We don’t pretend to fully understand all the technical details, but the latest issue of Scientific Reports (a division of Nature) includes a somewhat mind-bending study that takes all the recipes from Epicurious, Allrecipes.com and Menupan (a Korean site), and throws them in a blender with a computational model of food chemistry (don’t ask) to arrive at (something like) the fundamental difference between North American cuisine and East Asian cuisine. Whereas North American cooking tends to pair ingredients that share a lot of flavour compounds (like butter and vanilla), Asian cooking tends to do the opposite, pairing ingredients that don’t taste a whole lot like one another (like soy sauce and scallion). Confused? The paper has all sorts of fancy visualizations to explain things. Read the entire story [Scientific Reports] »
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Recipe to Riches: the final pitch
The Recipe to Riches finalists, along with judges Tony Chapman, Dana McCauley and Laura Calder
Today is the last day of voting for season one of the President’s Choice product development spectacular Recipe to Riches. The show’s producers flew the six finalists in from across Canada to meet each other for the first time before they film the final episode this weekend. We stopped in at the event, held in the cooking studio at the new Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens, to find out why they think they should take home the $250,000 grand prize. See their answers after the jump.
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Weekend Reading List: top stories from our sister sites, from roller skaters to deep-fried taters
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Every weekend we round up the highlights from the other websites in the St. Joseph Media family. Check them out, after the jump.
Holiday Gift Guide 2011: 19 fantastic finds for the at-home butcher, baker and boozer
By Fraser Abe, Karolyne Ellacott, Kevin Naulls and Mark Teo | Photography by Carlo Mendoza
Everyone needs to eat, but some people have more refined palates than others. For the wine snobs and fine diners in your life, we’ve compiled a list of great ideas for the at-home butcher, baker and boozer. Check out 19 fantastic finds for the foodie on your list in a gallery after the jump »
Holiday Gift Guide 2011: 32 great gifts under $30
By Fraser Abe, Karolyne Ellacott, Kevin Naulls and Mark Teo | Photography by Carlo Mendoza
Little treats are perfect for host and hostess gifts and stocking stuffers, so we’ve picked some presents under $30 to help with the stress of sticking to a holiday budget (and, really, there are always obligatory presents to buy for people we know nothing about). We have everything from a space-age travel toothbrush for that friend you used to have eight years ago who just came home from teaching in Korea (and is likely to depart again) to a baguette carrier for when someone chooses bread as their item for a potluck (it doubles as a wine carrier, if that’s more their style) to various smile-building knick-knacks. Check out our gifts under $30 in our gallery after the jump »
Weekend Reading List: top stories from our sister sites, from bookshops to protest flops
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Every weekend we round up the highlights from the other websites in the St. Joseph Media family. Check them out, after the jump.
Weekend Reading List: top stories from our sister sites, from Steve Jobs’ fashion to Jesus Christ’s passion
Every weekend we round up the highlights from the other websites in the St. Joseph Media family. Check them out, after the jump.
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The List: Ten things celebrity chef and author Laura Calder can’t live without
My favourite read
I love the personal pieces at the back of The Spectator. Essays are my favourite form of writing because they’re so intimate.
My paper collection
I always have some nice wrapping paper from The Paper Place on hand for last-minute presents. There’s so much junk in the world, it’s a delight when something’s beautiful just for the sake of it.
My M0851 rain slicker
Walking is one of my greatest passions. It’s a way of clearing my head, and I don’t ever let rain stop me. I bought my raincoat for a trip to Vancouver Island and have been attached to it ever since.
My big cutlery
My flatware is from an antique dealer in Germany, and it’s huge. The soup spoons are like ladles. They feel so substantial. I can’t stand the flimsy stuff you get at restaurants.
DIY Barbecue Guide: a goof-proof brick chicken recipe
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
Barbecuing a whole chicken has never been for the faint of heart: different parts of the bird cook at different speeds, and melting fat burns like napalm. This recipe for spatchcocked brick chicken solves those problems easily. The whole chicken cooks evenly because it lies flat, and indirect heat prevents flare-ups. It’s also hugely impressive to serve.
The Weekender: Jane’s Walk, Toronto Comic Arts Festival and six other can’t-miss events
CCTV, DJ Woody and Abel Boulineau
1. JANE’S WALK (FREE!)
Inspired by urban writer/activist Jane Jacobs, this festival of walking tours, led by Toronto-loving volunteers, is all about seeing the city with new eyes. With over 170 walks to choose from, we’ve narrowed our selection down to three: (Video) Eyes on the Street, U of T prof Andrew Clement’s exploration of the downtown core’s CCTV cameras; a gentrification-focused tour of Cherry Beach; and the cultural studies pick, A Hipster’s Guide to Ossington. May 7 and 8. Various locations, janeswalk.net.
2. KARDINAL OFFISHALL (FREE!) Read the rest of this entry »
Kardi’s made some headway south of the border, signing with Akon’s Konvict label and recording with chart toppers like Estelle and David Guetta, but he’s still a hometown boy. Proof? This free concert in Yonge-Dundas Square, part of Coke’s 125th anniversary celebrations. And last year’s “The Anthem” of course. May 7. Yonge-Dundas Square, icoke.ca.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 3: Aykroyd’s verboten vodka
Guest judge Dan Aykroyd flanked by his blues sisters, Thea Andrews and Shereen Arazm (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 3
Was it just us, or was the level of cooking on last night’s episode of Top Chef Canada miles ahead of the safe, bland fare from the first two weeks? Maybe the chefs have gotten over their first time jitters. Or maybe it was the presence of actor, restaurateur, winemaker, illicit vodka purveyor and guest judge Dan Aykroyd that (ghost-)busted them into shape. Whatever it was, the contestants stepped up their game—without sacrificing the all-important smack talk and clowning around in their under things (this time Origin’s Steve Gonzalez did the honours). Here, our recap of the best dishes, trash talk and product placements.
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What’s For Dinner? co-host Ken Kostick dies at 57
Chef and television personality Ken Kostick passed away in Toronto on Thursday following complications from acute pancreatitis. Born in 1953, Kostick started in television when a friend suggested he pitch a show about cooking and entertaining. The result was the Gemini Award-nominated CBC show What’s For Dinner that ran for more than 600 episodes.
Kostick shared the screen with co-host Mary Jo Eustace, and the two developed a trademark banter that earned them a cult following. Kostick and Eustace worked together in years later on other lifestyle shows, including He Said, She Said with Ken and Mary Jo and as co-hosts of a morning show on 103.9 Proud-FM in Toronto.
“I just want everybody to know he was a fantastic person on TV and off,” Eustace told CBC. Eustace also said Kostick’s friends will be organizing a memorial in his honour. “Ken is not about seriousness. What we want to do is include all the food he loved, like perogies, and the people that he loved, to laugh and share a story about him.”
Kostick is survived by his partner Desi Cabrera.
All-night foodie raves are the latest street food trend unlikely to appear in Toronto
(Image: samthor)
It’s no secret that when it comes to street food, Torontonians are a little behind the curve. So when a new curbside craze sweeps across the U.S. and Europe, bypassing Toronto entirely, we’re not exactly surprised. This time around? Late night “food raves,” like San Francisco’s Underground Market, which started with eight vendors in a friend’s apartment and has ballooned into something much bigger.
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Leslieville strikes oil: Montreal-based Olive and Olives to open up shop this spring
Leslieville’s recent boom in new gourmet food stores—including Foodist Market, Hooked and Sausage Partners—shows no signs of abating. The latest addition? Olive and Olives, the first Toronto location of the Montreal-based purveyor of high-quality olive oils. Danièle Beauchamp and Claudia Pharand, who run five shops and a thriving mail order business in Quebec, have partnered with Torontonian Mia Sturup to open up the Leslieville location.
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Q&A with Christine Cushing: the fearless chef on trends and the balance between prepared foods and cooking from scratch
Christine Cushing at Terroir earlier this month (Image: Renée Suen)
Christine Cushing is a face that most will recognize from TV shows like Fearless in the Kitchen and Christine Cushing Live. But Cushing has also done stints at some of Toronto’s most renowned kitchens (Four Seasons Hotel, Scaramouche), and more recently, she’s become the developer of a line of upscale food products, Christine Cushing’s. We caught up with Cushing, who has been promoting her latest discovery—a yet-to-be-named roasted red pepper paste—at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association Show.
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