I’ve fallen in love with a cookbook. There, I said it. From the moment I layed eyes on it, I’ve barely let it out of my site. I’ve carried it with me practically everywhere I went, hoping to steal a few moments in times of inactivity to flip through its sumptuous pages of aspirational recipes.
Acclaimed chefs and cookbook authors the world over have come together to help food relief efforts to alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees. Each has contributed a recipe to this beautifully illustrated cookbook of delicious soups from around the world. Contributors include: Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Anthony Bourdain, Mark Bittman, Alice Waters, Paula Wolfert, Claudia Roden, Sally Butcher, Ana Sortun, Greg Malouf, Aglaia Kremenzi, Joe Barza, Carolyn Kumpe, Wendy Rahamut, and many others.
The best thing I ate this month was yet again a creation from Allium Restaurant. This time around, it was their take on biscuits & gravy.
When I sat down and looked at the menu, I was a bit unsettled to discover this classic Southern combo north of the Mason-Dixon line. I nearly dismissed it out of hand. I mean, what do Canadians know about biscuits and gravy? It turns out, a whole heck of lot.
The rich and peppery smoked pork and mushroom gravy was perfectly paired with the biscuits, which were buttery and had an airy flakiness about them. The chicken was classically Southern-style and ideally cooked. Crispy, light and never greasy. The apple jam and hot honey added just the right touch of sweetness. The pickled cabbage and peanuts were a nice complement, bringing freshness and crunch.
This dish was a triumph and a contemporary exploration on one of the most revered dishes of the South. And it was the best thing I ate this month.
There were two standouts from this year’s Thanksgiving dinner:
Roasted Beets with Beet Green Salsa Verde
Created by Tyler Florence for Food & Wine magazine, this dish uses ricotta, beets and their greens, dill, pomegranate seeds, olive oil and sherry vinegar. It is at once earthy and fresh, vibrant and creamy. If you can’t find beets with beautiful greens, Swiss chard or curly spinach leaves can be used instead.
Montreal is a world-class food city. It combines diverse neighbourhoods, access to some of the greatest food markets in North America and, creative chefs deeply rooted in their own culinary heritage. The result is one of the most exciting restaurant scenes in the world.
Photograph by Peden & Munk
“These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!” “Where did you get these?” “Who made these?” “Seriously, where do I find them?” For the most part, that’s how the interrogation began moments after unleashing the Chocolate Chunk-Pumpkin Seed Cookies upon my colleagues. Some of the cookies somehow found their way around the campus buildings and that’s when the deluge of phone calls, texts, and emails began. I was sought out and I basked in the glow of celebrity. I became Kardashian-like for the next few hours. And it was all unintentional. (more…)
For Canadian Thanksgiving this year, I had the usually fare: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and vegetables. Of these, two recipes really stood out.
Dip your spoon into a Cajun-style gumbo; savour a layered muddle of snapper, potatoes, onions, and poached eggs; feast on okra soup coloured with red-ripe tomatoes; eat Hoppin’ John for luck on New Year’s Day.
Nancie McDermott’s Southern Soups & Stews serves up recipes seasoned with history—from Nathalie Dupree’s Lowcountry Okra and Shrimp Gumbo to Summer Squash Soup with Black Pepper and Thyme, to Collard Greens with Pot Likker and Dumplings—offering us a glimpse of how people farmed, cooked, and continue to celebrate life over time. Travel around the South and you will find folks still eating the dishes today because the meals are delicious, compelling, and certain to attract and please a big table of family and friends.
First and foremost a world renown Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author, Ernest Hemingway is nearly as famous for his legendary lifestyle as his writing. A true sportsman and outdoorsman, Hemingway traveled the world pursuing his passions. A resident of Havana, Key West, Paris and Ketchum, Idaho, Hemingway hunted big game on African safaris, sat ringside at Spanish bullfights, fished the world’s oceans and traveled extensively throughout Europe in time of war and peace.
The romantic and international appeal of the Hemingway legend is embodied in the select group of products fit to bear the name. Hemingway’s love of travel, culture and cuisine has been turned it into something both tangible and tastable: EH Gourmet.
From musicians and famous faces to scenes from fairy tales like Peter Pan, Italian artist Giulia Bernardelli transforms food scraps and spilt remains into revealing portraits and gorgeous scenery.
Bernardelli came across coffee as a medium for her art by chance: She accidentally knocked over a cup of coffee and noticed a world of beautiful shapes before her.
“I decided to replace the brush by what nature has to offer, such as leaves, fruit peels, or just food. All these elements feature different colours and textures,” she told the Huffington Post.
In 2014, she began sharing her art via Instagram, (@bernulia) where she has since garnered more than 52,000 followers.
“Everything that I needed was around me, if I looked carefully. I never plan my work in advance. When I drink coffee, I reflect on the nuances that I could create if I turned it over on the table.” Bernardelli prefers her artwork to be ephemeral and to feel as though they are found creations that were stumbled upon by happenstance.
Ms. Bernardelli, 27, is a graduate of Fine Arts program at L’Académie des beaux-arts de Bologne.
Follow her on Instagram @bernulia to discover more of her creations.