December 2008: Preserving Our Culinary Heritage

One of the aims of the Slow Food Movement is the preservation of culinary heritage. This may mean trying to revive near-extinct native species of vegetables or fruit, re-discovering the delights of native edibles, or returning to old, long ignored recipes. The recent popularity of “Heirloom” fruits and vegetables has put a spotlight on heritage species that had all but disappeared because they are irregular in shape or colour, or don’t preserve well enough for shipping long distances, or aren’t suitable for commercial handling.

The “heirloom” designation is open to interpretation, but generally means that the species has been around, un-hybridized, for quite awhile: some say 100 years, some say 50. The fruit or vegetables are also naturally pollinated, not lab developed or grown, and never genetically modified or cloned.

There are more than 17,000 varieties of apples that have been recorded, but even apple experts (pomologists) know only a small fraction of these. While many heirloom varieties are now available at markets and specialty food stores, the vast majority of the apples available to the consumer are hybrids, commercially developed for their ability to withstand travel, the ease with which they can be machine harvested, or their appealing colour and texture. Among the hundreds of heirloom varieties still being grown in small quantities, several are still available commercially: Northern Spy (originating in New York around 1800), Granny Smith (from Australia, developed in the mid-1800’s), Golden Russet (believed to be one of the oldest varieties), Snow or Royal Snow (recorded in Canada in the early 16oo’s), and McIntosh (developed in Ontario in the early 1800’s).

Heirloom tomatoes come in an astounding range of colours and shapes and sizes, completely unfamiliar to those of us who are used to perfectly symmetrical, uniformly red hybrid tomatoes that appear on the supermarket shelves. Their tastes are equally astonishing, ranging from sweet to earthy, tart to nutty. Among the many, many heirloom tomato varieties, a few worth noting include the Brandywine, Hillbilly, Rainbow, and Mortage Lifter (so-named because the man who developed it sold enough plants at $1 each during the Depression to pay off his house in four years). Have a look at The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook by Mimi Luebbermann.

The re-discovery and preservation of old recipes has resulted in a proliferation of cook books and web sites that present old-time recipes gleaned from newspapers, magazines and long out of print cookbooks. www.oldfashionedcooking.com www.old-fashioned-recipes.com and www.heritagerecipes.com are just three of thousands. In most families there are several handed-down recipes that have passed from mother to daughter through generations (the home kitchen being, until relatively recently, the domain of the family’s females). Such recipes are treasured, partly because of tradition and family pride, but also because they are so good! It’s probably because Grandma’s recipe set the standard and anything else was off the mark, but everyone who has a family heirloom recipe is convinced it makes the best pie, pickles, pork, or pudding they’ve ever eaten. My family is no exception. Here’s Grandma Green’s recipe for the best mincemeat in the world.

3 lemons 1lb. Valencia raisins 1 nutmeg
1 lb. beef suet 2 lb. apples
1 lb. currants 1 ½ lb. Demerara sugar
Pare the rinds off the lemons very thin and boil for 15 min in a little water. Drain and chop the rinds and mix with the suet, currants, and raisins. Peel and chop the apples and add to the mix. Grate half the nutmeg into the mixture and add the sugar and the juice from the lemons. Mix well and store in sterilized glass jars for at least two weeks before making into pies or tarts.

For more information about the Slow Food Movement, go to www.slowfood.com or contact Renée Girard at prima_renee@hotmail.com for information about the Pelham Convivium.

November 2008: Fast Food Invades France

Although the Slow Food Movement began in Italy and still has its headquarters there, the battleground between the forces of Fast Food and Slow Food seems to be France. After all, it was in France that farmer Jose Bové spent 8 months in jail for trashing a McDonald’s in protest against what he saw as the fast food invasion of his country… and then rode a wave of popularity into the 2007 presidential race.

This summer I spent seven weeks in France, diligently doing research for this column. While I never once ate at a fast food restaurant, I certainly saw lots of them, and they seemed to be doing a reasonable business. Whether their customers were actually French or foreign tourists I didn’t determine either, but I did find out that a McDonald’s burger in France can be ordered on a ciabatta bun with a spicy Dijon sauce, and accompanied by a glass of wine. Still, many in France deplore what they see as the undermining of their culture. Food is such a vital part of French life and culture, that anything which might weaken its essential “French-ness” is seen as an attack on the nation itself. And, it must be said, Fast Food is seen as an evil American phenomenon (even though there are many French fast food chains) and its spread is often equated to the Americanization of France.

However, McDonald’s (“Mc-do” en francais) and the other fast food restaurants are getting some competition from a new trend in French cuisine: “Fine Fast”. Several chains of restaurants have sprung up to offer good, healthy food with fresh ingredients, but in the quick and friendly style of fast food burger joints. Cojean is one such chain with about a dozen restaurants around Paris that serve vegetarian sandwiches, curry wraps, and other healthy choices, made daily with fresh, quality ingredients. Another chain from Belgium has opened its first Paris restaurant, advertising food that is “natural, fresh, and ready.” But the most shocking development in the upscaling of fast food is the opening of L’Ouest Express by legendary French chef Paul Bocuse. Bocuse, perhaps the world’s most famous chef, is credited with popularizing “nouvelle cuisine” and his Michelin three-star restaurant in Lyon, the capital of French haut cuisine, is a place of pilgrimage for foodies all over the world. Now, he has opened a fast food restaurant outside a cinema in Lyon! True, it’s fast food with a difference: rigatoni (fresh cooked in front of you) with boletus mushroom sauce, chevre sandwich on sun-dried tomato ciabatta with olive-tomato tapenade… or how about the daily special of sliced chicken in a Basque sauce of tomato, onion, and sweet red Espelette pepper with rice and salad.

While this evolution in fast food is welcome and meets some of the goals of the Slow Food Movement, there still are many aspects of this kind of eating that are unfortunate. One of the pillars of European culture is the civilized lunch. It is the standard in Europe to close everything down for at least two hours at lunch time so that employees and employers alike could enjoy a real, sit down meal. The increasing popularity of the fast lunch, no matter how upscale, corresponds to the gradual demise of the long lunch, and, in the eyes of many French people, the increasing Americanization of their culture. The traditionally close relationship between food producers and consumers is another victim. Local markets, even in France’s big cities, allow shoppers and farmers to meet face to face and discuss their common interest: food. As family cooking is increasingly replaced by convenience foods, and leisurely lunches become a quick snack, both this relationship and heirloom recipes are likely to gradually erode.

All is not doom and gloom. The markets in France are alive and very well. Every village has its market day, and no matter where you are, you’ll find a market with fresh produce, butcher stalls, cheese booths, spice and olive wagons, honey, wine, olive oil, and dozens of other products in colourful display. Bistros and fine little restaurants can be found everywhere, and even the most humble of village bars seems to take pride in offering daily specials and house specialties for lunchtime diners. In one small village I hopped off my bike at the Bar du Sport (Sports Bar) and ordered the daily special: an enormous salad, shoulder of lamb served with beans and potatoes, a selection of fine cheeses, and crème brulé… a carafe of wine and coffee were included for the 13€ price (about $20)!

October 2008: Thanksgiving, the Slow Food Holiday

The philosophy of the Slow Food Movement stresses the importance of the connection between those who produce our food and those who consume it, between those who uphold the rural traditions of cultivation and production, and those who make the choices about what they will put on the table. Thanksgiving Day in Canada is the one day of the year when we all make those connections and celebrate the links between planet, producer, and plate.

Canadian Thanksgiving has several roots of origin and a long tradition, even though it became a holiday with a fixed date only in 1957. Martin Frobisher, the English explorer who probed the north and east coasts of Canada in the 16th century, gave thanks for his safe voyage to the New World by hosting what can only be called a Thanksgiving dinner in Newfoundland in 1578. At about the same time, Samuel de Champlain and his band of settlers in Nova Scotia formed l'Ordre de Bon Temps (The Order of Good Cheer) to give thanks and celebrate the bounty of their new land in a communal feast. United Empire Loyalists who came to Canada after the American Revolution brought some of the traditions they had grown used to in the 13 Colonies. Of course, the many Native celebrations surrounding food and giving thanks for it pre-date any of these. While the date of our Thanksgiving moved around through the years, it was finally fixed as the second Monday in October by Act of Parliament in 1957. It is about a month earlier than the American Thanksgiving because our harvest is so much earlier, and, thankfully, it has maintained most of its traditional meaning while the American holiday has been tainted by commercialism: Thanksgiving Friday has become the busiest shopping day of the year south of the border.

The centerpiece of the contemporary Canadian Thanksgiving holiday is a huge family meal, traditionally made up of the local produce that is abundantly available at harvest. Nothing could be closer to the spirit of the Slow Food Movement.
First, we are eating the produce that is grown in our own neighbourhood. After all, we are celebrating the harvest, so it is only natural that we enjoy local pumpkins and turnips, squash and potatoes along with our turkey or ham and other delicacies from Ontario farms.

Second, we consciously choose food that is part of our heritage and prepare it in traditional ways. True, we sometimes look for ways to update tradition by introducing new tastes or different menu items, but for the most part Thanksgiving is the one celebratory meal that retains the same menu year after year. This is one meal where a pre-prepared, frozen heat ‘n serve just won’t do. Lavish preparation with many hands involved is part of the enjoyment.

Third, we honour those who produce our food and appreciate our rural and agricultural roots. The celebration is all about giving thanks, and in doing so we must acknowledge those whose labour makes our food available. In the Niagara region we have choices from a harvest whose overwhelming variety, quality, and quantity makes us the envy of most other regions in the world. It’s easy to take our good fortune (and our farmers and agricultural workers) for granted, so a day of Thanksgiving is perhaps more appropriate here than anywhere.

Fourth, we sit down with family and friends and take the time to enjoy the food in convivial company. Food as a sensory pleasure (instead of belly-filling fuel) and eating as a social activity (instead of a snack in front of the TV) should be a daily routine. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to re-discover these pleasures, and perhaps resolve to make them a year-round part of family life.

Add to all of this the increasing emphasis we are placing on healthy, even organic foods (whipped cream notwithstanding), and Thanksgiving could be the one meal a year that makes us all honorary Slow Food members.

To find out more about Slow Food or to become a member, go to www.slowfood.com or contact Renée Girard at prima_renee@hotmail.com

September 2008: The Urge to Preserve

In late September, when we are surrounded by the bounty of our local farms, there’s a hoarding instinct that surfaces in many of us. It’s the time when books on canning and preserving are pulled out and dusted off, and even if the recipes aren’t used this year, there is an almost instinctual urge to “put down” the fruit and vegetables that are so prolific in the markets.

One of the tastiest of all meat dishes results from this urge to preserve: confit. This process originated centuries ago as a method of keeping meats (usually goose, duck, and pork) available for winter feasts without any refrigeration. Essentially, it is meat, salted, poached in its own fat, and then placed into a container and covered in the fat. The combination of salting and encasing the meat in the fat both preserves and seals the meat, which can be kept for up to six months. It also results in a rich, intense flavour that provides a mouth-watering backbone to many hearty dishes.

But as wonderful-tasting as duck confit is, doesn’t all that fat clog up our arteries? Maybe not. Out of 100,000 middle aged Frenchmen, 145 will die of heart attacks (315 North Americans), but in Toulouse, the capital of duck fat-, foie gras-, confit-eating France, only 80 will succumb to heart disease. Some studies are suggesting the fat of web-footed birds is actually beneficial to health, and one published journal maintains that duck fat is chemically closer to olive oil than to butter or lard.

Very rare in Canada until relatively recently, duck confit is finding its way onto the menus of many fine restaurants. Locally, it makes frequent appearances on the ever-changing menu at Fonthill’s Zest, and is a staple at About Thyme Bistro in Vineland. In the south of France, every butcher shop has a tray of duck legs encased in fat on display. They are often simply fried to heat the meat and crisp the skin and served with potatoes and vegetables, or shredded into a salad. But the highest expression of duck confit, and surely one of world’s greatest comfort foods, is cassoulet.

A savoury stew of beans, garlic, pork, duck confit, garlic, onions, sausage (and did I mention garlic?), cassoulet had its origins in the southwest of France, the village of Castelnaudary having the best claim over Carcassonne and Toulouse as its place of origin. It is traditionally prepared in a large clay bowl called a cassole and slow roasted in the town’s communal bread oven. Visitors to this favoured region of France know that a meal of cassoulet warms the heart, fills the stomach, delights the taste buds, and banishes all thoughts of more food for about 24 hours! To say that it is a filling dish is to understate. A famous sign in a Toulouse shoemaker’s window explained “Closed on account of cassoulet.” There are as many recipes for cassoulet as there are cooks who prepare it, and in Languedoc, violent arguments may result about the inclusion of lamb or tomatoes or bread crumbs to cassoulet.

If there is sufficient outcry from devoted readers, I may be persuaded to reveal my own closely-guarded, award-winning recipe for Cassoulet de Castelnaudary in a future column!

Duck Confit
Immerse six or eight duck legs (thigh attached) completely in pickling salt flavoured with fresh thyme and rosemary and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, wash the salt from the legs and dry them, bring the duck fat to a simmer, and completely immerse the duck legs. Cover and poach in the oven for about 1 ½ to 2 hours at 275 degrees F. until the bone twists easily from the meat. Sterilize wide mouthed jars and use tongs to place the legs in the jars and fill with the hot duck fat to within an inch of the top, making sure the legs are completely covered to a depth of at least half an inch. Top the jars with a ½ inch layer of melted lard. (The denser lard acts as a more complete seal.) Screw on the lids and refrigerate. Use within six months.

August 2008: The $374 Tomato

Why should you buy a locally grown tomato when it’s more expensive than one brought in from Chile or California? And how is it possible for a tomato that travels all that distance to be cheaper, anyway?

One study that tried to determine the “real” cost of the food we eat says that the tomato from California actually costs $374!

Let’s back up and look at how the “real” cost of things can be so far out of whack with what we actually pay. So you think gas prices are high? Actually, gasoline is vastly under priced! Studies in the U.S. and Britain have attempted to look at what gasoline really costs us, the consumers, when all factors are taken into account: enormous subsidies (taxpayer paid) to the oil companies, huge government expenditures on road construction and maintenance, millions of hectares of land taken out of production, environmental degradation, and billions of dollars spent on automobile-related health issues including accident injuries and pollution-related health problems. The U.S. studies estimated that the real cost of gas is as high as $15 a gallon! The British studies suggested petrol there actually cost between 15 and 16 £ per gallon (around $8 per litre!) Whether you drive a car or not, you’re paying about $5000 per car per year in direct and indirect subsidies. (www.icta.org)

Similar assessments have been made to determine the real cost of food. Consider that the food in an average family meal in North America is estimated to travel over 3000 km. from producer to table, and remember the real cost of fuel. (A strawberry with the food value of 5 calories uses up 435 calories to get from California to Toronto.) Add in the tonnes of chemical fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide needed to grow single-crop produce on factory farms year after year in the same soil (U.S. monocroppers use a billion pounds of pesticides a year!) and all the other hidden expenses of “efficient” large scale production. And think about the environmental and human effects of cutting down forests to grow corn, or converting thousands of small farms into single enormous monocrop farm factories. While millions of Ethiopeans starve, the country’s internationally owned farm factories continue to churn out coffee!

Big Agriculture, the enormous corporate entities that produce most of the food in Canada and the U.S., are not concerned about the long term costs of the food they produce, costs that will have to be paid in the future, because their only responsibility is to make profit. However, future generations will have to pay the environmental and social costs of “cheap” food when the bills come in for water depletion, forest removal, environmental degradation, and human displacement.

An entertaining animated cartoon that dramatizes the mind-boggling “real” costs of food is available at http://www.ecofacilitation.com/The-Real-Cost-of-Cheap-Food.html. It uses the figures from studies in the U.S. to estimate the price of a factory farm-produced tomato at $374, and the real price of a pound of steak at $815!

What to do? Buy locally produced food from small farms that use sane and sustainable agricultural practices. Go to the local markets and, where possible, buy organic food. Look for the “grown in Ontario” label. Ask your butcher for meat from local producers. The more we think about the food we eat, the more we consciously make informed choices when we shop for food, the better off we’ll be, nutritionally, environmentally, and economically.

For more information about the Slow Food movement, look at www.slowfood.com and to learn about the Pelham Convivium, write to Renée Girard at prima_renee@hotmail.com

Slow-roasted Herbed Tomatoes
Slice four locally-grown tomatoes in half horizontally and carefully scoop out the seeds. In a medium hot non-stick frying pan, sear the tomatoes, cut side down until the juices evaporate and the tomatoes are carmelized (about 10 minutes). Carefully put them, cut side up, in a roasting pan and sprinkle with a mixture of 2 Tbsp of oregano and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, and roast in a 300 degree oven for 40 to 60 minutes, until they are shriveled but retain their shape. Serve as a side dish with grilled steak or chops.

May 2008: “Pelham Farmers’ Market”

The Pelham Farmers’ Market has resumed its weekly Thursday schedule for the season, so this might be a good time to reflect on the importance of buying locally produced foods. The Slow Food movement is quite separate from the well-known “Hundred Mile Diet” but is very much aligned with its aims. According to World Watch, the ingredients for typical North American meal travel between 2500 and 4000 km.! Think of all the gasoline that journey uses. Think of all the freshness lost along the way. Think of all the packaging and preservatives necessary for the food to make the trip.

Furthermore, the quality of foods that arrive from far-away food factories is appalling. Strawberries the size of golf balls and basketball sized melons that appear in February have the texture of a snowball… and about as much taste.

Yes, we live in a cold climate, and it’s not possible for anyone but a fanatic (see The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating , by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon) to realistically stick to such a diet. But doesn’t it make you crazy to go into a Niagara supermarket in August and see cherries imported from Michigan or apples from Oregon? By all means buy coffee and sugar and oranges (would it hurt to have local apple juice for breakfast?) and pepper and olive oil, but instead of buying salad greens from California in a plastic tub, go to the Pelham Market on Thursday and buy healthy, fresh, organic, local greens. And when you see imported produce at the supermarket during the season when local produce is available but nowhere to be seen, mention it to the produce manager. Retailers respond to their customers, and if the demand for local produce is there, they’ll offer it.

It is possible to enjoy local produce all year long if you’re willing to freeze or preserve it. Most fruit can be stored in the freezer for up to six months, and used as fruit topping on desserts or pancakes, in smoothies, or as part of many recipes. Many vegetables can be blanched and frozen, then used just as if fresh, and vegetable-based sauces all freeze well. Roma or paste tomatoes can be simply washed and frozen whole. To use them in a recipe, run the frozen tomato under hot water for a second, slip the skin off, and use them just as you would canned tomatoes.

If doing it yourself isn’t your style, you don’t have to travel far to buy locally grown fruit and vegetables all year. Frozen fruit from local farms is available at Cherry Country Connections on Tice Rd., at Cherry Hill Orchards on Highway 20, and at Cherry Lane Frozen Foods in Vineland. Niagara Presents on Mountainview Rd. in Beamsville sells preserves, jams, pickles, and sauces made from local vegetables and fruit.

We really don’t have to work very hard to support local agriculture in this region. All it takes is consciously making the decision that we want to eat locally produced food for all the benefits, both nutritional and environmental, that it provides. The Slow Food movement embraces the notion that, by becoming informed about how our food is produced and actively supporting those who produce it, we become part of and a partner in the production process. By shopping at the Pelham Market (or any of the other farmers’ markets in our region) we are both supporting local producers and engaging with them in the process of improving the quality of the food we eat.

For more information about the Slow Food movement, look at www.slowfood.com and to learn about the Pelham Convivium, write to Renée Girard at prima_renee@hotmail.com

Anna and Michael Olsen, Canada’s most famous food couple, are frequent shoppers at the Pelham Farmers’ Market. Anna filmed a segment of one of her shows for the Food Network at the market last year. In their best-selling cookbook, Anna and Michael Olsen Cook at Home, they offer this recipe for Maple Vinaigrette, a perfect accompaniment to the delicious early greens that you’ll find at the market during May.
25 ml white wine vinegar
1 ml dried mustard powder
25 ml pure maple syrup
90 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 ml coarse salt
1 ml ground black pepper
25 ml chopped fresh chives
Whisk the vinegar, mustard powder, and maple syrup until evenly blended. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. Stir in the salt, pepper, and chives. Serve with slices of bread from one of Pelham’s local bakeries to mop up the vinaigrette.

April 2008: "Introducing Slow Food"

As recent articles in The Voice demonstrate, the Slow Food movement has come to Pelham. An introductory session at De La Terre Café in Fonthill attracted an overflow crowd to find out about Slow Food and to sample a variety of cheeses from Chez Fromage Etc. and eight apple varieties from De Vries apple farm in Fenwick. More recently, Wolfgang Sterr closed out the Wildflower Restaurant (it has now re-opened as a market-café) with a Slow Food venison dinner for about 35.

What’s the Slow Food movement all about? Obviously, it’s a reaction to the Fast Food culture of mass produced food, eaten on the run in uncomfortable plastic assembly lines. It’s an organization that promotes the idea of high quality, well prepared food, and taking the time to enjoy eating it. It recognizes and celebrates the close connection between the food we eat and both the land and the farmers who produce it. In the words of The Slow Food Companion, “The food we eat should be good; it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare, or human health; and its producers should receive fair compensation for their work.” These aren’t exactly new ideas. In the past, Canadians had a much closer relationship with the farmers and producers of their food, and we tended to sit down as families and friends in a convivial atmosphere to enjoy our food. In a real sense, the Slow Food movement is an attempt to revive the spirit of those times while recognizing the realities of the 21st century.

With over 80,000 members in more than 850 chapters (called, appropriately enough, “convivia”), the Slow Food movement is not really ground-breaking news for its recent arrival in Pelham. But, with our agricultural roots and the increasingly noticeable presence of quality restaurants, bakeries, and specialty food producers and retailers, Pelham is clearly ready for an organization that emphasizes the enjoyment of good food through recognizing where it comes from, who produced it, and how it was prepared.

For example, at a recent event hosted by a Slow Food convivium at Niagara College, participants were introduced to the differences in the ways chicken comes to our tables. Two chicken dishes were presented, one cooked with air-chilled birds, the other with water-chilled chickens. Once a chicken is slaughtered, it must be cooled quickly; by far the most common way that this is done is through dunking the chicken into a cold water bath. In this process, the chicken absorbs liquid, adding weight that simply evaporates during cooking. (Some producers add salt to the water to increase absorption, so the consumer pays for water… up to 15% by weight.) Air cooled chickens are chilled by blasts of cold air. It’s a more expensive process because it isn’t as efficient, but it produces chickens that are firmer, tastier, and, with up to 80% less bacteria than water-chilled birds, longer-lasting. In our tasting, the air-chilled chicken was noticeably more appealing-looking, firmer textured, and tastier than the water-bathed variety. Who knew? Armed with this knowledge, we now consciously seek out the air-chilled label on the poultry we buy.
For more information about the Slow Food movement, look at www.slowfood.com and to learn about the Pelham Convivium, write to Renée Girard at prima_renee@hotmail.com

Garlic Chicken
There are dozens of variations on this ancient recipe from the south of France. The number of garlic cloves doesn’t matter, but Julia Childs’ famous recipe called for 40.
One air-chilled chicken quartered
40 (or so) cloves of garlic, unpeeled
½ C white wine or chicken stock
Several sprigs of rosemary
In a roasting pan, brown the chicken pieces in a little olive oil, then add the other ingredients and cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in a slow oven (300 degrees F.) for an hour, then remove the foil and cook until done (about another 30 – 40 min. until juices run clear). Either squeeze the garlic from the skins (being careful not to burn your fingers) and stir into the pan juices, or serve the cloves beside the chicken on the plate for diners to peel themselves. Delicious with quartered potatoes roasted in the same pan. Serve with a VQA Sauvignon Blanc or off-dry Riesling.