Can You Taste The Terroir? Cynthia Montgomery is a concerned citizen who loves living in the Cowichan Valley
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suspect many people’s first revelation concerning the excellence of fresh, local produce is when they taste a just-picked tomato. Ripened on the vine, basking in full sun until it’s soft and almost squishy, the richness and complexity of flavour of such a tomato will never be found in any supermarket. I’ve noticed that the same tomato variety, grown in different regions, can taste very different. Can it be that, just as grapes reflect their ‘terroir’, (soil, topography and climate), so too do tomatoes gain a particular flavour from the environment in which they are grown? When we eat fresh, local produce, we are tasting our Valley. If you can’t grow your own, there are still many ways to access local food. One complaint I hear is that it’s too expensive, costing more than you will find in supermarkets.
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True enough. But if you can only afford to buy one locally produced food item, I urge you to try free-range eggs. (Not free-run.) The beautiful, large orange yolks, thick and luscious, have an indescribable saucy richness. The whites of a very fresh egg sit up high in the pan, instead of running all over in a watery mess. They also whip up beautifully for baking. If you have never tried a truly fresh free-range egg, you are really missing out. But be warned: once you try one, you may never go back. And that tasty, fresh produce is also more nutritious! Here’s an easy test you can do in your kitchen to compare whether a truly fresh apple contains more Vitamin C than one storebought. Which do you think will win? 1. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 2 cups of cold water, stirring, and heat to bubbling. Cool. 2. Fill each of two glasses with 1/2 cup of water and mix in 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch solution. Stir again.
