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Toronto Life - The Dish

The latest buzz on restaurants, chefs, bars, food shops and food events. Sign up for the Dish newsletter for weekly updates. Send tips to thedish@torontolife.com

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November 30, 2009 | 9:12 am

Gordon Ramsay’s new face, the sudden deluge of boneless chicken wings, how garlic became more valuable than oil

Gordon Ramsay, before crevice removal (Photo by Dave Pullig)

Gordon Ramsay, before crevice removal (Photo by Dave Pullig)

• BrewDog, a Scottish brewery known for its highly alcoholic Tokyo beer (and for its barely alcoholic Nanny State beer, brewed in retaliation for being branded irresponsible), has launched what it calls “the strongest beer in the world.” Tactical Nuclear Penguin, as it is called, packs a punch almost as strong as hard liquor, weighing in at 32 per cent alcohol. A warning on the label advises users to enjoy the brew like “a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost.” [BBC]

• Under advice from Simon Cowell, Gordon Ramsay has undergone a painful procedure to have the deep grooves in his face smoothed out, the Daily Mail reports. The formerly craggy chef will have to repeat the procedure two or three times per year to maintain his new nubile glow. We can’t see this baby-bottomed visage as having a positive effect on his intimidation factor. [Daily Mail]

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November 27, 2009 | 9:26 am

The art of scotch pairing, the messiah of coffee comes to Toronto, Martha Stewart’s vegetarian Thanksgiving

Food friendly (Photo by Eric Kilby)

Food friendly (Photo by Eric Kilby)

• According to the Globe and Mail, scotch’s “vast array of sweet toffee, smoky mineral, spiced citrus, dried fruit and delicate floral notes” are finding a greater audience among epicures who want to pair their roasted duck breast with something other than chianti. The powerful drink finds its best pairings with bold food, such as a “dark-chocolate macaroon sandwiched with pear ganache and sliced foie gras” but weds poorly with spice—“anything that bites the tongue will exaggerate the burn.” Not everyone is sold on scotch with their meal, though: “That’s the place of a red wine,” says Jamie Kennedy. “Why ruin an amazing thing?” [Globe and Mail]

• When the self-proclaimed messiah of coffee, Duane Sorenson, descended on the doorstep of the Star’s Corey Mintz, he was flanked by disciples Matthew and Andrew and came with an offering: earth-jarring java made using single-origin beans and a Chemex coffee maker. Sorenson travels the world in search of the best brew, educating growers about how to properly dry their beans and vetting prospective vendors of his products. Where to try some in Toronto? Lit Espresso Bar. [Toronto Star]

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November 26, 2009 | 8:41 am

Barack burgers coming to Canada, locavorism under attack, the world’s best canned foods

Barack Obama, burger lover (Photo by art_es_anna)

Barack Obama, burger lover (Photo by art_es_anna)

• President Barack Obama’s favourite burger joint, Five Guys Burgers, is coming to Canada. OK, we don’t know for sure that it’s his favourite, but he made headlines by eating there in May, a few months after his wife did the same thing. Torontonians looking to emulate the coolest president of all time (sorry, Taft) will have some travelling to do—the burgery’s first international venture is opening in Medicine Hat. [National Post]

• The New York Times has gone gaga over the Obamas’ first state dinner, which was rife with locally grown vegetables and culturally diverse foods, proving that the president is not just a burger-gobbling Philistine (see above). The meatless dinner was also lauded by guests, which included Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and composer A.R. Rahman. [New York Times]

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November 25, 2009 | 8:39 am

Paula Deen hit by flying ham, Moscow’s favourite vodka comes to Canada, cooking up Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood

Paula Deen remains unporked (Photo by Alex Lines)

When pigs fly: Paula Deen remains unporked (Photo by Alex Lines)

• The ever-upbeat Paula Deen was unaware that she was in a game of catch when someone tossed a ham in her direction, accidentally hitting her in the face. Deen was helping to unload donated meat at an Atlanta food bank on Monday when she tossed the pork to a gentleman, then turned away, not expecting that when the man said “Back atcha,” he meant it. Despite fears of a busted lip, Deen walked away from the incident injury-free, quipping, “I haven’t met the ham that could stop me yet!” [AP]

• Moscow’s most popular vodka, Russian Standard, hits the Canadian market this week. Purportedly based on a formula by chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (the man who invented the periodic table), the grain-based spirit is distilled four times and has a balanced, bready taste. At roughly half the price of Grey Goose, it will have recession-wary boozers stockpiling bottles from the LCBO. [Globe and Mail]

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November 24, 2009 | 8:34 am

Picking the best butter, ice cream for dogs, robot chefs take over Asian kitchens

Who doesn't have a weakness for ice cream? (Photo by Brian Hillegas)

Who doesn't have a weakness for ice cream? (Photo by Brian Hillegas)

• Dogs are no longer left out in the cold when it comes to ice cream. A teenaged entrepreneur from New York City has experimented with carob powder, soy milk and lactose-free milk to develop an ice cream geared specifically for canines (dogs are lactose intolerant and highly sensitive to chocolate, so they probably shouldn’t indulge in the human stuff). Taste tests show that dogs prefer the corn and carrot ice cream over vanilla or chocolate. [New York Times]

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November 21, 2009 | 11:50 am

Coolio gets a cooking show (yes, that Coolio), Rachael Ray bests Martha Stewart, recession ruins champagne sales

• Mid-’90s rapper Coolio has traded in rhymes for recipes. The Ghetto Gourmet now has an on-line cooking show and a new book called Cookin’ With Coolio. Mixing African-American and urban foods with such world cuisines as Asian and Italian, Coolio has crafted what he calls “ghetto fusion,” offering dishes like chicken lettuce blunts, Coolio caprese salad and cold shrimpin’. Although the rapper said he grew up in the kitchen, there might be an ulterior motive behind his food: “If I can get [a woman] to eat my food, I can [seduce her]”—meaning, we think, that he can follow a rump roast with some serious back. [Boston]

• We are sad to report that the tussle between food mavens Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray ended before it had a chance to get interesting. In the end, Ray won the Miss Congeniality belt, and Stewart was simply outclassed. After appearing on the Rachael Ray Show, Stewart condescendingly remarked on Nightline that while she herself is a teacher, Ray is a mere entertainer. Instead of slinging back insults, Ray gracefully acknowledged Stewart’s strong talents and admitted that when it comes to food she’d rather eat Stewart’s than her own. Now, Martha, could you teach us how to strike it rich on the markets? [New York]

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November 20, 2009 | 8:41 am

Five ethically dubious foods, taste-testing Toronto’s burger joints, presidentially pardoned turkeys end up at Disney World

• After the explosion in popularity of this video showing a still-live deep-fried carp being eaten, the Guardian compiled a list of morally dubious eating trends. Chinese chefs figured out that placing a wet cloth over the fish’s head before deep-frying its body will ensure that it’s still gasping when it reaches the plate. Equally squirm-inducing are the traditions of eating live octopus or the still-beating heart of a snake. [Guardian]

• With the gourmet burger craze taking hold across the city, the Star’s Amy Pataki samples various incarnations to see which ones deliver in the flavour department. She concludes that in most cases, the trend is a good thing, and ranks the newest spot, Oh Boy Burger Market, as the best.  [Toronto Star]

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November 19, 2009 | 8:39 am

New Egyptian menu at Frank, more A la Cart troubles, seal meat now for sale on Parliament Hill

Hope you brought your appetite (Photo by )

Golden boy: hope you brought your appetite (Photo by Tarah)

• Anne Yarymowich, executive chef at the AGO’s Frank, has put together a series of Egyptian-inspired dishes to honour King Tut’s arrival at the gallery this month. “Abundance and an exotic feel will be part of the experience,” with Yarymowich featuring “medjool dates, figs, pomegranates, pomegranate molasses, oranges and lamb.”  Although Yarymowich will change the lunch and dinner prix fixe menus each day, Egyptian dukkah—a dry nut and spice mixture served with bread for dipping—will be served throughout Tut’s Toronto tenure. [Toronto Star]

• For four Wednesdays, the Globe’s Jacquie McNish joined a group of power women as they communed with their inner “Child” at a George Brown class called Cooking Like Julia. Clutching designer knives and coffee mugs slyly filled with wine, the women learned how to slice an onion, clean a stovetop (one student protested “But I have a lady who does that”), and most importantly, relax and trust that butter is their friend. [Globe and Mail]

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November 18, 2009 | 8:31 am

Sarah Palin invokes God while defending meat eating, Timothy’s World Coffee sold, the $1-million cow

Famed meat lover, Sarah Palin

Famed meat lover Sarah Palin (Photo by Roger H. Goun)

• Sarah Palin takes aim at vegetarians in her highly anticipated memoir, Going Rogue. The moose-hunting former governor’s justification for being a meat eater: “If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?” Perhaps Palin should present her infallible logic to Hillary Clinton over carnivorous scones when the two meet for coffee. [Examiner]

• Paris no longer reigns supreme as the Michelin star capital of the world. With 11 three-star restaurants, Tokyo has inched ahead of the City of Light, which houses a meagre 10. Some observers say that comparing the two cities isn’t fair, as Tokyo is home to about 160,000 restaurants—about four times as many as Paris. [Bloomberg]

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November 17, 2009 | 8:36 am

Coke buys off buskers, sky-bound sandwich shop, the truth behind sexy wine labels

(Photo by Annie Mole)

(Photo by Annie Mole)

• Would-be John Lennons will now be singing a different tune while being ignored by commuters on the London tube. Coca-Cola has sponsored the crooners to sing its classic festive jingle “Holidays Are Coming” to the 3.5 million travellers who use the transit system every day.  The song consists mainly of the refrain “holidays are coming,” repeated several times before closing with the Yuletide sendoff “Always Coca-Cola.” [L.A. Times]

• Is beer becoming more effete in an attempt to go after the wine market? Less for the nacho-munching, layabout everyman and more for those who want their brew to have “a gooseberry nose and a lemon meringue pie fruitiness”?  With studies showing that wine drinkers earn more money and are in better health than their suds-sipping counterparts, the National Post’s Nicholas Pashley asks whether it is nobler to burp or to spit. [National Post]

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November 14, 2009 | 1:47 pm

Toronto cannoli taste test, Miracle Whip takes on Stephen Colbert, cost-cutting at restaurants

(Photo by Travis Crawford)

(Photo by Travis Crawford)

• TasteTO has scoured Little Italy and a few other neighbourhoods to find cannoli that best Café Diplomatico’s. The results are inconclusive, with the Dip part of a three-way stalemate in cannoli quality, along with Riviera and Caldense Bakery. Perhaps the most shocking part of the article is that eating cannoli for a living is not all it’s cracked up to be. [TasteTO]

• Kraft Foods has retaliated against Stephen Colbert’s recent bashing of one of its products by running with the gag. Miracle Whip told the TV host in a newspaper ad, “We will own you,” and proceeded to buy four commercial spots on Thursday’s show. The ads consisted of the same footage parodied by Colbert on his show. Hey, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. [Chicago Tribune]

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November 13, 2009 | 9:55 am

R.I.P. Harlan Clark, St. Lawrence Market’s legendary Egg Man

Harlan Clark, the man who St. Lawrence Market shoppers know as the Egg Man, passed away on Tuesday. CBC Radio One carried the sad news this morning, giving proper respect to the six decades that Clark and his wife, Norine, sold fresh eggs from their farm in Port Perry. Their peewees, jumbos and extra-larges are “light-years fresher than any of the industrially produced ones you’ll find at Loblaws,” according to Toronto Life writer Chris Nuttall-Smith, who profiled the couple in our pages last summer. “When we retire, I don’t know what my husband will do,” Norine told Nuttall-Smith. “It’ll be a shock for him. We’re so busy here that we don’t have a social life in Port Perry. The market is our social life.” Indeed, Clark will be missed at St. Lawrence by his customers, friends and fans.

• Read the full profile of Harlan and Norine Clark »
• Read the obituary of Harlan Clark in the Toronto Star »

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November 13, 2009 | 8:47 am

Michelle Obama on Sesame Street, coffee spared tax hike, chocolate cures stress

• Michelle Obama dropped by Sesame Street on the show’s 40th anniversary to chat with a basket of anthropomorphic vegetables about the importance of healthy eating. Obama, who was joined by Elmo and Big Bird (both look remarkably fresh for 40), talked about how tomatoes, carrots and lettuce make it from field to table. In an interview afterward, the First Lady said that the experience was “probably the best thing I’ve done so far in the White House.” [Telegraph]

• Retreating from the potential wrath of a coffee-addicted citizenry, the McGuinty Liberals have announced new exemptions from Ontario’s harmonized sales tax (HST). A Tim Hortons double-double will continue to incur only the five per cent GST. Venti frappuccinos from Starbucks, however, are a different story, since restaurant items costing more than $4 will face the full 13 per cent tax. Newspapers also get an exemption previously extended only to books, feminine hygiene products, diapers, children’s clothing and kids’ booster seats. [Toronto Star]

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November 12, 2009 | 8:44 am

Ruth Reichl praises Toronto, government-subsidized chocolate milk, the great seafood shim-sham

Ruth Reichl goes Hogtown wild (Photo by Brigitte-Lacomb)

Ruth Reichl goes Hogtown wild (Photo by Brigitte-Lacomb)

• The defunct Gourmet magazine was thinking of putting out a Toronto-themed issue, former editor Ruth Reichl says, following the success of their Montreal issue—their most popular issue ever. In this interview with the Globe, Reichl discusses her admiration for Toronto’s “amazing” food scene, along with the state of the magazine industry and her disappointment with Gourmet’s end. [Globe and Mail]

• There’s something fishy going on with Canadian seafood. A nationwide investigation has found that fish sold to customers are frequently misidentified and mislabelled. Of 500 samples, about a quarter of the fish were not what they were purported to be. In one case, sashimi-grade tuna (which is subject to stringent preparation methods) was replaced with cheaper skipjack tuna. [Toronto Star]

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November 11, 2009 | 8:22 am

The big business of expired food, Brian Boitano’s cooking show, the most expensive beer in the world

Brian Boitano cooks for guests at his San Francisco home, where the juice, pitcher and floral pillows all match (Photo courtesy of the Food Network)

Brian Boitano cooks for guests at his San Francisco home, where the juice, pitcher and floral pillows all match (Photo courtesy of the Food Network)

• People who care what Brian Boitano would cook for an all-female roller derby crew are in luck: his Food Network show has been picked up for a second season. What Would Brian Boitano Make features the Olympic figure skater preparing one-of-a-kind dinner parties in his San Francisco home. The meagre four-episode first run will be outdone by the 10-episode batch set to air in the New Year. No word yet on Brian Orser’s cooking show. [Eat Me Daily]

• As far as we are concerned, ice cream is already a miracle food, but researchers at the University of Missouri are looking to make rocky road not just delicious but also nutritious. Similar to calcium-enriched Tropicana or probiotic pizza, ice cream could soon be infused with fibre and antioxidants in a way that eases waistline worries without changing the food’s taste or texture. [Emax Health]

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