Tomato May June 2016

Take a bite of your city | May June 2016 | thetomato.ca

Grant Stanley, 50th Parallel Estate Winery, Lake Country BC

The Wine Issue

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Contents Editor

Features

Mary Bailey marybee@telus.net

Publisher BGP Publishing

6

Copy Editor

Everything old is new again | Mary Bailey

Bill Rankin

Contributing Writers Peter Bailey Lisa Catterall Tom Firth Cindy Lazarenko Judy Schultz

Exploring the brave new world of natural wines

14

Okanagan Snapshot Talking wine with the makers

22

Love it or leave it Cilantro, the culinary world’s most divisive herb | Lisa Catterall

Illustration/Photography Calgary Tourism

Departments

Design and Prepress Bossanova Communications Inc.

WebMeister

5

Gunnar Blodgett, COPA Jurist

Printer

Dish Gastronomic happenings around town

12

Drink The best places in Cowtown to enjoy a glass of wine | Tom Firth

Distribution Greenline Distribution For editorial inquiries, 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 Subscriptions are available for $25 per year.

18

Beer Guy Stylin’ beer | Peter Bailey

20

In Season Nettle, where is thy sting? | Mary Bailey

24

Wine Maven Mary Bailey

28

The Lunch Lady Who doesn’t enjoy a picnic? | Cindy Lazarenko

32

Kitchen Sink What’s new and notable

34

According to Judy Potato love | Judy Schultz

Cover photo: Mary Bailey

thetomato.ca

The Tomato | May June 2016 3

The perfect pairing.

Great meals, good company.

TAYLOR

FLADGATE 1966 SINGLE HARVEST PORT Share a special moment together on Father's Day.

95PTS

EDMONTON Little Italy | Southside | West End

italiancentre.ca

CALGARY Willow Park

Wine Enthusiast

To find a retailer visit liquorconnect.com/795310 Follow us on Twitter @ABPWS Toll Free: 1-877-716-9463

Dish

gastronomic happenings around town

scandi style in the kitchen

are ironed out, but we can expect a focus on breakfast and brunch with high tea on Sundays. We can also expect what Garner Beggs of the Duchess calls “classy brunch drinking” with some clever cocktails. The 60-seat café is part of the bigger Duchess footprint (a teaching kitchen, proper office space and an expanded Provisions) at Holland Plaza, 10939 120 Street, home to the Local Omnivore and the not-yet-opened Wine Gallery.

Provisions will now have room to stock lots of treasures for the gastronomically obsessed, including a line of enamel ware from England, Mariage Frères teas and Staub cookware.

The Swedish dishcloth is ultra-absorbent, ideal for washing up and cleaning up all sorts of messes in a beautiful fashion. Made of cotton and cellulose (that’s why they are so absorbent) they are also biodegradable and go right into the compost heap when you are ready to say buh-bye. Designed and hand printed in Sweden and England, of varying designs and colours, priced from $6.95.

Available at Bella Casa, Hillaby’s Tools for Cooks, Oil and Vinegar - Commerce Place, The Wired Cup, Maven and Grace, Provisions by Duchess and other fine retailers.

Above: biodegradable beauties; below: some serious slicing from the Doi family to yours.

16 years of indulgence The 16th edition of Indulgence, a Canadian epic of food and wine, happens Monday, 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 wines 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

no time like now to get grilling

AT C O B

The From the Grill cookbook has everything you wanted to know about using your gas grill effectively, plus killer recipes, tons of tips and helpful hints. 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. We can’t wait to try the Korean ribs, spaghetti squash with ras el hanout butter, or the cedar-planked whole trout. The ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen cookbooks really are an Alberta treasure.

Now available at Chapters, Indigo and online at atcoblueflamekitchen.com, $20.

FROM

THE

“Trying a knife made by the Doi family should be on every person’s bucket list,” says Jordan Fritz of Knifewear Edmonton.

“Perfectly forged and tempered, with the most perfect finish and feel imaginable, they cut beautifully and hold an exceptional edge.” Jordan is talking about the Kengata made by Itsuo Doi, a chef ’s knife with serious attitude (kengata roughly translates to sword tip). “It’s made of hard carbon steel, and will require some care. That being said, if you’re going to invest $991 in a piece of history, you can find the time to take care of it,” says Jordan.

Knifewear is very excited to be carrying knives made by the Doi family of Japan. From the age of 16, Itsuo has worked to learn his family’s trade. Now, with more than 40 years of experience, Doi Jr is producing knives that would receive even his father’s approval. Here’s the deal: bring this page down to Knifewear and they will sharpen one of your knives from home for free while you cut a tomato with Itsuo Doi’s masterpiece.

LU E FL

AME K

where the buffalo roam

IT C H EN

Dine under a starry sky with Kitchen by Brad beside Astotin Lake in Elk Island National Park, an exquisite setting for a one-of-a-kind culinary experience. The adventure begins at 6:30 on June 18, July 9, July 30, August 20 and September 10. The menu? “It’s inspired by early settlers and there will be bison,” says chef Brad Smoliak who has created the dinners to showcase this jewel of a park a half hour from downtown Edmonton.

| Fr om th

e G ri ll

calling all bubbleheads The Cavern (10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca) is now pouring the prestigious and delicious R de Ruinart Champagne by the glass. Yes, you deserve it! To celebrate this, enjoy the ‘R’ de Ruinart at Cavern, June 9, featuring a live art event (the result of which you can win in a draw at the end of the evening), three glasses of Ruinart and delicious Cavern fare. Tickets, $80, in advance, call 780-455-1336 to book. The Cavern 10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca

You could make a weekend of it, golf during the day, then camp overnight. Tickets include admission to the park, an Elk island interpretive experience and a familystyle dinner with local craft beer and appropriate wines, $150+GST.

pink is the new navy blue

buckwheat crepes anyone?

Opening soon, Cafe Linnea, a partnership between the Duchess Bake Shop and chef Kelsey Johnson. The talented Filliep Lament is the sous. Not all the details

all in the family

Top: ATCO’s must-have summer cookbook.

Above: the adorable Bonbon ramekin from Le Creuset.

Le Creuset is pulling out all the stops with new colours in the lineup, in vibrant yet delicate shades of rose and pink. Called Bonbon, the new collection comes in both the enameled cast iron and the stoneware lines, tableware, baking pieces, café collection, even spatulas. Find at Bella Casa, The Pantree or the Le Creuset shop in Southgate.

The Tomato | May June 2016 5

• Mary bailey •

exploring the brave new

world

of natural wines once upon a time in a land far far away, wine was made like this: when the grapes tasted good, they were picked. They were put in a vessel, usually clay, depending on where you lived. Winter came and everybody concentrated on staying warm and getting enough to eat. The next spring people opened the vessel and poured out a delicious beverage. with neighbours for things the wine people didn’t have.

6 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Photo courtesy OK Crush Pad

Sometimes the wine was used to trade

I

bet some years they didn’t get a delicious beverage. I bet some years it was stinky and mouldy. Because much can happen on the road from grapes to wine. Yet, modern winemaking has taken the process far beyond its simple beginnings.

Maybe too far?

How wine is made and what is considered the right way or the wrong way has become a bitter topic of conversation among wine folks. On the one hand, we have what I’m going to call commercial wine, wine that’s made in large quantities in an industrial fashion, designed to taste the same, year in and year out.

On the other is the brave new world (actually a very old world) of natural wine, orange wine and biodynamics.

When I first started exploring wine in earnest, I tasted a lot of bad wine. I mean truly bad, wines with problems, such as the waft of vinegar or the aroma of nail polish, or just downright stinky wines with bacterial problems. (When I was a wine merchant we once opened a special shipment of half bottles of port destined for gift baskets that were filled with dead fruit flies.) This hardly happens now. Wine is much safer than it used to be. This is a good thing.

Now, I taste lot of wines that taste, well, manufactured. They may be correct but they have no soul. Or they are weighty, clunky, but without concentration, or are too round and smooth, or have sharp acidity on the finish or taste hot.

Or they all taste the same, way beyond

what you would expect from typicity or regional similarity. They are boring.

My dissatisfaction with the wine I was tasting led to a curiosity about wine on the fringe—made by people who farmed without machinery or kept sheep in the vineyard or farmed by the cycles of the moon. Wines made like people made wine years ago, before modern technology. Wine being made in different vessels and without any help at all. Hands-off wine.

I tasted some good ones, and I tasted some not so good ones. But they were never boring.

I let go of some preconceived notions. I learned to listen, to let the wine tell me what it wanted to be and not expect a certain taste or flavour (especially with the more unusual, indigenous or lessloved grapes).

here’s the thing.

Do we really want to know how wine is made? Many wine marketers think we don’t. Is it their fault? I don’t think so.

They are pretty sure we don’t want to know, or, that we don’t care. We want to believe that the richness on the palate didn’t come from adding concentrated grape juice (aka sugar), or that the oak flavours came from expensive French barrels not dusty chips, or that the deep colour didn’t come from another type of grape juice, one that became something called Mega Purple and that pleasing blackcurrant aroma? It may have come from the yeast my friend, not the grape.

Sorry.

For the most part they are probably right. After all it’s just wine. We would rather believe the story on the back of the label—kind of like when you were a kid and wanted to live in the valley of the jolly green giant—that the wine is made in the vineyard.

But for those who do want to know it’s like entering a house of mirrors.

Nothing is exactly like it seems. What is natural wine? And why is this wine orange? What is biodynamics? The information isn’t always on the back of the bottle. These are questions I get asked all the time.

what is natural wine?

The absolutists say natural wine is made without oak, no irrigation, nothing added, no yeast, nor tannin powder nor enzymes. Sulphur? Verboten.

Others say natural wine is wine mde with just grapes, farmed organically with nothing taken away or added except maybe a bit of sulphur right before bottling. The fermentations are spontaneous and can take a long time, months even. Most would say that natural wine can only come from healthy grapes grown in a robust environment with lots of flora and fauna.

Proponents feel that natural wine is more about an attitude towards grape growing and winemaking, rather than being about a particular method or type of equipment. This is the general consensus, but there’s no regulation that defines natural wine and the term has come in for quite the beating.

Even the people who make natural wine don’t like the term, but it is a way to try to categorize these wines. Here’s how Michael Cody of Sedimentary Wines puts it.

All photos Mary Bailey except as noted.

“People need to be able to tell you the way the grapes are grown, how are they pressed, what additions did they make?

Is it unfined or unfiltered? Then you make your own judgement.”

Michael’s company, an import agency based in Vancouver, works with around 40 different wine producers who would fall into the natural wine category, none Please see “Natural wine” on page 8 The sorting table at Domaine Léon Barral.

The Tomato | May June 2016 7

Natural wine Continued from page 7.

of whom are all that comfortable with the label. You won’t see the words on a label, even on the back.

For now we’ll use the term natural wine until something better comes along.

What I have noticed: the wines are often lowish in alcohol, rarely exceeding 14 per cent even from hotter climates. The best examples are balanced, gentle and roll across the palate. There is often a tangy salinity, sounds odd, but tastes great. The flavours are exciting, complex and often unexpected. Natural wines can be any colour, dry or sweet, still or sparkling, but the ones garnering the most controversy are the orange wines.

orange wine.

I first encountered orange wine at Vin Italy in 2011. I was curious, what is this orange wine I’ve been reading about that is so contentious? Taking a lot of the flak was Stanko Radikon, a producer in Italy’s Collio region, hard by the Slovenian border, making orange wine in large clay pots called amphorae. I wanted to meet him.

He was gregarious, at their booth with his son Saša, pouring tastes into

black glasses; “because people make assumptions when they see the colour,” he said.

I didn’t know what to think, it tasted like nothing I had ever encountered, which was exciting and a bit weird. How to classify this wine? But I liked it, even if I didn’t know why. I was instantly intrigued and wanted to try every orange wine I could get my hands on. Next up was a visit with Josko Gravner. Alas, that didn’t happen, but we did taste his wine whenever we saw it on a wine list. (I still call that trip Looking for Gravner.)

Radikon and Gravner were some of the first in the region, along with Dario Princic, (and the Slovenians) to revive the practice of fermenting grapes on their skins, first introduced when the Hapsburg Empire became part of Italy.

Essentially, making white wine as if it were red, using the white grapes of the region such as Ribolla Giallo and Pinot Grigio. The skins do more than colour wine, they help create flavour and texture. The skins also protect the wine, allowing the maker to use less or no sulphur against spoilage and oxidation.

Radikon and Gravner also make their wines in amphorae (large clay vessels).

What is an orange wine? You could say it’s a white wine made like a red,

Rudolf Trossen, Trossen Wein and Dr. Renate Willkom, Vinissima.

8 May June 2016 | The Tomato

including the skin, pips, stems (rather than just the juice), but most would add that the wine is made with no external temperature control, no added yeast and little or no sulphur. It can stay on the skins for days, weeks, even months.

The first thing you notice is a distinct coppery hue, the wine looks burnished.

The second is a whiff of on-purpose oxidative notes, such as nuttiness, and tannin (from the skins) and a host of flavours not usually associated with white wine, depending on the grape variety—herbs, flowers, spicy notes, earth.

Orange wine can be a little salty. The wines can taste sherry-like. If you like good dry sherry you will probably enjoy orange wine. Then again maybe not, not everybody does. There is no right and wrong here. (I recently shared a bottle of Gravner at Bar Bricco with some friends.

One was not a fan, saying, “of the 500 or so wines we’ve had together, this is the first I haven’t liked.’

You could say all orange wines have skin contact, but not all wines made with some skin contact are considered orange wines. For example, the Okanagan’s Kettle Valley has long made a Pinot Gris with some skin contact resulting in a wine with a decidedly orange hue, yet

Christine Coletta, chief winemaker Matt Dumayne and Steve Lornie.

the flavours are those of a white wine.

The slightest bit of contact with the dark skins of that grape gives the wine colour.

Orange wines are best drunk like reds, in a big glass, not too cold. Where orange wine really shines is with food— their complex flavours lock in on the palate to create a sublime food and wine experience.

Some say orange wine is a fad with too many undrinkable wines with obvious faults. I have tasted one terrible orange wine. On that trip to the Collio we stopped at a small cellar, a garage really, a dirty and smelly shed. The winemaker told us he was an acolyte of Gravner; perhaps it was his first vintage. We pretended to taste the wine he presented and got out of there as soon as we could.

Bacterial contamination is the same the world over.

Orange wines and natural wines often get the bad rap that they are not well made. In my experience, as far as faults go, besides the moment with dirty cellar guy, the opposite is true. The wines I’ve tasted are well-made and healthy, and a pleasure to drink. One thing is for sure, there are a lot of opinions floating about and words being written about a wine style that is less than one percent of all wine being made.

Photo courtesy OK Crush Pad

Think of it this way—it takes either a lot of luck or a lot of experience to make wines without intervention. As Rudolf Trossen, who makes a small amount of spectacular wine in the Mosel in a lowintervention, biodynamic fashion, says: “you cannot ride a bicycle with no hands until you know how to ride a bicycle.”

Maybe we should start calling natural wines wine made with no hands.

then i went to georgia.

It seems that everyone in Georgia made wine with no hands. Every backyard had a quevri (the Georgian word for amphorae), and every family grew grapes and made wine for themselves. The only lousy wine I tasted there was from large factories, a remnant of the Russian occupation. All around us were clean, healthy, fresh and interesting wines, only unusual because the grapes were Georgian varieties never experienced before. The most startling were the wines of the Alaverdi monastery—an aged white made from Kisi tasted like fabulous white Burgundy, elegant, concentrated and full of vitality.

According to the technical director and enologist at Alaverdi, Teimuraz Glonti, “Grape bunch skeleton is rich with terpenes, fatty acids, lactose, fragrant spirits and esters which participate in the complicated process of fragrance making; phenol compounds create a high level of antioxidant compounds.”

That trip was also memorable because I met Isabelle Legeron and Alice Feiring.

These two are the standard-bearers of natural wine. Both are quite sure that you cannot make natural wine without great fruit. Truly, wine made in the vineyard.

that brings us to biodynamics.

What is biodynamics? A set of principles formulated by Rudolph Steiner, a turn of the century Austrian philosopher and scientist. The basic premise is that we are part of a much larger system, the cosmos, which affects daily life in ways we can only imagine.

The concept is that a farm can be a healthy, self-sustaining organism as long as there is a variety of things

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A LEADING POLYTECHNIC COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS

Please see “Natural wine” on page 10

The Tomato | May June 2016 9

Natural wines Continued from page 9

growing (polyculture) and animals to create balance. The way to stay in balance was about healthy soil full of microorganisms. There is a cheerful DIY aspect to biodynamism, the idea that a piece of land in balance can be a closed loop system, getting everything it needs from the plants and animals that exist there.

Loire wine producer Nicolas Joly is credited with bringing biodynamic practices to the forefront in growing wine; it’s no surprise that the natural wine movement first gained traction there. Some of the most rare and costly wines are made biodynamically, Burgundy’s Domaine de la RomanéeConti for example. Quartz Reef and Felton Road in Central Otago are also biodynamic.

I went to Domaine Léon Barral in 2007 to learn about biodynamics and to taste more of their delicious wine. It wasn’t easy to reach Didier Barral, who does everything by fax or telephone. He didn’t have a cell phone or a website at the time, believing that the electronic signals interfere with the natural rhythm of the earth.

Didier grows grapes in Faùgeres in the south of France. Among the 74 acres, you’ll find only about half the land in old vines of indigenous varieties such as Terret, Carignan, Mourvedre, Rousanne.

The rest is scrub, trees and grasses where a herd of cattle roam. There are also chickens, pigs, dogs. The wines are fermented with ambient yeasts; he uses no sulphur, and the wines are not racked, fined or filtered. He does mature the reds in barrel for a time. The wines are spectacular and highly sought after and available in Quebec.

I think of him whenever someone tells me that it’s not possible to make wine like this.

A biodynamic vineyard remains the ideal for many wine people.

using oak, not filtering. We are using wild yeasts and not adding any SO2, or not much,” she says.

“I had always wanted a piece of land, I wanted the feeling you get from that.

When we planted in 2006, we were told you can’t be organic. Alberto got us thinking in a different way, and in 2014 we started the conversion in the Switchback vineyard. The new vineyard in Garnet Valley is organic from the start. We have 300 chickens and ten sheep and one Great Pyrenees who lives with the sheep to keep the coyotes at bay. We have vegetables and hayfields and three Dexter cattle are coming.”

Okanagan Crush Pad appears to be all in. But it’s not without risk.

I called Christine Coletta of Okanagan Crush Pad when I heard that she was presenting their wine at Raw, Isabelle Legeron’s natural wine fair in London this spring.

“I also keep in mind something that Harry Mcwatters said to me a long time ago: ‘if you want to do something crazy you have to be prepared to drink the wine yourself.’”

“We are moving towards biodynamics, it’s the best way to farm, she said. “Our consulting winemaker Alberto Antonini is directing our path to what we are calling authentic wine, wine that evokes the place it’s grown. We are employing natural winemaking techniques. We’re not adding anything, no nutrients, not

I like that some wine growers are out on the wooly fringes experimenting. I like that some wines are being sealed with beeswax, without a cork or screw cap.

I like that some wineries are telling us what they are doing, or not doing, with their wines. I like that there are all these different wines to try.

Think of wine as being on a continuum, with wines like Radikon and Gravner on one end, and Apothic on the other, and you’ll have it about right. In the middle lies the vast number of winemakers just trying to do the best they can with the vagaries of the weather, the fruit they have and the fickle wine-drinking public.

Are you ready to explore? Keep in mind that trying natural and orange wines may put a dent in your budget— especially if you have been drinking on the Apothic end of the continuum.

Nowhere is the axiom you get what you pay for truer than in wine. If you want to drink wines that are handpicked and handmade in small quantities, it will cost more than wines that are machine picked and made a zillion gallons at a time. Add in fashion and scarcity and the prices jump even more.

However, you will find several interesting wines in the $25-30 range to get you started.

three natural wines to try.

Domaine Majas Cotes Catalanes Blanc (France) $25 A lively Rolle and Macabeu blend, made from organic grapes. Gentle limey citrus, fresh herbs, stones and a lengthy finish.

Loved it with smoked salmon.

Chat Fou Côtes du Rhône Éric Texier (France) $18 Former nuclear physicist Éric Texier grows biodynamic grapes in the Rhône Valley. The Crazy Cat is fresh and lively with subtle berry, herb and rose notes.

MunJebel 8, Frank Cornelissen (Sicily, Italy) $50ish Lively acidity, slightly nervous, tastes like spring—earthy greens and wild strawberries with a hint of smoke and tart cherry. Don’t let its relative lightness in colour and weight put you off—this nerello mascalese, a rare mountain wine from Mt Etna, has complexity and depth in spades.

Certified sommelier Mary Bailey, DipWSET, drinks wine of all colours, especially if they have bubbles.

Didier Barral, Domaine Léon Barral

10 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Grapes in quevri in a Georgian winery.

Glossary

down. Demeter a certification body

Mousyness is a bacterial infection

for biodynamic viticulture, allows up

associated with oxydation of a wine,

to 100 ppm of all suphur (free and

after racking for example and also in

fixed). If you open a wine that smells

wines with a higher Ph (less acid). It

like a burnt match, it does blow off

leaves behind a taste of, well, dead

over time.

mouse.

Reverse osmosis/spinning cones are used to take out something

Tannin Powder comes from the nutgall of trees, not grapes.

undesirable in a wine— smoke taint,

Tartaric Acid boosts the acid found

water or alcohol.

naturally in wine. Acid is important for

Terroir: a French concept that takes

taste and for the health of the wine.

into account geography, climate,

Velcorin (dimethyl dicarbonate) a

aspect, soil and cultural practices to define taste. North American wine people often use the term to mean just place instead.

Wine Additives Ammonium Salts Diammonium phosphate revives dying yeast and keeps it from producing too much sulfur.

Colouring agents Mega­Purple is the most common and is made from concentrated Rubired grapes. Colour

controversial microbial control used in food as well.

Vitamins the B Thiamine Hydrochloride helps yeast make higher alcohol wines (over 14 per

Yeast Designer yeast can make a wine taste a certain way and contribute to fermentation over 14 per cent when regular yeast poops out.

Wine without Walls

but most consumers prefer deep red

A 2016 Vin Italy competition chaired

wines.

by Alice Feiring. Criteria: wines

Enzymes Proteins that release

entered must not be the result of

aromas, alter colour, improve clarity

practices such as micro-oxygenation,

and speed up aging.

the use of concentrators, reverse

Fining and Clarification Agents

osmosis, thermo-vinification,

Some are traditional such as egg

malolactic fermentation block and

whites or isinglass but have come

vineyard irrigation.

Gum Arabic softens tannins, reduces astringency and contributes a creamy mouth feel.

(780) 439-9069 | colordevino.ca | 9606 82 Ave Edmonton

cent)

is not a factor of quality necessarily

under fire because they are not vegan.

SAMPLING WINE EVERY SATURDAY

The wines must be wines with either no sulphite added or (category two) have less than 40mg/l total sulphites.

Oak chips, sawdust or essence make

The judging panel uses the following

a wine taste as though it has spent

criteria for scoring: Liveliness,

time in a much more expensive oak

evolution in the glass, balance,

barrel. Sort of.

drinkability; emotional impact,

Sugar Usually found in the guise of

savouriness, transparency and sense

concentrated grape juice as opposed

of place.

introducing our new

smooth? That’s the sugar talking.

The Battle for Wine and Love:

Cocktail Club

Stabilisers Copper sulfate is added

or How I Saved the World from

find out more in-store or online

to sugar crystals. It used to be used only to provide enough sugar to

Reading List

allow fermentation of unripe grapes

Understanding Wine Technology:

(chaptalization). Now it’s used to

The Science of Wine Explained, David

increase palatability and mouth feel.

Inexpensive wines that are super

Bird

to remove free sulfur in a wine (like

Parkerization, Alice Feiring

putting an penny in your flowers).

For the Love of Wine: My Odyssey

Then the copper sulphate is removed.

through the World’s Most Ancient

Sulphur Dioxide is used as a

Wine Culture, Alice Feiring

preservative. It kills microbes and prevents oxidation and further

*Flare Bartending Optional. Tom Cruise not included.

RT TRAIL | 11819 ST ALBE

780.455.4556

OM KELIQUOR.C

| SHERBROO

Natural Wine, Isabelle Legeron

fermentation. It is a byproduct of

Biodynamic Wine Demystified,

fermentation, and its use is going

Nicolas Joly The Tomato | May June 2016 11

Drink The best places in Cowtown to enjoy a glass of wine

A Sensory Experience!

Visiting Calgary? Should you have some time to relax, enjoy a meal, or even a glass of wine in Cowtown, I’m happy to recommend a few gems you’ll want to check out during your next visit.

With all the world-class wine shops and passionate sommeliers and oenophiles working in the Calgary wine world, great wine lists can be found in almost every part of the city. The following have that je ne sais quoi, that make a glass (or two) of wine a little more special.

THE SHOPS AT BOUDREAU | ST. ALBERT, ALBERTA

Photo courtesy Calgary Tourism

#109 150 BELLEROSE DR. | HICKSFINEWINES.COM | 780-569-5000

River Café

25 Prince’s Island Park, 403-261-7670, river-cafe.com The menu of this venerable Calgary restaurant (25 years old this year) is built around locally-sourced ingredients. The strong wine list that accompanies has plenty of Canadian bottles, several verticals and rare bottlings, along with a staff who know how to pair them. The rustic cabin-like charm of the décor suits the gorgeous park setting on Prince’s Island just north of downtown.

Blink Restaurant & Bar

111 8 Avenue SW, 403-263-5330, blinkcalgary.com

If you can dream it, we can build it.

Blink is located right along Stephen Avenue, perfectly located for visiting before or after a show or game, though delicious cuisine can be found at lunch too. The wellthought out wine list, bursting with wines from little-known or obscure producers, reflects the passion and knowledge of restaurant director, Leslie Echino. The staff on hand are adept at recommending the perfect dish to pair.

Bow Valley Ranche Restaurant

15979 Bow Bottom Trail SE, 403-476-1310, bvrrestaurant.com Maybe you’ll be spending time in the south end of the city? The Bow Valley Ranche is right in the heart of Fish Creek Park, the largest urban park in Canada. The historic building dates back to 1896, and retains a quiet charm in a peaceful setting. An afternoon nibble and glass of wine easily turns into a walk in the park to burn off that dessert, while in the evening, the setting becomes pleasantly cozy, and you’ll never feel rushed. The wine list is well-curated and packed with plenty of gems.

Pigeonhole

306 17 Ave SW, 403-452-4694, pigeonholeyyc.ca Top quality at affordable prices • 780-221-8453 • phil@greenviewcabinets.ca

12 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Pigeonhole was recently named Canada’s Best New Restaurant by enRoute Magazine and it’s right next door to Model Milk, another wine and food place in Calgary we

Tomato Ad-Nov-Dec copy.pdf

1

2016-04-17

6:21 PM

Tom Firth

are proud of. Pigeonhole’s short-but-sweet list has a big focus on natural wines, the minimal-intervention wines that are the hot new wine out there, and for some, the epitome of that sense of place wine geeks call terroir.

Sky 360 at the Calgary Tower

101 9 Avenue SW, 403-532-7966, sky360.ca

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

I’ll be honest, there was a time when I wouldn’t have recommended the Calgary Tower for much of anything. In recent years, the décor has been refreshed, the menu completely revamped, and the whole experience significantly upgraded. The revolving restaurant has two speeds, a slower one for the evening and a faster one for lunch making sure you get to see all the sights. The wine list reflects modern and accessible wines, without being too nerdy or esoteric. Make a reservation and bypass the elevation fees.

Thank you to readers of The Tomato for selecting our ‘Pappardelle with pork shoulder and mushrooms’ as #8 on the list of The Top 100 Things to Eat in Edmonton!

K

@GlassMonkeyYEG 780.760.2228

www.theglassmonkey.ca

5842-111 Street

Avec Bistro

105 550 11 Avenue SW, 587-352-0964, avecbistro.com Avec is beloved of Calgarians who love to eat and drink, and this includes a lot of the wine and food trade. Opened a few short years ago by experienced restaurateurs Jackie Cooke and Kirk Shaw, every detail is expertly attended to, from cork to fork, with a wine list that is truly excellent.

Recommended bottlings River Café

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

The 2011 Tahbilk Marsanne ($37) is a fine example with lifted citrus and great acidity, pairing with fish or game birds, or a selection of fresh oysters, yum!

Blink Restaurant & Bar Treat yourself! Among the many enticing bottles, maybe the 2011 Gaja Dagromis Barolo ($145) is the perfect thing to cap off an evening.

Avec Bistro The n/v Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne ($10 by the glass, $50 for the bottle) is a stunning sparkling rosé from France.

Pigeonhole Looking for something different? The 2013 Marabino Muscadetta ($75) from Sicily is a fantastic example of a bio-dynamic wine—clean flavours, oozing terroir, and yes, exciting to drink. Try it with the octopus.

Sky 360 The menu at Sky 360 showcases seafood and poultry, ideal with the 2014 Brokenwood Semillon ($56), packed with minerality and green apple flavours with a lengthy finish.

Bow Valley Ranche Ever hear that Pinot Noir goes with anything? Try a bottle of the top-quality Belle Glos Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir ($108), a full-bodied and structured wine which works very well with duck or beef of all kinds.

Tom Firth is a Calgary-based wine writer and the director of the Alberta Beverage Awards, only recently discovering a talent in the kitchen, but he’s more than happy to bring a bottle of wine to your place.

Where all the best parties happen.

780.757.7704 kitchenbybrad.ca #101, 10130 - 105 Street

The Tomato | May June 2016 13

Okanagan SNAPSHOT

14 May June 2016 | The Tomato

MARY BAILEY

of the very best things about talking to people about their wine is that everyone has a different take. There are no hard and fast rules, no formulas, no recipes. Grant Stanley, Lake Country; Marcus Ansem, Naramata; Darryl Brooker, Kelowna and Jay Drysdale, Naramata, talk about wine and winemaking.

Marcus Ansems, Daydreamer Wines, Naramata Australian Marcus Ansems has made wine in Ontario, Australia, Italy and South Africa; he is involved with the Hemispheres Wine Club; he was at Therapy Vineyards for several years. He not only has an Oenology degree from the University of Adelaide Roseworthy, he is Canada’s newest Master of Wine, winning two separate awards for excellence while doing so.

Smart, affable and makes delicious wine, which he names after his kids. What’s not to like?

“We just wanted to make the wine we wanted to drink,” he says about his newest project, Daydreamer Wines.

The Marcus Ansens Chardonnay is from a vineyard he and his wife Rachel lease near Kelowna. It’s 12 months in a French barrel “the more you spend on oak, the less you taste it,” he says. The wine has a lovely juicy minerality, superb acid balance and just a whisper of the oak.

“I have a love-hate relationship with Pinot in the valley,” he says, talking about the importance of selection. “The key to avoiding manipulation is to plant the right variety in the right spots.”

The Shiraz is a textbook example as to why people think Syrah holds such great promise in the Okanagan. It’s deliciously savoury, not jammy, with ripe tannins, forthright yet elegant.

Please see ”Okanagan” on page 16

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The Tomato | May June 2016 15

d o o F

k n i r &D

n g i s e Th D n e h Kitc o t a m e To

Okanagan

Continued from page 15

s d r a w A

Grant Stanley, 50th Parallel Estate Winery

The Tomato Food & Drink

Kitchen Design Awards Submissions open: May 1, 2016 Submissions close: June 3, 2016

Grant Stanley is well known to lovers of British Columbia Pinot Noir, having made wine at Quails Gate Winery for 10 years. A few years ago he decamped north to Lake Country to be part of the new 50th Parallel.

Darryl Brooker, Mission Hill, Cedar Creek Estate Wineries

k n i r &D

“I like wood fermenters. We have some brand-spanking new 1-ton Pinot vats, French oak, coopered in Italy, lidded, with temperature control. We can ferment and age in them. They will last 20-30 years. The tannin exchange in wood vessels is nice, and the wines tend to be darker with a much nicer texture.

I like the breathability, just enough oxygen. They’ve been using these in Oregon for a long time.

d o o to F

“We have naturally cold winters. The wines are on gross less from November to March, which protects the wine and helps with colour and means more time without sulphur. When we warm up the barrels we don’t wait for the malo to start naturally. We inoculate because we want them to finish all at the same time.”

n g i s e D n e h c t i K

a m o T e h T

The Tomato Food & Drink

Finalists notified by Kitchen Design Awards June 15, 2016

“Most people are using concrete for lees contact for Pinot Gris, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc. I don’t. We pull off lees right away. It’s all in what you like.

I don’t make whites in an oxidative style.

I like super fresh and best in their youth.

My whites are harvested in October and are ready to drink in April. The only wines in the cellar are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.”

Talking to Grant is like taking a short course in wine chemistry. He explains the finer points of temperature control, the relationship between high acid and less sulphur and the science behind a spring malolactic fermentation for the reds.

s d r Awa

“I’m a huge fan of the concrete eggs,” says Darryl Brooker, referring to the fermentation vessel. “The wines are quite leesy, the wine is always moving in the vessel, you rarely need to sulphur.

“I bought my first at a trade show back in 2005, there were none in North America at that time. I’ve done several trials comparing eggs to stainless to oak.

It’s all about the texture.”

We are here to see Darryl’s newest experiment, the Italian amphora. Into it went 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Desert Ridge Vineyard. The grapes were put in the amphora with nothing else; at eight months the wine was pressed by foot, then put into small stainless steel tanks.

“The thing about it is the breathability, lots of oxygen exchange, but not to be able to touch the wine, it was the hardest wine I ever made,” he says, “because you do nothing!”

The wine was delightful, fresh, with lots of interesting herbal notes, ripe and

Find the full submission package at thetomato.ca Winners will be feaured in the July/August 2016 issue of The Tomato thetomato.ca 16 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Grant Stanley and assistant winemaker Matthew Fortuna, 50th Parallel.

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Darryl Brooker “The hardest thing was to do nothing.” Darryl Brooker, Mission Hill Estate.

Your basic backyard barbecue will turn into a culinary adventure.

balanced tannins and a very attractive liveliness.

Only $

The 2014 Amphora project is a coferment of Desert Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Can’t wait.

Jay Drysdale, Bella Wines, Naramata Jay Drysdale and his wife Wendy bought a small patch of land above Naramata in order to make sparkling wine.

It had a house, outbuildings, lots of grass and 20 small apple trees, which they took out and planted grapes instead. “We had second leaf in 2105,” says Jay. I tasted Bella a few years back when visiting OK Crush Pad. At the time, someone was disgorging the wine by hand.

Curious about this lo-fi sparkling wine project I called Jay to see about a visit.

20

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Please see ”Okanagan” on page 30

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The Tomato | May June 2016 17

Beer Guy Stylin’ beer “Things are so bitter because the stakes are so small,” said Henry Kissinger about academic politics. But he could have been talking about beer geeks.

My fellow beer nerds are a peaceable bunch, but some things will set us off. Like Alexander Keith’s IPA that is certainly not an IPA. Or Alley Kat torqueing their classic Full Moon Pale Ale into an IPA. Or seeing a character in a movie in a bar ordering ‘a beer.’ Or, calling a beer a Kölsch when it isn’t brewed in Köln/Cologne.

(Have you not read the Kölsch-Konvention of 1986 that defined Kölsch as a product with protected geographical indication PGI)?

At the root of all these irritants is the concept of beer style.

Simply put, beer style is the grouping and codification of beers that belong together.

The most basic division is between ale, brewed warm and quickly with topfermenting yeast, and lager, brewed cold and slowly with bottom-fermenting yeast. But from there it gets complicated and more subjective, with styles based on criteria such as colour, aroma, flavour, technique, ingredients, history, and geography.

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style. Old curmudgeons mutter ‘beer is just beer while young turks rail against the tyranny of rules and guidelines. I was thinking about this recently when I was out on the Ave one evening pretending I was younger. I checked out The Almanac, a new gastropub with a well-curated beer selection, including Blindman Brewing’s Saison Lacombe: Noir. Yes, a black saison—unusual certainly, but fresh and delicious too.

Intrigued, I spoke to Hans Doef, cofounder and assistant brewmaster of Blindman about styles. Doef said he doesn’t find the style guidelines restrictive and in fact his team like to keep within them as much as possible, noting there is a wide range of opportunity within the guidelines.

Mostly they want to make the best beer possible, brewing what they want to drink and what they hope their customers will enjoy. So they enjoy playing with the styles— with their saison or their session IPA—but they also want to brew on-style, best-in-class beer like their Longshadows IPA. Blindman’s second release was an unusual one, a Kettle Sour. They didn’t brew it to be edgy; they brewed it because it was a style that they all loved and wanted to make.

We can thank (or blame) one man for this. British beer writer Michael Jackson pretty much invented beer styles, codifying them in his classic 1977 book, The World Guide to Beer. Building on Jackson, the American Homebrewers Association launched the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) in 1985, along with the influential BJCP Style Guidelines. Recently beer geeks were outraged when a major revision to the BJCP Guidelines was published.

104 official styles! Extra Special Bitter dropped! Wee Heavy no longer Scottish!

Some find these sorts of beer hybrids and experiments monstrous, beery abominations, but I like the beers that play on the edges, that dance between the strictures of style. I’m waiting for beer’s inevitable post-structuralist moment, when egghead French brewers in black turtlenecks will cross the Atlantic with their postmodern meta-beer, beer that comments on and undermines its own essential beeriness, beer that is beer and yet not beer.

Perhaps we beer geeks were wrong all along: maybe Alexander Keith’s IPA that isn’t an IPA was the first meta-beer?

Some object to the whole idea of beer

Nope, still not buying it.

Peter Bailey

Stylin’ beer six-pack Unusual styles of beers are often seasonals or one-offs, available only at the brewery or for short periods of time. The six below are all available at better Edmonton beer stores this spring.

Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale, Edmonton It was a bit like a fifty-something dad trading in his Levi’s for skinny jeans.

Alley Kat owner Neil Herbst tweaked his classic Full Moon recipe to bump the beer from a pale ale to an IPA. To be honest, to me the difference was small, but many were horrified. But all is well again—Alley Kat has returned Full Moon to the original recipe. Beer styles do matter it seems.

Village Maiden India Session Ale,Calgary IPA is the most popular style of craft beer, yet its intense bitterness and heaviness make it too big a beer to have more than one.

Hey presto, brewers came up with a lighter IPA—the ISA, or India Session Ale. Here Village doesn’t spare the hops, resulting in a quaffable beer with a flowery, citrusy nose and just the right amount of flavourful bitterness.

Wild Rose Cowbell Kettle Sour, Calgary Sour beers are the au courant style, but they are difficult and slow to brew the traditional way. North American brewers like Wild Rose are using a shortcut called kettle souring where lactobacillus is added to the beer when it is in the kettle, then boiled and fermented normally. Cowbell is flavoured with kaffir lime leaves; it is tart, fruity and tangy.

Phillips Odyssey Nitro Porter, Victoria Traditionalists scoff, but adding nitrogen to beer is something Guinness has been doing for decades with their in-can nitrogen widget. As nitrogen is insoluble in beer it creates all those tiny bubbles that make a nitro beer so delightfully creamy. Phillips does a nice job here, with a delicious velvety chocolate-coffee tinged porter.

Steel & Oak Dark Lager, New Westminster, BC Dark or black lager seems an oxymoron, but lager was dark until the 1840s when the Germans figured out how to make clear, golden lager.

Schwarzbier or black beer is dark lager made in Germany with roasted malt.

Steel & Oak’s version is a bit nutty, a bit roasty, a bit earthy, with the easy drinkability of a lager.

Category 12 Disruption Black IPA, Victoria The idea of mashing together a stout and an IPA appalls some beer geeks, and sometimes they are right on this new style. But this award-winning black IPA or Cascadian IPA is tremendous, combining the malty, roasty goodness of a porter with the bitter bite of an IPA. Book nerd by day, beer nerd by night, find Peter Bailey on Twitter and Instagram as @Libarbarian.

The Tomato | May June 2016 19

In Season Nettle, where is thy sting?

10117 101 St. Downtown Edm. Reservations 780.424.4218 Open 7 days a week • bistropraha.com

you know you want more...

There is something ridiculously satisfying about eating something you picked yourself from the woods—kind of like finding that killer pair of shoes on sale. Foraging puts us in touch with our inner huntergatherer, and nettles are pretty effortless to find. They pop up in early spring, thriving in moist rich soil near streams and creeks and along shady trails. Nettles are grown commercially in Europe for the chlorophyll and the plant has been used in folk medicine for centuries.

How to pick: Wear gloves! Stinging nettles, a perennial edible plant with hairy tapered leaves and indistinct little white flowers, gets its name from the sharp hairs that cover the leaves containing formic acid. Not into foraging? Those with big gardens might want to encourage a patch of nettles.

Mark it clearly so you don’t blunder through it in the summer wearing shorts. Use tongs while handling in the kitchen.

How to eat: They taste like spring— fresh, green, zesty, slightly bitter and a bit earthy. Use nettles wherever you would use spinach or parsley. Blanching (place in boiling water until they darken in colour, then submerge in a bowl of ice water until all the heat is gone) or cooking the leaves takes the sting out.

Blanching and shocking also keeps the bright green colour. The leaves are best eaten when young and soft, and they partner beautifully with that other spring green, sorrel.

Nettle Soup Like drinking a spring tonic, fresh and zippy 2T

butter

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 2 leeks trimmed, washed and finely sliced

20 May June 2016 | The Tomato

2 stalks

celery, chopped

1

onion, peeled chopped

1 c nettle leaves, cleaned and chopped (or half sorrel, half nettle leaves). Wear heavy gloves and long sleeves while chopping the uncooked leaves.

1 sml

floury potato, chopped

4c

chicken or vegetable stock

kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper 6 T crème fraiche or Greekstyle plain yogurt 1 sml bunch chives, chopped (optional)

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and vegetables. Cover and sweat gently for 10 minutes, stirring a few times, until soft but not brown. Add the potato and stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the nettles and simmer for about five minutes or so, until the potato has dissolved and the nettles are tender (very young nettle tops will need only two to three minutes). Season. Purée the soup, reheat if necessary and check seasoning.

To serve: Pour into 6 warmed bowls and top each with a generous spoonful of yogurt or crème fraiche. Scatter over chopped chives if using.

Serves 6.

Nettle Risotto with Wild Strawberries (Risotto alle Ortiche con Fragole) One day while hiking in Chianti a few years back, we stopped for lunch at a roadside tavern. On the chalkboard menu was a risotto with wild strawberries and nettles. Though it will never taste quite like the one we had there, as we do not grow those tiny, fragrant, full of flavour wild strawberries, this is close approximation of the freshness and springiness of that dish. Be careful not to stir too much after adding the strawberries, the colour is not attractive.

2c

nettle leaves, cleaned

2T

butter

1 sml onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 c risotto (arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano) rice 5-6 c vegetable (or chicken) stock kept warm kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper 1 c small whole in-season strawberries (wild if you can find) cleaned, tops off.

Parmigiano or aged Pecorino cheese, grated

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, throw in the nettles and bring back to a boil. Blanch for 1-3 minutes, until they start to darken in colour, then shock in ice-cold water. Squeeze the nettles to take out as much water as possible and chop finely. Reserve.

In a large heavy pan, melt the butter over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and sweat for eight to 10 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the rice, stir to coat the grains, pour in about a cup of the hot stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring, until almost all the stock has been absorbed.

Keep adding stock about a cup at a time, only when the previous addition has been absorbed. Before the last addition of the stock stir in the nettles. The risotto is ready when the rice is al dente (almost cooked through) and nice and creamy and fairly loose in texture. You may not need all the stock. Stir in some butter and about 2-3 t cheese. Cover, leave for a few minutes, then stir in the strawberries right before serving. Pass more cheese if desired at the table.

Serves 6-8.

Priest-strangler (Strangolapreti) Bread and Nettle Dumplings Adapted from a recipe in Fiori Di Zucca by Valentina Harris. Nettles make a fine substitute for spinach in Harris’ rendition of the prieststrangler dumpling (strangolapreti gnocchi).

It’s key to not handle gnocchi too much as they can become tough. Her method of shaping the gnocchi (in the instructions below) works well.

5-7 slices stale bread, torn into bitesized chunks 2c

milk

Mary Bailey

1½ c Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

float to the surface. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and keep warm in the oven. Continue until all the gnocchi are cooked. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Pour it over the gnocchi, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve.

¼T

Serves 4-6.

3-4 c

nettle leaves, cleaned

1 egg

+ 2 egg yolks, beaten

2 T light cream (or use the milk from the soaked bread)

freshly-grated nutmeg

kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper ⅓c

flour

½c

butter

Put the bread in a large bowl, pour the milk over and leave to soak until soft.

Squeeze the bread as dry as possible with your hands and leave to one side.

At the same time, steam the nettles in a large saucepan until tender, then drain.

Squeeze out as much water as possible, then chop finely or blitz in a food processor.

Put the nettles in a large mixing bowl and stir in the egg and egg yolks, then the cream or milk. Add the bread and half the cheese, season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper, then combine.

To shape and test the gnocchi: To test the mixture for consistency, wet the inside of a small glass with water then lightly dust with flour. Do not over-flour or the gnocchi will be rubbery. Drop a tablespoon of the mixture into the glass and shake the glass, tipping it to shape the mixture into gnocchi. Repeat with another tablespoon of the mixture.

Bring a small saucepan of salted water to the boil. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water—they should float to the surface in about 2 minutes and hold their shape. If not, adjust the remaining mixture by adding more egg or a little flour, or both, and extra salt and pepper to taste.

When the correct texture is achieved, continue shaping the remaining mixture in the glass, re-flouring as necessary. Tip the dumplings onto a parchment-covered baking sheet, spacing the gnocchi well apart. Chill until required.

Preheat the oven to its lowest setting.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Working in small batches, slip the gnocchi into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until they

FINE WINE, SPIRITS AND ALES

Nettle Butter Compound butters bring luxuriousness to a dish. The classic maître d'hôtel butter is made with parsley and garlic. This version uses nettles instead of parsley; lovely on pork, fish, chicken or steamed vegetables.

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened ½ c nettle leaves, blanched, shocked and finely chopped 2T

minced shallot squeeze fresh lemon juice

½t

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minced garlic

kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper

Place the butter in a small bowl or in the bowl of a food processor. Add the nettles, shallot, garlic and seasoning. Mash with a wooden spoon (or blitz) until combined.

Check for seasoning, adding lemon juice and more salt if necessary. Chill for a few minutes. Place a piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. Form the butter into a log by wrapping up in the plastic. Chill.

To serve: Unroll and place a slice on each piece of meat right before serving.

Sauteed Nettles with Black Garlic 2c

nettles leaves

2T

extra-virgin olive oil juice of ¼ lemon

3T

black garlic* chopped

kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper

Preheat a large sauté pan on medium heat with the oil. Place the nettles into the pan and stir until they start to wilt. Add the black garlic and lemon juice and cook Please see “Nettles” on page 23.

The Tomato | May June 2016 21

Love it or Leave it L I S A C AT T E R A L L Understanding one of the culinary world’s most divisive herbs creates a dilemma. Once found only in South American, Asian, and Middle Eastern cooking, cilantro has made its way into the hearts of many.

Cilantro—coriandrum sativum—the herb that tears families apart. Bright, citrusy and strongly flavoured, cilantro can make or break a dish. It brings authenticity to Latin and Asian cuisine and a refreshing pop of colour to plates. Advocates argue that the sharp, fresh flavour complements everything from curry to salsa. But for some, its overpowering soapiness, similar to the fragrance of bubble bath or hand lotion, can ruin a dish.

Cilantro’s availability and popularity have increased due to influence from Latin American and Asian cuisines.

“When we first opened Tres Carnales we encountered people who were unsure whether they liked cilantro or not. Now, guests ask for extra cilantro on the side,” says Edgar Gutierrez, chef and co-owner of Tres Carnales and Rostizado.

“It’s not as popular as basil, but every year we see sales rising,” says Greg Marlin of Morinville Greenhouses.

For generations, scientists have sought to understand the reasons behind the herb’s divisive qualities. What is at the root of the cilantro divide? Is it genetic? Can it be overcome?

The answer, as it turns out, is complicated. Much of cilantro’s potency comes from its aroma, which lies at the heart of many initial reactions to the herb. Pungent and peppery, the scent comes from a number of chemical compounds, called aldehydes. For many who are sensitive to the herb’s soapy aroma and flavour, cilantro’s aldehydes are associated with bath or cleaning products, not appetizing dishes.

Though scientists have identified a number of genetic links to a cilantro aversion, a direct causality has not yet been determined. In one of the most 22 May June 2016 | The Tomato

often-cited studies on the subject, scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center surveyed 500 sets of twins on their perceptions for both the scent and flavour of cilantro. The study observed that the vast majority (80 per cent) of identical twins shared the same response to the herb, whether liking or disliking it.

In fraternal twins, preferences were shared less than half of the time, indicating that genetics played at least some role in flavour preferences.

Studies have identified a cluster of olfactory-sensory genes, which influence a person’s sense of smell. In these olfactory receptors, one gene in particular, OR6A2, is particularly sensitive to aldehydes. As a result, many with this genetic variant identify cilantro as having a soap-like aroma and flavour.

However, scientists have not been able to isolate these genes’ role in cilantro flavour perception and preference. In short, no particular genetic cause has been identified that can predict with 100 per cent certainty a person’s predisposition to cilantro. So, while our genetic makeup can shape our opinion and create an initial bias, its influence can be overcome.

Cultural factors and exposure play a role in influencing flavour preferences, as is often the case with many strong ingredients like anchovies, blue cheese, or durian. Gutierrez, who now works with cilantro on a daily basis, explains that he wasn’t always a fan.

“When I was younger my mother used to add cilantro to her stews and soups,” he says, “I didn't like the smell of it when it was being cooked. But after a while, I developed a love for the freshness and distinct aroma of both cooked and fresh cilantro.”

“I love cilantro, it’s great when used in the right places,” says Daniel Costa, chef/ owner of Corso 32. “I don’t use it in my restaurants, but that’s only because it’s not really used in Italian cuisine.”

As with any herb, freshness is key.

Cilantro, native to the Mediterranean,

can be grown in planters or herb gardens and does best in the cooler weather of spring and early fall. In hot summer weather, cilantro bolts quickly, sending up lanky stalks with small white flowers.

The leaves are the most-often used part of the plant, but the roots of the plant are edible and add a depth of flavour to Thai recipes. The seeds, which become available just after the flowers fall off, are more commonly known as coriander.

When they appear, they can be replanted to grow more cilantro, or used to add a citrusy note to recipes.

One way for ambitious cilantrophobes to begin adventuring with the herb is to start with coriander, often featured in garam masala, harissa, dukkah and curries, offering diners a soft introduction to some of the notes present in cilantro.

Morinville Greenhouses offers both fresh cut and potted plants year round.

As fresh complementary ingredients for salsas, salads, and marinades come into season at local farmers’ markets and greenhouses, now is the perfect time to add cilantro to your shopping list. It’s ripe for the picking.

¼c

rice vinegar

1 sml

carrot, grated

1 sml

cucumber, grated

¼

red pepper, thinly sliced

1-2

thinly sliced radishes

½

green onion, chopped fine

1 c fresh cilantro leaves, chopped shredded lettuce (optional) 2 c shredded cooked chicken, meat only (or pork or fish) ½ pkg (8.8 ounces) cellophane noodles, prepared according to package instructions sesame seeds (optional)

In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add jalapeno, ginger, garlic and fish sauce if using. Season. Cook, stirring, until garlic is golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar and vinegar and cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 6 minutes.

Refrigerate until cool, at least 15 minutes (or up to 1 week).

To serve: toss the meat, noodles and vegetables with the dressing. Garnish with sesame seeds if desired.

Serves 4.

Chicken Cilantro Salad

Cilantro Chimichurri

This easy to put together Thai-ish salad is not only a great way to use up leftover cooked meats, it goes to work in a jar. Keep the dressing separate from the chicken and vegetables until right before serving then shake together. Use whatever vegetables you have on hand (peas pods would be nice) and add more or less heat, ginger and garlic to taste. The sugar is necessary for the flavour balance.

“Good to serve with sashimi, raw beef or lamb tataki.”

— Chef Andrew Fung, Nineteen.

½T

canola oil

½ jalapeno chile, minced (remove the ribs and seeds for less heat) 1T

minced fresh ginger

1 clove

garlic, minced fish sauce to taste (optional)

kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper 1t

brown sugar

2c

soda water

2T

kosher salt

2c

chopped cilantro

1c

extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 T

rice vinegar

1 fresh red chili pepper, chopped with seed 3 T roasted garlic rough chopped

Mix all ingredients. Makes about 2 cups.

Lisa Catterall, an Edmonton-based freelance writer and cilantrophobe-turnedfanatic, has been romanced by the fresh taste and colour cilantro adds to any dish.

Nettles Continued from page 21

until the leaves are completely wilted and the mixture is hot. You may need to add a bit of water to keep the nettles from browning.

To serve: Place nettles on a serving dish, drizzle a bit of oil over and serve with some extra lemon. Serves 4 * Black garlic (fermented garlic) is available at the Italian Centre Shops).

Pasta with Nettles and Mushrooms 1T

olive oil

2-3

green onions sliced

1 clove

garlic, chopped

10 button mushrooms, finely sliced 1 c nettle leaves, picked over and chopped (handle carefully) ¾c

crème fraiche

kosher or sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper grated Parmigiano or pecorino cheese 4-6 handful dried pasta (such as gemelli, fusilli or rotini)

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté onions and garlic until pale golden-brown.

Add the mushrooms and fry over medhigh heat until most of the water in the mushrooms has evaporated, about 8-10 minutes. Add chopped nettles a bit at a time, adding more when the previous addition has wilted. Continue cooking over medium heat until almost dry. Stir in the crème fraîche, bring to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Season.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water, according to packet instructions. When al dente, drain the pasta, leaving a bit of the starchy water behind. Toss with the sauce over heat, until the sauce is well incorporated. To serve: place on 4-6 plates and pass the cheese.

Serves 4-6.

Stinging Nettle Chimichurri “Serve as a sauce for grilled meats. Stinging nettle is my favourite spring ingredient. I have cooked within the seasons for so many years, and nettles are the first green thing we see. Well, and dandelions, but you can only eat so many dandelion leaves.

We have nettles planted in the student garden at SAIT. We’ll harvest in the spring, then cut them back or pull them. They’ll grow back so we have almost constant access to young tender leaves.

Nettles taste grassy green, very fresh. To cook, blanch and shock then do anything you want— put in a soup, puree it, chop cooked leaves into a risotto.” Chef Scott Pohorelic, culinary instructor SAIT 2-3 pieces

dried chipotle chilies

1c

white wine vinegar

2c

stinging nettle

½c

fresh parsley, minced

¼c

fresh mint, minced

1T

fresh garlic, minced

1T

grainy Dijon mustard

1c

extra virgin olive oil

2t

kosher salt

Break up the chilies enough that you can remove the stems. Grind the chilies into a fine powder. A mortar and pestle will work as well as an electric spice grinder or blender. Heat the vinegar, pour over the chili powder and let stand at room temperature until cooled. Be careful with the nettles. Wear thick gloves or use tongs to handle them until they’re cooked. Blanch and shock the nettles by placing them into a pot of boiling water until they darken in colour, about 2 minutes. Strain and then submerge in a bowl of ice water until they’re cold, about 3 minutes. Drain well and shake out as much water as you can. The nettles don’t sting anymore, so now is when you want to remove the large stems. Chop the remaining leaves quite fine. Combine herbs with the chopped nettles, mustard, olive oil and salt. Mix well. The acid in the vinegar will hurt the nice green colour so mix in the vinegar just before serving.

Keeping the two parts separate, this recipe will last nicely in the fridge for 4-5 days. I usually combine two parts herb mixture to one part vinegar, depending on what meats I’m grilling. For fatty meats like lamb I’ll make the sauce more acidic.

Mary Bailey’s nettle patch is a secret.

H A R D WA R E G R I L L YOU DON’T NEED A SPECIAL OCCASION to enjoy fine food at reasonable prices. Introducing our

3- COURSE PRIX FIXE • $50 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

Uncover the hidden secrets of great artworks.

Van Gogh, Rodchenko, Rubens and more

April 30–September 18

Organized and circulated by the McMaster Museum of Art. The MMA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Museums Assistance Program, Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Arts Council.

Presented at your AGA with the support of Capital Powered Art, an exhibition series sponsored by Capital Power Corporation.

Circle of Jan Gossart (called Mabuse), (Netherlandish, about 1478–1532) Unknown, portrait of a man (detail), c. 1520 oil on oak panel 40.6 x 30 cm, Levy Bequest Purchase, 1994

The Tomato | May June 2016 23

Wine Maven

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

DIFFTF t XJOF CFFS t FTQSFTTP

exclusively at Cavern 10169 - 104 street | 780.455.1336 | info@thecavern.ca | @CavernYEG

Saturday, June 18th 2016 Canadian Forces Base, Edmonton Garrison

Color de Vino staffer Allan Suddaby with Enguerrand Baijot, Champagne Chanoine and Lanson.

2015 Nautilus, Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand. Back in 1985 New Zealand was just beginning to become the wine export juggernaut that they are today. One of the first Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough to arrive was Nautilus. Now, 30 years later, it’s still a delicious example of kiwi sauv—beautiful elderflower and citrus aromas, lively acidity, with enough body and elegance to have with dinner.

Spot prawn season begins May 3; think salad with fresh springy green peas, goat cheese and lightly steamed spot prawns.

Strong. Determined. Powerful.

A women’s only charity obstacle adventure race

Register at www.woman2warrior.ca “But where,” she wondered, “would she find that drink she loved so much? Customized baskets and gift cards for all her gift-giving needs? Exclusive tastings, classes and Wine Club? A warm, welcoming store and the best staff in town?”

West Edmonton Mall • Entrance 58, Beneath Simons Like us on Facebook • Follow us on Twitter • Find us on Yelp www.aligrawineandspirits.com • 780.483.1083

24 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Taylor’s Single Harvest 1966 Vintage Port (Portugal) $250 Just in time for father’s day and a top-notch 50th birthday gift, Taylor’s Single Harvest 1966 Vintage Port is sure to satisfy. Or, it’s an opportunity to drink something born before you were—that doesn’t happen every day. Port aficionados agree the 1966 is a knockout now, perhaps overshadowed in its youth by the legendary 1963. It displays all that is magical about vintage port, the brazenness of youth quieted by age, yet still shimmering with subdued fire. Taste the amazing transformation 50 years can bring.

Mary Bailey Enguerrand Baijot is on a roll to reintroduce his family’s Champagne house Lanson to thirsty bubbleheads across Canada. The Black Label Brut has an effortless lightness on the palate yet is rich and complex in flavour, with zesty acidity and strawberry, yuzu citrus and honey flavours. It achieves its harmony thus—a high proportion of Pinot Noir sourced from 50 per cent Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards and the wine does not go through malolactic fermentation, keeping a pleasingly fresh acidity and a crisp mouth feel.

It’s also a brut on the dryer side (8 grams sugar per litre) with oysters being an ideal partner. The Rosé is equally elegant and has the advantage of being pink.

Lanson Black Label Brut NV (Champagne, France) $60

Enguerrand also brought along something new. Chanoine was a very old Champagne house dating to 1730, given a rebirth by the family in 1992. It has subtle sweetness on the palate and a very nice autolytic (brioche) quality.

This is a great price for quality Champagne.

Have with afternoon tea sandwiches, shrimp, runny cheese.

Lanson Rosé NV (Champagne, France) $65 Champagne Chanione NV (Champagne, France) $46

Sandra Oldfield, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, was in town to give a master class with YEGWomen in Wine, attend a Crush Club dinner and talk about what’s up in the southern Okanagan.

The weather: “We are having an early bud break, in the vineyards, usually it’s May 1.”

The vineyards: “We are planning to plant more Cab Franc and we planted Roussanne where the Kerner used to be.”

The bears: “The bears eat the Malbec but we’d rather they eat the Gewurztraminer. We have more of that.”

The wines: “2014 was the first vintage made by our new winemaker Andrew Windsor. The Gris is the most wine we make, 8000 cases a year, some time in stainless and some lees stirring for richness.”

2014 Pinot Gris, ($23) full-flavoured, with white peach and apricot stone fruit flavours along with some buttery vanilla spice notes, nice tension, fresh with a long finish.

2014 Gewürztraminer ($22) is off dry with a subtle spiciness, very easy to enjoy and the 2012 Cabernet Franc ($25) possesses juicy acidity, firm tannins with tasty meaty notes and red fruit.

Laurent Drouhin visited the Marc for a tasting of his family’s wine from Burgundy and to talk about why they have made the move to organic fruit. “We are at the service of the terroir.

I’m fourth generation, my job is to preserve for the next generation,” says Laurent. “We want to highlight terroir and organic is the only way to get the message of the soil, of the terroir, of the climat.”

We heard the message loud and clear from Chablis, Meursault, Volnay, Gevery Chambertin and Cote de Beaune.

2012 Beaune Clos des Mouches ($135) is red fruits wrapped in velvet—expressive, extremely tasty. Very small production, drink now or keep up to 15 years. “The name makes you smile, the taste makes you cry.” – Jean Coutu For everyday drinking, Drouhin’s La Forêt does not disappoint. The 2012 La Forêt Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Burgundy, France), $22. Straightforward red fruit, berries, earth, a little smoky. Chill slightly and drink with duck terrine or pork tenderloin.

2013 Drouhin LaForêt Blanc (Burgundy, France). $22. Enjoy this little black dress of a Chardonnay, the quintessential lunch wine, crisp and fresh with lovely citrusy notes. Partner with roast chicken, cheese and crackers.

Laurent Drouhin with Juanita Roos of Color De Vino.

Wines available at Bin 104, Color de Vino, Fine Wines

by Liquor Select, Unwined and better wine shops. Not all wines at all shops listed, prices are approximate.

The Tomato | May June 2016 25

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

EVENT CALENDAR MAY 1-MAY 7

TUESDAY, MAY 17

Veuve Clicquot’s Yelloweek yelloweek.com

Ricasoli Wine Dinner with Olalla Lopez-Corona, The Ranch Golf Club 780-470-4700

Asian Canadian Film Series

THURSDAY, MAY 5

Celebrating Asian Canadian history and identity.

One Big Hapa Family - May 4 @ 7:00PM Evangeline - May 11 @ 9:30PM The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam - May 18 @ 7:00PM Double Happiness - May 25 @ 7:00PM

Effing Oysters and Caviar Pop-Up The Cavern, 780-455-1336

Just For Cats Video Festival Come celebrate all things feline!

THURSDAY, MAY 5

5th Annual Rosé in May Tasting UnWined Fine Wine Spirits and Ales, 780-458-4777

Think Pink Rosé Tasting Hicks Fine Wines, 780-569-5000

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18

FRIDAY, MAY 6

June 11 @ 2:00PM June 12 @ 1:00PM June 14 @ 7:00PM June 15 @ 9:15PM

Yellow Table Veuve Cliquot Wine dinner, Harvest Room at the Mac, 780-429-6424

Spotlight: Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday - May 15-21 Breakfast at Tiffany’s - May 22 -24 Wait Until Dark - May 28-31 May 22 - Mimosas & Pastries in the Lobby at 11:00AM prior to Breakfast at Tiffany’s at Noon.

Metro Cinema at the Garneau 8712-109 Street | metrocinema.org

Metro Cinema receives ongoing support from these Arts Funders:

FRIDAY, MAY 6 Yellow Night Champagne Celebration Prive Ultralounge, 780-394-2342

SUNDAY, MAY 8 Summer Wine & Cheese Pairings The Cavern, 780-455-1336

TUESDAY, MAY 10 Cantina Tramin Winemakers Dinner with Wolfgang Klotz, Cibo Bistro, 780-757-2426

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11 Glenfarclas Whisky Tasting with George Grant, Crestwood Wines 780-488-7800

THURSDAY, MAY 12 Glenfarclas Whisky Dinner with George Grant, Ernest’s at NAIT Restaurant, 780-471-8676

SATURDAY, MAY 14 Annual Spring Fling in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, Fine Wines by Liquor Select, 780-481-6868

26 May June 2016 | The Tomato

TUESDAY, MAY 17

Mendoza’s Finca Decero with Stephanie Morton-Small, UnWined Fine Wine Spirits and Ales 780-458-4777

MONDAY, MAY 23 Jewish Whisky Company and Single Cask Nation with Joshua Hatton UnWined Fine Wine Spirits and Ales 780-458-4777

SATURDAY, MAY 28 Spring Open House Hicks Fine Wines, 780-569-5000

TUESDAY, JUNE 7 Victoria Caledonia Distillery with Andrew Campbell Walls UnWined Fine Wine Spirits and Ales 780-458-4777

THURSDAY, JUNE 9 A Trendy Tasting Hicks Fine Wines, 780-569-5000

TUESDAY, JUNE 14 The Accidental Sommelier Series: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon UnWined Fine Wine Spirits and Ales, 780-458-4777

WE HAVE A

BUN FOR THAT

VISIT YOUR LOCAL COBS BREAD TO FIND THE PERFECT BUN FOR YOUR SUMMER FUN

HAMBURGER

KAISER

C I A B AT TA

COBSBREAD.COM/BUNS

The Lunch Lady RelishFest Food on Film in conjunction with

NorthWest Fest 2016 present

Bugs on the Menu

Sugar Coated

The answer to feeding the world’s expanding population may be smaller than you think.

How did the food industry get us to stop asking the question: is sugar toxic?

May 6 | 7pm

May 9 | 8pm

Landmark Cinemas Downtown

Landmark Cinemas Downtown

For tickets and further information visit

relishfilmfest.org | northwestfest.ca

@relishfestyeg #relishfoodonfilm

MAY 5 - 14, 2016

Movies. Music. Digital Arts.

Full schedule now available at northwestfest.ca With support from

28 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Who doesn’t love a picnic?

Kids are great. They get you to do things you would not normally do. I could spend hours on a lazy Sunday morning skimming over Instagram and reading cookbooks, but when a 9-year-old rushes in and exclaims she’s going on a picnic with her bestie in 45 minutes, well, it’s time to put inspiration into action.

In a little over 20 minutes we have: found containers with matching lids; not enough apple cider in the jug for two so why not add some Lipton Iced Tea crystals, a top off of water and squeeze of lemon; where is the funnel?

‘It’s ok mom, I’ll make one out of paper,’ (I would not have thought of that).

In no time at all we have buttered bread slices, hard-boiled eggs from yesterday sliced up and sprinkled with salt, Havarti cheese and slices of porchetta. A banana and a few granola bars and she’s all set. Off she goes. I am left to clean off the chopping block and sweep up some iced-tea powder off the floor.

I love that she’s going on a picnic.

I hop on my Electra Koa 3i Ladies old-school bike with my wicker basket secured nicely on the back rack. In it is my perfect picnic. Thick slices of salty, glazed smoked ham sandwiched between fresh white, buttered Bonjour Bakery baguette with a smear of the Jam Lady’s red pepper curry mustard.

The sandwiches, of course, are wrapped in Abeego bees wax wrap (Sabrina Butterfly). There are Gala apples (Steve and Dan), Brie cheese (Cavern). Big green Cerignola olives (Italian Centre Shop), Crunchy vegetable salad (Culina Muttart Café). Seasonal fruit. A chilled bottle of Costaripa Rosé (Color di Vino) wrapped in a locally made Mezzaluna hand towel along with jam jars for drinking it in.

And now I’m awake. I must have gone back to bed to look at more Instagram photos and dozed off. While that is definitely my dream picnic—woven baskets complete with checkered tablecloths and champagne flutes, the reality is more like this—tacky plastic tablecloths to cover up the pigeon poop on the sun-bleached, worn out public

Cindy Lazarenko

picnic tables chained to the ground.

Coleman coolers and brightly coloured beverage containers. The Big Red Cup and Royal Chinet. While a patchwork blanket is charming and makes for a great Instagram picture, I’ve yet to attend a picnic gathering that didn’t involve a folding chair of some type; much easier on the back.

I love to be spontaneous about a picnic, simple with minimal preparation. When we have good picnic, weather we have to grab the opportunity because everything tastes better outside with sunshine and a cool breeze. To help you be spontaneous, stock the pantry with lemonade, bags of salty snacks, kettle chips, roasted cashews or pistachios; olives, pickles, canned fish, crackers or crispbreads, and the fridge with cheese, triangles of brie, smoked cheddar or a wedge of Manchego.

There are so many wonderful bakeries in Edmonton to help you simplify, offering much more than bread to make it a onestop shop. Bon Ton bakery sells mini baguettes, which would be great to keep stocked in your freezer. Sunbake Pita

offers freshly made fatayers with meat, sausage, cheese and spinach in ready-togo 12 packs. While you’re there, grab a bag of mixed nuts and a cold drink to wash them down.

Stop at your neighbourhood deli for German butter cheese and a good chicken liver pâté. Slather it onto a fresh slice of dark rye, you’ll be glad you did.

A few crunchy pickles wouldn’t hurt either.

My oldest daughter says her ideal picnic basket would include pulled pork sandwiches and lots of veggies and dip.

Pulled pork is super easy to make in the slow cooker and freezes well. Make some marinated onions. No time to cook?

Victoria Fancy Sausage sells pulled pork every Wednesday, and you can also pick up a bag of Portuguese buns while you’re there.

www.themarc.ca

@themarcedmonton

Marinated Onions My mom never served pork to guests without marinated onions. These are great on any sandwich or with any type of roasted meat and will last for a week or so in the fridge.

4-6 white onions – sliced very thin 2c

sugar

1c

vinegar

1T

mayonnaise

½t

celery seeds salt and pepper to taste

Put the onions in a large mixing bowl. Pour sugar and vinegar and mix thoroughly. Marinate in fridge for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Drain. Add mayonnaise, celery seeds and salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.

Cindy Lazarenko is the co-owner of OnOurTable Ltd. and the catering manager for Culina Restaurants.

In her spare time she feeds the Highlands/Bellevue Besties youth group every Friday night and is getting ready for the 4th Annual Highlandia Neighbourhood Music Festival.

www.wusthof.ca Experience the WÜSTHOF difference at a retailer near you: The Pan Tree 550, 220 Lakeland Dr. Sherwood Park

Hendrix Condon Barr 11935 145 St. Edmonton

Bella Casa Design Centre 9646 142 St. Edmonton

The Tomato | May June 2016 29

Okanagan Continued from page 17

We are escorted to the cellar/hamshack

by Buddha, their newish bulldog. (The winery is named after Bella, their first bulldog, now sadly departed.)

A Canadian Epic

of Food and Wine

June 6, 2016 6:30pm to 9:00pm Tickets $80 Indulge in an evening of fine VQA wines and prairie cuisine.

Tickets: jledmonton.com Restaurants

Farms and Ranches

Wineries and Breweries

4404 (Delta Edmonton South)

Alberta Bison Ranch

50th Parallel Estate Winery

Bry-Conn Developments Quail

Bartier Bros.

Country Accent Mangalista Pork

Cedar Creek Estate Winery

Doef ’s Greenhouses

Culmina Family Estate

Four Whistle Farms

Henry Of Pelham

Greener Pastures Pork

Mission Hill Winery

Cilantro and Chive The Common Edmonton Marriott at the River Cree The Glass Monkey Get Cooking Cooking Studio The Marc

Gull Valley Greenhouses

Noorish

Irvings Farm Fresh Pork

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse Red Ox Inn Royal Glenora Club Share Restaurant, The Westin

Red Rooster Winery Sandhill Wines Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Nature’s Green Acres

TH Wines

Reclaim Urban Farm

Tinhorn Creek Vineyards

Stoney Creek Farm

Alley Kat Beer

Sunworks Farms

Workshop Eatery

Sylvan Star Cheese

Zinc (Art Gallery of Alberta)

Conviction Wines

Mo-Na Foods

vivo XIX Nineteen

C.C Jentsch Cellars

Blindman Brewing Yukon Brewing and Spirits

Tangle Ridge Ranch

Alberta Canola Producers Commission

Rock Ridge Dairy

Alberta Pulse Barr Estate Fruit Winery Chickadee Herbs The Newget Kompany Winding Road Artisan Cheese

“Vancouver Island is a perfect place for bubbles,” he says. “But it didn’t make sense with the ferries and the land here was cheaper.”

Their idea is to offer single vineyard sparkling wines made from Chardonnay and Gamay.

Not only are they making a traditionalmethod sparkling wine (modelled after Champagne, where the second fermentation happens in the bottle, capturing the CO2 which creates the fizz) they are also making a sparkling Gamay using the ancestral method (the Americans call this pét-nat, after petillant naturelle, the Italians, col fondo.)

They press into a barrel, then put the wine in the bottle with all of its lees, sediment and particulates. The wine finishes its fermentation there producing small bubbles. It’s less bubbly than wine made in the traditional method, and won’t last as long, but the wine captures all the freshness and taste.

They riddle and disgorge to remove most of the sediment, but without filtering, the wine is a bit cloudy, kind of like homemade beer. Old school and completely fun.

Very little wine is sold outside of BC so plan a stop there next time you are in the Okanagan. Bubbleheads will love the technical website.

indulgenceedmonton.ca

30 May June 2016 | The Tomato

@indulgenceyeg #indulgenceYEG

Mary Bailey is the editor of The Tomato.

INSPIRATION AWAITS Celebrate the best Alberta has to offer with Contemporary Canadian inspired cuisine; infused with antioxidant rich superfoods and locally sourced ingredients.

Our intimate ‘rustic-elegance’ inspired dining room, complete with Chef ’s Table is the perfect choice for any occasion.

Edmonton / Calgary / Ottawa / Kelowna 10820 82 Ave

knifewear.com

@knifewearyeg

Kitchen Sink restaurant ramblings June is Alberta Pork Month and that means some great pork dishes at restaurants such as Ampersand 27, The Common, Hardware Grill and The Marc.

Enjoy bacon-wrapped pork loin and cassoulet—braised pork belly with white bean, smoked ham, apple at the Harvest Room at the Mac; toothsome pressed pork belly at Nineteen and the savoury parmesan-crusted pork loin at Pampa. For menus, recipes and the full list of participating restaurants, visit albertapork.ca.

$19.95). As well there is a sumptuous buffet in the Giverny Ballroom, $43.95 (children 5-12 $19.95) with three seatings. See the menus online, email madisons@unionbankinn.com for reservations.

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse (9929 109 Street, 780-756-7030 pampasteakhouse.com) has launched their catering menu with charcoal-grilled sandwiches and skewers starting at $6.35 each and free delivery downtown: pampasteakhouse.com/edmonton/catering.

As well, you can now have a quick lunch for under $15.

We look forward to their lovely patio opening soon.

What offers five spit-roasted Brazilian-style meats, fresh fruit, cheeses, black bean stew and grilled pineapple on the 50-plus-item salad bar and a bespoke omelette station? Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse’s (9929 109 Street, 780-756-7030 pampasteakhouse.com) Mother’s Day Weekend Brunch, Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8. The price is $34.99, children (3-11) $19.95.

Mom is not a morning person? Have a Mother’s Day Dinner, Sunday May 8, 4pm to 8pm, $49.95 (adults). Enjoy limitless carvings of 10 cuts of charcoalroasted meat and smoked ham, the lavish salad bar, along with feature drinks and desserts. Reservations at pampasteakhouse.com. Mark the calendar for Father’s Day Dinner Sunday, June 19.

Seoul Fried Chicken (7904 104 Street, 780-7613616) Lee House is now a fried chicken joint and what chicken it is. Seven different styles; the OG (regular), Hot Mustard (yellow wasabi), Korean Barbecue, sweet with some tangy ginger heat, were suitably chickeny and tasty. Not greasy, not too salty, just delicious. Be prepared to wait, or call in your order for pick up.

Dangerously good.

Here’s a different way to spend Mother’s Day. Partake in the Cavern Cheese School, Sunday, May 8, 2pm4pm for Summer Wine & Cheese Pairings at Cavern (10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca).

Owner Tricia Bell knows cheese. These entertaining and informative sessions help us understand the difference between artisan and ordinary cheese, $75, tickets in advance, call 780-455-1336 to book.

We’re looking forward to the new upstairs space at El Cortez, (8232 Gateway Boulevard). Have Mercy Table and Bar will channel deep south flavours and vibes; opening this summer, havemercy.ca.

Cibo (11244 104 Avenue, 780-757-2426, cibobistro.co) has amazing winemaker dinners. Their next is with the stellar Italian producer Cantina Tramin from the Alto Adige region, Tuesday May 10, five courses, three seatings, $135 with special guest Wolfgang Klotz. Call 780-757-2426 to reserve.

Get yourself to Beaumont to check out Chartier (#102, 5012 50 Street Beaumont, 587-987-5704, dinechartier. com) for their rustic, country French-Quebecois-style menu. Owners Sylvia and Darren Cheverie raised over $100,000 in a Kickstarter campaign and opened in early April. The chef is Steve Brochu. Open six days a week, for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.

wine tastings, happenings and events Oysters and caviar meet your vinous partners at the May 5 Effing Oysters + Caviar Pop-Up at Cavern (10169 104 Street #2, 780-455-1336 thecavern. ca), three courses paired with two wines and one Champagne. Two seatings: 6:30 and 8:30, $80+GST. Madison’s Grill in the Union Bank Inn (10053 Jasper Avenue, 780-401-2222, unionbankinn.com) has two exceptional Mother’s Day Brunches: à la carte in the Grill, with two seatings, $39.95 (children 5-12,

32 May June 2016 | The Tomato

Do you love schnitzel? From June 4 to June 11 explore European schnitzel in all its delicious glory during Schnitzel Week at the Bistro Praha (10117 101 Street, 780-424-4218, bistropraha.com) Schnitzel specials are served after 5pm only, best to make a reso to make sure you don’t miss it.

Enjoy the Glenfarclas Whisky Tasting Wednesday May 11, 7pm, at Crestwood Wines (9658 142 Street, 780-488-7800, crestwoodfinewines.com) with George Grant, the 6th generation proprietor, six whiskies $35.

Call to reserve 780-488-780.

Ernest’s at NAIT Restaurant’s (11762 106 Street, 780-471-8676) Glenfarclas Whisky Dinner is on May 12. The evening begins at 6pm with special guest George Grant. Indulge in five courses each paired with whisky, $95. For reservations call 780-471-8676.

Fine Wines by Liquor Select’s (8924 149 Street, 780-481-6868, liquorselect.com) Annual Spring Fling in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation is Saturday May 14, 2pm-5pm, with over 60 specialty wines, craft beers, and artisanal spirits available to try. Do some good while discovering the latest in summer refreshment; donations at the door ($5 or more) go directly to support a great cause in our own community.

Olalla Lopez-Corona, the export director of Chianti’s Barone Ricasoli is the special guest at the Ricasoli Wine Dinner, 6pm. May 17 at The Ranch Golf Club, 52516-Range Road 262. Five courses with paired wines, $95/pp. Call 780-470-4700 for tickets.

Upcoming tastings at Hicks Fine Wines (150 Bellerose Drive, St. Albert, 780-569-5000, hicksfinewines.com): Thursday, May 5, 7 pm, Think Pink Rosé Tasting, $30; Saturday, May 28, 2pm-5 pm, Annual Spring Open House; June 9, 7pm, A Trendy Tasting, $40.

There is always something to sample Fridays from 3pm-6pm and on Saturdays, 2pm-5pm.

Celebrate Veuve Clicquot’s Yelloweek May 1-May 7, a tribute to creativity showcasing gastronomy, arts, fashion and lifestyle. Here’s how: Yellow By the Glass: Purchase a glass of Veuve Clicquot and receive a complimentary amuse bouche at Tzin Wine and Tapas, Alberta Hotel Bar and Kitchen, Vons Steakhouse & Oyster Bar, Woodwork, and The Red Piano from May 1-7. Yellow Table: Harvest Room Wine Dinner Thursday, May 5 with a five course menu by the Mac’s exec chef Serge Jost, paired with five Cliquot champagnes, including the 2004 Millesime, $119++. Call 780-429-6424 for resos. Yellow Night: Champagne celebration at Prive Ultralounge (10304 111 Street, 780-394-2342, priveultralounge.ca) Friday, May 6. Visit yelloweek.com for all the details.

UnWined Fine Wine Spirits and Ales, (512 St. Albert Trail, 780-458-4777 and #203, 10205 101 Street, City Centre, 780-421-0015, unwined.biz) tastings: Tuesday, May 17, 5th Annual Rosé in May, $20; Wednesday, May 18, 6:30pm Mendoza’s Finca Decero, with Stephanie Morton-Small, $40; Monday, May 23, 7:30pm, Jewish Whisky Company and Single Cask Nation with Joshua Hatton. Reservations 780-4584777. Tuesday, June 7, Victoria Caledonia Distillery with Andrew Campbell Walls, $25; Tuesday, June 14, 7:30pm, The Accidental Sommelier Series Wine Fundamentals; Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, $20. All events are held at the St. Albert store and require advance ticket purchase on Eventbrite.

what’s new and notable

Don’t miss the third annual Porkapalooza June 17-19 at Clarke Stadium. Expect smoky competition, ($16,000 in prize money for BBQ teams at this Kansas City Barbecue Competition sanctioned event) great entertainment and your favourite food trucks, including Sandwich and Sons, Attila the Hungry, Pampa, Meat, and Smokehouse BBQ. Visit porkapalooza. ca for music tickets, volunteer info and a terrific video on last year’s event.

Porkapalooza is part of Alberta Pork’s mandate to help end hunger in our city.

product news The Farmers’ Markets now have an app! The Alberta Farmers’ Market mobile app links users to up-to-date information on the Alberta approved farmers’ markets. You can search by market name, type of market, day of the week, specific date or location and tag your favourites. It also has shopping tips and a seasonal guide for fresh produce from both Alberta and BC. Find at Google Play, the App Store or at thetomato.ca.

Love the Italian Centre west end’s pizza? It’s coming soon to Spinelli’s Bar Italia (5028 104A Street, 780-9894869, italiancentre.ca) which is being renovated into a bright and lively space with more seating, a pizza oven and an open bakery. Expect the new look in June; ’til then, enjoy coffee and pastry or lunch in the interim café.

free Zwilling Knife Sharpening Clinic with a three Zwilling knives/pp limit.

New at Zocalo (10826 95 Street, 780-428-0754, zocalo.ca) over 40 kinds of tomatoes; San Marzano, Tiny Tim, Better Belle and everything in between.

The Elemental Beer glasses, upcycled and recycled beer glasses are made in Canada by glass artists, $24 each. We loved the wine barrel items, handmade in Ontario from recycled wine and bourbon barrels. Zocalo is stocking the wine stave tea light centerpiece, $59 and the barrel stave cheese boards, $44.

cooking classes Become a Churrasco Master during a cooking class at Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse (9929 109 Street, 780-7567030, pampasteakhouse.com) on May 14, 28 and June 4, 11, $119. Visit their website to book.

Want to learn more about gluten free?

At Kinnikinnick Fresh (10940-120 Street, 780-424-2900, getitfresh.ca) chef Lori Grein will be on location 10am -1pm, May 7, 8, 14 and 15 preparing a selection of gluten-free samples to taste and recipe cards to take home. There is no charge for this event.

Enjoy bread and meat from RgRd’s Butchery, house-made sausage, country-style terrine, pâté and breads from RgRd’s (10643 123 Street, rgerd. ca) wood-burning oven. Yum. May 19, 20, 21; June 16, 17, 18 and July 14, 15, 16 from 12pm-4:30pm.

ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen Lunchtime classes (11:45am - 12:45pm) $15 each plus GST: May 6, Mother’s Day Brunch; May 27, Basic Cooking with Five Ingredients or Less; June 10, Pot Luck Party. After work classes: June 15, Father’s Day BBQ Demo, $25+GST and June 29, Mexican Fiesta Hands On, $40+GST. On June 25, 10am – 12pm, ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen offers the Farmer’s Market Feast hands-on class, which includes a trip to the City Market, $40+GST.

The Pantree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-464-4631, thepantree.ca) is now open Sundays from 11am-3pm, all the better to check out the Zwilling cookware and knives, Staub cast iron and Miyabi knives on sale now. On May 6, 4-6pm there is a

Express Cooking Classes at Gail Hall’s Seasoned Solutions: May 18, A Fresh & Quick Spring Menu; June 1, Foods for Summer Entertaining. Classes are from 6:30 - 8:30 pm, $49.95 plus GST. Details and complete cooking schedule at seasonedsolutions.ca

The Pan Tree’s (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-464-4631, thepantree.ca) upcoming cooking classes: Mexican Brunch with chef Israel Alvarez, May 11, 6pm, $90; Wine Basics and Cooking on how to pair wine with food in three courses, May 18, 6pm, $100; Vegetarian Rural Italy, with chefs Rylan Krause and Jade Wu of the Mercury Room, June 7, 6pm, $95.

in memoriam Chef Brad Horen died March 6 after a brief illness. Brad was a graduate of NAIT Culinary and executive chef at the Manteo Resort in Kelowna. He was the Canadian Chefs Federation’s 2007 Chef of the Year, Western Living Magazine’s 2008 Foodie of the Year, captain of the Canadian Culinary Olympic Team and mentor to countless young cooks.

“I was fortunate to work alongside Brad in his pursuit of excellence as a member of Team Alberta and Canada,” says chef Nigel Webber, NAIT culinary instructor. “He was an incredibly talented chef, full of passion and drive, sadly he is no longer standing behind his stove.” Brad Horen is survived by his wife Junko; daughters Hana and Ana; his mother Barb and sister Deb. Brendan Brewster died March 6, three months shy of his 38th birthday.

Fellow bartender Tarquin Melnyk knew him well, having brought Brendan to Edmonton to work with him at the Manor Café a few years back. “Brendan was the modern incarnation of Jerry Thomas, the barman poet. He was thoughtful and articulate and sweet; he had the ability to transfer enthusiasm.”

He is survived by family and a legion of colleagues, protégés and friends.

Brandon Brewster once said that his greatest asset as a bartender was the ability to create regulars. That would be an asset for any human being. Brandon, we miss you.

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

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

The Tomato | May June 2016 33

According to Judy

Judy Schultz

Potato love Planting season makes me think of potatoes, and another of the annual miracles: drop one measly chunk of tuber with two or three eyes into a hole and it will produce an entire hill of everybody’s favourite vegetable.

Your LOCAL choice for Gluten Free since 1991

Gluten Free, Fresh 10940 - 120 Street Open Tuesday to Saturday www.GetItFresh.ca 780-732-7527 GLUTEN FREE HAS NEVER TASTED SO GOOD®

The first spuds teased from the edge of that hill will be the size of big marbles.

Steamed, they’ll taste of summer and the earth that produced them.

If your grandad was a gardener, he likely grew Netted Gems.

That was back when a potato was a potato, one variety per garden, maybe two.

Enough.

Finished.

Not anymore.

I recently counted 150 Canadaregistered varieties, 27 of them available in one local greenhouse.

So many shapes, textures, colours. You have to love a yellowfleshed, buttery-tasting potato, like the German Butterball. It sounds positively cuddly; built-in-butter strikes me as sheer genius.

Blue potatoes are still a bit of a novelty, like the one called Blue Tomcat. They’re the clowns of the potato world, ready to party. Always floury and high-starch, blue potatoes hold their colour when cooked, so cool chefs have come to love them for cosmetic reasons.

A potato is a fairly amiable vegetable, but a floury spud is best for mashing, and a waxy one works best for salads and hashbrowns. Teeny tiny spuds, a specialty of our own Baby Potato Company, make fabulous potato salads. Mix all three colours (red, white, blue) with a

©2016 Palm Bay International Boca Raton, Fl.

34 May June 2016 | The Tomato

sharp-spicy dressing, and add a hefty hit of good curry powder. Throw in some pea pods for crunch, and it’s an edible rainbow.

And now for my favourite hashbrowns: boil some waxy red potatoes, skin on, until just tender. As the great Italian cook Marcella Hazan says, “Refrain from prodding them too frequently with the fork!”

After they cool, dice them, along with a small red onion. Fry them in a generous amount of very hot fat – a blob of butter and, ideally, a scant bit of bacon dripping if you have any, for extra flavour. Melt the fat in a dribble of canola oil to raise the smoke point.

Season well with salt. Bash in the pepper and a drizzle of white vinegar, unless you’re British and hanker for malt vinegar, in which case, use it.

Note: the amount of vinegar in these hashbrowns is completely to taste, but it’s the key ingredient. (Think French fries with vinegar). Finish them with a handful of fresh chives and a sprig of chopped rosemary from your garden.

It’s the perfect side on a steak-and-eggs morning.

Final point: have you noticed how many potatoes are named after girls? We have Marilyn and Matilda, Eva, Nicola and Carolina; Reba and Rosemarie; Victoria, Hertha and yes, Ulla. Sadly, no Judy. I figure the potato namers are missing the boat here. Given enough butter, I could live on potatoes.

Food and travel writer Judy Schultz hopes one day to have a potato named after her.

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

Alberta Hotel Bar & Kitchen Ampersand 27 Hardware Grill Harvest Room (Fairmont Hotel MacDonald)

Nineteen North 53 Pampa Red Ox Inn Rostizado Royal Glenora

Sabor Divino The Common The Marc TZiN Workshop Eatery Zinc

COME FOR THE BBQ, STAY FOR THE MUSIC.

June 17-19 Clarke Park/Stadium Edmonton, AB porkapalooza.ca

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

Discover more at the Le Creuset Boutique in Southgate Centre or find a retailer at LeCreuset.ca