I’m sure you’ve heard…

The old question, “what is the difference between ignorance and apathy?”

Answer: “Don’t know, don’t care.”

It always brings a wry smile to my face, as we do know and we very much care! We pride ourselves on being experts in our field – food and beverages – and we never stop learning. That’s why we can confidently write about tastes and the people who create them, ingredients and the people who produce them, processes in fields and factories, and the products that we enjoy as a result.

That’s why I’m surprised (and disappointed) to receive so many requests recently from companies wanting us to write about their products without letting us try them. We trial everything we write about, nothing is copied from press releases; anything we feel you ought to know about, we follow up on and put through its paces. Our recommendations can’t be bought, they have to be earned, and they have to prove that they deserve to be on the pages of Culinaire. We hope that we’ve earned your trust.

We believe in "walking the talk"; it's very important for us to support local, and that includes being printed in Alberta with as many local writers as possible, and with so much to tell you about these days, we’ve committed to adding even more pages to try and fit all the things we hope you want to know about.

Cheers

Linda, Editor-in-Chief

Many thanks to Joyce T who wrote,

“I'd love to know the recipe for the honey butter that comes with the bread at Rouge.”

We’re grateful to Chef Paul Rogalski for sharing his recipe!

Rouge’s

Honey and Lemon Compound Butter

900 g unsalted butter

¼ cup the best local honey possible

3 lemons, zested 1½ Tbs kosher salt

Dice butter into small pieces and place into the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add honey, lemon zest, and salt to the bowl. Once butter is soft, at room temperature, mix until all the ingredients are incorporated starting on low speed, then turning up to high speed. Mix until smooth, and you are happy with the consistency.