised red cabbage and lightly fried potatoes. Confit is also wonderful served cold in a salad with baby greens and a savoury dressing.

Preparing duck confit is not difficult, but it is time consuming and requires patience, technique and even love. Investing time, care and passion will result in something really memorable, which is what we strive for daily. 왘 James Buder is executive chef at The Millcroft Inn in Alton.

sal ad 4 oz (100 g) duck confit, shredded 4 oz (100 g) baby Swiss chard ½ oz (15 g) red onion, very thinly sliced 1 oz (30 g) enoki mushrooms 3 grape tomatoes, halved 1 tsp porcini vinaigrette ½ tsp truffle oil

porcini vinaigret te 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 cup red wine vinegar ½ oz (15 g) dried porcini mushrooms, ground in spice mill to powder consistency Fresh herbs, chopped 2½ cups extra virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper prepar ation

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In a small bowl, combine mustard, vinegar, porcini powder and fresh herbs. Slowly add oil, whisking constantly to emulsify.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 3 to 4 cups.

To serve, divide duck among 4 plates.

Top with Swiss chard and onions.

Arrange mushrooms and grape tomatoes. Top with fresh herbs and drizzle with vinaigrette and truffle oil.

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continued on nex t page autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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cooking with james

Spiced Duck Confit

1

2

The cloves, cinnamon, and brown sugar give this recipe an exotic twist.

However, feel free to replace them with shallots and a bay leaf for more traditional flavouring. ingredients 2 tbsp whole cloves 2 tbsp ground cinnamon 1 tbsp black peppercorn, coarsely cracked ¼ bunch fresh thyme sprigs 3 garlic cloves, sliced ¼ cup brown sugar ¼ cup coarse salt 4 whole duck legs 8 cups duck fat (enough to completely cover duck legs) prepar ation

왘

4

5

Remove duck legs from pan, wash off salt and spices completely and discard. Pat legs dry with towel. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

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Place cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, thyme and garlic in a large bowl. Add brown sugar and salt, mix well and reserve.

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

Place duck legs on a baking sheet and roast until skin begins to brown, about 15 minutes. This will dry them completely after washing. In the meantime, in a medium-sized cooking pot, warm duck fat over low heat until liquified.

Spread half spice mixture on bottom of a medium-sized pan or platter.

Place duck legs skin side up on the spices. Top with remaining spices.

6

Submerge duck legs in fat, cover with aluminum foil, and place in oven at 250ºF. The legs will take roughly 2½ hours to cook.

Check for doneness by stabbing with a wooden skewer near joint. If skewer pulls out easily, legs are done. If not, continue cooking.

Allow to cool until fat congeals. Store duck confit in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

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To serve, remove duck legs from fat. Fry legs skin side down in a heavy skillet. Continue to cook over low heat until skin is browned and crisp. Serve on a bed of fresh greens with sliced potatoes fried in duck fat and braised red cabbage. Reserve any leftover duck fat for later use. Serves 4. 왗

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

35

That’s

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Entertainment Miriam Streiman’s country kitchen is more than a place to eat, drink and be merry – it’s a culinary stage and she’s the leading lady

photos mk lynde

by emily worts

If cooking is theatre, then Miriam Streiman’s farm kitchen is the ideal stage, and the 31-year-old professional cook has landed a leading role.

Miriam is a force: chef, local/sustainable food advocate, food stylist and recipe developer for the Food Network, CBC, CTV and TVO, as well as a member of the steering committees for Slow Food Toronto and Terroir, a Torontobased hospitality symposium.

She has also just opened Mad Maple Country Inn and Agriturismo in Maple Valley, north of Shelburne. (Agriturismo is an Italian term for a farm guest house that serves local fare). It is here, in the newly renovated kitchen, that Miriam is putting on the performance of a lifetime.

The space does double duty as Miriam and husband Neil Epstein’s leisurely country kitchen and a hectic entertaining centre. It is both cozy enough for two and spacious enough for a cast of dozens.

A bundle of energy, Miriam whips around her kitchen in a polka-dotted shift and bare feet. The morning sun pouring through the expansive new windows softens the black slate countertops. The view from every corner of the open kitchen/dining room takes in the rolling fields and freshly dug gardens. There isn’t much wall space, which is exactly what the couple wanted. The farm landscape and this spectacular kitchen are all the artwork that’s needed.

Miriam and Neil bought the 1890s yellow brick Victorian farmhouse on County Road 124 four years ago. And with the help of local contractor Jamie Korthals, they began its transformation into a country inn last year. Now that it’s finished, Miriam can’t say enough about Korthals and his appreciation for older homes.

“You could tell Jamie cared deeply about the house and our vision,” she says.

This kitchen renovation was no small deal.

To open up the space, the supporting wall between the kitchen and dining room came down and was replaced by a 26-foot steel beam.

“Most kitchens are a big job in older homes like this,” says Korthals. “Kitchens function a lot differently today, so we usually have to take out walls to incorporate the work area into the living space.”

For Miriam and Neil, the big country kitchen with its long trestle table and woodburning fireplace, is a dream come true.

Miriam knew what she wanted even before they bought the house. She always imagined her stove at centre stage, with a step down into the dining area so guests would be able to see, hear and smell the magic as it was being created. And that is what she got.

The large, welcoming Calacatta marble island, flanked by colourful mismatched vintage stools, is the hub of the action. The island wraps around a pair of Blue Star gas ranges (one 24-inch and one 36-inch), from where Miriam and Neil entertain their audience of house guests, family and friends.

“This is theatre,” says Miriam.

And on this particular morning, rehearsals are underway. The deep stainless steel industrial sink (from DSW Restaurant Supply in Toronto) is fi lled with veggies from their garden and bounty from foraging expeditions out to the surrounding countryside. The 50-cubic-foot fridge from Nella gives another nod to Miriam’s professional cooking background.

Ikea cabinets have been customized with barnboard ends and Restoration Hardware knobs to give them a country feel. Many items, from the light fi xtures to the beech flooring, are reclaimed. The hardware securing the sliding barnboard doors came from Singhampton chef Michael Stadtländer. Neil constructed the range hood himself using original exterior wood siding uncovered during the renovation. The countertops and island top are seconds with quirky chips and scratches.

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top : Mismatched vintage stools add a quirky charm to the immaculate white kitchen. bottom left : Twin Blue Star gas ranges take centre stage. bottom right : Two massive pine tables and a collection of ea market chairs will accommodate as many as 20 guests.

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

that’s entertainment

“They’re seconds but totally fine,” says Miriam. “We want the kitchen to look used and we want the patina. It shows it’s loved and we want people to be comfortable here.”

This is an interactive space, at its best when fi lled with people all cooking together.

For years, Neil and Miriam have been collecting kitchen tools and gadgets. In one drawer, Miriam counts seven rolling pins.

Another is fi lled with wooden spoons, and yet another is dedicated to cast-iron frying pans.

“Everything you want is where you need it,” she says.

Her schmata (Yiddish for a piece of raggedy clothing or a bit of old cloth) drawer holds a collection of vintage aprons and the piles of tea towels she uses for everything from wiping counters to cleaning chickens.

That’s why she put the laundry room right beside the kitchen. Sliding barnboard doors conceal the area, which doubles as a bussing station, when the laundry (particularly schmatas) is piling up. The laundry room has another large restaurant-style sink for washing up.

Once upon a time, Miriam and Neil’s house was a general store and a resting spot for weary travellers passing through. “So it’s only natural for this home to be shared with other people,” she says.

And indeed, Miriam and Neil’s kitchen has already become a hub of culinary activity, with local artists, chefs, and farmers coming together in celebration of the area’s bounty.

“We are bringing people together through food,” she says. “When people come here, they are really engaging with food and having a tactile experience. We want them to leave with delicious memories.

I love serving and making them feel special.”

It’s hard not to feel special here. Miriam places a wooden cutting board loaded with her homemade Red Fife and maple scones on the island. She pours coffee and fetches Harmony Organic cream from the fridge. Grabbing a schmata, she erases the fingerprints left on the fridge door. This old house, with all its quirks and secondhand charm, is the perfect stage for her next performance. 왗 Emily Worts is a freelance writer.

For information about Mad Maple Country Inn and Agriturismo, see www.madmaple.ca

The Globe Restaurant Fine dining in 19th century surroundings

***** Lunches • Teas Dinners

***** Reservations (705) 435-6981 Closed Tuesdays In Rosemont, Hwy. 89, east of Airport Rd.

We serve and sell premium, top-quality, great-tasting beef. Always tender and juicy. There’s no taste like it.

We are pleased to introduce our new line of gluten-free pork and poultry products. Come in and try some for dinner tonight.

Our mobile kitchen serves smoked beef, all-beef franks and sausage on a bun, as well as peameal, egg and cheese on a bun.

Wayne Speers Orangeville 519-941-2708 waynespeers@bellnet.ca speersfarmsamaranth.ca

recipes on nex t page autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

39

that’s entertainment

Caramel Apple Butter This recipe is a tribute to the apples grown around the hills of Headwaters. It is perfect with cheese, on toasty bread with a thick swoosh of butter, as a fi lling for tarts, or mixed into sauces. Experiment with other fruit or vegetable purées to celebrate what is available each season, such as pumpkin, pear or carrot. Inspired by Toronto chef Justin Courneya’s recipe. ingredients 8 lbs or about 25 sweet apples, cored and cut into eighths (Miriam uses organic Four Wheel Farm* apples) 1 cup sugar ½ cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened Pinch of salt prepar ation Place apples in a large pot over mediumhigh heat and cover. Once they begin to release their juices and soften, uncover and cook until completely soft, approximately 15–20 minutes, stirring often. Purée using a food mill or blend and process through a sieve. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spread sugar evenly in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Watch carefully until sugar dissolves and becomes a deep golden colour, approximately 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low, taking care not to burn the sugar.

Once sugar caramelizes and is liquid, turn heat off and quickly add apple purée. The mixture will steam and splatter a little, so wear oven mitts or long sleeves. Stir vigorously, scraping bottom of pot and incorporating apple purée into caramel.

Add butter, season with salt and mix to combine. Bring apple/caramel mixture to a strong simmer. Remove from heat and transfer to a large, flat-bottomed roasting

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pan. Place pan in oven and roast until mixture has reduced by half, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check oven often, scraping down sides of pan to incorporate the crispy caramelized sugar pieces and prevent the edges from burning.

Once mixture is a rich dark brown and thick in consistency, remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle and pack into jars. Or while still hot, spoon over vanilla ice cream!

Caramel-Apple Butter can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, or processed and canned. Makes 4 cups.

* Four Wheel Farm : Glen Huron 705-428-3425

¼ cup maple syrup 1 fresh egg (Miriam uses The New Farm’s‡ eggs for their bright orange yolks) ¼ cup sugar prepar ation Preheat oven to 375°F and position rack in middle of oven. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Coat frozen butter in the flour mixture on all sides. Using large holes of a box grater, grate butter into dry ingredients. With the tips of your fingers mix grated butter into the flour.

Whisk together 1¼ cups cream and maple syrup. Add to dry ingredients and gently combine with a fork, scraping the sides of the bowl. Finish incorporating with tips of your fingers until mixture just comes together. Do not overmix.

Mad Maple Scones These scones celebrate the flavour of freshly milled heritage flours, butter and maple syrup. Crisp on the outside with a rich, nutty interior, they make a perfect morning treat. They are meant to be devoured the day they are baked and pair perfectly with a smear of dense Caramel-Apple Butter or fruit preserves and good coffee. ingredients 2¾ cups pastry flour, plus extra for dusting (Miriam uses K2 Milling’s† Gold Finch Pastry flour) ¼ cup Red Fife wheat flour (K2 Milling) ½ tsp baking soda 2 tbsp baking powder ¼ tsp fine salt 1 cup unsalted butter, frozen 1½ cups 35% cream

Lightly dust a clean, dry surface with pastry flour. Place your scone mixture on the floured surface. Lightly dust top of dough with flour, if needed. Roll out into a large rectangle 1½–2 inches thick.

Dust a pastry scraper or knife with flour and cut into squares (4 large or 8 small), then divide squares into triangles.

Using an offset spatula or knife, gently place scones 2 inches apart on baking tray, leaving enough room for rising and spreading. Whisk egg and remaining cream together. Brush tops of scones with eggwash and sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake until scones are golden brown, approximately 12–15 minutes, rotating tray once during baking. Remove tray from oven and let cool. Makes about 8 large or 16 smaller scones. 왗 † K2 Milling : Tottenham 905-936-3494 k2milling.blogspot.com / ‡ The New Farm : Creemore 705-466-6302 www.thenewfarm.ca

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41

Erin’s Dolores Smith shares her passion for the many wonders of extra virgin olive oil

photos pete paterson

b y nic ol a ros s

Decadent chocolates made with extra virgin olive oil. Recipe on page 46.

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For Homer, olive oil was “liquid gold.” Athletes in ancient Greece would ritually slather their bodies in it. At one time, anyone caught cutting down an olive tree in Greece was condemned to death or exile.

This symbol of abundance, glory and peace has been considered nutritional,

Sultry Peach Chutney

medicinal and, at times, magical.

I didn’t mention olive oil’s exalted history when I invited some friends over for a tasting with Dolores Smith, an Erin-based olive oil expert, but they came nonetheless – for what turned out to be an engaging couple of hours.

Dolores’s fascination with olive oil dates back about ten years to when her older sister gave her a beautiful bottle of it. “It wasn’t the best olive oil, but it intrigued me,” she says. For the next four years, she dedicated all her spare time to learning about Homer’s gold, taking courses and attending tastings in Europe and the U.S.

When she started out with her company The Olivar Corp, her objectives were to import and distribute the best quality olive oils from Spain, the world’s largest producer, and educate people about its health benefits.

She chose Spanish oil partly because the marketplace was saturated with Italian and Greek oils, and because she was born in Madrid.

To get our tasting underway, Dolores explained the term extra virgin: “Extra virgin oil has no taste defects. It doesn’t taste woody or metallic or mouldy.” Extra virgin means the oil is unrefined – extracted by pressing, with no flavour-destroying heat or chemicals used in the process. She urged us to taste the difference between “extra virgin” and “virgin” oils. “If a person tasted an ordinary virgin oil,” she said, “it would turn their stomach.”

The International Olive Council stipulates the fatty acid content of extra virgin oil must be less than 0.8 per cent, but the high quality oils she imports are nearer to 0.2 per cent. Extra virgin oils must also contain less than 20 units of peroxide (a measure of oxidation), and the temperature of the oil during processing must not exceed 27°C, hence the term “cold pressed.”

We substituted Ontario peaches for the usual mangoes in this spicy chutney. ingredients 2 large firm peaches or 3 small, peeled and cubed 2 ⁄ 3 cup fresh apple cider 1 ⁄ 3 cup rice vinegar ¼ cup brown sugar, or slightly less 1 inch fresh ginger, grated 1 garlic clove, crushed 5 cardamom pods ½ tsp coriander seeds, crushed 1 bay leaf ½ tsp sea salt ¼ cup quality extra virgin olive oil prepar ation Place peaches in a saucepan, add liquids and cover. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to boil slowly while stirring.

Lower heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes until syrupy. Add more cider if mixture is too thick. Cool and stir in olive oil. Makes 1 cup.

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spanish gold

Dolores Smith with one of her bottles of “liquid gold.”

We tasted seven of Spain’s best extra virgin oils that day, starting with Dauro Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a delicate, pale oil perfect for light salad dressings. As proof, Dolores brought along a batch of her delicious sabayon dressing.

We sipped the oil straight from little cups. “It’s almost as if you don’t feel it in your mouth,” Neil, one of our tasters, piped in. But, as Suzanne, another in the group, suggested, “It leaves a peppery sensation in your throat.” Dolores recommended pouring some over blue cheese, and agreed with Bob that drizzling a bit to finish his homemade pizza would be delicious. At about $25 a 500 ml bottle, this silky oil was a group favourite, best consumed within six months of being pressed.

Next up was Full Moon, another delicate oil harvested during the full moon in October and sold in an arresting square bottle. That was followed by Oro San Carlos, a medium-strength oil that seemed buttery, creamier, more herbal and, surprisingly, less flavourful in comparison.

“Higher acidity gives it its oily feel in your mouth. It also results in less flavour,” Dolores explained.

We enjoyed our way through four more offerings, including the organic Rincón de la Subbética, winner of more than 85 awards and honourable mentions since 2006, comparing notes on flavour and potential food pairings as we went.

Each new taste was a revelation, confirming Dolores’ concern that most Canadian consumers lack the knowledge to

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understand the subtleties of this common ingredient, one that has such potential to enhance our culinary experience.

Like wine, olive oil gains a particular flavour from the producing region’s soil and climate – its “terroir.” Its taste also depends on the variety of olives, and how they’re gown and processed. Bruised, broken or diseased fruit increases the fatty acid content, as do insects. Fruit fl ies, the bane of producers, can easily turn an extra virgin oil into a virgin one. Peroxide levels climb when the oil oxidizes, as it might if processed carelessly or stored in a warm spot, especially in a clear bottle. Dolores recommended keeping olive oil cool and in the dark, though not in a refrigerator.

For our kitchens, Dolores recommended having three different extra virgin olive oils on hand – one delicate, one medium and one intense.

On a roll, she slipped in one last oil: “Do you know the wine Beaujolais Nouveau?

Well, Olis Gasull is the Beaujolais Nouveau

of olive oil.” Unfi ltered, it has a delicate flavour along the lines of Dauro, but at half the price.

Dolores topped off the tasting by serving her exquisite homemade chocolates made with the Dauro oil. Meanwhile, she explained how olive oil can help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels and even contribute to weight loss. No wonder Homer was so enamoured.

This summer, Dolores is offering olive oil tastings in her backyard. You can wander through her grapevines while sipping some of the best olive oils Spain has to offer.

Find her imported oils at Dave’s Butcher Shop in Orangeville, Howard the Butcher and Gourmandissimo in Caledon East, Simple in Primrose and The Naked Vine in Bolton. For information on tastings, links to health studies, and a full product list, see theolivarcorp.com. 왗 Nicola Ross is freelance writer from Belfountain.

CULTIVATE

YOUR Y OUR O UR LIFE UR LIF LLI

in the Villlaages of

Olive Oil Sabayon Sauce Adapted from Rainier Club’s executive chef Bill Morris’ recipe especially for the Olivar Corp. This is great as a dressing for green salad and warm beet salad, or as a sauce for seafood or beef.

Allliston invites you and your family to share in the we eekend fun all yeaar long at our man ny events and festivals!

Po otato Festivaal

Aug. 10, 11, 12

Parkinson Superwalk p 20 012

Sept. 15

Frrightfully Fun Oct. 27 Hometown Christmas Nov. 24

ingredients 2 egg yolks 1 tsp brown sugar (or more to taste, depending on type of wine used; see below) 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp shallots, ďŹ nely minced Âź cup extra virgin olive oil Up to 1 â „ 3 cup white wine such as pinot grigio ½ tsp each dried thyme and ground fennel, or to taste Salt and white pepper

w w w. a l l i s t o n b i a . c o m t 7

prepar ation Place egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and minced shallots in a small stainless steel or glass bowl, and whisk quickly over boiling water until very light and doubled in volume (quite thick), approximately 2 minutes. Do not let it burn.

Keep bowl about 1½ inches away from boiling water.

Remove from heat and whisk in oil, slowly at ďŹ rst to start the emulsion.

Whisk in white wine until creamy consistency is reached.

Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Catering pick-up available on Saturdays

Wicked Shortbread is now open in Orangeville Season with herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Makes ž cup.

Featuring the finest local desserts and ingredients of the Headwaters region Handmade ~ Artisan ~ Local

96 Broadway, Orangeville wickedshortbread.com Facebook/Twitter

Daily homemade baked goods, wraps, sandwiches & hot mains. A la carte menu of prepared meals and trays.

3 Church St. S. Alliston 705-434-1668 Malikai.Catering@gmail.com

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spanish gold

Deluxe Olive Oil Chocolates Another Bill Morris recipe adapted for Dauro. ingredients ¾ cup 18% cream 2 tbsp corn syrup 14 oz (400 g) good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped 1 ⁄ 3 cup plus 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Ground almonds and orange zest to sprinkle over chocolates prepar ation

The Edge Wine Bar & Grille is Orangeville’s newest choice for casual fine dining.

Located within The Headwaters Racquet Club, we are open to the public.

Where great food and music meet!

Mix cream and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Insert a candy thermometer, and when mixture drops to 176°F, pour over chocolate.

Mix until smooth.

At 95°F , add olive oil and stir carefully to emulsify.

of ground almonds and orange zest.

Pour into silicone molds or spoon small amounts onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle chocolates with mixture

Refrigerate or leave in a cool room for 48 hours to set.

from motor oil to extra virgin

Live Music Every

THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY featuring various local artists starting at 8:30pm

Bolton’s Nick Tzaras harvests olives in Greece.

Open for dinner 6 days a week.

Reservations recommended.

Lounge is available for private functions for up to 80 people.

205467 County Rd 109 Orangeville (inside Headwaters Racquet Club)

519-940-1111 theedgewinebarandgrill.com 46

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

Makes approximately 16 small chocolates.

Since 2006, long-time Bolton resident Nick Tzaras has been producing high quality organic and conventional olive oil from olives grown on his family’s farm near Platana, southeast of Sparta in Greece.

Nick, who used to run a service station at the corner of Highway 10 and King Road, now sells his olive oil under the name Spartan Rolling Hills at some 50 locations in Southern Ontario, including Garden Foods in Bolton. Indeed, Garden Foods’ store brand olive oil is also bottled by Nick.

Nick’s olive plantation has about 3,000 trees, mainly Manataki, Koutsourelia and

Kakoni, and local folklore places some of them up to 2,000 years old. From these and more than 150,000 trees owned by family, friends and neighbours in the region, Nick produces his oil. Unfiltered and with a guaranteed acidity level of less than 0.8 per cent, his First Cold-Pressed Extra Virgin Regular Olive Oil and his Organic First Cold-Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil are premier products.

Each winter, Nick travels to Sparta to oversee the harvest. There he hires the pickers, watches over the pressing (which takes place within a day or two of harvesting), and makes sure the oil is not filtered, and no impurities spoil his beloved product. It is then shipped to Canada for bottling and packaging.

When he can, Nick helps with the harvest, all of which is done by hand, just as it was by his father and grandfather from whom he inherited his trees, his age-old harvesting techniques and his love for what they produce.

Pick up Spartan Rolling Hills olive oil from Garden Foods in Bolton, the Esso Service Centre on Hwy 5 north of Bolton, or the Apple Factory at Hwy 7 on Mississauga Rd. www.spartanrollinghills.com

what will you find in...

and it’s good for you too Extra virgin olive oil is the highest of all olive oils in monounsaturated fat and antioxidants such as chlorophyll, carotenoids and vitamin E. Studies indicate substituting olive oil for saturated fats or polyunsaturated fats can help:

1 Reduce blood pressure A compound in olive oil called oleuropein inhibits cholesterol buildup and can lower blood pressure.

2 Inhibit the growth of some cancers Another compound, oleic acid, has antioxidant properties.

now licensed mon-wed 6.30a-7p \ thu-fri 6.30a-9p \ sat 8a-9p \ sun 8a-6p 4 main street south in erin \ www.theshedcoffeebar.com

VAN DYKEN BROS. Pick­Your­Own Vegetables Enjoy the country air while picking vegetables on over 40 acres of our family run farm.

3

5

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at some of the best restaurants in Headwaters

Preferred by award-winning chefs

4

Maintain a lower body weight Weight loss is assisted if olive oil is substituted for saturated fats. 왗

Lamb & Wool Producer Amaranth Township 519-941-0479 bertslamb@bell.net

Served

Benefit people at risk for or with diabetes A low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet with olive oil helps to control blood sugar levels better than a diet that consists entirely of low-fat meals.

Lessen the severity of asthma and arthritis Olive oil’s healthy fats produce natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Bert Nieuwenhuis

Available

Growing for YOU since 1974!

Tomatoes, Beans, Peas, Eggplant, Onions, Melons and more.

To find out what’s in season phone 905­857­3561 Open Monday through Saturday 8am to 8pm, Closed Sundays

14510 The Gore Rd, Caledon

at these local farmers’ markets

.

Wednesday Inglewood Friday Sherway Gardens Saturday Bolton Saturday Orangeville

.

. .

Also available at the farm by appointment.

No Sunday calls, please.

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

47

of country pubs Happy imbibers at the Terra Nova Public House From left to right, Marie Alonso, owner Troy Gallimore, unknown patron, owner Anna Alonso, and patron Christine Wright.

The great diarist Samuel Pepys described his country’s numerous pubs as “the heart of England,” a tribute no doubt fuelled in part by his sometimes rueful love of liquor and good company, but also by a realization that the local pub is often the focal point of a community. Nowhere is this more true than in rural areas, where the pub is an ideal gathering place for residents isolated by wide open spaces. Even in this era of social networking, nothing can compare with real face time and the pleasure of getting out now and then for a pint and a bite to eat in the company of friends and family.

The best pubs (short for public house) are casual, friendly places where the food is unassuming and reasonably priced. Headwaters is blessed with several, all cultivating a casual ambiance that evokes a home away from home. 왘

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

photos pete paterson

A cook’s tour

왗

The newest of these is the fittingly named Terra Nova Public House, which opened in 2011 in the hamlet of Terra Nova. Situated at a crossroads in the heart of the Pine River Valley, the one-time general store has been extensively renovated to create a warmly intimate bar and dining area as well as an expansive outdoor patio. The location is particularly attractive to hikers coming off the nearby Bruce Trail.

Set in the heart of the beautiful Mulmur hills, the Public House is open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week. Chef Malcolm Muth’s menu features locally sourced meat and fish, plus daily specials. Tuesday nights showcase local musicians. Entrées range from $11 to $20.

Terra Nova Public House 667294 20 Sdrd, Mulmur 705-466-5992; www.terranovapub.ca

왗

Another hikers’ mecca is the cleverly named Peter Cellar’s Pub at Mono Cliffs Inn in Mono Centre. Just across the road from the 750-hectare Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, the tiny basement pub has provided succour to walkers and locals since 1987 when the former general store reopened as an inn.

Proprietors Carol and the late Michael Hall hailed from Australia, so the pub has a definite Down Under atmosphere, particularly thanks to the extensive wine list. Chef Jason Reiner’s creative menu is a constantly changing exploration of local and exotic fare, everything from escargot to red deer chops and chocolate pâté. The bread pudding is legendary, the quiche divine.

Publican Wayne Biegel’s warmth and enthusiasm keep people coming back for more and more.

Peter Cellar’s Pub, Mono Cliffs Inn 367006 Mono Centre Rd 519-941-5109; www.monocliffsinn.ca

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49

a cook’s tour of country pubs

A local watering hole since the 1860s, the charming and historical Caledon Inn has been home to the James McCarty Pub since 1967. Named for the family who owned the land in the 1800s, the lower-level pub retains the old-world warmth it has always been known for. A former way station on the coach road linking Toronto and Owen Sound, the Caledon Inn appears in many international pub guides, and for good reason. The menu features such pub staples as burgers, chicken wings and fish and chips, plus novelty items for the more adventurous, including deep-fried pickles, poutine and souvlaki. There’s cold beer on tap and you can drop in and hear live music every Thursday.

Entrées range from $8 to $15.

왘

James McCarty Pub, Caledon Inn 16626 Airport Rd, Caledon East 905-584-0033; www.caledoninn.ca

On the banks of the Credit River in the hamlet of Terra Cotta, countless couples have pledged their troth in the beautiful gardens of the eponymous inn. Perhaps they calmed their nerves before taking their vows with a cold drink in the Terra Cotta Inn Pub. The riverside property is known for its serenity, and the pub has been a favourite spot for locals and the many enthusiastic mountain bikers who come to the area to cycle the extensive network of nearby trails.

The Inn, which has been operating since the early part of the last century, has survived fires and economic collapse. Today, the traditional pub menu features burgers, wings and fish and chips in a casual and welcoming atmosphere. Entrées from $8 to $15.

왘

The Pub at Terra Cotta Inn 175 King St, Terra Cotta 905-873-2223; www.cotta.ca

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

Openings in the Hills 왘 After an extended sojourn in Victoria,

B.C., chef Matthew Jamieson, former owner of the popular Woodside in Hockley, is back behind the stoves in his new Orangeville restaurant, Forage.

With partners Jennifer Grant of Harmony Whole Foods and his wife Wendy as pastry chef, Matthew describes the venture as “casual fine dining.” The 60seat restaurant features all things local and seasonal and specializes in superbly prepared fresh fish. Matthew’s signature shrimp curry, a favourite at Woodside, is back, as is Wendy’s legendary key lime pie. Forage also has a takeout section featuring a wide selection of salads and prepared meals. The juice bar serves fruit smoothies and healthy wheat grass drinks. (At press time, the resto was set to open in early September in the same plaza as Harmony Whole Foods.)

163 First St, Orangeville; 519-941-8961 왘왘 Food lovers in and around Creemore

will have to wait until December to try out the village’s much-ballyhooed new restaurant. Located where the bookstore once resided (it has moved up the street), Creemore Kitchens is the brainchild of owners chef Caesar Guinto and his partner Sam Holwell. Caesar describes it as “a place where you can drop by in your wellies, or put on that new summer dress, and you’ll still feel comfortable.”

As for the food, Caesar and Sam’s mantra is “seasonal and local. There are so many wonderful producers in this area.” At press time, the website was still under construction. 134 Mill St, Creemore

DAVE’S BUTCHER SHOP Aged beef, Ontario lamb, veal, pork, meat pies, fruit pies Alder Street Mews, 75 Alder St, Unit 4, Orangeville www.davesbutchershop.ca 519-415-MEAT (6328)

왘왘왘 Keirstyn Eric has taken her Wicked

Shortbread on the road and opened a shop of the same name in Orangeville.

In addition to the three flavours of her melt-in-your-mouth cookies (classic, chocolate, toffee), Keirstyn has added lemon twist, maple walnut, and cheddar cheese, among others. The shop also carries organic fair trade coffee and an array of desserts, squares, cheesecakes and pies. Sweet! 96 Broadway, Orangeville; www.wickedshortbread.com 왗

Fine Dining Casual Atmosphere on Hockley Road 307388 Hockley Rd • Orangeville 519 938 2333 autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

51

illustr ation shel agh armstrong 52

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

When Julie Suzanne Pollock gave up meat, she discovered the personal and the political are sometimes inseparable I stopped eating animals 24 years ago. My weekly cruise up the tidy meat aisle could not be reconciled with what I knew, as a country girl, about blood and death. I was unsettled by the sight of cattle trucks on the winter highways, the blind faces of windowless chicken barns, and my awareness of the intelligence of pigs. On the other hand, I knew nothing about being vegetarian.

As it turned out, neither did my doctor.

She had only one idea, but it was a good one. “Start by reading Diet for a Small Planet,” a 1970s best-seller by Frances Moore Lappé about world hunger. I had hardly opened this sensible little book to begin my self-education when arguments erupted all around me.

Friend, family, foe, they all wanted to know the same thing. “Why won’t you eat meat?” Those were the days when distinctive eating habits were viewed with suspicion. Some friends wanted to argue about ethics. Some lectured about huntergatherer culture. Others proselytized for the health of the beef industry.

The acidic tone of some caught me off guard. “You wouldn’t be vegetarian if your plane crashed on the tundra and all you had was a gun.” True perhaps, but not a test I was likely to endure. “Your shoes are probably all leather.” Not true, but always delivered with squinty-eyed certitude. One standout accusation took us into quasireligious territory. “If you still eat eggs, you must believe in abortion.”

People would invite me for dinner and toss me a dry veggie burger while the other guests dug into beautifully prepared salmon.

One Christmas week, my mother-in-law served me day-old greens flung on a plate.

I could appreciate I had entered a minority group and had to put up with some kitchen incompetence. Nevertheless, it rankled, because day after day I was willing to cook meat, fowl and fish for my loved ones. Was it so hard to dig up one vegetarian recipe?

Why wouldn’t I eat meat? I was grappling with the question myself and was fraught with defensive insecurity. I cringed at allusions to ethical failings in other areas of my life. Back then I smoked,

… it seemed to me anyone could see there was a problem with food in the world and a few people made connections between the tobacco industry and animal farming.

They challenged me on arcane points of ecology, economy and agriculture. It took me some time to decipher the reason for their angry undertones. I realized skipping the meat course is political – for some, being vegetarian equalled left-wing radicalism.

Those arguments did me great service.

They forced me to examine my own hypocrisies. I perceived what I had stopped putting in my mouth was still scattered around my person – leather books and handbags, ivory jewellery, feather pillows.

Animals were still dying for me, I just wasn’t eating them.

So I changed my buying habits. Then it got complicated. Weren’t dairy cows pregnant with meat-destined calves? And what about laying hens? Honeybees? I thought I should be vegan. I knew my family and friends would be even more impatient with me. So I compromised by only swearing off dairy. “You’re getting weirder,” said my mother. No one asked me to dinner anymore.

Vague in my evolving philosophies, I probably came off as flaky. I was too emotional to be articulate, and I was pissed off at having to defend my choices. I didn’t know much about public policy or agribusiness. I’d always been a person who lived by her heart. It seemed to me anyone could see there was a problem with food in the world. There was famine in the midst of abundance. There were hordes of species vying for food every day, and people were snapping up most of it without a thought for the rest of the beasts.

Then I spent a month in Tanzania. I couldn’t get “non-dairy vegetarian” across to the lean brown locals in the restaurants of Dar es Salaam. No nyama, ok. There are plenty of reasons why you might avoid meat.

But anything more finicky was simply off the table. Why wouldn’t you eat the rice with creamed curry squash and peppers?

Why indeed? I fell off the milk wagon.

And I didn’t feel that badly as I stirred rich cream into my coffee for the first time in five years. Something relaxed in me. Layers of First-World guilt fell away like a snake’s skin and pleasure returned to my table. Where there was angst, there came perspective.

I had been picking holes in the tablecloth of abundance. Under the tropical sun, I savoured native cashews in neat foil bags from the local roastery. I sat on the beach watching fishermen tossing nets for the evening’s catch. I sampled fresh fruit from street-side tables tended by hard-working farm families. I felt a connection to the harvest that I had lost.

I’m still skipping the meat course and I haven’t changed my mind about industrialscale farming. But I have come to see that choices are subject to circumstances. And I stand behind the harvest of my choice with equanimity. 왗 Julie Suzanne Pollock lives in Honeywood with her carnivorous husband and son.

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

53

the maize index Maize n. a cereal plant originating in Central America and yielding large grains (corn or sweet corn) set in rows on a cob Oxford English Dictionary

abundant

sweet

300 million tonnes of maize are grown annually in North and South America. In 2009, worldwide production was 817 million tonnes, more than rice or wheat.

Sweet corn is eaten as a vegetable. It contains more sugar and less starch than field corn, which is intended for livestock, and comes in three categories (white, yellow and bi-colour) and dozens of varieties with such whimsical names as Bodacious, Cloud Nine and the ever popular Peaches and Cream.

origins First cultivated in Mexico as early as 10,000 years ago, maize was likely introduced to Europe by Columbus, where it was soon recognized as a valuable food crop spreading to northern Africa, western China and the East Indies by 1575.

uses Maize (aka corn in the Americas) has as many as 500 uses. In addition to being a staple food for humans, and livestock, corn is used as packing material, fuel, ornamental accents, and in the production of everything from adhesives to paint and insecticides.

illustr ation : Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany.

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Sweet corn is low in saturated fat and sodium and contains no cholesterol.

It is high in dietary fibre, magnesium, phosphorus, thiamin and vitamin C. The folic acid in corn is important in preventing neural tube birth defects.

harvesting Sweet corn is harvested at the “milk” stage before starch has formed, usually midsummer to early fall. Field corn is left in the field until very late in the fall or even winter to thoroughly dry the grain.

modified

porridge, etc.

Maize is one of nine genetically modified crops grown commercially.

Approximately 85 per cent of the North American crop is GM.

Cornmeal (ground dried maize) is the basis of polenta in Italy, hominy grits in the southern U.S., mealiepap in South Africa and angu in Brazil. It is used as a replacement for wheat flour in cornbread and Mexican tortillas.

ethanol

Zea mays L. 왖

nutrition

40 per cent of North America’s maize crop is used to make corn ethanol, a biofuel thought to have a lower carbon footprint than conventional fuels. Now, however, evidence shows increased ethanol production has raised the price of corn, a food staple in many poor countries.

popcorn, etc.

Certain varieties of maize explode when heated, forming fluffy pieces that are delicious seasoned and eaten as a snack. Roasted kernels are popular as snacks in Vietnam and Peru.

Corn flakes are commonly eaten as a breakfast cereal in many countries. 왗

Wholle Milk ... Naturee’s Best She Sh eldon Cr C ee eek Da airy crafts pasteurized, nonno n-ho homo ho ogeniized ze ed mi milk lk and yog ogur urtt m de ma d fro rom m mi milk lk k pro rodu duced d by our 50 cows co ws her ere e at a Haa anv n ie iew w Fa Farm rms. Try our Crea Cr eam m To Top p Wh holle Wh Whit ite e Mi M lk lk, Gl Glut uten nFree Fr ee Who hole le Darrk Ch Choc ocol olat ol ate e Mi Milk lk k or ourr th t ick k BO BONJ NJON ON N Yogurrt!

Available at: Garden Foods Bolton Howard the Butcher Dave’s Butcher Shop Spirit Tree Cidery Cheltenham General Store Hockley Valley General Store Rosemont General Store - Rosemont The Globe Restaurant - Rosemont Broadway Farms Market Rock Garden Farms Heatherlea Farm Market and many more!

Stop by to meet your farmer and our cows at our farm store located at 4316 5th Concession Adjala L0G1L0

www. sheldoncreekdairy.ca or Call us at 7o5 434-o4o4

Served at Better Cafés, Restaurants and Fine Food Retailers (519) 940-7081 hockleyvalleycoffee.com

autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

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what’s cooking in thea hills calendar of food happenings fundraisers

community

oc tober 20

until september 2

september

Farmstock 2012 Albion Hills Community Farm’s Farmstock 2012 kicks off its annual campaign “From Dirt to Dessert” with a four-course meal featuring local food, music, and live and silent auctions. Learn about sustainable agriculture, eat with your neighbours and dance the night away. See the amaizing online auction. Reserve early, only 200 tickets. To donate to the auctions, contact deanna@albionhillscommunityfarm.org.

4pm to midnight at the Presidents’ Building, Albion Bolton Fairgrounds, 150 Queen St S, Bolton. www.albionhillscommunityfarm.org or 905-880-4905.

SummerFeast For three weeks some of the region’s finest restaurants, in partnership with The Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association, will showcase their extraordinary cuisine at very affordable prices. Each restaurant offers a dinner menu, and in many cases a lunch menu, at prix fixe rates. Prices vary by venue throughout the Hills of Headwaters Region at various locations. For more information on participating restaurants, call 519-9420314 or visit www.summerfeast.ca.

Eat Local Month in Caledon This month-long initiative is dedicated to celebrating, supporting and strengthening Caledon’s local food and farming system.

Events to promote eating, cooking and savouring the local harvest take place around Caledon. For event listings and more details, visit eatlocalcaledon.org or contact 905584-6221; eatlocal@eatlocalcaledon.org.

oc tober 21 Soupstock Following the highly successful Foodstock last fall, Michael Stadtländer and 200 chefs are continuing their fundraising to stop the proposed Highland mega quarry in Melancthon Township by holding Soupstock, this time in Toronto at Woodbine Park in partnership with the Canadian Chefs’ Congress and the David Suzuki Foundation. www.canadianchefscongress.com.

until november 2 Take a Bite Out of Climate Change Caledon!

Promise to make eight major climatefriendly diet actions. Then try some of the challenges (like making a fruit crumble with three local ingredients, or chocolate-beet cupcakes) and enter the weekly prize draw.

Photographic proof of the “action” must be provided, either via post to the Facebook page or email to eatlocal@eatlocalcaledon. org. See www.eatlocalcaledon.org for challenges.

august 19

oc tober 21 Empty Bowls Buy a bowl, fill a bowl, and take it home to help fight hunger. Buy delicious soup in a handmade bowl, and keep the bowl to remember those who don’t have a full bowl every day. Bowls are made and donated by local artists. All proceeds go to local food banks. Last year Empty Bowls raised almost $12,000 for food banks operated

by Caledon Community Services and Orangeville’s Westminster United Church.

11am to 5pm at the Alton Mill. www.altonmill.ca or 519-938-2092.

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Corn-Tomato Salsa Bee With all this hot weather we’ve had, it’s going to be a bumper year for tomatoes.

Eat Local Caledon and Toronto Region Conservation Authority invite you to preserve some locally inspired salsas in a fun group setting, and take home a few jars for your pantry. Both beginners and old hands are welcome. Noon to 5pm. Peel Junior Farmers’ Building, 12942 Heart Lake Rd, Caledon. $25, register at jroest@trca.on.ca.

september 8 Mono’s Big Day Out A community celebration featuring great food by Mono chefs, heritage display, farmers’ market, fabulous Mono musicians and artists, plus activities including a return of the Kids’ Art Show. Wingfield playwright Dan Needles kicks off the day with reminiscences from his childhood on a Mono farm. It all takes place in downtown Mono Centre. 11am to 4pm.

september 16 Melville White Church 175th Anniversary Tea Party, Book Launch Celebrate the occasion with tea and scones

by Tintagels Tea Room as you listen to live music, gaze at work by local artists.

Plus, there’s the launch of the MWC 175th Anniversary Commemorative Book that features both the art and a brief history of the church and the Rockside pioneers, by Nicola Ross. 2 to 5pm. $20, children 6-12, $10, under 5 free. Melville White Church, 15962 Mississauga Rd, (just south of Belfountain), Caledon. www.belfountainheritage.com.

september 23 Apple Salsa Canning Bee Always wanted to make your own preserves?

Eat Local Caledon and TRCA will teach you the home canning process, and you can take home a few jars for yourself. Noon to 5pm. $25. Brampton Fairgrounds, 12942 Heart Lake Rd, Caledon. 416-661-6600 x5646 or www.eatlocalcaledon.org.

DUFFERIN TOWN & COUNTRY FARM TOUR september 27 Palgrave Pie Bee Make some delicious pies to practise for Thanksgiving and Christmas and help stock the pantry for the great Palgrave Turkey Dinner. Free, 1 to 4pm at the Palgrave Community Kitchen, 34 Pine Ave. 905-880-0303 orr www.palgravekitchen.org. tchen.org.

Saturday, September 29

september 29 Palgrave Turkey Di Dinner Is your mouth watering already? Palgrave United Church is serving up its annual turkey dinner, featuring turkey (obviously!), potatoes, rutabagas, peas and corn, all from local farms, as well as famous Palgrave-baked pies. Volunteers welcome.

4 to 9pm. $20, seniors $15, children $10, takeout $17, and family (2 adults 2 children) $50. Palgrave Community Kitchen, 34 Pine Ave. For tickets, www.palgravekitchen.org.

oc tober 14 Wild Apple Jelly Canning Bee Another hands-on lesson, this time making wild apple jelly. Palgrave Community Kitchen, 34 Pine Ave. 416-661-6600 x5646 or www.eatlocalcaledon.org.

SEE FARMING AS IT HAPPENS! This year, the tour will take you to North Dufferin.

See working farms - animals, agricultural production in action, participate in educational activities, talk to farmers and learn how food is grown for families.

On location - food booths and local produce for sale

The tour takes place from 9 am to 4 pm - rain or shine Pick up your passport from 9 am to 2 pm at

november 17 Palgrave Community Kitchen Christmas Bazaar Pick up some “goodies for foodies” including food, craft and gift items. 10am to 1pm at Palgrave United Church, 34 Pine Ave. 905880-0303 or www.palgravekitchen.org.

DUFFERIN COUNTY MUSEUM Hwy 89 & Airport Road or SUPERBURGER Hwys 89 & 10 (Primrose) Admission: a non-perishable food bank donation Tour Information: www.thehillsofheadwaters.com/farmtour

1-800-332-9744

519-942-0984

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Keep things cooking at foodinthehills.ca There’s a long winter ahead, but you don’t need to wait for the spring issue of Food In The Hills to get creative in the kitchen. Between issues, our food bloggers continue to offer fabulous recipes and advice. Here’s a taste of the online menu.

Chocolate Covered Brownies with Buttered Rum Caramel Congratulations to Heritage Hollow’s Cathy Bray who won Kraft’s Real Women of Philadelphia contest with this deliciously decadent confection on a stick.

Spicy Sweet Veggie Chili From Scratch chef Kelly Pleadwell insists a good chili is the perfect combo of sweet, spicy, salty and sour.

Pickled Cabbage with Chick Peas and Black Beans Edible Tulip’s Daphne Randall offers an easy and hearty bean salad that is packed with protein.

Chocolate Sour Cherry Anise Biscotti For an extra jolt with your java, try these addictively delicious biscotti by Sarah Hallett of Roseberry Farm.

Eat Local Caledon continues its updates on who’s growing, serving and cooking local – with more seasonal recipes!

You’ll also find up-to-the-minute listings of local food events, profiles of local producers, and links to any of the restaurants, markets and other advertisers in these pages. While you’re there, don’t forget to nominate your candidate for Best Bites in the hills (see page 62).

Or just send us a note. We love to hear from you!

foodinthehills.ca For print and online advertising information, contact Sarah Aston at 519-940-4884, sarah@inthehills.ca

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what’s cooking… festivals september 9 Feast of Fields In its 23rd year, this celebration of organic culinary excellence showcases the talents of chef Michael Smith with some of Ontario’s top chefs, vintners, brewers and organic farmers. Pick up your napkin and wine glass at the gate, and stroll through beautiful Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township while you sample delicious food and drink. Visit the farmers’ market, artisans and relax to live entertainment.

1 to 5pm. Tickets $100 ($90 each for groups of 10 or more). To order tickets or for more info, 905-859-3609, feastoffields@gmail.com or visit www.feastoffields.org.

september 23 Carrot Fest Everdale Farm’s annual harvest festival and fundraiser has u-pick veggies, local food and artisans, bread baking, a farm store and, of course, carrots! The family fun includes live music with The Funky Mamas, animal visits, tours of Home Alive – an eco house, workshops and harvest games, all on a beautiful 50-acre farm. 11am to 5pm. $5, kids are free. 5812 6th Line, Hillsburgh. www.everdale.org.

oc tober 1 Belfountain Salamander Festival Celebrate the village of Belfountain with a hot breakfast and mouthwatering BBQ lunch made with local food, and enjoy the squash and pumpkin festival, farmers’ market, works by local artists and dog trials. In the conservation area, tie a fly, meet some river critters, be amazed by the birds of prey flight show or join the Bruce Trail Club. www.belfountain.ca.

in thea hills calendar of food happenings fall fairs

farmers’ markets

Can you smell the kettle corn? The region’s fall fairs will soon be in full swing with the usual food, animal competitions, talent shows and homecraft exhibits, all showcasing the best Headwaters has to offer.

august 31 – september 3

What better way to shop for Headwaters’ freshest foods than to visit our farmers’ markets? There’s one almost every day of the week, and the harvest promises to be a good one for several crops this year.

Check websites for details on special events at each venue.

Orangeville Fall Fair www.orangevillefairgrounds.ca

saturdays, until oc tober 20

september 14 – 16 Shelburne Fall Fair www.shelburnefair.ca

september 21 – 23 Bolton Fall Fair www.boltonfair.ca Grand Valley Fall Fair air gvasdblackwell@execulink.com

oc tober 5 – 8 Erin Fall Fair www.erinfair.ca

november 2 – 11 The Royal Winter Fair Exhibition Place, Toronto www.royalfair.org

Rent the kitchen for canning, preserving, baking or hosting events

Orangeville Farmers’ Market 8am-1pm. Next to the Orangeville Town Hall. www.marketonbroadway.ca

saturdays, until oc tober 6 Creemore Farmers’ Market 8:30am-12:30pm. Station on the Green parking lot. 705-794-8943, www.creemorefarmersmarket.ca

saturdays, until oc tober 27 Caledon Farmers’ Market 8am-1pm. Albion Bolton Community Centre, 150 Queen St S, Bolton. 905-584-2272 x4286, www.caledon.ca/farmersmarket

saturdays, until oc tober 27 Alliston Farmers’ Market 8am-2pm. Mill St & Victoria St. 705-435-1787, www.allistonbia.com

tours

wednesdays, until oc tober 3

september 29

Amaranth Farmers’ Market 5-8pm. Amaranth Municipal Office, 374028 6th Line. 519-941-1007.

Dufferin Town & Country Farm Tour If you ate today, thank a farmer! This selfguided driving tour takes you to a working beef farm, horse ranch, angora goat farm, an art gallery in North Dufferin and the Dufferin County Museum. See agriculture up close and personal. Our farmers promote grow local, buy local, eat local!

Host farms will have the welcome mat out.

There are food booths available en route and local produce to purchase. Admission is a non-perishable donation for the local food bank.

9am to 4pm. www. dufferinfarmtour.com.

A Peel Health certified kitchen operated by the Palgrave United Church

wednesdays, until oc tober 10 Inglewood Farmers’ Market 3:30-7pm. Inglewood General Store.

905-584-6221, www.eatlocalcaledon.org

fridays, until september 28 Erin Farmers’ Market 3-7pm. Erin Agricultural Society Fairgrounds. 519-833-2808, www.erinfair.ca

fridays, until oc tober 5 Rosemont Farmers’ Market 2:30-6:30pm. Rosemont Hall parking lot, 9237 Hwy 89. 705-434-2461.

sundays, until oc tober Hockley Valley Garden Stand Noon-3pm. Hockley Valley Resort, 793522 3rd Line Mono. www.hockley.com

PALGRAVE’S FAMOUS TURKEY DINNER Saturday, Sept 29, 4:30pm Featuring local food and farms Tickets at the door starting at 4pm Eat in or take out $15 Senior, $20 Adult, $10 Child, $17 Take Out Eat Local Caledon Dinner Series

PALGRAVE PIE BEE Thursday, Sept 27, 1pm to 4pm Learn to make delicious pies

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR Saturday, Nov 17, 10am to 1pm Goodies for Foodies

A FRESH APPROACH TO LUNCH Volunteers Wanted School Salad Bar program to be launched at Palgrave Public School this Fall Volunteers needed Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting October 2012 Food handling training provided

Cooking Creating Community Caring for Creation Palgrave Community Kitchen Palgrave United Church 34 Pine Ave, Palgrave 905-880-0303 info@palgravekitchen.org palgravekitchen.org

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what’s cooking in thea hills calendar of food happenings ORANGEVILLE FAIR Labour Day y Weekend Aug 31st, A 31 t Sept S t 1st, 1 t 2nd 2 d & 3rd 3 d

This Year’s Theme

“Grandma’s d ’ Kit Kitchen” h The Homecraft and Livestock Shows, Agricultural Awareness Education, Antique Farm Equipment Display, Petting Zoo, Eat Local Farmers Market Live Entertainment on Saturday Night, Demolition Derby, Truck and Tractor Pull, Midway Rides, Helicopter Rides, Cooking Demonstrations, Car Show

See our website: www.orangevillefairgrounds.ca for a schedule of events and times

kids

classes

mondays until oc tober 22

august 27

Food and Farming Series for Youth If you’re between 11 and 19, you can gain hands-on farming, gardening, cooking and preserving experience at HAYville, pre Caledon’s food and farming C business incubator for youth.

Events include a corn-tomato salsa bee, August 20; canning workshop, August 27; apple salsa bee, September 18; cake and cookie be decorating, September 25; pumpkin purée and pies, October 2. Palgrave Community Kitchen, 34 Pine Ave. www.eatlocalcaledon.org/hayville. ww.eatlocalcaledon.or

Bernardin Canning Workshop: Pickles & Salsas Straight from the source! Bernardin Canning representative Emerie Brine leads a two-hour canning workshop and prepares some seasonally based canning recipes.

You’ll receive Bernardin bags, recipes and brochures on safe home canning. 6:308:30pm. Youth 11-19 free, adults $10.

Palgrave Community Kitchen, 34 Pine Ave.

Don’t Miss this 4 Day y Celebration of Local Agriculture!

september 29 – oc tober 31

Carrot Fest!

Downey’s Pumpkinfest Downey’s Boo Barn is sure to scare you, but you’ll soon recover with a wagon ride.

Pet the farm animals, ride the pedal carts, try the straw jump, battle balloon typhoon, or try and get out of the super corn maze.

For an extra charge there’s build your own scarecrow or paintball. Pick your own pumpkin or get one to carve for everyone in the family. www.downeysfarm.com.

oc tober 5

September 23, 11am to 5pm 5812 6th Line, Hillsburgh

• • • • •

Feast of Food & Artisans Farm Games & Animal Visits The Funky Mamas Tours & Workshops KIDS FREE, Adults $5

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autumn winter 2012 | food in the hill s

Caledon Crunch Nearly 10,000 children from Caledon elementary schools will be joined by Town of Caledon employees and community groups to eat local with a farm-fresh crunch. Tune in to Radio Caledon (Bolton 105.5 FM) or live at radiocaledon.com at 11am to hear everyone crunch simultaneously on a locally grown carrot. This year, because of the poor apple crop, carrots from Holland Marsh will replace apples. www.eatlocalcaledon.org.

september 15 SPIN Farming Wonder what SPIN farming is all about?

For all you backyard gardeners out there, SPIN is small intensive plot farming, and you’ll get hands-on training in Everdale’s own SPIN gardens, a copy of SPIN-Farming Basics, and ongoing online support. $160.

10am to 4pm. www.everdale.org.

september 29 Seed Saving Seeds of Diversity’s executive director Bob Wildfong takes you through the process of saving your own seeds. Everdale’s own seed gardens is your classroom with lots of hands-on basics such as how to collect and save vegetable, fruit, ornamental and herb seeds, hand pollinating, germination and recommended isolation distances. 10am to 4pm. $85. www.everdale.org. 왗

Organic?

Local? or Both?

photo pete paterson

end note

A pioneer in the business of organic food, chef Daniel Gilbert says things have come a long way since he opened the doors of his organic restaurant, Daniel’s of Nobleton, in 1980. Feast of Fields, the annual outdoor organic food and wine fest, which he has been helping organize for 22 of its 23 years, has also matured. In this exclusive interview, Daniel shares his insights into the organic food movement, and how it blends with efforts to buy local. food in the hills : When it comes to food, what’s more important? Organic or local? daniel gilbert : They are equally important. Both have benefits. The problem is people who buy local often think it’s organic. They pick up a bag of carrots in the grocery store, see they come from Ontario, and think they are healthier. Or they pick up a bag of organic carrots only to discover they come from California. What we need is local, organic produce. Then it’s good for the environment and our health. fith : Is the Ontario government supporting organic and local agriculture? dg : There is a lot of support from the government now. Still not as much as for traditional agriculture, but it’s better than it was. However, if farmers want to get government funding, they need to leave out the word “organic” and just talk about “local.” fith : Is there a conspiracy against organic agriculture? dg : I don’t want to use the word “conspiracy.”

I simply believe some people at the top in government, industry and in universities don’t believe in organic agriculture. It’s like global warming. There are lobby groups too. Monsanto isn’t interested in farmers switching to organics.

fith : You are an organic chef. Is it easier for you now than when you began? dg : Oh, it’s much easier. I used to have to go to the farm, which was cool, but it was timeconsuming. It took a few years, but now there are distributors who carry organic foods.

We even have distributors who specialize in organics, which makes it much easier. fith : Where do you buy your organics? dg : There are some farmers who deliver.

I like to go to farmers’ markets, but it’s hard for chefs to go to weekend or evening markets. I use distributors and I can even buy in grocery stores now. fith : Are the big grocery stores helping? dg : Loblaws is doing a good thing, but with their power they could do more. Some grocery stores have small markets within the bigger store that sell flowers or wine. I’d like to see grocery stores that have similar little markets that sell only local products.

The large grocery stores say they can’t buy from local producers because small farms can’t supply all their stores. These little local markets would overcome this problem.

If someone would start it and if it were successful, it would catch on.

fith : What is Feast of Fields’ role in organic and local agriculture? dg : Its main role is raising public awareness.

Some people who don’t normally use organic food might come out and discover celebrated chefs are cooking with organics. When we started Feast of Fields, there were no organic wine producers and now there are four. And there seems to be an event like ours every weekend, but Feast of Fields is still the only exclusively organic one. 왗 — nicol a ross

The 23rd annual Feast of Fields takes place Sunday, September 9, 2012 from 1–5 pm at Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township. Tickets are $100 or 10 for $90 each. Celebrity chefs include the Food Network’s Michael Smith and grilling guru Ted Reader. For tickets and information: 905-859-3609, tickets@feastoffields.org

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best bites Pia’s French Onion Soup that garnishes the classic French version. Instead, he tops his soup with crisp French fries and melted cheese curds in a nod to his Canadian roots.

“Basically, it’s a cross between poutine and French onion soup,” he says.

And then there’s the soup. Instead of a meat-based broth, Adam uses a heady mixture of

beer, molasses, red wine and soy sauce.

Even the flowers are edible.

“Yup,” he says modestly, “we sell quite a bit of it.” And at only $8 a bowl, it’s no wonder. Find it on the dinner menu under appetizers.

Simons enthuses, “It is an unbelievable burst of flavour, filling, and the price is right. Love it!” 왗

photo pete paterson

Take a French classic, update it with a Québécois twist, and you’ve got a meal in a bowl. Reader Miyeko Simons turned us on to the French onion soup chef Adam Ryan created for Pia’s on Broadway in Orangeville.

According to Ryan, his soup is traditional because it contains more onions than broth to hold up the cheese-covered crouton. But Adam has dispensed with the usual bread covering

Pia’s on Broadway 177 Broadway Orangeville 519-307-1258 www.piasonbroadway.com

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best bites Whether it’s a veal sandwich in Bolton, a butter tart in Erin, wings at your local pub, or a chocolate sundae at the diner down the street, we want to hear about the best-kept food secrets in the hills. You tell us and if we agree, we’ll reveal them right here. Submit your nominations at www.foodinthehills.ca.

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163 First Street Orangeville 519-941-8961 www.harmonymarket.com