Local doesn't = easy

Like the title of the entry states, I've come to learn that eating local isn't easy. Well, maybe not the eating part, that has always come naturally to me. But actually acquiring locally farmed food, on a student budget, that's a different story. This got me thinking. Naturally I LOVE to cook, but what about people who don't like cooking, or if you're anything like my boyfriend, can't cook. I decided to try and find some restaurants that offer fare made with local ingredients. I found some interesting stuff.

Check out Now Magazines online entry about the topic here

I also found THIS and LOVEEEEE IT!

I always enjoy reading Toronto Life, it makes me feel like a real grown-up. All of these are great too!

P.S. Check this out while you're at it.

-Angela

Gardening

I love gardening! Being in school full-time and working upwards of 25 hours a week makes it hard to keep track of a garden. This year I kept it simple, some beans, basil, mint and parsley. The pictures at the end are of my landlady's garden. (she's retired, that'ss my excuse for my garden paling in comparison.

Happy Gardening,

   Angela

Hello Readers!!
 Please check out Kaitlyn and Joan's video on fresh farm eggs. They've cooked a meal using eggs that were laid only hours prior. Will their family notice a difference? Watch and find out!

Their Vid here:
FARM FRESH

Also, there are some other blogs about foraging that I like to follow:

Island Menu:
Here

Adventures in Local Food:
Right Here

Seasonal Ontario Food:
Right Over Here!

What are some of your favourite blogs/ blogs about foraging?

Interesting videos Po-Yu

Here are some videos about different chef's views about different ingredients and or production methods that has been controversial. Enjoy!!

Dan Barber-How I fell in love with a fish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EUAMe2ixCI

Dan Barber-A suprising parable foie gras:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvrgD0mAFoU

Anthony Bourdain-Foie Gras Not Cruel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABeWlY0KFv8

Janet Street Porter-Ethical Foie Gras:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5c4TXfDHZY

Gordon Ramsay- Ethical Foie Gras vs Force Fed Foie Gras:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykLsoQBmM1c&feature=relmfu

Cook It Raw Japan Po-Yu

Interesting episode of No Reservations "cook it raw". Where the event Cook It Raw invites top chefs from all over the world such as chef rene redzepi from Noma, David Chang from Momofuku and much more to cook up a meal composed of multiple courses using foraging ingredients for food critics all over the world.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE16oNXjnh4
 Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rTHYQT92kE
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cUMRNsB59g

Food Test - Organic Chicken vs Non-Organic Chicken - Po-Yu

Organic chicken versus non-organic chicken

Purpose: To test if there was any difference between organic and non-organic chicken in the aspects of taste, texture, smell, aroma appearance and how they cook.

Thesis: The organic chicken is going to trump the non-organic ones in every category.

I went to St. Lawrence Market and purchased one organic chicken breast from Witteveen Meats; skin on bone on for $12.99/pound and the net price of $13.12. I also purchased 2 whole bone-less, skin off chicken breast (which was stuck together and only found out after purchase) for the price of $5.99/pound and the net price is $6.99.

As I was trimming the organic chicken breast I found out that the skin is thicker and tougher than non-organic chicken and harder to pull off too. After trimming the only difference I noticed were the sizes. Organic chicken seems to be a little bit bigger while non-organic chicken is smaller, but the difference was really subtle. Another subtle difference was the colour, organic chicken is “redder” than non-organic chicken.

As I was cooking it, the difference became more obvious. As soon as the non-organic chicken hit the hot pan, it shrunk like wet sponge under the sun while the organic chicken held its shape quite well. While cooking the chicken was cooking, the non-organic chicken felt softer to the touch while organic chicken was a little bit tougher to the touch. After pan searing, the chicken was then finished in a 375 oven for 5-7 minutes. (both internal temperature of 70)

After it was finished cooking, I let the meat rest for 10 minutes before cutting it. For the purpose of the taste test experiment, I didn’t put any seasoning before nor after cooking in order to get the true flavor of the chicken.

 
Non-organic chicken

 

Organic chicken

The non-organic chicken was a little bit dryer and tougher than the organic chicken, while organic chicken was a bit moister and tenderer. The non-organic chicken has that chicken flavor that we are all familiar with but the organic chicken have a completely different taste profile; it has a really subtle milky flavor. Organic chicken have a strong aroma coming from chewing the meat in my mouth while the non-organic chicken have hardly any aroma at all.

I thought adding some salt might change the result, but I was wrong, the result still stands by itself.

Conclusion: Non-organic chicken tastes totally different from organic chicken. Not saying that organic chicken tastes bad but it just doesn’t have the “chicken flavor” that we are all so familiar with, but then maybe that we are just too accustomed to the taste of non-organic chicken that we already forgotten what chicken should really taste like. Texture wise I do like the organic chicken a lot more than non-organic chicken. With the price of the organic chicken at $12.99/pound, for me as a student it is just simply too expensive. I’m sure there are more reason to purchase organic chicken than just the price such as health and ethical problems but for now, I would rather stick with the $5.99/pound chicken. 

"Wild" and Local in my Professional Life - Harris

At the conclusion of this project (and our first year in culinary school), I find myself deeply affected by the materials presented in works like The Omnivore's Dilemma and others.  It has become clearer and clearer to me that today's chef not only SHOULD but HAS TO adopt a more ethical, local, and wild mentality when it comes to food sourcing.

As this project has demonstrated, wild and fresh food is available all around us.  Whether it comes from a local ethical farm, a farmers' market, or simply through wild foraging in the city, we simply can't ignore the options presented to us for healthy, nutritious food.

As it affects me personally, this subject is at the heart of the business I want to open after school is finished.  My ideal restaurant is one that offers only local and seasonal food, avoiding mass production and extended food sourcing network chains.  Ontario and the GTA specifically offer a wide array of seasonal products as well as a tradition of food that helps bridge the gap between the seasons.  In my mind, there is no excuse for not engaging more directly with our food sourcing.  After having done this a little bit already here, I'm left with the feeling that I simply have no choice but to use local, wild, and seasonal products in my future business.

Harris

Foraging Link Roundup - Harris

In the interest of creating a comprehensive blog on the subject, I'd like to include some popular web links about foraging in Toronto and the GTA in general.  Any suggestions? If so, put them in the comments!

Ten Foods to Forage in the City

Torontoist on Foraging

The Toronto Star on Foraging

The Toronto Star on Morels

Vegan for a Week! - Justin

As part of getting to know my food a little better, I thought I'd challenge myself to a new meal plan that would bring me closer to the roots of my vegetable ingredients.  Let me know what you think! This was a real challenge for me, as a proud meat eater, but it was completely worth it in the end.

Foraging Day 7 - A Day in the Garden - Greenwood and Danforth Community Garden

Day 7 – Day in the garden

Today’s foraging took the form of going through my community garden plot. Although I’ll write about this elsewhere on the blog, I wanted to include a day to reflect on the utility of having a community garden right in the middle of the city in order to provide fresh produce for families like mine. Although I work hard at maintaining my garden, it remains a place of refuge and foraging for my daughter, my partner, and I. We find delicious food here, and today I made up a little ratatouille from the zucchini, eggplant, and heirloom tomatoes that I’ve grown this year.

In this case, I’ll let my three year old daughter offer her feedback: “You’re a good cook, Daddy! Soooooooo tasty! I like it!”

You just can’t argue with that.

Foraging Day 6 - Sunflower Seeds - Harris

Day 6 – Sunflower seeds

In the vacant lot next door (the house is being rebuilt), the previous owners have left what have grown into sunflowers. Nobody seems interested in them, so I harvested their seeds and roast them myself. Today was a simple task, but was immensely rewarding.

I recommend that this salted, roasted treat be enjoyed in your back yard alongside a delicious wheat 

beer (best brewed in-house, of course). That’s a recipe that I’ll happily pass on to anyone who’s interested.

Harris

Foraging Day 5 - Macerated Cherries - Harris

Day 5 – Macerated Cherries

I KNEW this was going to be a treat. Who doesn’t like macerated cherries on ice cream, in a drink, or elsewhere? The real joy of this is that a neighbor has a nice and old cherry tree whose fruit is starting to ripen!

In the process of asking for permission to pick these little red gems from their tree, I was informed by my neighbours that they actually have a great difficulty dealing with this fruit each year. The tree produces so much that they often are left to rot on the tree and litter the ground. In this case, lesson learned. Not only did I bring home a bucket full of cherries this time, but I’ll definitely be back for more soon!

So, here’s a rough recipe for my macerated cherries:

2 cups of Bing cherries, pitted

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups of water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup of brandy

With a little gin and tonic, these were absolutely delicious!! Please (if you’re of age, of course)    enjoy one TODAY. There’s no excuse when these delicious cherries can be found nearby. I suspect, though, that gin may not be so easily located in my neighborhood (unless going to the LCBO can be considered foraging).

Harris

Foraging Day 4 - Mint - Harris

Day 4 - Mint Jelly

Today was going to be easy. I just knew it. For one thing, my back yard is full of mint. Anyone who’s grown mint or lived with it (the best way I can describe a garden or backyard that has been lost to the plant) knows that it goes WILD in no time at all. No matter, though, since I’m going to collect a bunch of this delicious herb and make up a jelly for use with lamb I recently brought home from school.

Here’s a rough recipe for mint jelly to go with lamb:

Ingredients:

2 c. minced mint leaves
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
4 c. apple juice (see apple jelly recipe)
Green food coloring

Method:

Wash and mince mint leaves to equal 2 cups. Add water and sugar, let stand several hours. Heat to boiling and strain.

Cook apple juice and when nearly to jellying point add 1 to 2 tablespoon of mint juice. Finish cooking, skim, pour into sterile glasses and seal.

Let me just say, this was a delicious addition to my meal! What a treat, and found right here!

Harris

Foraging Day 3 - Morels, etc. - Harris

Day 3 – Morels.

I’m going to say right at the outset that I was unable to find any morels, despite having looked. After looking around online a fair bit, I sent a couple emails to people who seemed to have found morels in Pickering themselves. After a bit of advice, I went out myself to a little park area in North Pickering to have a look one moist weekend. Sadly, after looking for a little while, I had no luck.

Due to my failure (perhaps due to inexperience), I bought some dried morels at home instead, rehydrated them, and fried them up for use in a risotto. As I enjoyed the risotto though, I thought of how close I must have been to finding these elusive treasures right here in the GTA. Truly, the centrepiece of a meal like this could easily have been a valuable fungus right under our noses the whole time.

As an alternative to finding some morels today, I thought I'd reflect a little on a discovery I made a few weeks ago. In my backyard I learned that the vines growing on the fence will soon produce grapes! Behold!

In the coming weeks, as they ripen, I think I'll make some jelly!  

Harris

Foraging Day 2 - Serviceberry and Mulberry Pie - Harris

Day 2 – Serviceberry and Mulberry Pie

Despite the unrepentant love I hold in my heart for a good strawberry and blueberry pie from fruit grown here, there are some more unsung heroes of the Toronto berry world that I wanted to get a closer look at: namely, the serviceberry and mulberry. To find the mulberry, the task was done for me. I need only look to my backyard for this gem of a tree fruit. So, with opened garbage bag in hand, I gently shook the branches of my tree, and gathered the delicious little berries into a bucket. A little wash and they’re ready to go!

For the serviceberries (often termed Saskatoon berries), there was a bit more of a challenge. I had to have a look online for suggestions, and only eventually found a trove of these berries just north of Dupont (I won’t reveal my hiding spot, though, sorry!) where I was able to collect serviceberries in abundance.

After collecting the berries, I returned home, washed them, removed any stems and debris, and proceeded to follow this rough recipe for a pie:

Ingredients

3 cups mulberries and serviceberries.

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix berries with sugar and flour. Place mixture into bottom pie crust. Dot with butter and then cover with top pie crust. Crimp edges, cut slits in upper crust, and brush with milk. Let pie rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Bake pie in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove pie from oven and let sit on wire rack until cool.

Harris

Foraging Day 1 - Dandelions - Harris

Day 1 – Dandelion salad and tea.

When I first thought of foraging in Ontario for a rich cultural dish, my first thought (perhaps I’m biased toward an Italian background) was dandelion. On a warm day in late spring/early August one doesn’t have to go far in Toronto to find groups of people combing hills and fields for these gems. There are a couple of reasons for this recent growth. For one thing, people have long enjoyed the leaves of this plant for use in tea and salads, most prominently. Until recently, many municipalities in and around Toronto employed pesticides and chemical herbicides to control the dandelion and other “weed” populations. However, in the last few years a number of municipalities have stopped (and in many cases banned) the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides. This has led to a massive growth in the dandelion population around Ontario.

With this in mind, I had hoped to go out and fine these delicious little gems along with my Italian friends, and write about it here. Sadly, I’ve missed the season for this activity. I thought about retracting this day from the week’s entries, but it’s worth noting here that the dandelion, an often overlooked culinary delight, can be found in and around Toronto once again around April each year before they bloom fully.

Harris

Foraging for a Week - Harris

In this series of blog posts, I’d like to do a bit of an experiment. I wonder if I could integrate a foraged item from an urban setting like Toronto into each meal. I’ve often thought about getting foods from the city into my diet, but this will be a concentrated effort to find some interesting and culturally diverse menu options that are available, for free, in the environment around me.

Here’s a little round up of my rough plan for the week:

Day 1 – Dandelion salad and tea.

Day 2 – Serviceberry and Mulberry pie.

Day 3 – Morels.

Day 4 – Mint jelly.

Day 5 – Macerated cherries.

Day 6 - Mulberry pie.

Day 7 – Day in the garden – Ratatouille.

Harris

My Farm in the City - Harris

To me, Fresh From The Farm represents the way I’d like urban food sourcing to be, in order to supplement farmers’ markets. In what follows, I will be both discussing Fresh From The Farm, a local outlet for farmers just outside the GTA (Mennonite farmers in this case), as well as the idea of how we should find food locally. It’s not necessarily foraging, but I think that knowing the cycle your food has followed is very close to finding it yourself. Places like Fresh From The Farm and local farmers’ markets perform the function of bringing us closer to our food and what it really represents, beyond the plate.

As the staff of Fresh From The Farm (just south of O’Connor on Donlands, East York) will be happy to explain, they offer only fresh and frozen meats and produce that come directly from a series of Mennonite farmers just north of the city. The result is that anything from fish to eggs to poultry to vegetables can be found only when they are seasonally available and produced. This means that it really depends on the day you visit the store when it comes to your available options. Having said this, the staff are always happy to let me know when orders and shipments of specific things are coming in fresh, and then frozen.

I think it’s a real gem, and I’m completely thankful for living close to Fresh From The Farm. In a province and city with a number of “food deserts” in which nutritious, fresh, affordable food is difficult or near impossible to find, it’s refreshing to see a store like this thrive, offering local residents meat and produce of quality exactly the same as if they lived next door to the farmers themselves. Simply by taking the time to speak with the staff at Fresh From The Farm, one can learn a great deal about the lifecycle of the food one consumes. Unlike grocery stores, where a food’s cycle and life is very much disconnected from the customer, Fresh From The Farm’s products are completely authentic and connected to the soil, farmer, and production cycle.

As any city dweller understands, finding an excellent store like this or food source in general (like a farmers’ market) is akin to foraging for food itself. It is often a challenge to find “real” and local food, so I consider myself lucky to shop at stores like this one and deal with food producers themselves.

Finally, I want to strongly suggest that our readers check out this store, as we did. It’s an absolute gem in Toronto.

Harris Jones

Joan and Kaitlyn's Farm Visit!

Check out the video on Youtube Here

Interview with Local Business Owners - Angela

As you may or may not know, I used to work at Vegan Bakery here in Toronto. The Owners are Kevin and Ashley, who both also happen to be good friends of mine. Here is an interview I did with them about a food co-op they belong to.

Angela:

So I know you guys buy all of your ingredients through a food co-op. Could you tell me more about the co-op, and why you chose to be a part of a co-op.

(K)evin & (A)shley:

Well, it’s called ONFC, or Ontario Natural Food Co-op, everything they sell is organic and they really push local produce.

A:

So is it a group of farmers or what?

K&A:

Well, yes and no. There are a lot of local farmers who sell through ONFC, but also, lost of small companies sell through ONFC as well.

A:

Could anybody order food through them? Like if I wanted to only buy my food through ONFC, could I?

K&A:

We pay a fee to belong to the coop, everybody does, buys and sellers. It helps employ the people who work there and for advertising.
A:

Cool, so why did you guys chose to use ONFC and not just buy your products from a Health food store or something?

K&A: 

Sometimes we do, but mostly because we like to support local farmers. It’s important that your stuff be organic but it’s also important that in using organic produce we aren’t harming the environment. Which is why it’s amazing to use local products. It also creates an amazing sense of community.

A: I totally get that. It’s like you work really hard to make great products so you can totally respect somebody who does the same. Kind of like using anything else cheapens your product.

K&A:

Exactly! Plus we want the kind of customers who care about what we care about. There’s a mutual respect. When you get to know your customers, you want nothing but the best for them.

(Kevin Adds): 

At the end of the day we still have bills to pay, and we’d never pretend that money doesn’t matter, but making money dishonestly is not how we want to do things.

(Ashley Adds) :

We’re a Mom and Pop type of joint and so is ONFC.

A:

So what in this (referring to cupcake I had already eaten) is local?

K&A:

Well everything is organic, the soy butter is Canadian, the floors are Bob’s Red Mill. The Strawberries are local. Actually, the strawberries we bought at a Farmer’s market, the one in Trinity [Bellwood’s] so they’re farmer direct.

A:

I go there all the time!! I love it.  Anyway, thanks for your time guys, and thanks for the cupcakes!!

Trinity Bellwoods Farmer's Market - Angela

Here are some photos from my trip to the market. Watch out for a little video-coming soon!

Angela