The Tomato May June 2015

Take a bite of your city | May June 2015 | thetomato.ca

The wine issue A gluten-free spring menu #winewomenyeg

TASTE LOCAL QUALITY Throughout the month of June visit these Edmonton restaurants to taste their delicious Alberta pork feature dishes.

Ampersand 27

North 53

Canteen

Packrat Louie

The Hardware Grill

RGE RD

Hart’s Table & Bar

Red Ox Inn

Lux Steakhouse + Bar

Share (The Westin Edmonton)

Solstice Seasonal Cuisine The Marc Restaurant Rostizado Zinc

June 19-21 Borden Park, Edmonton, AB porkapalooza.ca

CHECK PASSIONFORPORK.COM TO SEE MORE EVENTS THAT WILL KEEP THE ALBERTA PORK PARTY GOING ALL MONTH LONG.

Contents Editor Mary Bailey marybee@telus.net

Features

Publisher BGP Publishing

Shaping the Okanagan experience | Mary Bailey

Copy Editor Amanda LaNeve Don Retson

Contributing Writers

Peter Bailey Lori Grein Tracy Hyatt Cindy Lazarenko Judy Schultz

Illustration/Photography

John Quark

Design and Prepress Bossanova Communications Inc.

Printer PrintWest Communications

Distribution Greenline Distribution For editorial inquires, information, letters, suggestions or ideas, contact The Tomato at 780-431-1802, fax 780-428-1030, or email marybee@telus.net For advertising information call 780-431-1802.

The Tomato is published six times per year: January/February March/April May/June July/August September/October November/December

by BGP Publishing 9833 84 Avenue Edmonton, AB T6E 2G1 780-431-1802

10 Alberta Pork Recipies A sneak peak at the menus of Pork Month

12 Third Leaf Three Okanagan wineries to watch | Mary Bailey

14 Lori Grein’s Gluten-Free Spring Garden Menu Think fresh!

18 #winewomenyeg Introducing Edmonton’s women of wine | Mary Bailey

Curtis Comeau Photography Amanda LaNeve Gerry Rasmussen Lionel Trudel

Advertising Sales

6 Women in the Vineyard

Departments

5 Dish Gastronomic happenings around town

16 Wine Maven

20 Beer Guy Beer at the table | Peter Bailey

22 Feeding People One love | Tracy Hyatt

24 Spring Pantry Mary Bailey

26 The Lunch Lady Energy and the midday break | Cindy Lazarenko

28 The Proust Culinary Questionnaire Jerry Bigam, Kinnikinnick Foods

32 Kitchen Sink What’s new and notable

34 According to Judy Champagne occasions | Judy Schultz

Cover photo: Culmina Family Estate Winery, Lionel Trudel photograph.

Subscriptions are available for $25 per year. thetomato.ca The Tomato | May June 2015 3

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you know you want more...

9929 – 109 Street NW

www.pampasteakhouse.com 780.756.7030

Dish

gastronomic happenings around town everyday delicious

The newest ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen cookbook Everyday Delicious is packed with variety. Consider lively vegetable dishes such as spaghetti squash with kale pesto or family mains like the easy pressure cooker beef brisket, along with snacks and desserts. It’s a terrific family cookbook with 90 on-trend recipes in a handy coil-bound edition, complete with luscious, mouth-watering photography, nutritional analysis, safety tips and loads of helpful hints. And you know the recipes are going to work; the ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen trademark is your guarantee that each recipe has been exhaustively tested in their professional kitchens.

These cookbooks really are an Alberta treasure.

Available at atcoblueflamekitchen.com, Chapters, some Save-on and Safeway stores, $15.

italian with a twist by sonny sung Sonny Sung, the corporate chef for the Sorrentino’s restaurant chain and the exec chef and partner at Bistecca Italian Steakhouse, knows how to keep diners coming back for more. Now we can create those favourite dishes at home.

Sonny’s flavours are subtle and always in balance, yet what we love most about Sonny is his approachability. The recipes range from the simplest classics to those demonstrating his French/Italian influence—from minestrone soup to deep-fried buffala mozzarella with black garlic chutney; from baked meatballs to osso bucco with chestnut gremolata and creamy orzo risotto. Fans will be happy to find recipes for Sorrentino’s and Bistecca dishes, such as linguine frutti di mare and braised short ribs with sour cherry risotto cakes, along with wine suggestions from Vinomania’s Gurvinder Bhatia. The cook book is available at Bistecca, Chapters and better book stores.

Company’s Coming Publishing, 75 recipes, $26.

grilling with the house of q Brian Misko is co-owner of House of Q, a competition BBQ team from Surrey, British Columbia, who has spent more than a decade in competition smoking and grilling foods. His new cookbook is filled with tips and stories on both backyard and competition cooking. Find recipes for rubs, brines, and sauces, bacon baklava, how to make award-winning ribs, and the world’s best bacon-wrapped cheese dog. We fell in love with Brian and Corrine Misko last year at Porkapalooza, fun people and awesome cooks. This grilling book deserves a spot on your shelf.

Figure1Publishing, $24.95.

waste not, want not Did your grandmother ask you to finish what’s on your plate because of all the starving children in Africa? Turns out she was sort of right. Our wasteful food habits are having a global impact. We don’t have a food supply problem, we have a food waste problem. Cinda Chavich addresses this

in The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook: Save Food, Save Money, and Save the Planet. Cinda talks about what we do now—did you know that 40 per cent of food is thrown away? There are movements afoot: French supermarket Intermarché launched the Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables campaign to bring attention to the ugly vegetables, usually left in the field, and offers them at a 30 per cent discount.

Cinda’s book brings the food waste issue home and guides the reader in how to shop, cook and eat with zero waste.

If this all sounds a bit like your old uncle saving string, why not bring back a bit of depression-era thinking around food? The book offers tips on purchasing, storage, how to turn leftovers and bits in the refrigerator into something irresistibly delicious and 140 recipes.

Touchwood Editions, $29.95.

chefs collaborate for #aldereats On Friday June 5, join chefs Ben Staley, Brayden Kozak (Three Boars) Christine Sandford (Acme Meat Market), Alex Sneazwell (Sandwich and Sons) and Spencer Thompson (Toast Fine Catering) for a fundraiser for the Alder Food Security Society. The non-profit, whose goal is to make local food available to all no matter what the income level, is part of the concept of The Alder Room, a fledging downtown restaurant by chef Staley. Expect appetizers followed by six courses by these talented cooks using ingredients donated by August Organics, Mona Foods, Acme Meat Market as well as wines by Tyler Harlton, Benjamin Bridge and Charles Baker from Crush Imports. Tickets: eventbrite.com.

15 years of indulgence The 15th anniversary edition of Indulgence, a Canadian epic of food and wine is June 8 at the Delta Edmonton South. Indulgence introduces local farmers to local chefs to create long-term business relationships as well as introducing both to fine VQA wine and regional craft beers. In addition to its key role in fostering our unique prairie gastronomy, Indulgence raises funds for children’s programs by The Junior League of Edmonton (over $100,000 to date) and the Slow Food Indulgence Bursary for NAIT Culinary students. Tickets: jledmonton.com.

form, function and lasting beauty Fans of modern design will lust after this limited edition Le Creuset Coquelle casserole, a 1958 design by Raymond Loewy. Loewy, considered the father of industrial design, leaves a legacy of brilliant product design (space craft, cars, logos, the Coke bottle) and thoughtful statements about design in the world; “the main goal is not to complicate the already difficult life of the consumer.” We think of Loewy every time we attempt to open a plastic blister pack, and cry a little. Only 80 Coquelle are available in Canada in volcanic and teal (shown), $500.

The Tomato | May June 2015 5

A woman in the vineyard • Mary Bailey •

Trudy Heiss came to the

“Normally we make 70-80,000 cases so this was a big push for us. Everybody was in the same boat.

Okanagan over 40 years ago with

“In the beginning when we did the Becker project to figure out what could grow here we had so many different rootstocks and clones. They made some good wines. But it became too much so we pulled out many of the experimental vines. We kept the Kerner, Ehrenfelser, Pinot Gris of course, Auxerrois, Siegerrebe.

We also buy grapes throughout the valley, and we grow reds and Orange Muscat down south.

her husband George and went on to build one of the largest family estates in the valley.

Sandra Oldfield is a transplanted Californian who seriously

“We planted them all. I’m a bit more arms length now.

Instead of being on the tractor, which was my favourite job, knowing what every vine was doing; now it’s mostly sales and marketing.

considered moving back to the sunny state after the disastrous 1999 vintage. Senka Tennant,

“We have 40 employees plus the restaurant. This year for the first time, we’ll be able to supply the Ontario market with 3,000 cases of our Gris. We had no idea how big this thing was going to get. I’m 74, George is 75; I suppose in 20 years we won’t have to worry about it at all.”

creator of the iconic red Nota Bene, now makes whites on the Naramata Bench. Severine Pinte’s love of Syrah and the possibilities of the southern Okanagan led her to the Black Sage bench.

Their stories have created the narrative and continue to shape our experience of wine in the Okanagan.

Photos Amanda LaNeve except Severine Pinte (pg 9), courtesy Le Vieux Pin.

6 May June 2015 | The Tomato

“It was a bad day when they took my tractor away.”

Trudy Heiss, Gray Monk Estate Winery “Today I’m picking out a new door for the restaurant; we wore the other one out,” says Trudy Heiss from the phone in the office she shares with her husband George.

George and Trudy own and operate Gray Monk Estate Winery, 45 acres of prime vineyard land north of Kelowna overlooking Okanagan Lake. The Heiss’ started planting vinifera in 1972, including Canada’s first Pinot Gris planted in 1976. In 1980 they made 170 cases of wine in their garage and sold their first bottle of wine in 1982 for $6.95.

“This year we’ll make 103,000 cases, not our choice,” says Trudy. “The grapes had 50 per cent more juice — it does happen once in awhile. We were scrambling, everybody was. My guys were looking at my swimming pool for fermentation, suggesting that George and Harry do cannonballs as the punch down.

RIP Breeze, gone to the big dog park in the sky.

She was awesome and very precise, and had everybody shaking in their booties.

I did a crush with Harry (McWatters).

He said he hired me because I was impassioned. It’s nice to go to a meeting and have this familiarity with people from that time.”

Now Senka makes white wine high on the Naramata Bench near Penticton.

“The interesting thing about the Naramata Bench is that the land is so varied, based on the way the glacier moved. At Black Hills we were on the beach, the sandy loam of the Black Sage Bench. We don’t have as much frost here as we’re closer to the lake. Black Sage could get cold.”

“At my age it’s all serendipitous” Senka Tennant, Terravista Vineyards “Oh, I thought you were coming over, I just put some Figaro in the fridge.” Sad for me that I’m on the phone, and not drinking wine with Senka Tennant.

“I started it with my husband,” says Senka, referring to Black Hills Estate, home of Nota Bene. “The first vintage at Black Hills was 1999, we started in 1996, almost 20 years ago, such a long time. We just kind of plodded along instinctually. I have always listened to that.

“My husband had been in construction.

We moved to the Okanagan and I got the itch to go back to school to take oenology. We were the second paying students in the program at Okanagan College; initially the course was sponsored by UI because they wanted to increase employment in the valley. Lynn Bremmer, the biochemist at Sumac Ridge at the time, taught the lab course.

When I asked Senka a few years ago why there were no plans for red wine at Terravista, she replied that they wanted to be able to go away in the winter, and reds need more attention through the winter than whites. A trip to Spain got them excited about Albarino and Verdejo (even if finding the vines to plant proved to be a bit of a nightmare).

“It’s our fifth vintage of Figaro (Rousanne, Marsanne and Viognier) fourth of Fandango (Albarino and Verdejo blend) third for Viognier, and first vintage for a single varietal Albarino.

“Now we focus on food pairing. These wines are made to go beautifully with food.

“Sometimes people are astonished we don’t make a red. I go ’round the mulberry bush on that; I would make a red again if I found the right fruit. At my age it’s all serendipitous.”

FLAVOURFULLY IMAGINED

Locally Immersed Innovative Dining Open Now

ampersand27.com

Continued on next page

The Tomato | May June 2015 7

Severine Pinte has managed vineyards and made wine on three continents, in her native France (Bordeaux, Gaillac and the Languedoc) Australia and in Canada.

That depth of experience coupled with a masters in viticulture and oenology from ENSAM (Ecole National Superior Agronomic of Montpellier) makes Severine a force to be reckoned with.

In 2010 Severine became the winemaker and viticulturalist for Le Vieux Pin along with its sister winery La Stella.

“The climate in the south Okanagan can be challenging but the terroir is exceptional. The hot days and cool nights are perfect for grapes. We start first in the vineyard; grow the grapes, then make the wine. I suppose I think that way because back in France we think grapes first.”

“I know what daddy does at the winery; what do you do all day, mommy?”

Sandra Oldfield, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards Sandra Oldfield is the CEO of Tinhorn Creek Vineyards in the south Okanagan and a leading light behind the new Golden Mile sub-appellation. She was the winemaker at Tinhorn up until last year.

“When we first started we asked tons and tons of questions of our neighbours. We knew pretty quickly that this was farming, but we were bridging a gap. We had been to school but didn’t have the experience, and they had learned by doing. Some people didn’t want to share, some did. Eric von Krosigk was always someone I could pick up the phone and talk to. Tillman Hainle, same. My door is always open, I love it when new wineries call.”

“The biggest thing for me was adopting our daughter Melanie. I have flexibility at Tinhorn; I still see her to the school bus every other day. We have an interesting workforce, aging people with aging parents and young people with kids, and now I’m more understanding of our employees’ need for balance.

“When I first came here, people saw the grapes as just a production tool, a way of making money.

They were motivated more by production, not the quality of fruit. Now I find that more winemakers are involved in the vineyard.”

Melody has her own little life. I’ll say it’s harvest, and she’ll say; ‘really?’

“No,” she says, then reconsiders. “Not buying a piece of land when I first came in 1996 (during an internship with UBC studying wet zones and beaver damage). I could have had my own vineyard.

“I’m OK with that. I found wine on my own; I want her to find what she loves on her own.”

“There is really nothing I would do differently.

Because it’s a physical job, people tend to say women can’t do it, and there have been times in my career when I have worked twice as hard and was not paid more. Now, here, I have achieved quite a bit, I am a managing partner, and I am making the wines.”

The Golden Mile sub-appellation is a first for the valley.

It defines an area with a particular type of soil. It doesn’t dictate grape varieties, production methods, yields or any other sort of control found in old world appellation systems. Rather, it’s based on geology.

I asked Severine if she thought it was important for more women to be in viticulture and wine.

“More men are applying for the jobs, but perhaps women have a better sense of smell. I have found in general that women are more organized—we already do so much multitasking as mums. Winemaking is 80 per cent organization. That said, there are a lot of men making great wines.”

“The sub-app is forward looking — it will define the valley over the next 20 years,” says Sandra. “It took six years but now that the groundwork is laid it’ll be interesting to see if other areas go ahead with applications. We actually don’t grow a lot of grapes within it. All of our reds are grown on the other bench.

As harvest progresses, Severine is in the vineyards, tasting and testing grapes daily. Le Vieux Pin is best known for a trio of top-notch Syrah. For lovers of Syrah it doesn’t get much better than this.

“I run the business. My title has evolved from winemaker/owner, which people understood, to CEO, which people don’t get. I have been asked, in the grocery store, ‘how does it feel to be a female president’ and, ‘what do you do’, or, ‘are you vacationing now’?

“The Classique is bold, spicy; Cuvee Violette has more flowers, with super silky tannins; and the Equinoxe expresses elegance and power. Each block gives us different fruit; I adapt technique to the grapes—I won’t extract as much or the cold soak might be longer.

“Would they ask a man that? Maybe it’s because people still see me as the winemaker. If I just called myself proprietor, maybe people would know what I was talking about.

“There are a decent number of female winemakers now, but as CEO, I’m back to being the only female in the room.

8 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Any regrets?

“What you are tasting is the site,” says Severine.

“The wines show what the vineyard gives.”

“Wine has been with us forever — it is like drinking a gem.”

Severine Pinte, Le Vieux Pin

Mary Bailey worked the bottling line at Tinhorn. Once.

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Consider this a sneak peek at what’s on the menu at Ampersand 27, Canteen, Hardware Grill, LUX Steakhouse + Bar, North 53, RGE RD, Pack Rat Louie, Red Ox Inn, Share (The Westin Edmonton), Solstice Seasonal Cuisine, The Marc, Rostizado and Zinc during Alberta Pork Month.

RGE RD Alberta Pork with Beans and Mostarda Blair Lebsack, RGE RD

Mostarda Mostarda is a piquant fruit and dried mustard condiment. Pretty much every region in Italy has its own recipe, depending on which fruit is grown there, but all mostarda has a robust sweet and sour character, what Italians call agrodolce. Traditionally it’s served with boiled meat. Chef Lebsack makes a western Canadian version and pairs it with pork tenderloin and beans. Start the mostarda mid-week for a weekend dinner.

2 apples 2 pears sugar 1

star anise

4 cloves 1

cardamom pod

2

bay leaf

¼ c dried bing cherries

10 May June 2015 | The Tomato

1

c dry white wine

dried mustard

Riesling vinegar

Day 1

Pork Loin

Small dice apples and pears, then weigh.

Measure 165 grams of sugar per 1 kg of fruit. Sprinkle the calculated amount of sugar over fruit and let sit for a couple hours. Make a spice sachet with the cloves, star anise, cardamom and bay leaves. Chop dried cherries, put in pot, add sachet, cover with wine and cook for about 15 minutes to soften fruit.

Cool. Pour over the apples and pears.

Stir all fruit together and leave sachet in container with the fruit. Store overnight in cooler.

1-1½ kg pork loin

Day 2 Pour off liquid from fruit into a pot on medium. Reduce to a thin syrup. Cool slightly, then pour back over fruit and stir to combine. Do this for 2 more times (once per day).

Day 4 Mix together 25 ml of dry mustard into 60 ml of Riesling vinegar per 1 litre of fruit. Pour mustard into fruit, mix thoroughly to combine flavours. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

2

cloves minced garlic

1

sprig chopped rosemary

1

T kosher salt

black pepper to taste

canola oil

Pre heat oven to 475°F. Rub the roast with garlic, rosemary, oil, salt and pepper. Place the roast on a baking pan and put in oven for 15 minutes. Baste pork with juices. Return to oven and cook for another 5 minutes, then turn down heat in oven to 350°F, cook another 10 minutes or until it reads 140°F on a meat thermometer.

Remove from oven, drain off liquid and reserve for beans. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Great Northern Beans 340 g (¾ lb) cooked beans 2

T canola oil

1

large onion, minced

3

cloves minced garlic

2

bay leaves

2

sprigs parsley chopped

salt and pepper to taste

2

T butter cubed

In pot, heat oil and add bay leaves. Add onion and cook for 3-4 min, add garlic and beans. Cook for 5 minutes, add 2-3 tablespoons of reserved cooking liquid from pork. Allow beans to absorb the liquid, then add butter and parsley.

Turn off heat and swirl to melt in butter.

Season.

To serve: While the loin is resting, warm mostarda in a pot. Slice pork and serve family style with the beans.

Serves 4-6.

Pork Belly with Maple Bourbon Butter “This is a great project to do first thing in the morning so that it is ready for your dinner party at night. You can also use whatever fruit juice you would like such as pineapple or orange.” — Nathin Bye, Ampersand 27

Brine (for every 1 kg pork belly to be brined) 4½ c water

Three Chili Pepper Cheese Chicken Smokies

110 g kosher salt

Mozzarella-stuffed Pork Meatballs

1 g InstaCure (available at Barb’s

Larry Stewart, Hardware Grill

1

orange peel

1

kg (approx 2 lb) ground pork

1

lemon peel

2

t kosher salt

2

cloves garlic

2

t chili flakes

1

bunch thyme sprigs

2

t fennel seeds, toasted and ground

1

bay leaf

2 eggs

1

juniper berry, whole

½ c sour cream

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When the brine is cold to the touch, add pork belly and refrigerate for 48 hours completely submerged in the brine.

1 large handful (approx 5 oz) chopped parsley 1

c grated parmesan

1

c toasted Panko bread crumbs

500 g (approx 1 lb) fior di latte or bocconcini balls

Place all ingredients except the cheese in a mixing bowl. Mix well until ready to form. Cut mozzarella into small pieces (about ½ inch). Divide meat mixture evenly into 20- 24 pieces (2 oz. per meatball is about 24 meatballs).

Form the meatball around each piece of cheese and roll in the palms of your hands until perfectly smooth.

Brown the outside of each meatball in a fry pan until golden.

Meatballs can be held in the refrigerator or baked immediately.

Place meatballs on a baking sheet lined with foil, bake at 350°F for approximately 15-18 minutes. Cut into one to test for doneness.

Serve with your favourite tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

Makes 24 meatballs.

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After 48 hours, remove from the brine and rinse under cool water.

Cook the pork belly Fully submerge the pork belly in equal parts apple juice and chicken stock (how much will depend on the size of the piece).

Cook at 240ºF for 10 hours.

Glaze for pork belly 100 ml bourbon 1

lb butter unsalted

125 ml maple syrup

Melt butter in a small pot. Add bourbon and maple syrup and allow to cool.

To serve: Remove pork belly from braising liquid. Cut into portions. Glaze liberally with the maple bourbon butter and broil in the oven. Once the glaze is slightly caramelized and bubbling, repeat this process two more times so you get a nice thick coating of the sweet bourbon butter.

Please see “Pork” on page 30.

The Tomato | May June 2015 11

Third Leaf Mary Bailey

paths for countless viticulturalists, cellar workers, winemakers, and front-office people.

Third leaf refers to a crucial time in a vine’s life. The vine is four years old, it’s starting to produce fruit, and you could get a crop. For the long-term health of the vine, according to Sandra Oldfield, sometimes it’s better to sit and wait.

What wineries do in the first five years will also define them, not that anyone is suggesting they sit and wait. Here is a snapshot of three emerging high-quality Okanagan operations—Tyler Harlton, TH Wines, a garagiste in Summerland; Alan Dickinson and family at Synchromesh Wines, Okanagan Falls; and Culmina Family Estate Winery on the Golden Bench in the southern Okanagan. Three different terroir and wine philosophies, three examples of getting it right.

There is not much Donald Triggs doesn’t know about creating a wine business.

This is different. Culmina is family legacy, no compromise, he gets to do it his way. Well, actually, their way. Elaine, Don’s wife and daughter Sara play significant roles in this venture and Don wouldn’t have it any other way.

Donald and Elaine Triggs.

It may seem counterintuitive to have to go up to find the right vineyard conditions in the cool climate Okanagan.

But if you are at Culmina, the Trigg’s family property in the south Okanagan, you have to go up if you want to plant Gruner. The slightly cooler temperatures and schist mountain soils are ideally suited to the grape.

Culmina Family Estate Winery “How high up are we?” I ask Donald Triggs, who is slowly pointing the truck straight uphill, or so it seems. We’re on a typical vineyard track, narrow, rutted, stony, on the way to Culmina’s Margaret’s Bench Vineyard, the uppermost block (about 600 metres) planted in Chardonnay, Riesling and Gruner Veltliner.

12 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Donald Triggs has had the penultimate career in the wine business. He and Allan Jackson managed the employee buy-out of Chateau Gai from parent company Labatt’s, creating Vincor, then grew Vincor into the world’s eighth largest wine company, with operations in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It’s not unreasonable to say that Don Triggs essentially created the modern Canadian wine industry. In the almost two decades before Vincor was gobbled up by Constellation Brands, Don’s leadership and vision as CEO created opportunity and career

“We wanted to take on the challenge of Cabernet Sauvignon,” says Don. “To do that we needed 1,600 degree days (a measurement of both temperature and hours of light used in viticulture to determine ripening possibilities), to consistently ripen Bordeaux varieties.

We looked at five different sites from Naramata to the US border.”

The vineyard blocks at Culmina were meticulously planned down to each individual vine. What took European farmers decades of on-the-ground observation, Culmina is doing with sophisticated geo-science.

“We did two years of study before we planted a vine. We examined temperature and satellite data, dug 26 soil pits and had them tested. Where there was elevated calcium, we put the Cab Franc, where there was mountain shadow, we planted Merlot. We have 56 acres on three benches, and to optimize the nuances we practise micro-block farming with five different rootstocks best suited to each soil type. We brought new technology to Canada and better instrumentation to measure soil moisture.”

All this to make sure the vine’s roots go deep to get the water and nutrients it needs to create flavour.

“We know water is going to be an issue in the Okanagan from Department of Enviroment studies. We have started a dry land farming project, planting bush vines of Syrah in areas too steep for tractors. We’ll water for two years only, to establish the vines.”

Why Gruner ?

“Consumers are on a journey of discovery. First it was blends, then varietals, now back to blends. They want to try new things. We have the ideal site on Margaret’s Bench as Gruner likes schisty mountain soils, not rounder stones, but the jagged stones that have just broken off from the bedrock. Karl Kaiser had a small block of Gruner at Inniskilliin, it’s winter hardy, even more so than Chard and Riesling.”

“Our signature red, Hypothesis, is our proposal from the vineyard. We’ve been growing premium fruit in the Okanagan for 30 years. Can we raise the bar again?

That is the challenge we will meet.”

Synchromesh Wines Inc. “I worked in wine brokerage and acquisition in Vancouver,” says Alan Dickenson, proprietor of Synchromesh.

“I was lucky, there were generous collectors who shared—I fell in love with the Rieslings by producers like Donhoff and von Schubert and wanted to make wines like them, terroir-driven natural wines.

rock, horses grazing in fields with old barns. It’s the old central Okanagan, not the one of golf courses and vacation homes (and vines). While I drive, I’m thinking about that Riesling and the enormous pleasure it offered for such a small investment.

Ready for a little Wine

?

Photo © trudelPhoto.com

Why not join

2 departures available:

Alan Dickenson’s other love, vintage motor sports.

June 18 – 21, 2015

“Meyer and our property have the same soil; it’s not found anywhere else in the Okanagan Falls area; Painted Rock and Pentage (near Penticton) have it too.”

“Our property follows biodynamic principles—we’re small, so we pretty much do it all ourselves, with parents helping out. In 2011 we built the winery and finished our house last year.”

Along with making a subtle Pinot Noir and a well-structured Cab Franc blend call Tertre, Synchromesh makes five Rieslings. The 2013 Storm Haven has a juicy minerality, a vibrancy, with layers of flavours and the promise of more complexity to come with maturity.

“It’s in its ninth leaf,” says Alan, “small production, one ton per acre. The 2011 won the Governor General’s award.”

West Edmonton Mall Inside Entrance 58 Beneath Simons • Reserved Parking • 780.483.1083 • www.aligrawineandspirits.com facebook.com/aligrawine

After our visit, I take Alan’s suggestion and drive the McLean Creek Road back to Penticton. It is beautiful—views of ranchland through scrubby pine, gnarly

@Aligrawine

TH Wines There is an infectious Mickey Roooneyesque let’s-put-on-a-show enthusiasm about Tyler Harlton. Here’s a guy making wine by hand in a garage on the edge of Summerland, and he’s having the time of his life.

“During law school in Montreal I did a semester in Paris. I would spend the weekends in vineyards, in Bordeaux, Alsace, Burgundy—I picked Meursault but didn’t know it at the time. I learned that wine is an expression of agriculture.

I decided I wanted to make wine, not practise law. My first job was picking at Osoyoos Larose.”

www.wildfloweredmonton.com

Prix Fixe 3 Course Menu

$48 Per Person • Limited Time Only Reservations 780-990-1938 or Open Table

Wilflower Tomato Ad rev 01.22.15.indd 1

10009 - 107 St NW Edmonton, AB

03/02/2015 4:26:22 PM

wine geeks

With wines like these, Syncromesh joins the line-up of exceptional Riesling producers such as Tantalus, Little Farm, Martin’s Lane and Cedar Creek.

Dickenson looked carefully for vineyards they could lease and actively farm to achieve the fruit they wanted, in some cases convincing conventional farmers to become more sustainable. The reds are grown on two sites near Naramata and Oliver, the Pinot Noir on the east side of the lake near Kelowna.

& June 21 – 24, 2015

Priced from $799.00 CA per person. Full tour details available on request.

Contact alison@aligrawineandspirits.com for more information.

“Amy and I bought this property (Storm Haven) which has a southern exposure and complex soils, primarily glacial till and volcanic, which is ideal for Riesling.”

Down the road is Meyer Family Vineyards, makers of pitch-perfect Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Alison & Grant for a four-day Wine Tour Okanagan Valley?

in the beautiful

welcome too!

Tyler Harlton

“We just completed the fourth vintage. I had no money for equipment at first and now we just prefer to do most things by hand.”

What he does have is a small press, some tanks (named Dief the Chief, Riel and Dumont by the way) and a

2000+ different wines to satisfy your needs (and palate, natch).

11819 St Albert Trail 780.455.4556 sherbrookeliquor.com

Please see “Third Leaf” on page 31

The Tomato | May June 2015 13

LORI GREIN’S GLUTEN-FREE

Spring Garden Menu Think brand new rhubarb, young cukes from the greenhouse and fresh asparagus from Edgar Farms. All recipes by Lori Grein, pastry chef and recipe development coordinator at Kinnikinnick Foods Inc.

Cucumber Gazpacho 3

field cucumbers, chopped, skins on

1

large lemon, zest and juice

2 T grape seed oil (or extra virgin olive oil) 1 small sweet pepper, seeds removed, chopped 2

T fresh mint, chopped

1 c arugula, blanched, drained, chopped ¼ c crème fraîche* (or plain Greek yogurt), plus some for garnish ½ c cold water

Combine prepared ingredients in a blender except crème fraîche. Purée for 3 minutes. Add ¼ cup crème fraîche and purée for 2 minutes. Serve chilled soup with a dollop of crème fraîche and drizzle with olive oil. * To make crème fraîche: In a 500ml well-sanitized canning jar, combine 1 cup heavy cream and ½ cup 14 per cent sour cream. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours in a warm environment, shake jar occasionally during this period but do not open. Contents will be thick. Stir and store in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Asparagus and Chive Toast Cups

Herbed Turkey Burgers with Dijon Ginger Sauce

1

loaf Kinnikinnick soft white bread

2 pkgs Kinnikinnick Hamburger Buns

3

T olive oil (divided)

½ leek (chopped) 2

garlic cloves minced

1½ c heavy (33 per cent) cream 2

T Kinnikinnick all-purpose flour blend

1 c asparagus (cut into ¾-inch

450 grams lean ground turkey 1

large egg

⅓ c Kinnikinnick Panko bread crumbs 1

stick celery, finely chopped

¼ c red onion, minced 1

sprig fresh parsley, finely chopped

½ t salt + ½ t pepper

1

clove garlic, minced

2

T fresh parsley (chopped fine)

2

T tamari

1

t chili flakes

¼ T salt and ½ T pepper

3

T chives (chopped)

1-2 T olive oil

pieces/blanched)

¾ c Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Asparagus and Chive Filling Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan and sauté leeks with asparagus, 2 tablespoons chives, chili flakes, parsley, salt and pepper. Slowly add Kinnikinnick flour to mixture, stirring constantly. Stir in cream and continue stirring until thickened (about 3-5 minutes). Add ½ cup grated cheese. Remove from heat and set aside.

Toast Cups Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray mini muffin tins with non-stick spray and set aside. With a rolling pin, carefully flatten slices of Kinnikinnick soft white bread. Cut each slice into two circles. Place bread circles into muffin cups and brush with olive oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp and lightly golden.

To serve: Place ½ tablespoon filling into each prepared cup. Top with remainder of grated cheese and chives. Return to oven and bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Makes 36 appetizers.

14 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Turkey Burgers

Mix all burger ingredients together and divide into 8 portions. Press into 3-inch burgers. Preheat 1 T olive oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes per side, or until thoroughly cooked.

Dijon Ginger Sauce ¾ c mayonnaise 2

stems green onion, finely chopped

1

t lemon juice

1

t tamari sauce

1

T brown sugar

½ t grated fresh ginger 2

T Dijon mustard

Combine all sauce ingredients, mix well and set aside (for best taste, mix 1 hour ahead of time).

Serve with your favourite garnishes on a fresh Kinnikinnick soft hamburger bun.

GM Ad FINAL December,14 2014.pdf

C

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

M

This dough does not need to be chilled before rolling out. ¾ c all-purpose shortening** 2

c Kinnikinnick all-purpose flour

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

See you again soon!

3

c rhubarb (cut into 1/4-inch pieces)

½ c Kinnikinnick all-purpose flour

⅓ c water 1

In a medium sized pot, combine fruit, sugar and Kinnikinnick flour. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and continue cooking for 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken slightly.

Remove from heat and cool mixture in the fridge for 1 hour.

t lemon juice

In a medium bowl, mix Kinnikinnick all-purpose flour blend with salt. Cut shortening into mixture with a pastry knife until shortening is completely coated with flour and the mixture appears stringy. In a small bowl, whisk together the water, lemon juice and the egg. Create a well in the middle of flour mixture and pour liquid in. Fold flour mixture in with hands, continue to work until all the flour is worked in and pie dough can be formed into a smooth log.

Divide dough into 5 portions and roll out into desired product. Use parchment paper and a small amount of Kinnikinnick all-purpose flour blend or sweet rice flour to aid in rolling out pie dough.

Makes 5 pie shells. * If using lard instead of shortening, add an additional 2-3 T of Kinnikinnick allpurpose flour blend. ** If you don’t choose to make pie dough, use prepared Kinnikinnick pie shells.

K

@GlassMonkeyYEG

blend

8-inch pie shells (top and bottom)

1

CY

CMY

2

1 egg

MY

c sugar

c fresh strawberries (cut into slices)

t salt

7:19 PM

CM

1

2

blend

2014-12-15

Thank you for making our first year a success!

Y

Flaky Pie Dough*

1

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place pie shell on baking tray. Fill with strawberry rhubarb filling. Moisten edges of pie with prepared egg wash. Top filled pie with another 8-inch crust.

780.760.2228

www.glassmonkey.ca

5842-111 Street

In-Store Tastings | Food & Wine Pairing • Fun and Education — it’s all about the experience • Wines for every occasion • Premium & Luxury Spirits • Craft Beers 5454 Calgary Trail South | www.bin104.com | 780.436.8850

Flute edges pressing both top and bottom layers of pie crust together. Vent top of pie crust with 3 slits or a design in centre. Egg wash top of pie and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Cool pie for 1 hour before serving to allow the filling to set.

Makes one pie.

Fine Wines by Liquor Select Fine Wines | Exceptional Staff | Private Tasting Room Join us for weekly tastings, private events and corporate functions in our private tasting room — equipped with LCD projector and screen.

8924 149 Street | 780.481.6868 | liquorselect.com | wine@liquorselect.com

Where all the best parties happen.

780.757.7704 kitchenbybrad.ca #101, 10130 - 105 Street

The Tomato | May June 2015 15

Wine Maven

Another great night at Get Cooking with Enotri.

Special guests Eleonora Infuso from Can Rafols de Caus (Penedes) and Joan Parera, Agusti Torello Mata (Cava). The sold-out studio enjoyed six Spanish-inspired courses by chef David Leeder featuring succulent mushrooms from Mona Foods, kushi oysters and side stripe prawns.

La Gioso Brut (Treviso DOC, Italy) In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of Prosecco. Apologies to Lord T. but if Prosecco had been available in the 19th century we’re convinced he would have written a poem about it. La Gioso Brut Treviso is new to the market and comes in a handy purse-sized 375 mL bottle as well as the regular 750mL brunch size.

Pretty, with a touch of sweetness, tasting of golden apples, with a crisp and refreshing finish. $18.

2013 Domaine Vincent Delaporte Sancerre (Loire Valley, France) Smoky, stony minerality, loads of lemon zest and a vivid acidity just this side of sour; this Delaporte is a knockout Sancerre. Have with oysters, $29.

2008 Can Rafols Can Camps Pedradura (Penedes, Spain) The Pedradura is an unusual blend (for Penedes at least) of Marselan and Petit Verdot.

Its rich cherry flavours, savoury meaty notes and the hint of violet characteristic of Petit Verdot is just the wine to have with chef Dave Omar’s Braised Pork Shoulder with Pomegranate (page 30), $35.

2013 M. Chapoutier Bila-Haut Rosé (Languedoc-Roussillon, France) It is impossible to have too much rosé on hand as the weather warms. This one is a gregarious blend of Grenache and Cinsault from the Languedoc-Roussillon region, $17.

Joan Parera, Agusti Torello Mata; Valerie Albrecht, Enotri; Eleonora Infuso, Can Rafols.

16 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Mary Bailey Escapada Cava (Catalunya, Spain) More rosé, this time with bubbles. The Escapada is made from the unusual red variety called Trepat. Love those rose petal aromas and berry flavours coupled with a hit of bright acidity—and love that label, $18.

2014 TH Wines Rosé (Okanagan Valley, Canada) “I made this because I love drinking rosé,” says Tyler Harlton. So do we, especially when it’s this Cab Franc-based blend with a bit more body and loads of charm, $27.

Agusti Gran Reserva Cava Barrica (Penedes, Spain) Delicious! Cavas range from light and fresh to serious wines that rival the best Champagnes. The Barrica falls into the latter category, with complex aromas and flavours—hints of almond, hazelnut and floral along with stone fruit, pear and apple, finishing with a soft bitterness typical of wines that have spent years on their lees. Incredible finesse and a bit of a steal, $46.

2012 Mon Coeur, JL Chave Selection (Cotes du Rhone, France) Black pepper and the aromas of the garrigue, lots of chewy complexity with silky tannins, a bit more structure than most CdR, bolstered by juicy acidity and savouriness; this Syrah Grenache blend demands Alberta beef on the barbecue, $27.

Dodgy Brothers Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Australia) Luscious, a bit boozy, tons of liquorice and peppery berry fruit— just what the doctor ordered for lovers of big and bold Aussie wines, and it’s made by a hockey-playing Canuck. Can’t beat that, $40.

EVENT CALENDAR TUESDAY, MAY 5

FRIDAY, MAY 29

Cinco de Mayo Tequila Tasting at Aligra Wine & Spirits $40, 7pm, 780-483-1083, aligrawineandspirits.com/events

Get the Dirt on French Terroir, A Winemakers’ Dinner with Domaine de l’Amauve and Terroirs Originels at Get Cooking $175, 6:30 pm, getcookingedmonton.com

THURSDAY, MAY 7 Secret Spirits Scotch Tasting at Keg ’n Cork Liquor Company $45, 7:30pm, 780-461-0191, kegncork.com

SATURDAY, MAY 9 Enjoy the Tuscan Sun dinner at Kitchen by Brad $125, 6:30pm, info@kitchenbybrad.ca, 780-757-7704, kitchenbybrad.ca

TUESDAY, MAY 12 Unusual Grapes, Unusual Places tasting at Hicks Fine Wines $25, 7pm, 780-597-5000, hicksfinewines.com

TUESDAY, MAY 12 The Accidental Sommelier Series at UnWined: Fine Wines, Spirits & Ales $25, 7:30pm, 780 458-4777, unwined.biz

TUESDAY, MAY 19 Winetasting 101: Spanish Value Wine tasting at Hicks Fine Wines $40, 7pm, 780-597-5000, hicksfinewines.com

THURSDAY, MAY 21 Sottano Wine Tasting at Keg ’n Cork $25, 7:30pm, 780-461-0191, kegncork.com

SATURDAY, MAY 23 Hicks Fine Wines’ That Spring Thing, 1st Annual Spring Open House 2pm, 780-597-5000, hicksfinewines.com

TUESDAY, MAY 26 Rosé in May tasting at UnWined: Fine Wines, Spirits & Ales $20, 7:30pm, 780 458-4777, unwined.biz

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 Think Pink tasting at Hicks Fine Wines $25, 7pm, 780-597-5000, hicksfinewines.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 Glenfarclas Tasting at Keg ’n Cork $50, 7:30pm, 780-461-0191, kegncork.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 5

Locally made

CHEF GEAR A hat for every head.

#AlderEats fundraiser for the Alder Food Security Society, Old Strathcona Market $150, 6pm, eventbrite.com.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 Crestwood Fine Wines and Spirits Open House 4pm, 780-488-7800, crestwoodfinewines.com

14536 - 115 Ave. • 780.420.6700 info@chefs-hat.com • www.chefs-hat.com

MONDAY, JUNE 8 Indulgence, a Canadian epic of food and wine 15th anniversary $80, 6:30pm, indulgenceedmonton.ca

TUESDAY, JUNE 9 Craft Beer Tasting at Aligra Wine & Spirits $20, 7pm, 780-483-1083, aligrawineandspirits.com/events

THURSDAY, JUNE 11 Taste of Summer Open House at Keg ’n Cork 6:30pm, 780-461-0191, kegncork.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 11 California Dreamin’ tasting at Hicks Fine Wines $25, 7pm, 780-597-5000, hicksfinewines.com

TUESDAY, JUNE 16 Patio Sippers & Summer Wines tasting at Hicks Fine Wines $25, 7pm, 780-597-5000, hicksfinewines.com

TUESDAY, JUNE 16 La Cotta Beer Dinner at Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse $85, 780-756-7030, pampasteakhouse.com

SATURDAY, JUNE 27 3rd Annual Chili Cook Off at The Pan Tree for The Kids with Cancer Society $8 early bird, $10 at the door, 780-464-4631, thepantree.ca

boulangerie

bonjour Delicious bread and tasty cheese for your spring picnic!

SATURDAY, JUNE 27 Discovering Australia Dinner at Get Cooking $149, 6:30 pm, getcookingedmonton.com

8608 - 99 Street 780.433.5924 www.bonjourbakery.com

The Tomato | May June 2015 17

1. Misun Bu, food & beverage manager NOVA Hotels Group, ISG Diploma

9.

Nathalie Mulder, owner XEX Wine & Spirits

18. Dix Richards, sommelier, Bin 104, ISG Diploma

27.

Cheata Nao, assistant manager Everything & More, WSET Advanced

2. Juanita Roos AIWS, owner Color de Vino, WSET Diploma

10.

Maureen Zenari, territory manager, Whitehall Agencies

19.

Kelsey Danyluk, owner TZiN Wine & Tapas, ISGL2

28. Leila Zuniga, wine rep Lifford Wines & Spirits, WSET 2

3.

Rosanne Winter-Repchuk, co-owner Straight Up Marketing, wine instructor, ISG Diploma

11.

Paulette Scott, Alberta sales manager Pacific Wines & Spirits

20.

Susan Giacomin, owner Winequest Wine & Spirits Agency, WSET Advanced

29.

Mary Bailey AIWS, The Tomato Food & Drink, wine instructor, WSET Diploma, ISG Diploma, FWS, Spanish Wine Educators Certificate

4.

Tara Smith, purchaser Sherbrooke Liquor Store, WSET Advanced 5.

Sasha McCauley, northern Alberta sales Vintage West Wine Marketing, ISG Diploma 6.

Hayley McRae, account executive Vendemmia International, BSc Viticulture, CMSL2 7.

Ashley Kuffler, wine rep Christopher Stewart, owner Completely Uncorked, WSET Advanced 8.

Lana Heiman, account manager PMA Canada, grape picker, vine pruner 18 May June 2015 | The Tomato

12.

Lisa Rogers, territory manager Select Wines and Spirits 13.

Marcia J. Hamm, manager Hicks Fine Wines, WSET
 Advanced 14. Jenni Onyschuk, wine specialist Keg ’n Cork Liquor Company, WSET Advanced 15.

Dianna Funnell, sommelier Bibo Winebar, s.o.h.k

21.

Denise Brisson, owner, Cellar Stock Importers 22.

Margaux Burgess AIWS, Lingua Vina Sommelier Services, MW Candidate, WSET Diploma, ISG Diploma 23.

Brandy Dawson, sommelier, The Marc, WSET Advanced 24.

Ashley Thompson, sommelier, corso 32, WSET Advanced

16.

Alison Phillips, president Aligra Wine & Spirits, FWS, ISGL2

25. Sandi Hollas, Alberta sales manager Appellation Wine Marketing.

17.

Valerie Albrecht, northern Alberta rep Enotri Wine Marketing, WSETL2

26.

Deborah Pirker, territory manager Andrew Peller Import Agency

30.

Anita Jarmolicz, International Cellars, ISGL2, FWS 31.

Natasha Susylinski, fine wine ambassador Treasury Wine Estates, wine instructor, WSET Advanced, FWS, CSW 32.

Erin Chipchura, wine rep Galileo Wine & Spirits, WSET Advanced, ISG Diploma 33.

Barb Giacomin, owner Winequest Wine & Spirits Agency 34. Amanda LeNeve, wine specialist Color de Vino, WSET Advanced

#winewomenyeg We are a city filled with women who work with wine every day— knowledgeable, talented, hard-working smart women. Why not get us all into one room to celebrate that? It was a joyful morning. Thanks to the folks at Iconoclast for letting us take over the back room and for the fab coffee. A special thanks to Curtis Comeau for his patience and good humour. The criteria? At least two of the following: women who have demonstrated leadership, have made a career in wine; have a minimum of five years experience as a wine representative or sommelier in a restaurant or are a store owner or manager of a wine-focused shop; have practical experience (visit wine regions regularly, worked in a vineyard or winery, make wine); have a viticulture or oenology degree, L3 WSET Advanced or higher, ISG diploma, FWS.

Curtis Comeau Photography

35.

Stacey-Jo Strombecky, Renaissance Wine Merchants, ISG Diploma 36.

Annabelle Evaristo, partner deVine Wines & Spirits 37.

Connie Treble, wine rep Andrew Peller Limited, WSETL2

Absent Donna Dubetz, Bacchus Group Nancy Fung, owner Fine Wines by Liquor Select Mona Jager, owner The Wine Room Brett Norrie, wine rep Empson Canada Twila Paulsen, co-owner, Ex Nihilo Vineyards

38.

Kim Theoret, sommelier The Marc, WSET Advanced

8

39. Kari Jensen, wine rep Caskade Wines, WSET Advanced 40.

Dee Dee Miller, territory manager, Authentic Wine & Spirit Merchants 41.

Nicole Weinkauf, sommelier Bar Bricco, co-founder Prova, WSET Advanced

Mel Priestly, Vue Weekly, CMSL2 Lori Savard, grapegrower, winemaker Doris Tan, grapegrower Valerie Walker, Vines of Riverbend, owner, Corks & Crumbs, ISG Diploma Cheri Wright, wine rep Empson Canada

2

3

1

4 38

39

5 37

6

7 35 36

33

10

9 32

31

34 40

11 30

14

12 13 29 28

41

Education Legend: AIWS Associate of the Institute of Wines and Spirits (must hold WSET Diploma); CMS Court of Master Sommeliers offers L1 Introductory, L2 certified sommelier; L3 Advanced sommelier; L4 Master Sommelier diploma; FWS French Wine Society: FWS is the French wine scholar certificate; ISG International Sommelier Guild offers levels 1, 2 and Sommelier Certification Diploma; MW Master of Wine; Society of Wine Educators; CSW certified specialist of wine; followed by CWE, certified wine educator; WSET Wine Spirits and Education Trust offers levels 1, 2 and 3 (Foundation, Intermediate, Advanced) and Diploma, also known as Level 4.

27

18 15 16 17 24

26 25 42

19

21

20 23

22

43

42. Juanita Burns, sommelier, The Wine Cellar, ISG Diploma 43.

Lisa Vaughn, co-owner, Cibo Bistro, WSET Advanced

The Tomato | May June 2015 19

Beer Guy Beer at the table Orthodoxy has no place at the dining table.

Garrett Oliver was speaking about the accepted place wine had at the dining table in his classic 2003 book, The Brewmaster’s Table. He called for a reformation in thinking about what we serve with food—in particular, he declared that beer deserved a seat at the table.

Oliver wrote that beer—real beer as he called it—is a noble, versatile beverage that pairs beautifully with most food. This idea was heretical at the time, with fine dining tables the exclusive purview of wine. But Oliver was right. Wine is made from a single ingredient.

Beer is made from at least four ingredients, often more, with hundreds of variables within the grains, hops, yeast and water used, never mind the multiplicity of methods, processes and approaches. In fact, beer’s wide range of flavours—earthy, acidic, smoky, sweet, bitter, fruity, floral, biscuity—means it pairs better with more foods than wine.

Just as the rigid old rules of white wine with fish, red wine with meat have fallen away, matching beer with food is flexible and open to experimentation.

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20 May June 2015 | The Tomato

The easiest way is complementing; look for similar tastes in the beer and the food. Think of the caramelized char on grilled meat and look to the maltiness of an amber ale. Match strength with strength, big beers with big food, soft beers with delicate dishes.

Contrast is another way to go, pairing the fire of a curry with the lush coolness of a hefeweizen. The key is to know a little bit about the beer you want to match and there’s no better way to figure that out than to try the beer.

In the years since Oliver’s Martin Luther moment, beer has found a place at the grown-up table. You don’t have to look far to see evidence of beer’s increasing respectability. In my neighbourhood

alone, all the hip new dining spots such as Canteen, RGE RD, North 53 and Solstice Seasonal Cuisine serve beer— good beer.

I spoke to Josh Meachem, the bar manager at Solstice about beer and fine dining. What a pleasure to discover a fellow beer geek at the controls of the beverage program. Meacham agreed enthusiastically about beer at the table.

“Absolutely beer has its place. Beer can have a depth of flavour like fine wine or a well-balanced cocktail.” The beer menu is stylistically varied (not all lagers, as continues to be the case at too many restaurants, akin to a wine menu of only Chardonnay).

“We attempt to have eight-10 varieties of beer.

We want to have the best beer in each category while maintaining value,” Meacham said.

Their list runs from Rosée D’hibiscus, a soft, hibiscus-flower infused wheat beer from Montréal’s Dieu du Ciel to Yukon Brewing’s delicious English-style Ice Fog IPA. Asked about his favourite beer and food pairing, Meacham pointed to dubbel, a strong Belgian brown ale, with braised, smoked or barbecued meats. Solstice currently serves the Westmalle Dubbel, a classic of the style, dark brown, heavybodied, slightly bitter, and nutty with fruity notes; a perfect companion for beef.

The owners of Solstice are all young turks, as are many of the people behind the beer-friendly boîtes around town.

Meacham agreed with my thesis that younger food people treat beer well because they grew up with craft beer and it is just a normal part of their world.

Or maybe he was just being polite; such a nice young man. Regardless, I know the reformation is not finished when I see Shock Top or Alexander Keith’s IPA on the beer menus at otherwise good restaurants. But we’re headed in the right direction—and this old beer geek says cheers to that.

Peter Bailey

Beer Menu Six food-friendly beers that match well with meals from breakfast to dessert. Look for these at the restaurants mentioned or one of Edmonton’s better beer stores like Sherbrooke or Keg ’n Cork.

Maisel’s Weisse, Bayreuth, Germany Never mind the mimosa, beer’s what you want at brunch. Try a nice, soft, fruity wheat beer like the Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse I had with my eggs benny at Calgary’s FARM restaurant recently. Or head to Canteen on 124th for Edmonton’s best brunch and order up a pint of Maisel’s Weisse. Owner Frank Olson says Maisel’s goes amazingly well with Canteen’s famed chickpea fries.

For a moment, forget that it‘s fully forged, perfectly balanced, incredibly sharp...

Just Feel.

Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale, Ibaraki, Japan Sake brewer Kiuchi began brewing beer in 1996, looking primarily to Belgium for inspiration. Their Red Rice Ale is a Belgian-style strong ale but made in a uniquely Japanese way, with 25 per cent rice and both sake and ale yeasts. The taste is complex, sweet and bitter with a hint of strawberry. It paired beautifully with a dizzying parade of small plates of modern Korean food at Calgary’s wonderful Anju restaurant.

Stone IPA, San Diego, USA Find a retailer: www.wusthof.ca

One of my beer epiphanies was eating a fish burrito on a beach near Encinitas along the Pacific Coast Highway, with a powerful Green Flash West Coast IPA. Ideal companions: hoppy west coast IPA and SoCal cuisine. I’m waiting patiently for the Tres Carnales guys to stock a great beer like the fruity, bitter Stone IPA, to match with Edmonton’s best fish tacos.

La Cotta Marinéra, Mercatale di Sassocorvaro, Italy Craft beer is a global phenomenon, so why not brew beer in wine-obsessed Italy? New to Alberta are beers from Società Agricola Colleverde near Urbino. This pleasant blonde ale has a subtle twist due to the addition of sea salt. It would go nicely with the signature egg yolk ravioli at Bar Bricco. Costa stocks the Italian Brùton craft beers presently.

S G

I

M R

P E

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Y T

Chimay Première (Red), Chimay, Belgium Recently I did the beer pairings for a dinner cooked by a marvelous amateur cook. I was confident about all my pairings except the centrepiece dish, rotisserie prime rib. My fears were for naught as the dubbels I chose, Unibroue Maudite and Chimay Premiere, were a perfect marriage with the beef, the char matching the big malt, the fruitiness picking up the taste of the rare meat within. Heaven.

HUB Survival Stout, Portland, USA The final dish of a recent beer dinner was a chocolate stout chocolate cake.

I paired the cake with one of my favourite beers, the incredible Hopworks coffee-infused stout. Survival Stout is liquid bread, with seven different grains including barley, wheat, oats, amaranth, quinoa, spelt and kamut.

Plus coffee! Chewy, smooth, semi-sweet yet bitter and very delicious. Or as one dinner guest said, “a revelation!”

F

O

O

D

DOESN ’ T HAVE A DRES S CODE. At Nineteen, we believe that great food speaks for itself. It doesn’t have a list of rules for dress code and etiquette, and it doesn’t care about salad forks and string quartets. It only cares that you love delicious food, because that’s what we serve.

DI N E N I N ETE E N .COM

Peter Bailey is an Edmonton-area librarian who keeps a few bottles of Survival Stout in his basement. Just in case.

The Tomato | May June 2015 21

DRINK SUPERIOR

Keg n Cork Liquor Company

Over 250 of the finest Single Malts Scotland has to offer.

3845 99 Street www.kegncork.com info@kegncork.com 780.461.0191

Feeding People One love Hidden among the maze of winding roads in Millwoods is a ubiquitous 1970s era strip mall.

There’s a convenience shop, a drug store and a bank. Next to the 7-11 is Irie Foods, one of the city’s few Jamaican restaurants.

Back at work, I bite into the soft flaky patty. Everything is just right. The thin layers of dough, slightly thicker than Mediterranean baklava, fall apart in my mouth. The beef filling is a savoury moist paste spiced with plenty of black pepper and a hint of thyme.

Wednesdays during lunch hour, the sparsely decorated 20-seat restaurant is standing room only. The vibe is happy.

Reggae music pipes into the room from the kitchen. Most people are here for the $8.99 Wednesday jerk chicken special, but I’m here for something else. I am told that Irie Foods is where I can find the tastiest Jamaican patties in Edmonton—just like the ones “back home.”

Forty-seven years and many recipes ago in Kingston, Jamaica, the Chang family began mass-producing Jamaica’s most beloved snack—the Jamaican patty, a flaky hand-held pie filled with spicy curried beef. The Chang family did not invent the patty, but they did elevate the patty from home kitchens to the world stage. Their Tastee shops, located across Jamaica, serve thousands of patties a week, and the company also ships its product to convenience shops, grocery stores and restaurants around the world.

Behind the counter inside a warming oven I spot a rack of half a dozen or so patties. The first thing you notice about a Jamaican patty is its brilliant colour.

The signature yellow golden crust gets its hue from an egg wash of curry powder and turmeric. “People come from all over the city for these patties.

The meat filling is not too spicy and not too greasy,” says Irie Foods owner Patti Ricketts in her Jamaican lilt. She tucks the yellow patty into a brown paper bag and I head off.

www.themarc.ca

22 May June 2015 | The Tomato

@themarcedmonton

These are the best patties in Edmonton.

In four decades, the patty has become so popular there are now half a dozen or so large companies in North America manufacturing these savoury snacks, all of them professing to have the best tasting patty.

Warning: if you don’t have years of experience and knowledge about Jamaican patties, don’t get into a discussion with a Jamaican about which

Tracy Hyatt

brand is the best. Next to jerk chicken, there’s no other dish in Jamaica that arouses such patriotism and love for the country. In some circles, Jamaicans will tell you that Juici is the best patty to be had, others will swear by Tastee patties.

finding a Jamaican cookbook at your favourite bookstore. You just have to learn to make your family’s treasured recipes by watching. My mother’s patties are mild but each bite is bursting with curried ground beef.

Up until a few years ago Irie Foods sold Tastee patties, but the company stopped shipping to Western Canada, forcing Rickets to find another supplier. After sampling several products, she finally settled on Toronto-based TinNel, whose recipe comes close to the famous Tastee patty.

“The original recipe, the authentic patty, has a flakier dough and is much harder to replicate,” says Frank Scanlon, director of sales and marketing at Patty King International. The Toronto-based company is the largest manufacturer in Canada and their patties are known for the flaky crust that is favoured by Jamaicans.

To understand the Jamaican patty, you must know the country’s history. Arawak Indians first inhabited the island, then the Spanish arrived in the mid-1400s.

The Brits arrived in the 1600s bringing with them enslaved Africans. The Europeans brought plants, spices and cooking methods to the island until eventually Jamaica’s cuisine literally became one big melting pot. The country’s signature dish is jerk chicken, slow-roasted in a marinade of garlic, black pepper, thyme, onion, pimento and scotch bonnet peppers. Patties come a close second.

The Jamaican patty is a riff on the Cornish pasty likely introduced to the island by its British colonizers. But unlike the bland Cornish pasty filling, which failed to tempt black Jamaicans’ tastebuds, Scotch Bonnet pepper, black pepper, curry powder, allspice and thyme are added to the filling of a Jamaican patty.

Unlike Cornish pastys, the crust of a Jamaican patty is flaky, but “a good patty shouldn’t be so flaky that it falls apart before you get a chance to eat it,” says Ricketts. It’s labour-intensive work to get the dough just right, which is why most Jamaican restaurants in Canada don’t make them in-house.

Not even homemade patties taste the same. In Jamaica, family recipes are rarely written down and good luck

On a Saturday night in downtown Edmonton when the bars close, you can find a queue of people at the Jasper Avenue 7-11. The convenience store has become the prerequisite stop for late-night munchies. For a couple of dollars, you can choose from pizza slices, corn dogs, chicken tenders, Taquitos or Jamaican patties. Patties are sold as a cheap counter snack or portable meal throughout the Caribbean, so it’s no surprise that one of the largest convenience store chains in North America sells them. But what irks most patty purists is the quality.

“Uh, uh, it’s not the same thing. The staff at 7-11 come here to buy patties,” says Ricketts. And so the patty wars continue.

I give 7-11 props for introducing Jamaican patties to the masses. Their patties aren’t as flaky or as spicy as Tastee, Juici or TiNel. But their Global Delights beef patties are good enough to pique people’s interest in Jamaican food.

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Tracy Hyatt is the associate managing editor for Westworld magazine and is Jamaican. She thinks her mum’s patties are the best, better than Tastee’s.

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The Tomato | May June 2015 23

Nourishing Entertainment!

Metro Cinema is a community-based non-profit society devoted to the exhibition and promotion of Canadian, international and independent film and video. metrocinema.org

Just for Cats June 19 - 24

Come celebrate all things feline! The internationally acclaimed internet cat video festival, honours our favourite companion animal with their own festival, while raising money for cat welfare in Canada.

The Valley Below June 26 - 29 Alberta’s badlands provide the spectacular backdrop for this intimate look at a group of Drumheller residents. Four Canadian songwriters Rae Spoon, Dan Mangan, Eamon McGrath, & Gavin Gardiner - provide four discrete soundtracks.

Milk June 25 @ 7:15

You can learn a lot from a person’s tastes, especially their cinematic palate. Mayor Iveson presents a portrait of pioneering gay activist Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in the US.

8712-109 Street | metrocinema.org

Fine Cheese Crackers The soft texture and complex flavours of these high-quality crackers made just for cheese complement rather than overwhelm. Pair the Olive Oil and Sea Salt with the Cheesiry’s pecorino-style cheeses or a chunk of Manchego; we love the Fig with any blue cheese. The good-looking package makes them a tasty hostess gift too. From the Fine Cheese Company in Bath, England. $6.99.

Available at The Cavern.

Kitchen by Brad Devil’s Butter

Mayor Don Iveson Presents

Metro Cinema at the Garneau

Spring Pantry

Metro Cinema receives ongoing support from these Arts Funders:

Devil’s Butter is compound butter made with garlic, horseradish, hot sauce and mustard, just spicy enough to add an irresistible kick. Slather on steak or chops, toss with vegetables or brush on shrimp while grilling, $9. We’re big fans of whatever Brad has in the fridge for sale, nab the crème fraiche to go, if available. Available at Kitchen by Brad at the Friday Night Market.

Cawston Press Brilliant Beetroot Juice Take fresh earthy beets, juice them, sweeten with 10 per cent apple juice, add nothing else and you have the delicious Brilliant Beetroot, chock-full of antioxidant goodness. That colour! It’s like drinking a jolt of spring. Or try the refreshing apple rhubarb blend. Made in Britain, 1 litre, $6.99. Available at Freson Bros, Stony Plain and Sandyview Farms, St Albert.

Reginald’s Original Roast Peanut Butter Trust a Virginian to come up with a toothsome peanut butter made from roasted Virginia peanuts and peanut oil. These are grown-up peanut butters to be eaten from the jar with a spoon.

Two flavours, Bourbon Pecan, $9.99 and the Original Crunchy, $7.99, available at Call the Kettle Black.

24 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Chickie Dough Dessert Hummus Staci Fudge and Karmel Greter’s oneyear-old farmers’ market business is changing minds about chickpeas. They have developed a delicious dessertstyle hummus. “We wanted to make something cool, and thought, ‘what can we do that’s unique’?” said Staci. “We’re both dieticians and wanted something healthy. Karmel was recently diagnosed with celiac disease, so it had to be gluten-free and a bit of an indulgence.”

“We’ve learned a lot in a year. The concept of dessert hummus is a tough sell. We have to convince people to try it, but once they taste it, they are shocked by the flavour profile.”

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip is their best seller, and they do seasonal flavours— Pumpkin Spice in September, April was Matcha White Chocolate Chip.

Surprisingly, all this indulgence rings in at under 10 grams of sugar per quarter cup serving, $5-$6 depending on flavour, available at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market and City Market Downtown.

Mr. Organic Italian Ketchup Each bottle contains 2.5 kg of ripe organic tomatoes grown on farms just south of Rome, sugar (30 per cent less than the standard), vinegar and salt. The result? The thickest, tomatoiest, yummiest ketchup you have ever tried.

Made in Britain from Italian tomatoes, $9.99. Available at Freson Bros.

CULINARY BOOT CAMPS Enlist today for a culinary adventure!

NAIT’s Culinary Boot Camps reveal the secrets to cooking and baking like a pro through hands-on practice, lectures and demonstrations in our stateof-the-art kitchens. Get your culinary skills in shape through lessons on planning, preparation and flavour pairings. Learn from NAIT’s celebrated chefs. Totally new classes and recipes.

Pastry Boot Camp

[BAKG305] Mon – Fri | July 6-10 | Fee: $1,695 (+ $500 material fees)

Culinary Boot Camp

[CULG305] Tue – Fri | July 7-10 & July 14-17 Fee: $995 (+ $400 material fees)

Gourmet Boot Camp [CULG306] NEW COURSE Tue – Fri | July 7-10 | Fee: $995 (+ $400 material fees)

For The Love Of Chocolate Boot Camp [CULG310] Tue – Fri | July 14-17 | Fee: $995 (+ $400 material fees)

Cured Meats, Cheeses and Pickles Boot Camp [CULG330] NEW COURSE Tue – Fri | July 14-17 | Fee: $995 (+ $400 material fees)

Meat Boot Camp

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NEW COURSE Tue – Fri | July 7-10 | Fee: $995 (+ $400 material fees)

Enlist today! Call NAIT at 780.471.6248 or register on-line at nait.ca/bootcamp

A LEADING POLYTECHNIC COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS

The Tomato | May June 2015 25

The Lunch Lady Energy and the midday break

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#ALDEREATS a collaboration dinner

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26 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Since taking over the school lunch program last year at Highlands Junior High (now managed by Teresa Bradley but I still help out when needed), I’ve heard many comments from teachers, students and parents at the school suggesting that the students are happier, more focused with an increase in productivity. They are polite and appreciative: “The Highlands Food Program helps me out a lot. It gives me the nutrition I need for the hard working day ahead.”

“Staff at the school have noticed increased attentiveness from students who have eaten a balanced breakfast and lunch. Students with a full stomach are also prepared to be physically active in gym classes and extra-curricular athletics.”

This kind of enthusiasm for a midday break, a nourishing lunch and a chance to visit and share with your peers is something worth looking forward to each day for kids and adults alike. A well-balanced, nourishing lunch can help us stay focused and energetic for the rest of the day.

For me, my biggest challenge is keeping up with my two daughters and I often struggle with the midday slump. I had children later in life, and now I am hyper-aware of how many times a day I tell them I’m tired, especially around school pick-up time. I don’t want them to remember their childhood with me as a tired mom. I aspire to be a role model. Active. Enjoying life. Doing spontaneous things. Trying different

things. Not having a quick little power nap (which inevitably turns into a sleep coma and followed by a lack of enthusiasm for anything but Netflix).

OK, I’m exaggerating. Or am I? Hmmm.

For many years I have paid close attention to my eating habits and food choices, sometimes too close. I find it can take away from the simple joy of eating when your mind is filled with thoughts of guilt and second guessing your choices. The decisions involved in a healthier diet are, for most, overwhelming.

For example, I am concerned when I go to a farmers market and a fruit vendor is offering up plastic packets of blueberries from Mexico.

I offered a delicious quinoa salad at my restaurant only to discover I had been contributing to short-term food security issues in Bolivia. I stand in the produce section of my neighbourhood grocery store on a Sunday night wondering whether I should purchase B.C. apples that are not organic or the bag of organic Pink Lady apples from who knows where.

Often there are no cut and dried answers, no simple solutions to help us decide on the right choices. The best we can do is shop local when possible, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and stay away from overly processed foods.

What I learned from working at the school is good food can come from working with what you have, or simply just getting back to the basics.

When preparing lunches at the school, I often used a variety of spices, not necessarily hot and spicy, just flavourful and interesting. A favourite was chicken

and chickpea curry (with loads of Indian spices—cumin, coriander, garam masala, chilies and turmeric), topped with yogurt and apple chutney. A simple tomato soup made from any type of tomato product I had on hand, spiced with smoked paprika and served with cheesy whole-wheat pita crisps. The students love pasta salads. Sometimes we would have to use the pasta from boxes of Kraft dinner, but when I added cherry tomatoes, cheddar, crumbled cauliflower and diced red peppers, then tossed with a yogurt and mayonnaise-based dressing seasoned with Italian spices, the result was a satisfying, nourishing lunch that got them through the rest of the day.

We were given a case of Japanese noodles once. On their own, not ideal, but ever so lightly sprinkled into one of those Japanese cabbage noodle salads recipes from the ’70s, loaded with shredded cabbage and carrots, celery, peppers, minced mushrooms, sunflower seeds and sesame dressing? Delicious.

Add sliced chicken or turkey breast or even cubes of tofu for a well-balanced meal that’s sure to prevent the mid-day slump.

Fruit donations at the school come from several different sources. The students love apples and oranges, bananas and occasionally kiwis and grapes. Grapefruit? Not so much. But if you turn those grapefruits into a salad dressing, sweetened with honey, they just might eat it.

Cindy Lazarenko

Salad in a Jar with Grapefruit Salad Dressing ½ c roughly chopped onion, shallots or scallions 2 c fresh grapefruit juice (about 3

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grapefruits) 2

T chopped cilantro

2

t honey

¼ t freshly ground pepper ¼ c extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

Place the onion, grapefruit juice, cilantro, honey and pepper in a blender; process until smooth. With blender on, slowly add oil; process until smooth.

Season with salt, to taste.

Makes approximately 2½ cups.

Salad Suggestion: Start with a layer of your favourite cooked grain (millet, brown rice, barley, farro). Drizzle a good amount of salad dressing (you want to really saturate the grains as this will essentially be what coats the rest of the salad). Layer with chopped romaine lettuce, a few handfuls of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, chopped celery. Garnish with chunks of creamy goat cheese, sprouts or micro greens. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds or a mixture of all.

Cindy Lazarenko is the chef/owner of OnOurTable, a volunteer at Highlands Junior High, and helps her brother at Culina Catering.

Authentic Ethiopian Dining

ABYSSINIA RESTAURANT Lunch Buffet Mon. to Fri. 11 am - 3 pm Meat & Vegan Options

Vegan Buffet Wed. & Fri. 5 pm - 9 pm Meat & Vegan Buffet Sat. 5 pm - 9 pm Regular menu always available

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great wedding gift idea!

Cavern Cheese Club cheese • wine+beer • espresso

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Give the happy couple the gift of eating well! Cavern Cheese Club offers delivery of the choicest cheese & charcuterie to the couple's home Packages range from $55-$95/month 3, 6, or 12 month subscriptions available

The Tomato | May June 2015 27

The Proust Culinary Questionnaire Jerry Bigam, Kinnikinnick Foods In the late nineteenth century, French novelist Marcel Proust participated in an exercise which could be thought of as the Facebook of its era — he answered a questionnaire about himself in a friend’s Confession Album.

Proust’s answers have been published, in one form or another, for more than a century. Many have used the questionnaire for their own devices, the most notable being Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire featuring celebrities. The Tomato now gives it a culinary twist.

Ted Wolff Von Selzam was a gluten-free pioneer who started selling gluten-free baked goods at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market in 1989. He named the company Kinnikinnick, loving the local bearberry legends, and thinking the name was unforgettable, if not easy to spell.

Lynne Bigam was celiac and a loyal customer. Like Victor Kiam, who loved the product so much he bought the company (remember those Remington shaver ads?) the Bigams bought into Kinnikinnick in 1997, and became sole owners when Ted retired in 2005.

Lynne left her law practice to work for the family business as does son Jay; Kinnikinnick’s early adoption of on-line sales was spearheaded

by Jay. Over the past 15 years the family has continued to build Kinnikinnick

into a major global supplier of highquality gluten-free foods.

Hometown?

Red Deer.

Where would you like to live?

Somewhere between London, Paris and Maui, and right here too.

What would you be doing if not Kinnikinnick?

Running a business, wherever there was a good opportunity, probably in some other kind of manufacturing in food or forestry.

What do you most appreciate in your friends?

The ability to exchange ideas, understanding, loyalty, forbearance.

Your favourite qualities in a dish?

Variety. When traveling, I always want to know what the special dish is for the area.

A wine?

I like dry and heavy. Right now, enjoying Malbec.

Who would be at your dream dinner table (dead or alive)?

David Foster, Oscar Peterson, Tom Clancy, Andrea Bocelli.

Who would cook?

Michael Smith and Anna Olsen.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I think we should do it this way.

Current culinary obsession/exploration?

We look for best-selling conventional foods and think, how can we convert that into a unique gluten-free product?

Right now we are developing the best way to combine meat in a gluten-free item, such as a chicken pot pie.

We are always looking to improve the nutrition of our

28 May June 2015 | The Tomato

products—our cookies are made with pulses, which lessens the carbo load.

Our products are allergy friendly, we don’t use trans fats, artificial flavours or colours, preservatives, dairy, nuts and rarely do we use soy. We lab test extensively.

Best (food processing) thing that ever happened to you?

We bought Parmalat’s large food manufacturing facility (Sunland Foods, a private label cookie plant) and converted it to gluten-free in 2005. This allowed us to expand our business. It had some of the most sophisticated bakery equipment in the world, and was one of the three largest plants at the time.

It is 120,000 square feet, and we spent close to seven months decontaminating it. There are four 150-foot ovens now making bread and pizza dough.

Mentors?

My wife is my best mentor and critic.

I had a business partner for 30 years; we built Canadian Malting into a very successful export company. The Edmonton CEO club is a group of major family-owned food processors in the Edmonton area. We get together to solve common problems like freight costs.

Philosophy?

To never have to say, ‘if only I’d.’

What’s next?

We are extending our markets beyond the Americas, especially to the Far East and Europe. The Canadian standard for gf is the lowest, 20ppm, which makes Kinnikinnick foods attractive in other markets. Our customer base includes people with all sorts of allergies and food intolerances, not just gf. People always say this can’t be gluten-free when they taste our products.

We make a difference; our customers can live normal lives. I get handwritten notes that say, ‘for the first time I can have pancakes and smores.’ That’s very gratifying.

FINE WINE, SPIRITS AND ALES

Now in Edmonton Centre!

780.458.4777 • info@unwined.biz www.unwined.biz • 2, 512 St. Albert Trail

Pork Continued from page 11

Indulge in an evening of fine wines and prairie cuisine.

Braised Pork Shoulder with Pomegranate Molasses Sauce Dave Omar, ZINC 3 lb piece pork shoulder (trimmed of silver skin, veins and excess fat) and cut into 2 inch pieces ½ T toasted fennel seeds 3-4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

JUNE 8, 2015 • 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM DELTA EDMONTON SOUTH • $80

1 large onion (approx ½ lb) peeled 3

cloves garlic

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2

bay leaves

1

c white wine

2

c water

1

t paprika t dried oregano

and sliced

PRODUCERS

WINERIES

RESTAURANTS

1

Alberta Bison Ranch

50th Parallel Estate

The Cheesiry

Backyard Vineyards

4404 Restaurant (Delta Edmonton South)

¼ t black pepper

Crooked Lake Farm Beef

Benjamin Bridge

Ampersand 27

½ t kosher salt

Doef’s Greenhouses

Cedar Creek

Belgravia Hub

¼ c cold pressed canola oil

Four Whistle Farm

Hundred Bar & Innovative Kitchen

4

c beef stock

Greener Pastures Pork

Culmina Family Estate Winery

Kitchen By Brad

2

T pomegranate molasses*

Gull Valley Greenhouses

Henry Of Pelham

Harvest Micro Greens

Kalala Organic Estate Winery

Lux Steakhouse + Bar

Mount Boucherie Vineyards

NAIT School of Hospitality

Meyer Family Vineyards Red Rooster

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse

Sandhill

Red Ox Inn Rostizado

Rock Ridge Dairy

Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Strawman Farm Bison

Tinhorn Creek Vineyards

Tzin Wine & Tapas

Irvings Farm Fresh Pork Jacek Chocolate Couture Mo-Na Foods Nature’s Green Acres The Newget Kompany Reclaim Urban Farm

Sundog Organic Farm Sunworks Farms Sylvan Star Cheese Farm Tangle Ridge Ranch Vesta Gardens

The Marc

Royal Glenora Club

Rub pork with spices and canola oil and allow to rest in fridge for one hour. Heat a large sauté pan and sear all sides of the meat. Place into a deep oven-proof dish.

Add carrots, onions, wine and water.

Cover with parchment paper and tin foil.

Braise at 300ºF for 3 hours, or until pieces are fork tender.

Zinc Restaurant

Carefully remove pork pieces to a parchment lined baking sheet to cool. Remove bay leaves and purée the braising liquid. Add stock and pomegranate molasses.

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Cook for 25 minutes on medium heat.

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Serve with roasted baby potatoes and a good hearty bread to make sure you get all that beautiful sauce.

Alley Kat Brewery Fallen Timber Meadery Fieldstone Fruit Wines Fernie Brewing Company

Toast Fine Catering vivo ristorante XIX (Nineteen)

Serves 6 * Pomegranate molasses is available at the Italian Centre Shops, or make your own using Dave Omar’s recipe, next page.

indulgenceedmonton.ca

30 May June 2015 | The Tomato

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Pomegranate Molasses 7

c pomegranate juice

1

c white sugar

1

c packed Demerara sugar

½ c lemon juice

Place all ingredients into a heavy pot.

Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugars.

Reduce heat to medium low and reduce to 3 cups in volume.

Makes 3 cups.

boiling water. Do not allow water to touch basket.

Cover and steam over boiling water until meatballs are completely cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

Repeat steaming procedure with remaining meatballs. Alternatively, meatballs may be placed on a rack in a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet and baked in an oven at 350°F until completely cooked, about 20 minutes.

H A R D WA R E G R I L L

Steamed Pork Meatball Lettuce Wraps

Makes 30.

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½ c hoisin sauce

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2

20 butter lettuce leaves

lb (1 kg) lean ground pork

¼ c oyster sauce

20 fresh mint leaves

3

T finely chopped shallot

1¼ c julienned carrots

4

t fish sauce

1¼ c julienned seeded English

4

cloves garlic, finely chopped

1

t granulated sugar

1

t white pepper

Combine all ingredients. Shape mixture into 30 balls, each measuring about 1½ inches; set aside.

To steam meatballs, use a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and a heatproof steaming basket that will hold the meatballs above water in the saucepan.

Bring water to a boil in saucepan.

Place only enough meatballs to form a single layer in the basket. Set basket over

Third Leaf Continued from page 13

rack of neutral French oak barrels in an industrial bay. It’s not as bleak as it sounds, Giant’s Head Mountain is right outside the door of the small tasting room he built last year. TH owns no vineyards but has created working relationships with several farmers.

“There is more fruit available to me now, especially in Summerland and Osoyoos, probably because I know more growers and winemakers now. I buy the cab franc from a grower in Naramata.

We will go and pick early and bring the grapes back and make the wine. I prefer smaller ferments as each brings something unique, that’s where we get complexity. We have no temperature control, we move tanks in and outside when we need to.

cucumber ¼ c fresh cilantro leaves

Place hot meatballs in a heatproof bowl.

Add hoisin sauce and toss to coat; set aside.

A 3-course menu designed for those looking for a quick dinner, on their way to a movie or event, or who just want to avoid cooking at home—great value, even greater food.

Monday to Thursday 5 pm - 9:30 pm Friday and Saturday 5 pm - 6:30 pm Visit our Facebook page for weekly menus 2015 recipient of OpenTable’s Top 100 Best Restaurants in Canada www.hardwaregrill.com 780.423.0969 97 Street & Jasper Avenue CHEF’S TABLE IN THE KITCHEN • PRIVATE CONFERENCE ROOM

Make ten stacks of 2 lettuce leaves each.

Dividing equally, top each lettuce stack with mint leaves, carrots and cucumber.

Place 3 meatballs on top of vegetables on each lettuce stack. Garnish with cilantro. Wrap leaves around filling to enclose.

Makes 10.

Tyler makes a Pinot Noir, a deliciously structured Cabernet Franc-Merlot, a Pinot Gris-Viognier blend, a sprightly Cabernet Franc rosé and 173 cases of Viognier.

“I love Viognier,” he says. “I found the best grapes out there, two and a half tons per acre, we harvest it in about four hours, then let it sit overnight. The next day we put it in a few barrels and a tank.

“Matt at Blue Mountain is my mentor because they started as growers, and are still involved in every part of their operation—from pruning to disgorging.”

Mary Bailey is the editor of The Tomato.

Your LOCAL choice for Gluten Free since 1991

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The Tomato | May June 2015 31

what’s new and notable Kitchen Sink wine tastings, happenings and events “Treat mom, give her an Italian,” says chef Brad Smoliak about the upcoming Enjoy the Tuscan Sun dinner at Kitchen by Brad (10130-105 Street, 780-757-7704, kitchenbybrad.ca) on May 9. Special guest is oenologist Dario Faccin, Tenuta Carobbio.

Two wines from one of Italy’s young hot shots from Lazio, Lorenzo Constantini, will also be poured.

Tickets $125, info@kitchenbybrad.ca.

Love beer? Enjoy the La Cotta Beer Dinner, fivecourses with carefully selected La Cotta brews from Italy. Tuesday, June 16, 7 pm, $85 at Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse (9929 109 Street, 780-756-7030 pampasteakhouse.com). Space is limited, call 780-756-7030.

The Common (9910 109 Street, 780-4527333, thecommon.ca) is offering a tasty threecourse dinner for $30 every Tuesday night. Email commonreservations@gmail.com. This is a terrific opportunity to explore the flavours of their top-notch chef Jesse Morrison-Gauthier.

Celebrate Mexico’s greatest export, tequila, in a fun and educational workshop Cinco de Mayo Tequila Tasting at Aligra Wine & Spirits (1423, Entrance 58 West Edmonton Mall, 780-483-1083, aligrawineandspirits. com) May 5, 7pm, tickets, $40. On June 9, Aligra holds a Craft Beer Tasting, 7 pm, $20. Tickets for both events at aligrawineandspirits.com/events Don’t miss the Rotary Club of Edmonton’s Lobster Feast Downtown with a Purpose, a family-style lobster dinner, live music and auction, Thursday, June 25, at The Chateau Lacombe, 5:30pm-10 pm.

Included is an Iron Chef-style appetizer competition; the winner becomes the Rotary Club of Edmonton’s Chef of the Year. The goal is to raise $100,000 for ongoing community initiatives in honour of Rotary’s centennial year. Tickets $125, rotarylobsterfeast.com.

Enjoy Crestwood Fine Wines and Spirits (9658 142 Street, 780-488-7800, crestwoodfinewines.com) Spring and Summer Open House on Saturday, June 6, from 4pm-7pm. Taste over 50 wines along with delicious appetizers.

Upcoming events at Keg ’n Cork (3845 99 Street, 780-461-0191 kegncork.com); May 7, taste eight premium independent bottlings of Scotch with Jonathan Bray at the Secret Spirits Scotch Tasting, 7:30 pm, $45; May 21, Sottano Wine Tasting with Diego Sottano, 7:30pm, $25; May 27, Glenfarclas

32 May June 2015 | The Tomato

Tasting with George Grant from Scotland’s last familyowned distillery, 7:30pm, $50. On June 11 is the Taste of Summer Open House, 6:30pm, no charge.

On Friday June 12, enjoy Salud! A Taste of Chile, at the Old Timers Cabin, 9430 Scona Road, 7pm. Tickets $65, 780-616-9445, or cccs-edmonton@outlook.com

It’s a full roster of events at Hicks Fine Wines (109-150 Bellerose Drive, St. Albert, 780-569-5000). Tastings begin at 7pm and are $25/person unless otherwise noted. May 12, Unusual Grapes, Unusual Places with Michael Fregren, Artisan Wines; May 19, Winetasting 101: Spanish Value Wine with Marcia J Hamm, $40; May 23, That Spring Thing, first Annual Spring Open House, 2pm-5 pm; no charge; May 27, Think Pink with Stacey-Jo Strombecky, Nobilis/Renaissance; June 11, California Dreamin with Jason Sanwell, Evolution Wines; June 16, Patio Sippers & Summer Wines with Valerie Albrecht, Enotri Wine Marketing.

Mark your calendars: RGE RD’s (10643 123 Street, 780-447-4577, rgerd.ca) annual farm dinner at Nature’s Green Acres is Saturday, August 15. Tickets $150, naturesgreenacres.com. Visit prairiegardens.org for Prairie Gardens /RGE RD dinner dates.

The Accidental Sommelier Series at UnWined: Fine Wines, Spirits & Ales (#2, 512 St. Albert Trail, St. Albert, 780-458-4777 and 203 Edmonton City Centre, 780-421-0015, unwined.biz) featuring the cuisine of Vietnam, May 12, 7:30pm, $25. Enjoy delightful rosé wines at Rosé in May, May 26, 7:30pm, $20. All tastings are at the St. Albert store.

Get Cooking (11050 104 Avenue, 780-934-8058, getcookingedmonton.com) presents Get the Dirt on French Terroir, A Winemakers’ Dinner with Domaine de l’Amauve and Terroirs Originels featuring the wines of Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley with food inspired by Lyon. Meet Christian Voeux (Domaine de l’Amauve) Aurélien Fiardet (Terroirs Originels), Eberhard Tamm (Enotri Wine Marketing) and sommelier William Bincoletto, May 29, 6:30pm, $175. Next up is Discovering Australia with Tony Maynard of Harvest Vintage Imports and William Bincoletto, June 27, 6:30pm, $149. Tickets for both events at getcookingedmonton.com.

The Court of Master Sommeliers offers the two day Introductory Sommelier course and exam in Edmonton on July 18 and 19, $525 USD. Visit mastersommeliers.org/IntroApplication.aspx to register.

This promises to be epic. Mark your calendar for Feast on the Field, Saturday, August 12. Steve Buzak, executive chef, Royal Glenora Club; David Omar, executive chef, Zinc, and Brad Smoliak, Kitchen by Brad are collaborating to create a long table dinner for over 300 people at Commonwealth Stadium. Crazy!

Proceeds to the CapitalCare Foundation. Tickets: feastonthefield.com

Members of Strathcona County Emergency Services Fire Department and the RCMP are ready to battle for chili supremacy during the 3rd Annual Chili Cook Off at The Pan Tree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-464-4631, thepantree.ca). It’s a fun event for a good cause, and you get to watch firemen cook. Don’t miss it. Proceeds to the Kids with Cancer Society, June 27 from 12-3pm, $8 early bird, $10 at the door.

gastronomic travel An excellent reason to visit Vancouver: Chef Blair Lebsack and sous Davino Moraiko (RGE RD) join chefs Dave Bohati (Market, Calgary) and Eden Hrabec (Crazyweed, Canmore) to showcase Alberta ingredients during the Coast-to-Coast Market Dinner Series. A peek at the May 4 menu: nouveau beef (Nature’s Green Acres) grilled romaine (Doef ’s Greenhouses) rye pecorino streusel (Gold Forest Grains, The Cheesiry). Tickets: ediblecanada.com.

Ready for a little (wine) therapy? The Aligra Wine & Spirits folks have created a unique small group experience with exclusive tastings in the Okanagan Valley, June 18-21 or June 21-24. The tour includes three nights at Therapy Vineyards and Guesthouse.

Email alison@aligrawineandspirits.com for details.

Gail Hall of Seasoned Solutions is leading two European tours this fall: Mediterranean Culinary Cruise, September 26-October 3, visiting Spain, Italy and Greece and a tour to Portugal, October 26-November 6 including stops in Lisbon, Obidos, Porto, the Douro Valley and Evora. Visit seasonedsolutions.ca for all the details.

product news The Italian Centre introduces Piemontese beef to their deli counters in June. The DenOudstons of Peony Farm near Lacombe started breeding Piemontese in the 1980s. The white cattle from northeast Italy carry a gene that creates a higher lean-to-fat ratio, with less

connective tissue, but also less marbling.

Body builders like the Piemontese not only because of its mild yet beefy flavour, it is also lower in calories, higher in protein, and contains a higher percentage of omega-3 fat. The Italian Centre is working with Messinger Meats in Red Deer to supply all four stores with this unique beef.

The Newget Kompany will be at the Friday Night Market (105 Street & Jasper Avenue) every Friday in May and June and outdoors at the City Market Downtown (104 Street north of Jasper Avenue) every Saturday in May and June. Taste their deliciously chewy delights at Indulgence, a Canadian epic of food and wine, June 8. You can also order on-line at newget.ca The Fonseca Guimaraens 2013 Vintage Port has been released to celebrate the bicentenary of the firm. Guimaraens vintage ports are made in some years when a classic Fonseca vintage is not declared. The advantage is that they are more approachable when young yet possess the depth of flavour, acidity and tannins needed to reach velvety maturity. Find at better wine shops.

May is Celiac Awareness Month. Want to learn more about gluten-free foods, or how to convert a favourite recipe to one that has no gluten? Visit Kinnikinnick (10940-120 Street, 780-732-7527, getitfresh.ca) 10am-1pm on May 7/8 and May 14/15. A rep from Edmonton’s Celiac chapter will be on hand to answer all your gluten-related questions while chef Lori Grein prepares gluten-free family recipes.

K&K Foodliner (9944-82 Avenue, 780-439-6913 kandkfoodliner.com) carries over 100 types of gluten-free sausage and deli meats ranging from $2.19-3.59 per 100g. Most are pork, but there are chicken, turkey, beef, bison and occasionally elk options as well.

They also now stock Stella’s Gluten Free Perogies, $12.99.

The Bella Casa Design Centre (9646 142 Street, 780-437-4190 bellacasadcl.com) has two practical Mother’s Day Specials coming up: April 22-25 spend $200 and receive a $20 gift card. From May 6-9, spend

$100 and receive a free apron. Soon you’ll be able to enjoy Bella Casa from your couch; their on-line shopping site will be up and running in early summer.

burgeoning 124 street food scene for a few years now, and it’s great to see it continue to grow in such a tasty and beautiful way.

Hillaby’s Tools for Cooks (101 Riel Drive, St. Albert, 780 651-7373, and 14251-23 Avenue, 587-524-7277, toolsforcooks.ca) is thrilled about the new Shape & Store Burger or Slider Maker $30, which makes prepping uniformly-shaped burgers and sliders easy peasy. We haven’t been so excited about making burgers since the KTel patty stacker. We are intrigued by three new products using technology from the semi-conductor industry; ThawTHAT! $75, maximizes heat exchange between frozen food and room temperature, resulting in a lighteningquick defrost. The heat conducting metal of SpreadTHAT! $25, and the ScoopTHAT! $25, makes hard butter and ice cream easy to scoop and spread.

Available at both Hillaby’s mid-May.

Corso 32 (10345 Jasper Avenue, 780421-4622, corso32.com) is now open Monday nights.

Night Market Edmonton (Jasper Avenue and the corner of 105 Street, Beaver Hills Park) opens May 22, with a mix of vendors including Newget and Kitchen by Brad. This public market runs every Friday night from 7pm-11pm until August 28. Check it out!

The Pan Tree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780 464-4631, thepantree.ca) is excited about the new Wusthof Kitchen Surfer—a hybrid between a cook’s knife and a Japanesestyle santoku, with a shorter blade and larger handle, ideal for less experienced cooks. The regular price is $140, on promo now for $79.

restaurant buzz Food truck impresarios Kara and Nevin Fenske have just opened the lovely Dovetail Deli (10721-124 Street, 780-705-1293, lovethedove.ca). Expect salads, soup, samosas, a daily carve and a cooler stocked with house-made tapenade, dips, pâtés and condiments (we are in love with the fragrant Drift spice rub). Eat in with a glass of wine, or take away. Fans of the Drift can rest easy—the truck will be out once a week for lunch, at the 124 Street Grand Market, and at food events this summer. We’ve been talking about the

Madison’s Grill (10053 Jasper Avenue, 780-401-2222, unionbankinn.com) Come join us Sunday, May 10 for Mother’s Day Brunch with seatings at 10:30am and 12:30pm, $39.95. Call for reservations, 780-401-2222. Madison’s has a new exec chef, Jon Spanton, formerly of The Burg. His new spring menu includes braised beef tongue and Madison’s signature fish and chips lightened up for spring.

Chef Tracy Zizek, current Indulgence co-chair and avid wine and spirit student, joins Brad Smoliak at Kitchen

by Brad. Tracy was the chef de cuisine at Café de Ville for several years, and has spent the last year helping colleagues such as Tzin’s Corey McGuire in their kitchens and at events.

Great food is your pleasure.

Great pairings are our business.

9658 - 142 St. NW Edmonton www.crestwoodfinewines.com

The Blue Chair (9624 76 Avenue 780-989-2861, thebluechair.ca) offers a wine-tasting with dishes to suit on the third Wednesday of every month.

Check it out!

Spring Creek Ranch sirloin and New York cuts are now on the menu at Earl’s in Vancouver and Toronto, and the Tin Palace in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. Coming soon, Earl’s burgers will be made with Spring Creek’s exceptional Alberta natural beef.

The spring menu at X1X Nineteen Restaurant (5940 Mullen Way, 780395-1119, dinenineteen.com) features bright and fresh flavours — grilled octopus salad salad, lobster ramen, and their delicious Dijon-crusted Halibut in French curry cream. Visit the comfortable sunny patio or lounge between 3-6pm daily for half price appetizers and great deals on draft beer, wine, or the feature cocktail.

Send new and/or interesting food and drink related news for The Kitchen Sink to thetomato.ca.

10643 123 St.

✸

780 447 4577

RGERD.CA

The Tomato | May June 2015 33

D & od

s d r a w A

o F o t a m o T According to Judy The

n e h c t i K

The Tomato Food & Drink

Kitchen Design Awards Find the best-designed The kitchens in the July/August issue

n g i Des

Champagne occasions With good friends, we went to France to celebrate a special anniversary. It was a Champagne occasion.

n e h Kitc

Kitchen Design Awards

d o o F

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La Belle France has had its problems lately. Wine consumption is down. A new study insists that half the food served in its restaurants is prepared offsite, and more than 80 per cent is frozen or dehydrated. Worse news: the once vilified golden arches of Ronald You-Know-Who have become wildly successful.

I’d have put all this down to sketchy reporting and sour grapes, except that on our second night in Paris, within sight of the Eiffel Tower, I was served a bowl of overpriced, powder-based soup. Some food assassin in the kitchen had taken the time to scorch it before he cooled it to tepid. Then, like Elvis, he left the building.

Oh, well. The French still make beautiful Champagne, so we headed for Reims, and the house of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.

During a previous visit I’d been enchanted with the story of Madame Clicquot, my all-time favourite feminist. Back in the 1700’s, Mme. Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin married a winemaker, Francois Clicquot. Seven years later he died, leaving the wine business in her young hands.

Find all submission details at thetomato.ca To enter your kitchen click on “Celebrate the kitchen!

Tomato Food & Drink Kitchen Design Awards”

34 May June 2015 | The Tomato

A second scandal took place in her dining room, the sanctum sanctorum of every true Frenchman. (Okay, that would be the bedroom, but the dining room runs a close second.) Assisted by her cellar master, Mme. Clicquot drilled several large holes in her dining room table! She upended a Champagne bottle in each hole, and gave it a quarter-turn every day so the yeasty sediment settled in the neck of the bottle. Voila, the riddling table had been invented and the degorgement simplified.

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Champagne is the world’s most romantic wine. It once caused the straight-laced cleric, Dom Perignon, to announce, “I am drinking stars!” (Or so we’re told.)

And then there was John Maynard Keynes, who apparently muttered with his dying breath, “I should have drunk more Champagne.”

o t a m To

The Tomato Food & Drink

Judy Schultz

Suitors flocked around, only too eager to take over her company and run it for her. She said thank you very much, but no, she was quite capable of running a wine company herself. The French thought she’d lost her marbles. A woman! Quel scandale!

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Doubtless her bewildered workers figured Madame had drunk too much of her own wine. What next?

“Next, mes enfants? Whip out ze cork, remove ze guck, replace eet weeth ze dosage, and into ze cellar eet goes,” replied Madame. I think. Or something like that.

At least, that was the story during my first visit, and some of it is true. I lapped it up.

But on this visit to Reims, I’d been in town about five minutes before I did a spectacular face plant on a marble floor, causing considerable damage to knees and elbows.

It happened just before we were to visit Veuve Clicquot, where 24 kilometres of underground tunnels connect the soaring Roman-built chalk caves. To see the best of these unusual cellars, to feel the cool breath of history and smell the wine of centuries, (the oldest bottle these days dates from 1904) you must walk. Briskly.

Walk briskly? I could barely hobble.

Our host kindly shortened our route by roughly 23.5 kilometres.

Hobbling was replaced with drinking. Champagne, of course.

We sat in a sunny garden, sipping the 2004 Grand Dame. Ripe pear, toast, almond…enchanting!

Later, just to be sure, we drank another bottle.

Judy Schultz loves those bubbles.

The high-end kitchen store with the in-store kitchen The highest quality cutlery.

We carry Wusthof, Zwilling Henckels and Miyabi Sign up for weekly cooking classes Gift Cards also available! #550, 220 Lakeland Dr., Sherwood Park 780.464.4631 www.thepantree.ca @PanTreeKitchen

/ThePanTree

Cibo / chee-bo / noun.

Ital. 1 food. 2 a place to eat great Italian food.

780-757-2426 • cibobistro.com 11244 - 104 Ave (Oliver Square) Lunch 11.30 am – 2 pm Tue-Fri Dinner 5 pm – 10 pm Tue-Sat

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