Luso Life Issue 006

Nยบ 006

SPRING '20

YOU GOT THE BEAT

EXCEED EXPECTATIONS. RAPIDLY.

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WE ARE TORONTO

This is our city, our home. This is where our story unfolds. It’s where our families come together. It’s the communities that surround us with all the memories and histories that they hold.

It’s wild imagination and fearless determination. It’s precision and innovation. It’s courage and it’s hard work. It’s guided by our dreams. It is where we find home.

Behind the scenes in sweltering heat and freezing cold until we go home tired at the end of each day. We go home proud.

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Carmen Principato Vice President

Mike Maitland Executive Board Member

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The swallow (andorinha in Portuguese) is a migratory bird which always returns home to nest. In 1891 Portuguese artist Rafael Bordallo Pinheiro produced a set of ceramic swallows which were quickly integrated into Portuguese homes. Over time the swallow has become a symbol of love and hope, especially for those with family who have emigrated out of Portugal.

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The views expressed throughout Luso Life belong to the respective authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the company and team.

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José M. Eustáquio PHOTOS Fin Christoforidis Julia Dantas Noah Ganhão Stella Jurgen James Robert Lee Juliana LePine Mike Neal COVER

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WORDS

Price: $10 CDN

Augusto Bandeira Julia Dantas David Ganhão Noah Ganhão Stella Jurgen

Published by MDC Media Group Manuel DaCosta, President.

TRANSL ATIONS Inês Carpinteiro

Printed in Toronto. ©2020 Luso Life. All rights reserved.

All material in this magazine may not be reproduced, transmitted or distributed in any form without the written permission of Luso Life.

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Contents 22

Beauty by Julia Julia Dantas’ Beauty Academy is now online.

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A mesa do avô In Portugal, o cabrito is invited to all the big festivities.

In fact, Avô Augusto calls his oven-roasted cabrito the true icon of Portuguese gastronomy.

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You got the beat 42

Introducing the Beat Series—a music contest for young Canadian artists.

Small can be big The miniature world of sculptor Juliana LePine 76

I just can't let it be Fifty years after the divorce, The Beatles continue to influence us.

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Palaces for the people Libraries are not simply a museum for old books.

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Sign-offs With love... Yours truly... Sincerely...

We present some inspiration to help you craft the perfect ending for your next message.

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Call it what you want

Summertime in Paris

Colour can evoke emotions and alters moods.

Does their name really matter though?

Paris, a city that is better felt than explained.

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Speducci Mercatto

Portrait

This restaurant is an Italian mess... we love it!

The longest winter

WORDS: JULIA DANTAS

PHOTOS: JAMES ROBERT LEE & JULIA DANTAS

BEAUTY BY JULIA

Virtually, beautiful

PHOTO: JAMES ROBERT LEE 22

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H

as this quarantine made you realize a few things about your life? Have you had that ‘a-ha moment', leaving you with the feeling that you are meant for something bigger and better?

Personally, this quarantine has taught me many things. One, I love free time. Two, I love the perks of working for myself because it has enabled me to live very comfortably.

Three, I love that I can binge watch Netflix for two days straight without anyone breathing down my neck.

I have a dream life which would be hard to attain if I was spending a third of it working towards someone else’s dream.

Okay, let's back things up five years to my beauty industry debut. I jumped in with a head full of ideas, a box full of brushes and not much else. Since then I’m thankful to have had many career highs. One of the

first and possibly even the biggest, was my appearance on Kim Kardashian West's show Glam Masters, where I finished as a top finalist.

Most recently, I’ve had the pleasure of assisting Alexx Mayo in creating iconic looks for Lizzo’s appearances at The Grammys, Saturday Night Live, the VMAs & AMAs. All truly unforgettable experiences.

Over the last two years, I have added makeup educator to my resume, having hosted 10 successful workshops and masterclasses throughout the GTA. With a high demand to host classes throughout North America, I have decided to take 2020 by storm and teach online.

The goal of the Julia Dantas Beauty Academy has always been to fill the missing gap in the industry by providing students with a complete experience. This 8-week online makeup certification course is built to do just that. Each week I will be releasing a

one-hour makeup tutorial, followed by a one-hour live theory session.

Topics spanning marketing, PR, social media strategy, contract building and so much more will be covered. Assignments will be sent out once you’ve finished watching the live lesson, which can then be submitted to me for feedback. After successfully completing the 8-week course, each student will walk away as a Certified Makeup Artist and more importantly, with all of the tools needed to be a successful freelance artist. As a little bonus, students will also receive 40% PRO discounts from our partners at MAKE UP FOR EVER & MAC Cosmetics!

Who is ready to level up, and become the BOSS BABE of their dreams?

ENROLL FOR JULIA'S COURSE AT JULIADANTAS.COM AND USE THE PROMO CODE “LUSO2020" TO RECEIVE $50 OFF THE CLASS PRICE!

PHOTO: JULIA DANTAS

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Alleluia A MESA DO AVÔ AUGUSTO

INTRO: DAVID GANHÃO

WORDS: AUGUSTO BANDEIRA

PHOTOS: FIN CHRISTOFORIDIS

Throughout my life I’ve had the pleasure of sitting through many, many family dinners—Christmas, Easter…Sunday. During these culinary events, I’ve witnessed many young people ask how to make the traditional Portuguese dishes that were presented to us. This observation gave birth to A Mesa da Avó (the grandmother’s table) segment in each issue of Luso Life. We’ve had the pleasure of spending time with five wonderful avós who opened their doors, shared their recipe and allowed us to photograph the process (we also helped eat their delectable creations).

For this issue we decided to give the ladies a break and found an avô (grandfather) that was willing to do the cooking… it was nothing short of delicious.

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Y

oung mountain goat (cabrito) is always delicious and can be eaten at any time, but there are specific moments when it tastes better. Much like fruit tastes better when it’s in season, the Portuguese consider cabrito as “the meat of festivities” and Easter is the pinnacle the beloved cabrito’s existence.

Gastronomically speaking, Easter Sunday is very important for Catholics— basically, we go back to eating at a normal pace! Traditionally, there is a period of fasting during Lent (the 40 days beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter). In Portugal fish was the only meat eaten during that period, but that has since been reduced to eating fish only on Fridays. This practice has been maintained in almost all regions of the country. Although the best time to eat cabrito is without doubt Easter, he does get around, making appearances at weddings and many other events.

Personally, I think we can consider roasted cabrito as the true icon of Portuguese gastronomy....and don’t forget to bring a good bottle of wine to the table—it helps the cabrito taste even better.

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SERVES 6

Oven roasted goatling 4 cloves garlic 500 g parisian potatoes 2 kg goatling (aka young goat) cut in pieces 1 tsp paprika 2 bay leaves 100 ml olive oil ground pepper coarse salt

Mince the garlic, add the olive oil, paprika and white wine to create a paste.

Arrange the goatling in a roasting pan, rub with the garlic paste and seasoning with coarse salt and white pepper.

Add the fresh thyme and bay leaves, and allow it to marinade in a cool place for 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 200º C (400º F) Pour the remaining white wine over the goatling, arrange the potatoes around the meat and season with salt and pepper.

fresh thyme leaves

Bake in the oven for 1 hour, basting occasionally during cooking.

2.5 dl white wine

Serve with sautéed rapini

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WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO

PHOTOS: NOAH GANHÃO

LIBRARIES

Palaces for the people C

hildhood memories are a weird thing. Most of us can remember a few things from our past that made us happy—I have a brain full of random memories which date back to the age of two. One that came up recently, was a trip to the library with my cousin Tony. For reasons which I am yet to comprehend, Tony was always willing to have a rambunctious kid nine years his junior as a travel companion (thank you). I remember browsing the children’s section and selecting a picture book to take home—something with a purple monster on the cover (I'm thinking Meet Monster, but I could be wrong). More important than the book was the laminated paper library card I was issued. The kind librarian took my information, had Tony co-sign and told me the card would be ready for pickup on my next visit.

Although I’ve never been described by my friends as "the studious one", I did spend a large part of my youth at the library. Trips during the early years were limited to the children’s section and I was always accompanied by an adult—either my cousin Tony and I would make the 15 minute walk or my Aunt Margaret would pile me, my sister and cousins into their 1966 Impala for an afternoon of books. I would spend my time looking for books with vampires or monsters or rockets or magic. We’d watch movies, and dress-up on Halloween for story-time.

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The children’s section of our library in Oshawa is located on the ground floor—a large room with access to a beautiful garden patio—but I wanted access to the magic that was happening upstairs and once I did there was no turning back. The main library opened up a whole new level of freedom. It was large had multiple rooms and art hanging on the walls. In the words of Andrew Carnegie, it was “a palace for the people”.

Carnegie had a lot to say about libraries. The 19th century industrialist, who is considered to be the richest American of all time, is a bit of a controversial figure. He spent the first part of his life amassing a fortune worth close to $420 billion in today’s value and the last 18 years fulfilling a promise he made to himself—to give away all of his wealth. His quest to “make the earth a little better than I found it,” had a strong focus on free education which included the funding of public libraries. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built globally, including 125 in Canada, which encouraged literacy in small communities.

These libraries were built with high ceilings, large windows and spacious rooms where people could feel comfortable reading and thinking, regardless of their socioeconomic

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status. He created institutions where a person who worked in a factory could sit beside a doctor and escape into their own mind.

I’ve spent most of my life “escaping” in libraries so it concerns me when people look at them as antiquated institutions. I can only imagine that those are the people who see the library as a museum for books. In their eyes, why walk into a building for information when all of the answers we seek can be obtained through our phone. Unfortunately, many politicians also take this stance, which is apparent in the reduced funding to public libraries.

Those people have missed the point.

The library is in a constant state of reinvention and in the 21st century, this means that mountains of books are a mere sliver of what is being offered. You can sit amongst these, listening to a new audio-book while you take advantage of the Wi-Fi as you scroll through that day’s New York Times and sip on your coffee until the rest of your group arrives for the 12:00 3D printing workshop.

More importantly, libraries encourage community and the peaceful encounters that come from it. To this day, I am yet to see or hear of police being called to a library to break up a fight.

The library is a temple dedicated to the concept of sharing—the sharing of books, thoughts and space. They are about the freedom of ideas, they are about imagination and we are fortunate to have inherited them.

They are a safe place for teens to go study or play games with friends.

Somewhere with resources for people to search for work. A space where our future leaders study and where those who need special assistance can spend time. Home to the voices of the past and inspiration for the thoughts of the future.

They should be valued and they should be used.

When asked how we could make our children intelligent, Albert Einstein replied, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.

If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”

This starts with a library card.

My card was waiting for me when I returned Meet Monster. This card was very special to me—I was proud to have it in my possession and for many years it was the only thing that I carried around in my father’s hand-me-down wallet. I felt like I had been included into the elite reader’s club. I felt smart. I was a member of the palace of the people.

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429 blocks and counting

this channel on are.na dispels that.

with all of these instances for writing and the various addressees we write to, how did we end up with such a limited rotation of sign offs?

with time, sign offs have come to live primarily in the digital space of texts and emails—with modern acronyms such as ttyl and brb which come and go or traditional sign-offs like sincerely and warm regards that still prevail.

sign-offs date back centuries. a way of culminating a physical letter; written to a lover, colleague, relative, santa claus or otherwise. letters fulfilled different purposes according to the author. some saw it as a written performance—an art— others simply as a tool to learn and most, as a means of communication. intro written and blocks curated by noah ganhão

meg miller created this collection on are.na in collaboration with hannah badwan. the public has been contributing to it since.

physical / digital / are.na / good sign-offs / luso life

some people organize their open browser tabs, some make mood boards, some start creative projects with collaborators and others simply collect their thoughts.

are.na is an open-ended space where you can organize your thoughts, projects, or research independently or together.

library library about 2 months ago

invariably indoors,

your name: today

olly bromham 2 months ago

yours virtually,

niki stebbins 4 days ago

deliberately,

jacob koch 3 months ago

dictated to my assistant,

brion nuda rosch about 1 month ago

cautiously optimistic,

fraser stanley 3 months ago

finger guns,

ro manning about 2 months ago

gotta blast,

jack g 6 months ago

ciao for now,

eva árnadóttir 5 months ago

don’t forget about me,

juliana castro 6 months ago

call your mom,

john palmer 5 months ago

‘til the next episode then,

william reid 6 months ago

it doesn’t matter what i think,

gabriela jaime 6 months ago

think about it and let it simmer,

matteo loglio 6 months ago

stay hydrated,

clemens jahn 6 months ago

expecto patronum,

jake johnson 10 months ago

deliberately,

jake johnson 10 months ago

best (i’m the),

erik reeves over 1 year ago

we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it,

chelsea avery 10 months ago

hope this message finds you in a jacuzzi,

anastasia davydova lewis over 1 year ago

sent from my thingy,

ri le 10 months ago

to infinity and beyond,

meg miller almost 2 years ago

peace, mucho love and remember where you came from—the womb,

leo shaw 1 year ago

cheering you on,

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WORDS: STELLA JURGEN

PHOTOS: STELLA JURGEN & JULIANA LEPINE

JULIANA LEPINE

SMALL CAN BE

BIG PHOTO: STELLA JURGEN LUSO LIFE

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PHOTO: JULIANA LEPINE PHOTOS: STELLA JURGEN

A

self taught sculptor from Rio de Janeiro; a woman who suffered through a difficult relationship tormented by domestic violence; a single mom to her son; a person who needed a break and decided to visit family in Canada. This is where our story of Juliana LePine begins.

Juliana decided to stay in Canada and ten years ago, she tied the knot—a shotgun wedding. To celebrate their special day, she made a humorous cake topper of themselves that received many accolades from the guests—this was the start of a new life in all senses.

Her family has expanded to include a wonderful husband and two daughters, and her passion for figure sculpting, which was inspired by her mother, has become a fruitful career. The cake toppers led to sculpting celebrities and the miniature phenomenon was well received gaining her international rec-

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ognition. She has a loyal fan base of more than 800K followers and many of her videos have gone viral—Juliana's progress video which shows her creating a mini Freddie Mercury from polymer clay, went viral overnight reaching more than 86 million views. Then came Dracula, Doc. Emmett Brown, Slash, Axl Rose, Drake, Madonna, Bob Marley, Lady Gaga, and caricatures of Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Amy Winehouse, and others not to mention commissions.

Her love for detail and the need to help other women overcome and heal their past, brought her to sculpt a collection dedicated to victims of domestic violence. Inspired

by CADVA, a non-for-profit organization, she created sculptures that illustrate the power and voice of different women. She recently filmed a documentary and will have an exhibition very soon.

A new collection titled “Zero Waste” is currently under development.

Made with recycled plastic and other materials, this collection portrays her view of life. I had the privilege of catching a sneak preview of “Zero Waste” for Stella’s Studio (CamoesTV. com, episode 23) and was very impressed with the work. I’m looking forward to her next big project because when it comes to Juliana’s art, it's about the little things.

TO LEARN HOW TO SCULPT LIKE JULIANA, JOIN HER LIVE STREAM CLASS ON YOUTUBE. JULIANALEPINE.COM

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WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO

PHOTOS: MIKE NEAL

YOU GO THE BEAT SERIES

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P

op artist Andy Warhol famously predicted that, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”. This was a foreshadowing of where celebrity culture was going—a world where people become “stars” for who they pretend to be, then fade away just as quickly as they appeared—the TikTok generation. Although this quote fits in with his Pop Art ideology, he was also very serious about his art and the artists around him. In 1965 Warhol was introduced to an avant-guard art rock band co-led by New York street-poet Lou Reed and a Welsh viola player named John Cale. Andy didn’t have a musical bone in his body, but after hearing the Velvet Underground perform, he immediately became their manager and used his clout as a famous artist to get them a record deal with Verve. He suggested Nico, a German-born model to join them as singer on some songs and he designed the cover art for their debut album (I’m sure you’ve seen the Warhol banana print).

He also acted as producer, which according to Lou Reed meant, “he just sat there and said ‘Oooh, that's fantastic,’ and paid for the recording sessions.” This, of course allowed the band to create their art. Commercially, the band was a flop—with that first album selling a mere 30,000 copies. Today VU's debut is considered one of the most inspirational albums of all time, with musician Brian Eno saying ”everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."

Warhol started his professional life as a designer, drawing shoes but his desire to create would lead him to bigger things—mainly becoming the best known artist on the planet. What many people don’t know is the fact that Andy didn’t do this alone. Yes he was the driving creative force but there was also a team of people working out of his New York studio which he named The Factory—painters, filmmakers, actors, musicians, writers—all making art. As their leader he was essentially “the designer making art”.

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I sometimes compare working at MDC to what it must’ve been like to have been part of Andy Warhol’s Factory in the 60s— a place where creative minds come together to collaboratively produce art, led by a man (who’s probably as eccentric as we are) that is pushing everyone to produce great art. In case we’re ever in doubt of what’s expected, our leader, Manuel DaCosta, commissioned an art piece to greet everyone who shows up at MDC’s Etobicoke studios—a colourful door with the phrase “Come in but create” painted at eye level—so that’s what we do. We create magazines, newspapers, television, radio and music, so when Manuel announced he was launching a music contest to give young musicians a chance to record I wasn’t surprised.

I admit that when I first heard the idea, I thought it smelled of cheese. Mainly because many of the other contests that exist locally lack credibility—I've heard of musicians who after entering were asked to shell out cash to invest in their own career. What makes this contest different is Manuel DaCosta—the man behind it. He is a man driven by passion and committed to promoting the arts, especially young talent. From this passion sprouted the idea for The Beat Series—two contests under one umbrella: LusoLife Beat which focuses on Luso-Canadian musicians and NewWorld Beat which is open to any Canadian musician.

The competition itself is multi-faceted and will be recorded as part of a made-for-TV special to be aired on Camões TV. MDC Music Director, Reno Silva gave me some insight as to how it all works. “There is an evaluation process followed by a look at their lives—we want to see the competitors in their own element. We captured them in their homes, on stage, at rehearsal spaces or in studio, where they gave us some background as to why they wanted to pursue music as a career.

This was followed by an audition which ultimately ended

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with a performance at the MOD Club Theatre in Toronto.

At this stage, each artist will perform at least three original songs for evaluation. In addition to their singing talent we’re also looking at the strength of their original compositions, stage presence and crowd interaction. There is also a social media component where the team monitors what kind of reaction they get on our social media platforms.”

At the time of writing, LusoLife Beat is well underway in pursuit of the next Lusophone star. The competition brought in applicants which represent a large portion of the Luso spectrum (Portuguese, Goan, Brazilian, etc.) whom I watched perform at the MOD concert series. The series, which spanned over four separate nights, was a diverse showcase of different musical styles—samba, indie, hip-hop, jazz, pop and rock—left me curious as to who will take home the $5000 cash prize and album recording contract from MDC Media Group.

Part of the Warhol genius was his ability to spot the creative types and give them a chance to flourish as artists under The Factory umbrella. He gave us the Velvet Underground and MDC, well, we’re not sure yet.

Winners will be selected, given the opportunity to create and only time will tell if they enjoy “15 minutes of fame” or become legends and the subject of a magazine article 55 years later. Good luck!. @THEBEATSERIES

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WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO

PHOTOS: NOAH GANHÃO

10 COLOURS

Call it what you want

Colour is the lens by which we perceive the world. How they affect us is deeply personal and anything but straightforward. They emotionally influence us in such a way that can increase our metabolism or cause our blood pressure to spike—but more commonly known are their ability to alter our mood or immediately invoke memories. Warm colours like red, orange and yellow can evoke emotions that range from happiness and warmth to anger and hostility. Cool colours like blue, purple and green are considered calming but can muster up feelings of sadness.

But what about the names? Blue is blue, right? Not quite.

If you’re looking to repaint your bathroom it’s likely the swatch choices will be Deep Royal, Celeste, and Schooner rather than blue. Mocha makeup seems to be a more palatable name than ‘brown’ and crayon boxes entice us with Banana Mania and Mango Tango. Car companies often get creative with their naming of paint colours—Lotus used Norfolk Mustard, Dodge recently brought back Sub-Lime for the revamped Charger and who doesn’t drool over a Ferrari painted Rosso Corsa—the most iconic car colour ever and proof that shades of colours can even be branded and owned. The more unique or unusual the colour is named, the more appetizing it seems to be.

Rather than name our 10 colours, we decided to simply identify them by their hex code (a technical breakdown of the intensity of red, green and blue used to make up each colour). We’ll leave the naming to you. Seriously, we left you space. Get creative.

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#00A5B3

#C6CD6B

clear skies | ocean | wipe-out | peacock | avatar | hawaii eyeshadow | blanket | beach | sidewalk chalk | freedom arctic | cleanliness | tranquillity | wisdom | baby boy clinical | stratocaster | gin & tonic | surfing | mineral water | dolphin | glass cleaner | fountain | niagara falls tropical splash | lagoon | robin egg

lime | mike wazowski | seaweed | emerald | pear | moss shrek | four-leaf-clover | jalapeĂąo | parakeet | pickle crocodile | festive | envy | jealousy | cash | olive | salsa healthy smoothy | pea soup | starbucks | garden hose kiwi | forest | lizard | tennis ball | grass | alien | salad granny smith | kermit the frog | pine tree air freshener

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#FE5A34

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tangerine | marigold | cider | fire | tiger | cantaloupe citrus | terracotta | spice | squash | clay | pumpkin| juice life jacket | carrot | autumn | construction | golden hour crush | marmalade | monarch butterfly | kraft singles mango | cheddar | jack-o-lantern | leaves | goldfish fuzzy navel | harvest moon | cheetos | sweet potato

blue jay | sapphire | denim | avatar | toronto | smurf fountain pen | baseball cap | dusk | mariana's trench neptune | picasso | berry | finger-paint | twister | dory sapphire | little boy | smarties | sadness | planet earth cookie monster | frosting on a birthday cake | macaw emperor butterfly | crayons

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#D5C0A9

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butterscotch | fawn | egg nog | oat | latte | parmesan biscotti | oyster | sandcastle | shortbread | leather driftwood | potato | lion | beach | cream | desert boots croissant | toast | fish & chips | cardboard | sculpture peanut butter | caramel | walnut | trench coat | blah ice cream cone | mediterranean | khakis | oatmeal

cherry | lollipops | brick | passion | ladybug | pepper canada | ferrari | telephone box | erotic | lips | popcan bloody ceasar | tomato salad | elmo | barn | borscht first aid | watermelon | ketchup | solo cup | fire truck poppy | boxing gloves | double-decker bus | sand pail stiletto | etch-a-sketch | communism | rudolph | carpet

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#EFCCCA

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rose | flamingo | lipstick | blush | salmon | coral | peach bubblegum | cotton candy | lemonade | rosewood | tutu | barbie | valentine | eye | loveable | child's play flowers | shrimp | cherry blossoms | sweet sixteen | sweethearts panther | dragon fruit | delicate | jewelry box | ballerina tissue paper | birthday cake | bath salts

pearl | cotton | egg | virginity | cream | ivory | coconut wedding dress | salt | new beginnings | rice | bone porcelain | abdominal snowman | daisy | arctic | clean linen | stucco villa | smile | parchment | dove | natural marshmallow | sheep | bleached | surrender | plain tee dove | toilet paper | rabbit | handkerchief | album

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honey | canary | daffodil | butter | corn | dandelion rubber ducky | dijon | banana | bumblebee | blonde joy | sunny afternoon | smiley face | pacman | rain coat taxi cab | submarine | bart simpson | golden arches highlighter | bumblebee | school bus | chickadee minions | gelato | sunflower | no name | kraft dinner

sage | juniper | fern | mouthwash | pistachio | basil mint | guacamole | mistletoe | lettuce leaf | ice cream growth | tea | celtic | margherita | statue of liberty henri rousseau | fender stratocaster | macaroons | go sea foam | mojito | shamrock shake | cabbage | pastel prom | fresh | snow pea | marijuana |

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Words & Photo: Noah GANHĂƒO

PHOTOJOURNAL

summertime in paris

Paris, the city that left me with as many questions as it did answers.

As we took a cab into the city, recognizable landmarks began to pop up; Ikea, the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower (in that order). This is where the surreal experience began and I quickly knew that we had made the right decision in coming to France.

For a long time, I had the sense that I knew what to expect of Paris. Having had people tell me that it’s not the magical city of love from movies had long kept my inter-

est at bay. It was seemingly just another tourist city. Like London, it was a city that I would certainly visit someday but just not yet. As circumstance would have it the trip came a lot sooner than anticipated. Just before starting our final year of university, my girlfriend and I found ourselves booking a two-week trip to France. Just two days after booking the flight, I would realize just how far I had been lead astray. The city is so much more than just the place of movies.

Paris was sex—confusion and clarity at the same time.

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The people were invigorating—young, old, men, women—spunky, stylish, captivating. I thought, “no wonder the french can be arrogant”—they simultaneously have a sense of freedom and refinement, with such proficiency that I could easily be convinced this is something they had trained towards. Who knows, maybe it’s just something in the water or wine, the air, the river seine? I wanted to dive in… to have what they were having.

A rush of emotions—some of which I could pinpoint and others that I am yet to come to terms with—but I felt something and at points, even felt something because I thought I should feel more. With time, I’m sure the city’s effects would be tangible and profound, but these 5 days were a mere dip of the toe.

So many people living life unapologetically free; wine in hand, dancing along the seine, chatting in the park… I was hooked. Is this the life I could live? Could I leave work and go immerse myself in this unforgettable city? Is it possible or am I just witnessing a summer fling? Just an illusion of what life can be but rarely is once actually there? A bleak thought I pondered while cruising down the Seine.

As it stands now, could I see myself living here? Yes. Will I end up living here? I guess that’s just another question that Paris left me with.

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WORDS & ILLUSTRATION: DAVID GANHÃO

A

recent conversation with a friend regarding Paul McCartney’s 2015 collab with Kanye West and Rihanna, where we discussed how upsetting it was that so many young people thought Sir Paul had been discovered by Kanye, led me to do some math. I first became aware of The Beatles in grade five, nine years after the Fab Four had gone their separate ways. A year later John Lennon would be shot dead in front of his New York apartment and my obsession would go into overdrive. Eleven years later, a young Kurt Cobain and his band, Nirvana, gave the music industry a much-needed slap in the face— three years after that he would also be dead by gunshot, although self-inflicted. I was 24 when this happened. Many consider Kurt the voice of Generation X and I personally remember that era as if it were yesterday, but it wasn’t…that was 26 years ago and The Beatles broke up 24 years before that. Without the aid of a calculator, that puts The Beatles breakup at 50 years ago—April 10 officially. If we go back 50 years from my first encounter with The Beatles, we end up in 1929. A quick Wikipedia search of the top songs from that year led me (a self-proclaimed music nerd) to a page with hundreds of songs and artists that I, for the most part have never heard of….but there were a handful that 91 years later are still famous—Cole Porter, Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin. And why are they remembered? Because they changed and revolutionized music during their time.

No other band has revolutionized modern music as much as The Beatles. In seven short years they managed to forever change music—evolving from the bubble-gum pop of Love Me Do (their first single) to the complexity of the Abbey Road Medley which includes the last songs recorded by the band. With an estimate of well over 2 billion singles sold worldwide and 600 million albums (more than Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones combined). They have sold more music than any other artist in history. With the help of engineer Geoff Emerick and producer George Martin, they pioneered recording techniques which helped them create a multitude of masterpieces and thirteen years before MTV The Beatles created the music video for ‘Paperback Writer’.

Their influence is seen daily. Artists like Frank Ocean and the Beastie Boys have sampled their music to create new songs of their own, musicians from Bruce Springsteen to Dave Grohl cite them as an early inspiration, Oasis built a career on the back of The Beatles sound and future musicians sit at home jamming to The Beatles: Rock Band video game. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (both well into their 70s) continue touring and their music continues to enter the charts (the anniversary edition of "Abbey Road” hit number 3 on Billboard last year).

Having discovered The Beatles after their breakup allowed me to explore their music at my own pace. In turn, I did the same with my children, peppering their play-lists with kid-friendly tunes like ‘Octopus’s Garden’, ‘Hey Bulldog’ or ‘Everybody’s Got Something to Hide, Except for Me and My Monkey’.

Watching The Beatles being newly discovered through fresh ears is something truly beautiful.

I spent the summer of 2018 working closely with my son, designing and laying out Milénio Stadium, a weekly newspaper produced by MDC, Luso Life’s parent company. We spent many late nights in the studio working and listening to music, which we used as an opportunity to educate each other. The Beatles became heavy rotation. At first it was my choice but soon after, I found Noah adding Revolver, the White Album or one of their other albums to the playlist.

Although he knew and loved many Beatles songs, he was unfamiliar with their body of work as a whole, so we decided to listen to the catalogue chronologically in order to feel the evolution. Along the way, I would dig into the archive I keep in my brain, offering tidbits of information to accompany each song. As a person who grew up worshipping every note played by the Fab Four, watching my then 19-year-old son discover their music for the first time gave me a sense of satisfaction—this wasn’t my music, it was our music.

When I started writing this article I was sitting on a beach in Cuba (I acknowledge that I’m a bit of a workaholic). Dance music was blasting through the speakers and pumping up the crowd, but most of it is unrecognizable to me until the DJ mixed in something familiar, “Come Together”—a Beatles anthem written by John Lennon. The people cheered and danced to this unorthodox remix. The beats continued for another thirty minutes until the DJ threw another Beatles tune into the mix—Let it Be (a McCartney penned classic) and the crowd of Spring Break teenagers started to sing along.

When my vacation ended, I returned to a different world— fighting the global pandemic of COVID-19, yet The Beatles continue to help people come together. I’ve read reports that hospitals are playing 'Here Comes the Sun’ through their intercom systems when patients are discharged; The age of social distancing has sprouted group sing-a-longs of Yellow Submarine' sung by neighbours on their balconies; McCartney participated in the "One World: Together at Home” charity special to support frontline healthcare workers and the World Health Organization; The city of London took advantage of the lockdown and seized the opportunity to repaint the Abbey Road zebra crosswalk, which had been worn down from years of fans recreating the iconic album cover; and The Beatles themselves gave people stuck at home a special—they hosted a 'Yellow Submarine' sing-a-long watch party on YouTube, accompanied by free downloads of ‘Yellow Submarine' colouring books. The fans loved it.

Despite their bitter divorce, The Beatles defining message was ‘All You Need is Love’, and 50 years on we are left with music that transcends generations as we continue to share with each other. The 2019 movie Yesterday imagined a world without The Beatles and like me, they came to the conclusion that we just can’t let it be.

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WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO

PHOTOS: MIKE NEAL

SPEDUCCI MERCATTO

A lesson in Italian SPEDUCCI (NOUN) SPE-DU-CCI | \SPE-’DÜ-CHĒ\ (ALSO KNOWN AS SPIEDINI AND ARROSTICINI) DELICIOUS MEAT SKEWERS WITH ORIGINS IN THE MOUNTAINOUS REGION OF ABRUZZO, ITALY. TRADITIONALLY MADE FROM LAMB BUT ARE ALSO MADE FROM BEEF, CHICKEN OR PORK. MERCATTO (NOUN) MER-CATTO | \MER’KATO\ MARKET. A MEETING PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BUY ANYTHING FROM LOCAL PRODUCE TO A FULL MEAL. SALUMI (NOUN) SA-LUMI | \SÄ’LŌŌMĒ\ ANY CURED ITALIAN MEATS, USUALLY MADE FROM PORK, INCLUDING PROSCIUTTO, AND BRESAOLA.

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hen it comes to choosing a restaurant, I am always indecisive, mainly because I don’t eat out much, so when I recently made dinner plans with an old friend, I asked him to pick the destination. He decided one of the places in Yorkdale Mall would make sense since it was centrally located and would be convenient for us both. After sitting down and chatting for a few minutes I blurted out, “We’re featuring Speducci Mercatto in the next edition of Luso Life, so I was going to suggest we go there. It’s close by, in an industrial park I think” He knew the place and loved it, so we packed up our things and off we went to “research” my next project.

Walking in I quickly took a survey of my surroundings— seating to my left; market to my right; deli counter with cured meat hanging everywhere; happy staff quickly moving around to serve the customers. The place was clean, modern and I was immediately sucked in by it’s vibe. We glanced at the menu and I decided to use the “when in Rome” philosophy, so I ordered speducci— lamb, beef and chicken (2 of each), with a side of rapini. It was simple, it was delicious and left me looking forward to my next visit. On my way out I spotted Rosie Scavuzzo, one of the two partners that own Speducci Mercatto— she takes care of the business side and Gabriele Paganelli takes care of the food—I introduced myself, left a few magazines and set up a date for our interview.

In the weeks that followed, I had a few conversations with other friends about food (this happens way too often) and I always brought up a “new” place I had “discovered”. As it turns out, most of my friends already knew about this hidden gem, they just hadn’t shared it with me. Some had been there for lunch while others liked the market and go there to purchase speducci to barbecue on their home grills.

So when I sat down with Gabriele, my first question was how does a restaurant in an industrial nook away from the city’s hip neighbourhoods become so well known?

“Where do you want me to start? When I came to Canada?

My life in Italy before I came?” I wanted to hear everything.

“I was the second child of nine children. We grew up on a farm, raising our own cows, pigs, etc. Every winter we were slaughtering four pigs to feed our family. Back home this is an event, so neighbours and family come to help and we return the favour by helping them. In the winter I’d assist 10-12 of these ‘graduations’.”

“When I grew up, I went to school and I took electronics to learn how to repair televisions and radios, that was my thought. I used to go to school far from town, so when I got

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home, my brothers and sisters had eaten everything, so I had to start cooking for myself. This is where the passion started, so I began cooking for family and friends. After my mandatory army service, I decided to switch careers and cook as a profession. It was good because I can’t eat a transistor, but can now eat whatever I create!

My parents bought a small store in our hometown of Ravenna (a tourist destination in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy) so I started cooking there as a summer job. Parmigiano, mortadella, a lot of the big salumi come from my area.” Salumi basically translates to cold cuts, a term which Gabriele dislikes because he says, “it isn’t as warm as the word salumi or charcuterie”. In the winter Paganelli would work in places where he could learn his specialty—gastronomy for takeout.

He made his way to Canada via a call from John Lettieri of Hero Burger fame, to open Lettieri, a cafe in Hazelton Lanes. With the idea of opening his own restaurant, Paganelli went on to work in new restaurants that were opening to gain experience. “In five years I worked at five different restaurants, then I opened my restaurant, Romagna Mia on Front Street in Toronto.” Paganelli operated that restaurant for 16 years (12 as Romagna Mia and four years as Paganelli’s Risotteria-Enoteca).

“I sold it and became semi-retired because my retiree job was to make salumi. I was raising wild boar on a farm I own near Wasaga Beach and I had opened a place in the east end to

make salumi.” The story could have ended here, had he not been introduced to Rosie via a mutual friend… and that meeting almost didn’t happen. “When I first showed up, I ran away because after 16 years on Front Street, working at a place surrounded by old cars and a burned truck across the street seemed like a bad idea.”

But Rosie was persistent and three months later he received another call to come help this new business. “Five years ago I came here to help out, and stayed. At the beginning it was me, Rosie, a butcher and a helper. Today, there are 52 of us working. That’s the basic story of how I ended up here.”

Gabriele decided to start with the name. “We were named Speducci, so we would make everything from speducci. At first we served sandwiches and on the skewer—to make a veal or chicken cutlet, we’d bread the speducci, fry it, put it on the bun and remove the stick. Slowly we added pasta, pizza and all the other things, now we’re more of a restaurant/market/butcher shop. It’s an Italian mess, which I love!”

base for many dishes so I started to make that first. Today, we make types of salami—horse, venison, elk, turkey and are opening a prosciutto bar to showcase a different selection of the meats.”

One of the things I loved most about Speducci Mercatto is that things are kept simple and authentic. Since they produce their salumi, the flavours are controlled by Gabriele, and this is something that can’t be taught. “You can learn technique on the Internet, but if you don’t have the flavours on your tongue, you can’t reproduce it.”

Unfortunately Speducci Mercatto didn’t help my indecisiveness, it only created more grief—should I order a salumi and cheese board or a pizza?

Maybe a lamb chop and a few speducci…ooo the wild boar strozzapretti looks good…or maybe the bolognese tagliatelle topped with shaved parmigano….please send help.

46 MILFORD AVE, TORONTO SPEDUCCI.COM @SPEDUCCI

I can relate to the ‘Italian mess’.

Through my teens, I spent a lot of time at my friend Tony’s place and the kitchen table always ended up this way—bread, olives, pasta, and of course the homemade soppressata…which brings us back to the salumi. Gabriele didn’t abandon his salumi, he just made more. “Fifteen years ago I decided to make salumi because what I found here didn’t have my flavours—the flavours I grew up with. The pancetta is the

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“It’s an Italian mess, which I love!”

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SERVES 4

La Bistecca perfetta The perfect steak 120g porterhouse steak in 1 piece

Heat the pan to 140ºC. Use a cast iron or metal pan to brown the meat. A non-stick pan will not give you the same results

500g seasonal vegetables to grill 160g cooked cannellini beans 60g arugula 40g shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano 40g EVOO

Check to ensure that the surface of the steak is dry, if not, dry it with paper towel. Excess liquid will not sear the meat properly.

If you selected a cut that has enough marbling (fat), there is no need to add oil to sear. If not, then lightly oil both sides of the meat before placing in the pan. Placing oil directly in the pan could cause the oil to burn before adding the meat. Do not use extra virgin olive oil, instead use an oil that has a high temperature cooking point such as canola oil or peanut oil.

10g traditional balsamic vinegar 10g rosemary springs 5g garlic clove q.b. Cervia sea salt

Maintain the temperature of your pan at 140ºC. This will allow a perfect browning of the meat. Do not puncture the meat with a fork as this will cause your meat to lose its juices. The “crust” that forms on the meat will be from it adhering to the pan.

Avoid moving the meat around in the pan as this will yield a better result.

In the meantime, flavour the cannellini beans by putting them in a saucepan with half the EVOO, rosemary, garlic and salt.

Bring to a boil and set aside.

A good steak should be served medium rare! Once cooked, lightly season and remove it from the pan. Set aside covered with aluminum foil for a few minutes.

While the steak rests, cook the vegetables in the same pan, add salt to taste and set aside.

Slice the steak and put it on the serving plate. Top it with Parmigiano-Reggiano, arugula, balsamic vinegar and the remaining EVOO. Add a side of the cannellini beans and the pan-grilled vegetables then serve.

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WORDS & PHOTO: NOAH GANHÃO THE LONGEST WINTER

Portrait

Early spring was the prediction from our long relied-upon forecaster, the groundhog. Snow was sparse in March and showers proceeded in April, following what seemed like the natural transition into spring.

In march we shed our snow-pants and parkas, unknowingly exchanging them for a hibernation-like state unfamiliar to us all. Reminiscent of our ancestors, who conserved resources in the winter by minimizing activity and resting for large chunks of time until the weather bettered and farm season was back. This spring resembles a frigid winter, but without the dinner parties and cheer of Christmas, or the excitement for summer that consumes the second half of the season.

Instead, we are left to live in a state of constant teasing— climax-less—anticipating the eventual bubble when things peak and then come crashing back to the way they once were. Something our minds see as simply as the bubble in the housing market not too long ago.

A mountain of news—warnings, conspiracies, death tolls, protests—piles up every day like a mountain of snow.

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People take turns shifting from polite complacency or fear to brash optimism, slipping into carefree monologues that take on the form of a rallying cry. Whether these exist to convince others or simply for our own peace of mind is certainly debatable.

We ourselves cannot predict our own reactions to certain things, so the experience of social-distancing is unique to the individual. The variables that contribute to our experience during these unprecedented times are innumerable, but whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you do, there is a light. The light of summer exists. Whether we experience it during the typical June-August is uncertain, but what does that matter? Summer is a feeling and calendars are a man-made method of organization to make sense of time. We adapt. We must adapt and discard the idea of returning to our ‘normal’ but shift to the idea of redefining normal. Not just now, but always. It is the only way we can progress.

The longest short winter indeed.

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