Etcetera

Thai Green and Red Curry Sauces

We’re impressed with Talerngpong Charoenpan (TJ to us!). An engineer in Thailand and now a chef in Canada, he’s launched a range of authentic Thai sauces, gluten- and dairy-free, vegan, and made from scratch – and we absolutely love them! He’s made it so easy for us, freezing them to keep them fresh, so just defrost and add meat, seafood, veggies, noodles – whatever takes your fancy - heat and eat. 500 mL $10, online at gr8-thai-sauce-by-chef-tj.square.site or find him at Crossroads Market.

Renegade Craft Cuba Libre, Calgary

You don’t need to go to Cuba to be familiar with Cuba Libre - a light rum with Coke and a splash of lime juice to cut through the sweetness of the cola - Romero Distilling have blended their sugarcane spirit with cola, and added lime juice for what could be Alberta’s first home-grown rum cocktail! You’re aware of rum and cola when you open the can, and the lime juice follows on the palate. It’s a good job they’re only 5 percent ABV as you may not stop at one! CSPC +841335 355 mL $17/6-pack

Strait & Narrow Pacific Coast Cocktails

Victoria Distillers, in Sidney, B.C. are known for their Empress 1908 Gin (with the butterfly pea flower that changes colour!) and now they’ve launched three cocktails each made with a custom gin from local rhubarb, lavender, or rosemary. They’re refreshing as well as very tasty; you can smell and taste the ingredients! We’re really enjoying Grapefruit Rosemary (+841001), Pear Rhubarb (+841002), and Lemon Lavender (+841003) in the lovely 355 mL cans, around $16/6-pack, $3/can.

Spier Canned Wines, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Well known and respected for their commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices, Spier have now taken the next step and put their premium wines in cans! There are two glasses in each 250 mL can of sauvignon blanc, rosé, and merlot, and not only are they full-flavoured and food-friendly, they’re compact and easily slip in your pocket or purse, recyclable, and carbon-light. Sauvignon blanc SCPC +838786, Rosé +838787, Merlot +838788. $5-6

A2 Milk

Have you heard of a2 Milk? Most cows’ milk contains both A1 and A2 protein types but a2 milk comes from Canadian cows that naturally only produce milk with a2 protein. It seems some people assume they are lactose intolerant but they are actually intolerant to A1 protein type. One of our team is thrilled that their mini-wheats are enjoyable once more! Available 3.25% homogenized, 2 and 1% partly skimmed, at all major grocery stores. 2 Litres $6

Loxton Moscato South Australia

We don’t regularly include wine here, but Loxton aren’t regular wines – they’ve developed a process to remove most of the alcohol to leave less than 5 percent, but keep all the flavour and characteristics of the wine. From moscato grapes, you’ll find aromatic notes of rose petals and a tart apple acidity which, coupled with a little spritz, keeps the wine crisp. It’s terrific with charcuterie, and just a hint of sweetness makes it a great pairing with goat cheese stuffed dates, and dark chocolate! CSPC +900513 $10

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH GIN PIONEERS IN GIN DISTILLING

NOW AVAILABLE IN ALBERTA PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

SINCE 1762

DISCOVER MORE AT WHITLEYNEILL.COM

We’re so looking forward to offering our live Vine & Dine pairing dinners again!

As soon as it’s possible, we’ll be announcing new dates, new locations, and new menus for you to safely enjoy an evening of good food and drink where you don’t have to do the washing up afterwards.

And if things keep improving, we hope it’s not long before you can even enjoy the dinners with friends too.

Your safety always was, and still is a priority at our 6-course Vine & Dine pairing dinners, and we have a clean slate from all our dinners last year. Our promise to you is that we’ll only offer live events again when it’s completely safe, and you can relax and enjoy the evenings. Please check our website regularly, and email linda@culinairemagazine.ca if you’d like to be included in our fortnightly updates to hear about dine out and take out dinners before the rest of the city. They do sell out rather quickly!

For full details of events, to reserve your paired dinner packages, places at a Vine & Dine evening, or a private pairing dinner when regulations allow again, visit culinairemagazine.ca/events.

Vine & Dine Pairing Dinners at Shoe & Canoe Our 6-course paired evenings at Shoe & Canoe when they first opened in 2019 and again last year were superb, everyone loved them, so we’ll be offering the evenings we’d planned but had to lose last November as soon as we can! Such a delicious menu! $81.75 ++

Vine & Dine Pairing Dinners at Flower & Wolf Chef Cole Glendinning’s menu of beautifully executed, flavourful dishes, cooked with love and ingredients from local farmers, were excellent last year, and we look forward to offering more nights at Flower & Wolf in our own private dining room, for the evenings we weren’t able to run last December. $81.75 ++

Vine & Dine Online Paired Dinner Packages Have you tried one of our online, multicourse, paired takeout dinner packages, with videos yet? These are 4-course restaurant meals from Calgary chefs to eat at home, with small format pairings for each course, and a video with stories to take you through the pairings and flavours. They are all contactless curbside pickup.

We’re continuing to offer these paired dinner packages with videos, and menus and restaurants change regularly, so check out our January and February paired dinner packages from some of your favourite Calgary restaurants, and reserve yours now at vineanddine.ca.