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Culinary Curiosities

Water buffalo cheese is the latest in artisinal dairy

Water buffalo have picky milking needs (Photo by Cathy, Sam, Max and Mai)

Two years ago, Martin Littkemann and Lori Smith were tired of milking cows, so the couple purchased 40 young water buffalo for their farm north of Trenton. Since then, the herd has grown to over 100, and they’ve launched Ontario Water Buffalo Co. The milk is sold to Vaughan’s Quality Cheese, where it’s turned into small-batch cheese and sold at Pusateri’s, Whole Foods and select Loblaws and Longo’s. It’s also been served at Pizzeria Libretto, Terroni and Buca.

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| Leave a Comment » February 25, 2010 | 11:15 am | Natalie Goldenberg-Fife

Culinary Curiosities

Six Ontario delicacies being served at the Olympics Pavilion

Peanut brittle from Sudbury's Sinfully Deelicious (Photo via sinfullydeelicious.com)

It’s no secret that corporate sponsorship is one of the most competitive sports at the Games, but a few independent brewers, bakers and farmers made the cut at the Ontario House in the Olympics Pavilion. Alongside the Coke, Minute Maid and Timothy’s coffee, there’s enough Ontario nosh to satisfy any locavore.

Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company: Lug Tread Ale
Based in eastern Ontario, Beau’s is more familiar to residents of Ottawa and Kingston—that is, until the family brewery made it into Ontario House. Its Lug Tread Ale, a lager-ale mix, is being served on tap and in a beer–and–Balderson cheddar soup.

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| 1 Comment » February 24, 2010 | 10:53 am | Laura Trethewey

Culinary Curiosities

Fifth Town Cheese becomes greenest dairy in North America

A tomato salad with Fifth Town mozzarella (Photo by Renée Suen)

Back in 2006, when Toronto Life first wrote about Petra Cooper, a former publishing exec from Toronto who left a successful career in publishing to venture into cheese making, she was still making curds in her Summerhill condo. Since then, Cooper has relocated her Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co. to Prince Edward County, taken on a staff of 14, and become one of the province’s top cheese makers, winning numerous awards, including first place in the aged goat cheese category at the American Cheese Society Awards (the Superbowl of cheese competitions) last August.

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| 4 Comments » February 22, 2010 | 11:05 am | Jon Sufrin

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Legalized bees, finger limes come to North America, goodbye to Toronto’s floating restaurant

(Photo by <a href= • Honey-loving New Yorkers are abuzz with the news that the city’s health department plans to lift a 10-year-old ban on keeping rooftop beehives. Bees are currently prohibited along with such other “wild animals” as crocodiles and lions; however, health officials have determined that honeybees, unlike their man-eating counterparts, are rarely harmful. This is good news for the over 500 New Yorkers who already keep hives despite the ban, claiming they do so not just for the honey haul, but also because beekeeping helps pollinate garden flowers and is just a plain old relaxing hobby. [Gothamist]

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| Leave a Comment » December 23, 2009 | 9:03 am | Matthew Hague

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Grizzly bear bolognese, David Gest cooks with Viagra, Wendy’s is not so big in Japan

Get ready to hear a lot about Vancouver (Photo by PoYang_博仰)

• With the Olympics opening in mere weeks, the gaze of the world has been turning to all things Vancouver, including its food scene. The L.A. Times scoped out the culinary offerings, pointing out that the city’s “cuisine scene is practically an Olympic Village unto itself.” Their finds range from the predictable (like Vij’s, an Indian food spot so popular even Martha Stewart had to queue for a table) to the quixotically Québécois (Café Salade de Fruits). Canada’s western city appears to offer a world of food options—almost as rich and broad as Toronto’s. But until we get the Olympics, perhaps no one will ever know. [L.A. Times]

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| Leave a Comment » December 16, 2009 | 8:31 am | Matthew Hague

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

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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| 1 Comment » November 26, 2009 | 8:41 am | Jon Sufrin

Pantry Raid

Winter fresh: seven farmers’ markets that stay open through the snowy season

St. Lawrence Market bustles through the winter (Photo by Ernesto Andrade)

Although falling leaves and impending frost have shuttered most of Toronto’s farmers’ markets, not all have packed up their stalls before the first snow. Below is a list of seven winter-ready markets supplying vegetables, organic meats and artisanal cheeses to foodies who want to eat local no matter what the weather.

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| 1 Comment » November 23, 2009 | 12:16 pm | Matthew Hague

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

(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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| Leave a Comment » November 17, 2009 | 8:36 am | Matthew Hague

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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 »

| Leave a Comment » November 13, 2009 | 9:55 am | Matthew Fox

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How to be Martha Stewart’s intern, Elizabeth Hurley’s low-calorie beef jerky, the best kinds of cheeseburgers

(Photo by Kyle T. Ramirez)

• While covering the cheeseburger beat for the Chicago Tribune, Kevin Pang scarfed down 60 different versions of the patty-and-bun classic. Now on a beef detox program of carrot sticks and flax seeds, Pang serves up his collected wisdom. On condiments: hold the ketchup and the mustard, but don’t forget the mayo. On french fries: while greasing them in duck fat is trendy, beef tallow provides a more robust taste. On flavour combinations: nothing beats cheese, bacon and caramelized onions. [Chicago Tribune]

• One lucky bidder will get the chance to work as Martha Stewart’s intern for the bargain-basement cost of $3,600. The American tastemaker is auctioning off a six-week paid internship to raise money for her eponymous centre at Mount Sinai Mission. Is this her take on stimulus spending or a version of home economics she picked up in prison? [Eat Me Daily]

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| Leave a Comment » November 7, 2009 | 2:21 pm | Matthew Hague