Take a bite of your city | May June 2018 | thetomato.ca
The wine issue A River Runs Through It: A Week in the Douro Valley Bubbles 101 Get Cooking cooks Vietnamese
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A LEADING POLYTECHNIC COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS
Contents Editor Mary Bailey marybee@telus.net
Features
Publisher BGP Publishing
Copy Editor
A week in the Douro Valley | Mary Bailey
Shauna Faragini
Contributing Writers Peter Bailey Lisa Catterall Curtis Comeau
Curtis Comeau Doreen Prei Kathryn Joel Tara Smith
Departments
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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
22 Digging Deep Trina Moyle’s new book explores women and farming | Lisa Catterall
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For editorial inquiries, information, letters, suggestions or ideas, contact The Tomato at 780.431.1802 or email marybee@telus.net.
16 Getting a Taste for Vietnam Doreen Prei and Kathryn Joel of Get Cooking discover their favourite flavours of Vietnam
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14 A Port Story The story of Taylor’s Port is deeply entwined with the history of Port | Mary Bailey
Design and Prepress WebMeister
10 A Love Affair With Pancakes A photographer’s favourite stacks | Curtis Comeau
Illustration/Photography
Gunnar Blodgett, COPA Jurist
6 A River Runs Through It
5 Dish Gastronomic happenings around town
18 Beer Guy IPAlberta | Peter Bailey
20 Drinks Bubbles 101
24 Wine Maven Mary Bailey
32 Kitchen Sink What’s new and notable
34 The Crossword Myles Mellor
Subscriptions are available for $25 per year. thetomato.ca On the cover: the Douro River, photo by Tara Smith, Lanigan & Edwards Wine Merchants.
Celebrating Edmonton’s
20 YEARS
Food Culture Since 1996 The Tomato | May June 2018 3
Fresco. (FRESS-koh)
Fresco means ‘fresh’, which is how we approach summer at our shops – with an abundance of delicious, seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Perfect for your backyard barbecue.
Grocery. Bakery. Deli. Café. EDMONTON Little Italy | Southside | West End CALGARY Willow Park
italiancentre.ca
Local Seasonal Organic Sustainable •
•
•
Dish
gastronomic happenings around town
bears and breakfast
what your dad really wants
Owners Nicole and Shaun Brandt (sommelier and designer respectively) along with their partner Felipe Aldea have created a whimsically modern space for breakfast, lunch and dinner called Wilfred’s. “Food and wine have always been a passion, but even more so is hospitality,” says Nicole. “I love house guests, I love to have people over and cook for them, share wine and have a good time. Combined with Shaun's equal excitement for food, wine and creating brands and spaces that transport people to another place, opening a restaurant feels like exactly what we were meant to do.”
A Father’s Day Gift Pack from Kitchen by Brad: 12 pieces of Kitchen bacon (yup, that delicious bacon), Brad’s BBQ Rub, Devil’s Butter and a Jacek chocolate bar, $55+. Pre-orders from June 4 to June 13 and pick up on Friday, June 18 and Saturday, June 19, noon-4pm.
just in time for mother’s day An enchanting tea set called the Chelsea Collection from Sara Miller London Portmeirion in fine porcelain. The collection of cup and saucer, mugs, tea pot, cake stand and cake plates are in a naturalistic print in four colours with 22 carat gold detailing, $30-$90. At Bella Casa, Crestwood Shopping Centre, 780-437-4190.
It’s in the standalone building that survived the demolition of most of Molson’s and has been restored to its original appearance as per the Heritage Building guidelines. Cristobal Aldea is the chef and his wife Pia is the sous. Opening early June. Wilfred’s, 10429 121 Street, wilfreds.co.
the chocoholic’s dream There is a new chocolate shop in Edmonton and you must go right now. Francois le Roi brings in quality ingredients from France and makes his outstanding confections (pâté de fruits, truffles, caramels, bars, pralines and almonds) right here. Sounds like a fairy tale, a sweet and delicious fairy tale, and we’ll have more about Francois in our next issue. Francois Le Roi Fine Chocolatier, 8116 Gateway Blvd, 780-278-8639, leroifrancois.com.
spring cleaning made beautiful If you have to do dishes you might as well do them with something bright and well-designed. The Swedish Dishcloth is ultra-absorbent, just right for mopping up all sorts of messes. Designed and hand-printed in Sweden and England, they are also biodegradable (made from cellulose and cotton) and go right into the compost heap. Priced from $7. Find at: Bella Casa, Heart of the Home, The Pan Tree, The Wired Cup, Zocalo and other fine retailers.
making whisky Earlier this year Forty Creek ran a contest to choose fans of the brand to help select the 2018 limited edition release. One of the lucky five was St. Albert native Mark Allanson. What did Mark think of the experience? “I won a trip to Ontario? Is this for real?’ was my first reaction,” says Mark. “I was excited to see what Forty Creek is all about—how they create a distinctive taste and flavour.
butternut tree chef de partie competes in hawksworth challenge
“Five of us helped create the limited edition with Bill Ashburn, the master distiller. A bunch of amateurs helping the master distiller. It was a blast.”
Michel Nasrabadi, chef de partie of the Butternut Tree is a regional finalist in the Hawksworth Young Chef Competition. On May 5, he will compete in Calgary for the chance to go through to the national event. “My dish is basted sable fish with roasted tomato, braised radish, sous vide asparagus and crispy potatoes,” says Michel. “It has nuances that tie things together, so the judges can see why I chose these flavours.”
The winning blend will be announced and available for reservation on September 22, during Forty Creek’s annual Whisky Weekend, fortycreekwhisky.com
new from staub Staub has lifetime fans. Made in France, the individually crafted cast iron and enamel pieces with moisture sealing lids are ideal for any kind of cooktops, including induction. The brasier design is actually from the Staub archives and has charmingly vintage Staub ear handles. The shape is ideal for chicken and olives or lamb shanks. What’s new is this gorgeous colour, a deep greyed blue, called La Mer, stunning. At Bella Casa and other fine housewares retailers.
Photos from top: It’s BACON! by Brad; Wilfred’s Wilfred by Vanguard Works; Chelsea Collection tea set; pretty Swedish kitchen cleaner; lucky Mark Allanson; competitor Michel Nasrabadi; Staub’s La Mer braiser.
The competition is open to chefs under 28, working full time in a professional kitchen. What’s at stake? The winner receives $10,000 and a stage at a selected top international restaurant. For full contest details and information about the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship Foundation visit hawksworthscholarship. com. Bon chance Michel!
The Tomato | May June 2018 5
A River Runs Through It: A WEEK IN THE DOURO VALLEY – Mary Bailey –
6 May June 2018 | The Tomato
“Would you like to come to the Douro?” said the email. I did that little dance you do when you get good news. The Douro is the birthplace of Port, a wine made by fortifying the full-bodied, intensely-flavoured wines produced in the region midway through fermentation, originally to help the wines survive the sea voyage to Britain. The sweet, robust, higher alcohol wines were a hit and a new category of wine was born. That’s the short story of course. Now the region is becoming known for unfortified wines, reds, rosé whites, even sparkling wine. The Douro has been on my list for decades. The history, the landscape, and the quality of the wines is captivating. Can you ever really understand a region unlesss you go there, until you see it, touch it, feel it?
After an informative few days in Porto experiencing Taylor’s Port, I meet the group at the São Leonardo de Galafura viewpoint where we have lunch beside the jaw-dropping view of the Douro. The drive upriver is on a multi-lane autoestrada complete with dramatic bridges spanning the river, a far cry from when the trip took weeks by donkey cart. A trip so daunting few British wine merchants travelled there. They stayed in Porto and the winegrowers stayed in the Douro. People have been making wine in the Douro for over 2000 years. It is the oldest demarcated wine region; its limits defined in 1756 by the Marquis of Pombal. Ancient stone walls called socalos carved by hand out of the slate, the newer, wider terraced patamares, and modern vertical plantings co-exist, creating a visual history of wine growing. Broken down socalos (called murtórios) tell the story of phylloxera, families dying out and sons going off to war.
Elevate Your Palate THE SHOPS AT BOUDREAU | ST. ALBERT, ALBERTA #109 150 BELLEROSE DR. | HICKSFINEWINES.COM | 780-569-5000
It’s a compelling landscape, mesmerizingly beautiful, moulded by Please see “Douro” on page 8
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Kid with potatos (top), Azeitão cheese and the inimitable Portugeuse tarts
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The Tomato | May June 2018 7
Douro Continued from page 7
man, and recognized with a Unesco World Heritage designation in 2001. It’s springtime in the Duoro and apparently that means kid. For lunch. The food on this trip is rustic and delicious. We taste several versions of caldo verde, the Portuguese cabbage soup; bean dishes; roasted kid (baby goat); salt cod, giant roasted chunks of it; Swiss chard-like greens, braised; lovely fresh salads of tomato, onion and crisp greens with sprightly Portuguese olive oil; eggy custards including crème caramel and Portuguese tarts (of course!). Really good oranges, often picked a few minutes before. An amazing raw milk sheep’s cheese called Azeitão. The almond trees have just finished blooming; oranges and lemons hang from branches; olive trees display young silver leaves and buds are beginning to break on vines. It’s glorious. Over lunch we taste the wine from Bulas, a family producer who makes both unfortified wines and Ports. The white is the biggest surprise, with good acidity and pleasing fruity flavours. I talk over lunch with Joana Duarte, the winemaker at Bulas, trying to learn to pronounce the local white grape varietes in the wine (Viosinho, Códega de Larinho, Rabigato and Moreno). Over the next week we will taste consistently high-quality whites with freshness, personality and length. Whether simple or complex, the quality level is spot on.
fact, here, it’s the exact opposite. Nuno Ferreira Borges, grape grower and export director, and his father Jaime Ferreira Borges, the retired of the co-op director, talk about the work their members are doing in the vineyards to keep the quality high. Time honoured techniques are held in high regard (hand picking, foot treading) yet there is no lack of science or technology or new ideas. Nor is the Douro isolated any more. Pretty much every winemaker I talked to has done vintages in Australia, France, the US. This makes for fascinating conversation and really interesting wines. The Portuguese way of regulating the trade, called the beneficio, leaves plenty of beautiful grapes for making white, rosé and red. Nowhere is the conversation more interesting than with Dirk Niepoort. He makes exceptional wines in the family business (five generations) and he was the first to make highquality unfortified wines in the Douro in 1987. “Dirk was the first to see the Douro as a place for all wines, not just Port,” says Simone Duarte, organizer
8 May June 2018 | The Tomato
of our little group, put together a tasting at the Vila Real Town Hall. The mayor was there along with several of Rita and Pedro’s friends; up and coming winemakers. Of special note was Montel, an organic producer with one delicious red wine; viticulturalist Álvaro Martinho, whose cheeky rock ’n roll swagger is reflected in the name of his wine, Mafarrico (translation, naughty boy) and the sublime wines of Marta Casanova of Quinta da Côrte.
And my favourite Dirkism: “Wines taste really good when they’re young, then not good. Then 30 years down the road it’s amazing again.”
Our last winery visit is to the charming Quinta da Casa Amarela where we taste and visit with Laura and Gil Regueiro, owners of the charming family property. The 10-yr old Tawny is a favourite, unique too—it ages in cask in the Duoro, not by the sea in Porto. And, if you like, you could stay here and take part in the harvest, food-treading the wine in the lagares.
After a guided tasting with Dirk we have lunch on the terrace at the (spectacular) Quinta de Nápoles winery where the unfiltered wines are made. It’s a perfect day, sunny, warm, not a cloud in the sky, the only day we’ll have like this. Lunch is winding down. In front of me is a glass of Redoma 2014. Maybe it’s the weather; maybe it’s a Douro state of mind. But when I take a sip, it’s a religious experience. Rita and Pedro Figueiredo, the affable ringleaders
We have the last dinner at Cais da Villa whose menu is a contemporary take of classic Portuguese dishes. We taste Vertice Gouveio, a traditional method sparkling wine (espumante) made by Caves Transmontanas. It is beautiful, refined, and, kind of familiar. Here’s why. The project started out as a collaboration with Jack Davies from the Schramsberg Vineyards in California and two Portuguese winemakers, João Carvalho Maia and Celso Pereira. The wine possessed the ethereal quality that is characteristic of Schramsberg, with its elegant small bubble and long finish. Another surprise—to fall in love with a sparkling wine in the Douro? During the tasting at Niepoort, Dirk mused that Port was kind of old fashioned. “Imagine having to wait so long to drink something, will people really do that anymore?” he asked. I was sitting in Dirk’s Bar in the Yeatman Hotel. In came a group of 20-somethings, animated, chatty, going out to the terrace to smoke. They were drinking something red in an ice bucket. Curious, I asked the server what it was. “Oh, a Ruby Port,” she replied.
Growers are relying on the local white varieties, which are so well adapted to the growing conditions. Rabigato and Arinto for instance, retain acidity in the heat, meaning natural freshness in the wines. Dorinto, remarkably drought resistant, makes citrusy, juicy whites. Viosinho is considered by some to be the great white grape of the Douro, capable of producing long-lived, full-bodied aromatic wines, even if historically it was unpopular due to low yields. That afternoon we visit the local wine cooperative of Vila Real. We taste lovely wines and check out the colourful commemorative labels for the annual Villa Real Road Race. It’s always good to be reminded that cooperative doesn’t mean low quality or boring wines. In
of a major Portuguese tasting in Brazil. And he is one of wine’s great iconoclasts. Dirk has a lot to say. “Who cares who declares; Portuguese will rule in the next five years, then we’ll F&%* it up basically; Port likes excessive situations: we should not think about the Port trade, we should think about the Douro; make Port snobbish and increase the prices; I forgot to mention Canada, it’s the country we have increased the sales the most in the past five years.”
A sign that all is bright for Port’s future? We hope so. Even if Dirk is right, the Douro is eternal. Mary Bailey, WSET Dipl., is the editor of The Tomato Food & Drink. Gil Regueiro of Quinta da Casa Amarela.
THE DOURO LIST Restaurants
Cais da Villa, caisdavilla.com Chaxoila, chaxoila.com Quinta do Paço Hotel, quintapaco.com Restaurant São Leonardo facebook.com/restaurantesleonardo
Cultural Experiences Casa de Mateus Museum casademateus.com
São Leonardo de Galafura Viewpoint guiadacidade.pt Tarouca Museum of the Sparkling Wine portoenorte.pt Vila Real Road Race Racingcircuitsinfo.com
780-705-4928 12539-102 AVENUE EDMONTON, AB
Wineries
Adega Cooperativa de Vila Real adegavilareal.com Bulas Wines, bulas.eu CARM, carm.pt Carlos Alonso carlosalonso-dourowine.pt Caves Messias, cavesmessias.pt Crónica by Herdade do Rocim rocim.pt/company/rocim-herdade/project D’Eça, decawine.com Duas Árvores, duasarvores.pt Lavradores de Feitoria lavradoresdefeitoria.pt Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas winesandwinemakers.pt
We have a unique Taste From accordion mariachi to crystal decanter class, there’s an event for everyone in our tasting room.
Maquia/Mafarrico portugalvineyards.com Montel, montelwine.pt
11819 St. Albert Trail | SHERBROOKELIQUOR.COM
Quinta da Casa Amarela quinta-casa-amarela.com Quinta dos Castelares castelares.com Quinta da Côrte quintadacorte.com Quinta dos Lagares quintadoslagares.pt Quinta do Monte Travesso quintadomontetravesso.com Caves da Murganheira, murganheira.com Quinta de Nápoles – Niepoort niepoort-vinhos.com Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo quintanova.com Quinta do Noval quintadonoval.com
Travel
Bespoke and group food and wine experiences with Sheree Mitchell immersaglobal.com
The Tomato | May June 2018 9
A Love Affair with Pancakes Words and photos by Curtis Comeau I love pancakes. They are the most fun food you can get. They taste amazing and have a long culinary history that hasn’t changed much since they appeared in a cookbook in 1796. They are often the first thing children learn to cook and are essentially blank canvasses that allow us to express our creative side using food. Don’t believe me? I ask you how many berry and whipped cream smiley faces have you seen? Pancakes are found in nearly every culture around the world. Crepes, galettes, pannenkoeken and nalysnyky, even bannock; while savoury styles such as the Japanese okonomiyaki and the Somalian injera are starting to pop up in local dining joints. Pancakes are also fun to photograph.
Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes Blue Chair Diner
10 May June 2018 | The Tomato
Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes, Blue Chair Diner Did you know that the technique of using yogurt instead of buttermilk was because people did not regularly keep fresh buttermilk in their fridge? However, yogurt was quite common. People realized that when you make pancake batter with yogurt they come out super fluffy with a smooth consistency and a mild flavorful tang. I was told if I wanted to sample some of the best yogurt blueberry pancakes in the city I needed to check out the Blue Chair Diner. My sources were correct.
Classic Buttermilk Stack, Route 99 Very few places actually offer a classic pancake stack anymore. So, what I do is order two children’s pancake meals and stack them. There is no better place for a classic buttermilk stack than Route 99 Diner. If you decide to try them be ready for the charm of the humble topping choices—single serving whipped butter and syrup packages. Not everyone who orders Route’s buttermilk pancakes goes with packaged butter and syrup though. “There is the one guJ18 y. The Suit Guy. He comes in and likes to put ketchup on his pancakes,” says Donna, who has served at Route 99 for 21 years. Please see “Pancakes” on page 13.
Classic Buttermilk Stack, Route 99
The Tomato | May June 2018 11
Cinnamon Bun Waffle, Rooster Café
Galette, Café Linnea
Okonomiyaki, Wishbone
12 May June 2018 | The Tomato
Pancakes Continued from page 11
Cinnamon Bun Waffle, Rooster Café Ok, I know waffles are not pancakes per se but they are a close second cousin. I am told that the only real difference between a traditional pancake batter and waffle batter is that waffles tend to have a higher fat content, ie; more butter. Good enough for me. I decided to include the cinnamon bun waffle which came from the mind of chef Charles Rothman over at Rooster. Rothman is a fun-loving guy so it’s not hard to see how he took his cinnamon bun waffle to the extreme on the fun scale by adding candied pecans, ice cream and a poached pear.
Galette, Café Linnea Café Linnea serves up a classic French galette. This pancake, made with buckwheat, is meant to showcase a few simple yet really good ingredients. Kelsey Johnson agrees. In addition to the old-world presentation she tells me that Linnea’s galette is made with a mirror egg, house-made ham and Gruyere cheese wrapped in a buckwheat crepe.
Okonomiyaki, Wishbone Wishbone’s seaweed okonomiyaki (okono-mi-yaki) is a culinary experience. This pancake is complex. It is stuffed with cabbage and shrimp and then topped with Kewpie mayo and Bulldog sauce, green onion, nori and bonito flake. The okonomiyaki is described by Lasha Gust as “Traditional Japanese comfort food.” It’s perfect for sharing and really fun to photograph.
Carrot Cake Pancakes, Workshop Eatery Chef Paul Shufelt took full creative license for the carrot cake pancakes. “It is meant to be fun. We emulate the classic pancake stack but at the same time make it look like a piece of carrot cake.” says Shufelt. His carrot cake pancakes are made with a buttermilk and carrot cake, served with layered cream cheese icing and rum-soaked raisins. The dish is a head turner. When a server walks it though the room holding an order it’s guaranteed people want to know what it is.
Carrot Cake Pancakes, Workshop Eatery
Curtis Comeau is an advertising and editorial photographer who is a regular contributor to The Tomato. Curtis photographed and wrote the pancake story which came about when his 9-year-old daughter Sophie noted that Dad “never takes photos of pancakes but always wants to eat them on weekends.”
The Tomato | May June 2018 13
a port story
the story of taylor’s is deeply entwined with the history of Port mary bailey
There once was an Englishman named Job Bearsley, who came to Oporto in 1692 to trade in wine. Things worked out well. His son Peter, upon hearing that the wines made up the Douro River could be of interest to their customers, went to see for himself, becoming the first member of the English wine trade to go upriver. Fast forward to the present. Port, the fortified wine created in Portugal in the 1700s, is now celebrated around the world. Through partnerships, lean times, marriages, phylloxera, political upheavals, alliances and wars, Job Bearsley’s company, now known as the Taylor Fladgate Partnership, has continued to exist, to prosper and to innovate. I am a fan of Douro wines and Taylor’s Ports in particular, yet, it’s my first time in Porto. First time in Portugal for that matter.
14 May June 2018 | The Tomato
Porto in April is a lot like Victoria. Same gusty moisture-laden breezes, same scudding clouds and short-lived bursts of rain. The weather further inland, as Peter Bearsley discovered, is remarkably different. The Marão mountains are a wall of granite that keeps the coastal dampness on the coast. Upriver endures cold winters and dry and fiercely hot summers—weather that is just right for the thick-skinned red grapes that make great Port. One of the most optimum places to grow these grapes was Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior, far up the river. It had been known for its fruit since the early 1800s, but, after the company bought it, it was up to Frank Yeatman to rebuild the estate devastated by phylloxera. His son Dick became a viticulturalist and, along with his cousin Stanley, began to replant the
terraces by single variety. This was revolutionary. Douro vineyards had always been mixed plantings of several varieties altogether (and many still are). Not all Port producers still practice foot treading in lagares, the shallow rock vessels where the grapes are crushed. Foot treading is considered the best way to extract colour and the right kind of tannins. The first two hours of treading is called the cut and must be done with military precision. Then comes the liberdad treading which is a bit more free-flow. All Taylor Fladgate wines are foot-treaded for the first four hours, and the grapes from Terra Feite and Vargellas vineyards continue to be foot-treaded until ready, whereas the grapes from the other vineyards are finished mechanically. Throughout the 11 vineyards, about 450 people are employed at this time of year.
three taylor’s wines 20 Year Old Tawny This is my go-to Tawny. It hits the sweet spot between depth of flavour, elegance and value. With less fire than a younger Tawny, yet still fresh, concentrated and complex, with balanced sweetness, mellow nuttiness, hints of burnt orange, vanilla, raspberry jam, toffee and a subtle and attractive woodiness makes for deliciousness. Tawnies are also entirely practical. You can leave them open in the fridge for a couple of days (or longer) with no loss of quality. I had always thought of Port as a winter drink best enjoyed with cheese and nuts. Now I am starting to think Tawny, especially, is ideal with an Alberta sunset on a long summer’s evening.
Photos by Mary Bailey
Very Old Single Harvest Port 1968 Taylor’s stash of reserve cask wines is like no other. The plan is to release a limited number of 50-year old single harvest (colheita) Tawnies.The 1968 was the fifth in the series. Know any 1968 babies? This is the ideal gift. Mellow flavours of toffee, walnut and vanilla with a lingering finish like a seductive whisper. A meditative wine.
After fortification, the wines stay in the upper Douro for the first year to help integrate the spirit, then are brought down to the coast to age in the temperate, humid climate of Porto. Most of the Port houses have tasting rooms in Porto. You can wander the alleys and cobbled streets of that delightful city and fall into several over an afternoon. Taylor’s and Croft still have their tasting rooms on the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river, nestled among the historic Port aging lodges with their blackened clay tile roofs where all Ports used to be aged. Many of the lodges are in complete disrepair (one burned down during the annual St. John’s Day Celebration). Many think it would be a shame to lose an integral part of Porto’s wine heritage to the wrecking ball. So does Adrian Bridge, CEO of the Fladgate
Facing page: the Douro Valley from the São Leonardo de Galafura Belvedere Top: The contents of this cask in the aging cellars at Taylor’s will be Reserve Tawny 20 when it grows up. The ID refers to the cask number and the vineyards the wines came from. The three and seven markings? The old school Arabic measuring system. Above: a friendly rooster outside the Barão Fladgate Restaurant, at the Taylor’s Port Cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia.
Partnership. He has a plan for those historic lodges. In 2020 Taylor Fladgate will open the World of Wine to showcase Portugal’s vital place in the history of wine. What to expect? Museums and event spaces with interactive experiences about wine, cork, and Portugal’s contributions to fashion, olive oil, food and drink. A terrific reason to go back to Porto. Mary Bailey, WSET Dipl., plans to drink many Crimsons this summer.
Croft Pink This is the first rosé Port on the market. It’s produced by limited skin contact of classic Port varieties and a gentle extraction process which preserves the fresh and fruity flavours. With a lot of oomph both in the flavour and the alcohol (20 per cent) it tastes like Port only more, summery. Expect a riot of sweet red fruit—raspberries, cherries, plums, strawberries along with baking spice, cigarbox and dried flowers with a hint of toffee on the finish. Drink chilled over ice or with soda and a squeeze of lime for a new take on pink lemonade. Or, make this delicious cocktail.
The Crimson Dark and sultry. The recipe is courtesy Dick’s Bar at The Yeatman. 3 cl
Croft Pink
2 cl
cranberry Juice
dash Campari 2 cl
Bin 27
dash
orange juice
2 drops
Tabasco
Shake over ice and strain into a small cocktail glass. Decorate with orange peel.
The Tomato | May June 2018 15
Getting a taste for
VIETNAM RECIPES AND PHOTOS BY DOREEN PREI AND KATHRYN JOEL
Last July, Doreen Prei and Kathryn Joel of Get Cooking travelled to Vietnam to explore the food and culture. They were on a quest to experience the techniques and flavours first hand in order to bring back to their cooking classes. “The first thing that we noticed was how street food happens on the actual street,” said Kathryn. “Some of the vendors cook squatted on the pavement, preparing their dishes, and others in small store fronts with miniature tables and chairs.” “On our first night in Vietnam we were in Hanoi and took a street food tour with Van Cong Tu (the Vietnamese God on Twitter)” said Doreen. “It was an immersive experience. We were terribly jet lagged but Tu was determined we would eat everything, even duck egg embryo. Kathryn tried it, I didn’t.”
16 May June 2018 | The Tomato
“Everything was so fresh, especially the greens” said Kathryn. “People shop at local markets twice a day. And each stand has an overflowing dish of herbs and greens (like mesclun) that you help yourself to, as an accompaniment. In everything we ate, we encountered lime, fish sauce, pepper and lots of sugar, in balance with the aromatics and herbs. “We discovered that pho is served in the early morning until noon; bun cha is delicious, and it’s served all day; you dunk everything in nuoc mam cham and much of the cooking is done by women. “Hoi An is a Unesco World Heritage site, really picturesque although quite touristy,” said Kathryn. “We stayed nearby in Tra Que, a small organic farming village. A chef named Vy Trinh Diem (aka Ms. Vy), seems to own half of Hoi An. She has even built her own version of a street market in
her impressive cooking school, where we took a private full day class with her sous chef, Lou. Food tourism is a huge part of the tourism industry throughout Vietnam.” “We toured a fish market outside of Hoi An, about a half hour by boat,” said Doreen. “And we visited a fish sauce factory. It was extraordinary and pungent. According to our guide only a few have the right hands to make good fish sauce. “The right fish sauce is very important. When we got back to Edmonton Kathryn went to Lucky 97, T&T and the Vien Dong Market to find a fish sauce that tasted like the ones we sampled in Vietnam. We ended up with two favourites—Red Boat from Vien Dong, which we use for seasoning, and Hai Yen X.O. from Lucky 97, used in our nuoc mam cham.”
Get Cooking offers several Vietnamese and other SE Asian cooking classes getcookingedmonton.com.
Bánh Xèo Shrimp and Pork Pancake We learned how to make this dish from a rice farmer near Hoi An. In a small field he takes tourists through the whole process of growing rice. He also demonstrated how to grind rice and make rice milk. He cooked bánh xèo for us—it was crisp, aromatic and delicious, and became Doreen’s favourite Vietnamese dish. Our adaption of the recipe includes ground mung beans for colour and a nutty flavour.
½ c jasmine rice, soaked overnight in 2 cups water ½ c mung beans, soaked overnight in 2 cups water 1½ c
water
¼ t
ground turmeric
2
green onions, thinly sliced
¼ c
coconut milk
16 slices pork belly, sliced widthwise 8 shrimp, peeled and halved lengthwise (we use Argentinian wild shrimp from Ocean Odyssey) 200 g
bean sprouts
8 sheets rice paper, softened 2 c mixed herbs (mint, Vietnamese mint, cilantro, Thai basil, perilla or buy a pack of mixed Vietnamese herbs) nuoc mam cham dipping sauce (recipe follows)
grapeseed or peanut oil
salt and pepper
Rinse and drain the rice, add 1 cup of water and blitz until smooth in your blender. Pass through a fine sieve. Rinse and drain the mung beans, add ½ cup of water and blitz until smooth in your blender. Pass through a fine sieve. Combine the rice and the mung bean purées; add the turmeric, green onions and coconut milk. Season to taste with salt. Reserve. In a 6-inch non-stick pan, heat 1T oil over a high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper; season the shrimp with fish sauce. Place 2 slices of pork in one side of the pan, turning to cook, for about 3 minutes until golden on both sides. Ladle in enough of the bean mixture to cover and form a thin layer, tilting the pan to distribute evenly and cook for a minute or so before adding two shrimp halves on the other side of the pan (the side without the pork). Reduce the heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook for a couple of minutes, until the crepe is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Uncover. Using a spatula, gently lift one side of the crêpe, adding a little more oil to the pan if necessary, and continue cooking until the crepe is golden and crispy. Add a handful of bean sprouts on one side of the crêpe. Using a spatula, gently fold the crêpe so that the side with the pork is folded over the side with the shrimp. Transfer to a plate. Serve crisp and hot, wrapped
in a softened rice paper together with a handful of Vietnamese herbs, with the dipping sauce on the side. Makes 8 crepes.
Pomelo and Crab Salad We had a pomelo and squid salad in Hoi An, really delicious, it was Kathryn’s favourite dish. At home we like to make it with crab, which makes it a bit lighter and fresher. Adapted from a recipe by Luke Nguyen. 50 g dried shrimp, soaked in water for 1 hour then drained 2 T unscented oil, or peanut oil 1 clove
garlic, finely chopped
1 lg or 2 sm pomelos (similar to grapefruit, find at most grocery stores) 200 g crab meat (we use canned crab meat from Ocean Odyssey, or freshly-cooked Dungeness crab, meat picked) lg handful mint, perilla, Vietnamese mint and Thai basil leaves, in equal quantities, leaves picked, or used a packet of mixed Vietnamese Herbs 2 T fried shallots (recipe follows) 3 T nuoc mam cham dipping sauce (recipe follows) 1 long red chili, sliced peanuts, dry roasted and crushed for garnish additional herbs for garnish
Add the oil to a hot frying pan, then cook the garlic very briefly until it is fragrant. Add the dried shrimp and cook until crisp and golden. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. Peel and segment the pomelo, and tear into bite-sized pieces. Place the pomelo in a large bowl. Add the dried shrimp, the crabmeat, the herbs, 1 T fried shallots and the dipping sauce to the pomelo and stir to combine. Serve, garnished with the remaining fried shallots, chilies and peanuts and additional herbs. Serves 4-6. Please see “Vietnam” on page 28.
The Tomato | May June 2018 17
Beer Guy IPAlberta The older I get, the more I find life is not black and white. Even the Pope said, “Who am I to judge?” But I’m sure of one thing: bitter beer is better beer. Or am I? I expressed my bitter belief in my first beer column for The Tomato almost a decade ago. I’m still a true believer in the bitter trinity: beer, chocolate and coffee. But there’s a world of amazing beer out there. From sparkling saisons to mouth-puckering sours to sweet milk stouts to dank wild ales, there’s an incredible, growing diversity in beer today.
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18 May June 2018 | The Tomato
Just within the world of IPA (India Pale Ale), craft beer’s most popular and iconic style, there has been a remarkable evolution. The IPA template was set in the 18th century by London brewers like George Hodgson bumping up their pale ales with added hops and alcohol for the long sea voyage to British India. Scotsman Peter Ballantine brought English IPA to America, with Ballantine IPA carrying the IPA flag through the 20th century. The IPA reboot began with American craft brewers like Fritz Maytag at Anchor Brewing who took IPA up several notches with the aggressive new American Cascade hop. American IPAs were brassy, big and bitter, redolent of pine and grapefruit and not for the faint of heart. By the 21st century craft beer was synonymous with American IPA.
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Now we have IPA’s third wave. First came Imperial or Double IPA, with jacked up hops, alcohol and bitterness. In reaction, came the Session IPA or ISA that keeps the big hoppy taste but lowers the alcohol. Brewers explored the Pacific Northwest 4C hops (Cascade,
Centennial, Chinook and Columbus) and moved onto new hop varieties like Citra or Mosaic that gave “juicy” flavours to IPAs. Others sourced just-harvested hops to make fresh hop or wet hop IPAs. Some changed up the yeast. Belgian yeast makes a fruity, spicy Belgian IPA. Wild yeast like Brettanomyces makes a sour, funky Brett IPA. Adding actual fruit like grapefruit creates a fruited IPA. Combine IPA with another style to create a hybrid, like the White IPA – part witbier, part IPA. Or a Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale – part porter/stout, part IPA. Or tweak the whole process – yeast, hops, malt and methodology—and create a hazy, juicy marvel called the New England (or Northeast) IPA. NEIPAs are the buzziest beers around, enjoyed by both IPA obsessives and people who don’t like IPAs. For a new brewery, the tumult in craft beer is daunting but also an opportunity. Canmore Brewing’s founder, Brian Dunn, spent 18 months in his garage working on recipes, trying new things, getting it right, before his brewery launched in 2017. For Canmore Brewing’s first IPA, they added 20 per cent Alberta malted rye to the brew, creating Railway Ave Rye IPA. Dunn told me the idea was to make a beer that was different than the many IPAs hitting the market in Alberta, but still an approachable, delicious beer. Dunn’s gamble paid off, with Railway Ave Rye IPA winning a bronze medal for Best IPA at the first Alberta Beer Awards. Dunn is right. After a long time as an IPA desert, there are now many solid Alberta IPAs. I made a count of 32 full time Alberta IPAs recently. Which one is Alberta’s best IPA? Who am I to judge?
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Hell’s Basement Brewery: The Yard Strawberry Milkshake IPA, Medicine Hat Can a sweet, frothy, fruity beer still be called an IPA? I’m not sure – give me another and I’ll get back to you. Milkshake IPAs are made by adding lactose (milk sugar) and fruit to the mix. Hell’s Basement gets the balance just right: creamy, sweet and tart with a base of understated dry hoppiness.
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Canmore Brewing: Railway Ave Rye IPA, Canmore Canmore Brewing’s Brian Dunn went with a rye IPA as one of his first offerings to stand out from the crowd of new IPAs, but also because he felt rye takes a great IPA to the next level. Rye adds a crisp, peppery edge that is nicely balanced with the rounded caramel sweetness and nuttiness from the malt.
Zero Issue Brewing: Dystopia White IPA, Calgary
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Calgary brothers Kirk and Mark MacDonald grew up comics/sci-fi/ gaming nerds. As adults they merged their childhood passions with their adult passion: brewing beer. Dystopia nicely blends the fruity, yeasty taste of a witbier with the piney hop bitterness of an IPA.
Dandy Ales: In the Bleak Midwinter Black IPA, Calgary Given the winter that wouldn’t end, a winter seasonal seems appropriate for spring. Dandy’s black IPA melds the wintry attributes of a stout – black colour, roasted malt, caramel and coffee flavour – with the spring-like juice and fruit of a new style IPA. Hopped with Citra and Mosaic for aroma.
Blindman Brewing: New England-Style Pale Ale, Lacombe
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Always on the leading edge of beer innovation, it’s no surprise Blindman is on top of the beer style du jour, NEIPA. Also no surprise: it’s really good, winning the gold medal at the Alberta Beer Awards for Trendy Beer of the Year. Opaque, hazy in the glass, with a prominent fruity aroma, the taste is all about the juicy fruit.
Alley Kat Brewing: Argyll Dragon Double IPA, Edmonton Alley Kat was brewing Imperial IPAs before they were cool. And with the Dragon series they brought the idea of a single-hopped IPA to Alberta. Here they have brought back a classic from the series, the Argyll Dragon – hopped with Citra, Centennial, and Cascade for a bold citrus punch. Peter Bailey is only as bitter as he needs to be. He’s @libarbarian on Twitter and Instagram.
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The Tomato | May June 2018 19
Drinks Bubbles 101 Have you noticed? Wines with bubbles is a thing. A big thing. Check out the shelf space devoted to bubble at any good retailer. It’s growing. Sparkling wine sales in Canada have been on a steady rise since 2012, driven by the popularity of Prosecco. Prosecco isn’t the only game in town. There is a world of other sparkling wines to try. And, if you have gotten lost in the sheer variety of types, styles, colours and prices, this primer is for you. What’s the deal with the bubbles? Simply put, the bubbles are trapped carbon dioxide. That’s it. It’s how they get there that makes the difference in the quality, the taste and the price. Bubbles have been in wine for millennia, especially in northern Europe. In some years, the fermentation would not be complete before cold weather set in. Fermentation would stop when the temperatures dipped, then start again in the spring when it warmed up. The choice was to try to capture those bubbles or wait until the fermentation stopped, then bottle the wine. Turns out, people liked the bubbles. The attempt to capture led to innovations in wine making, glass blowing and bottle making which continues today. (The science these days is about creating lighter bottles for less of the environmental impact which are still strong enough to withstand the pressure of the wine.) Limoux in south west France was actually the first region to make it official. We now call this the ancestral method, or by the super trendy moniker, pét-nat (méthode ancestrale, pétillant naturel). How the bubbles get in the wine is important. The method chosen affects quality, taste, longevity and price. The most important methods are traditional and tank. Traditional Method The region of Champagne in northern France was the first to develop controlled capture of the bubbles. The process, now called the traditional method anywhere outside of Champagne, starts with the fermentation of the base wine to make a dry wine with high acidity. The next step is the tirage, where yeast and sugars are added to the base wine. The wine is bottled, topped with a crown cap and left to sit for a minimum, in Champagne, of 15 months, 36 for vintage. During this time, a second fermentation happens in the bottle, producing carbon dioxide. The yeast cells die, yet still have contact with the wine affecting the flavour (this is called autolysis and gives the bready, tangy notes to the wine). It’s also called aging on lees.
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20 May June 2018 | The Tomato
The next step is a clarification process called riddling. The bottles are inverted to move the lees to the neck so they can be removed efficiently. On my very first trip to Champagne I encountered a large and surly man with huge Popeye forearms and a cigarette hanging out one side of his mouth, turning bottles in a rack. He was a riddler. You probably wouldn’t see that now, the cigarette for sure, and most, but not all, riddling is done by machines called gyropalettes, invented by a cava house. Champagne Baron-Fuenté (France) Champagnes from this house have high proportions of Pinot Meniuer grown on 38 hectares in the west of Champagne, in the Charly sur Marne.
Mary Bailey
Once the wine is riddled, the sediment can be removed. This is called disgorgement. Bottles were plunged into brine, the crown cap popped off and the nasty grey sludge of dead yeast cells, now frozen, popped out. The modern process is, essentially, the same. The dosage (a mixture of wine and sugar called the liqueur d’expédition) is added, the bottle is recorked and the wine is aged a bit longer to assimilate the dosage. This is a big part of the style of any sparkling wine house. The elements of the dosage are usually kept under wraps. There is a trend to lower or no dosage in some wines.
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This method, used all over the world in quality sparkling wine production, helped capture a Unesco World Heritage designation for the Champagne region in 2015. It’s historic, time-consuming, labour-intensive and expensive. And, it makes some of the most unforgettable wines in the world. The process builds complexity, texture, finish and creates elegance and refinement. The best Champagne have tiny bubbles and a creamy mousse, both important indicators of quality. It’s what every sparkling wine around the world strives to be. Tank Method (also called Charmat method, cuvee close, autoclave) The tank method is a quicker, and less expensive method. The base wine and tirage are put in the tank together. The wine has the second fermentation in the tank, rather than in a bottle. Then it’s filtered, has the dosage added (if using) and is bottled. Generally, wines produced in this method are fresh and fruity with few if any autolysis flavours. It’s popular in Italy for Prosccco, Moscato d’Asti and Lambrusco and internationally for other sparkling wines.
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A tweak on the traditional method involving tanks is the transfer method (transversage). It’s how sparkling wine is put into splits or the poetically named large formats, such as methuselah (six litres) or salmanazar (12 bottles). The Champagne Influence The Champagne style is emulated all over the world—the choice of grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, Champagne’s holy trinity), the French vocabulary used (as homage, but also because people who make sparkling wine usually spend some time in Champagne learning how) and the elegant and refined style of the wines. Equally important is the idea of vintage or non-vintage. The Champenois invented the idea of using several years’ wines to blend into a non-vintage product (NV). Vintage (wine made from the harvest of only one year) is the exception not the rule. Smart that; in the iffy climate of northern France, winemakers were able to build some insurance against a failed harvest. Champagne houses pride themselves on their reserve wines. Veuve Clicquot, for instance, feels that the reserve wines are the essence of the house. Grower Champagnes (small houses making wines from their own estates only; the big houses make wine from both bought and estate fruit) often don’t have the resources or the longevity to have several years wines in reserve. The Champenois, of course, being the unbelievably good marketers that they are (and understanding the power of the brand before the word was invented) turned the idea of not so many good harvests into an asset. The vintage wines are
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Please see “Drinks” on page 30
Luis Pato Sparkling Baga Rosé (Portugal) This fruity and delicious charmer from Portugal is made in the traditional method. Have it by the glass at Wishbone.
D I N E N I N E T E E N .CO M
The Tomato | May June 2018 21
Digging deep Lisa Catterall
Alberta author’s new book explores the experiences of women in agriculture around the world.
Top: women work the land in Uganda; author Trina Moyles (above) and her book (left).
22 May June 2018 | The Tomato
For Trina Moyles, life on a farm has always had a certain appeal. Growing up in Peace River, she was inspired by the grit and determination of her great-grandmother Eleanor, who became a farmer out of necessity when her husband and sons left to fight in the Second World War. Although she only heard stories of Eleanor second-hand from her grandfather, they planted a seed deep in her consciousness—a connection to the land where her family had first laid down roots.
These stories of strength and hardship also created a passion for social and environmental justice. As a young adult, her interest in food security, sustainable agriculture, human rights and gender equality led her around the world to work and volunteer with grassroots organizations. Her passion led her to Uganda in 2013, where debate around the country’s marriage and divorce bill was heating up. Although Moyles had witnessed adversity in many of the places she’d worked, word of a local woman’s tragic death in the wake of this debate left an indelible
mark on her heart and mind. The young woman had simply requested her name be placed on her husband’s land title. For this, she was murdered. “I was working at a healthcare organization at the time, and as a visitor it was a slap across the face, like, ‘oh my god, this is the reality the women that I’ve been interacting with are facing,’” she says. That night, Moyles was impelled to speak out against the wrongs she had indirectly witnessed. She returned to her dark, humid room and furiously penned the foundation of what would one day become her first book, Women Who Dig: Farming, Feminism and the Fight to Feed the World. The spark of injustice had ignited a flame in Moyles. She regarded the women she encountered with a renewed sense of compassion and encouragement, knowing that each one of them had a story of their own. A story she hoped to understand and share. Armed with a tape recorder and notebook, Moyles set out down gravel and dirt roads, riding in the backs of pickup trucks or on motorcycles to agricultural communities around the world, interviewing nearly 150 female farmers along the way. She was determined to hear their stories and encourage conversations about the challenges they faced. “I was so hungry to talk to women,” she says. “As I spoke to more of them, I started to see similarities in a lot of what was being said.” Funded by grants, family and Kickstarter boosters, Moyles spent more than three years traversing four continents to connect with women in agriculture and gather stories for Women Who Dig. She returned home to Alberta periodically, taking time to reflect on the narratives she’d heard while taking on odd jobs to finance this labour of love. Whether washing duck eggs on a farm outside Edmonton or spending long, lonely hours in a remote northern Alberta fire tower, the women she’d met—the women who dig—were always on her mind. Among stories of empowerment and strength, she learned of overwhelming obstacles like patriarchal land ownership, financial inequality, colonialism and
domestic violence. She experienced flashes of anxiety when husbands carefully scrutinized her interviews with their wives, feelings of devastation when women spoke about farmers burning rainforests in Nicaragua, and moments of heartbreak when they said they wouldn’t wish life on a farm for their children. “I had to share these stories, even if they were hard to discuss, because that is the reality for so many women,” she says. “It’s hard to be a farmer today, and I wanted to take a realistic approach to telling that story.”
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As the book began to take shape, Moyles was compelled to return to her own roots and share the stories of women like Dawn Boileau, owner of Sunrise Gardens and other Alberta farmers. Much like her great-grandmother Eleanor, they were trailblazers on the Canadian prairies. “Women like Dawn are breaking into the field in unique ways because the cost of farmland and farm equipment to do larger-scale agriculture is so prohibitive,” she says. “It’s exciting. Today there are young, single female farmers who are able to access loans from Farm Credit Canada to get started. You no longer have to be in a partnership with someone—you don’t have to be the farmer’s wife anymore. You can just be the farmer.” Moyles’ doesn’t plan to stop here. Her next book will be about her fire tower experiences along with a larger commentary on conservation of the boreal forest, climate change and wildfire. “It’s been an amazing opportunity to reconnect with my northern Albertan roots, and learn about the boreal forest and fire ecology, even if it meant 130 days straight of isolation.” More information on this upcoming book, or Women Who Dig, is available at trinamoyles.com. Lisa Catterall is an Edmonton-based writer who grew up in rural Alberta. Inspired by her family’s farming history and her own experiences with city life, she is an avid gardener and advocate for urban agriculture.
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The Tomato | May June 2018 23
Wine Maven The St. George California Citrus Vodka is so subtle it will make you forget any flavoured vodka you may have encountered in the past—silky smooth, clean and elegant with just a hint of fresh orange from the infused Valencia and Seville oranges and bergamot peels. Think of it as orange-scented vodka, perfect for a twist on a standard martini. Pair with a rosemary sprig. $50. Three botanicals. That’s it. When gin becomes a race to have the longest list of botanicals it’s a treat to taste Death’s Door Gin’s unique approach to the classic London Dry style. The piney and peppery Washington juniper is up front, the citrusy, green notes of the coriander sits in the mid-palate, finishing with cooling fennel. The base spirit is robust, a blend of corn, hard red winter wheat and malted barley—all in all, a very nice gin. $50 Shane Munn pours the Naramata Riesling at a Color de Vino tasting
The story of Martin’s Lane is the story of Pinot Noir and Riesling; how the two varieties communicate the viticultural idea of the Okanagan—intensity, extremes, desert-like precipitation, volcanic and granite soils, sunny days, cool nights, latitude, altitude—it’s winemaking on the edge of possibility. The story is as dramatic as the winery, perched above Cedar Creek Winery, an architectural work of art (or, James Bond’s lair, according to one Okanagan resident) There are three vineyards; Simes, named after John Simes, the beloved former head winemaker at Mission Hill, is north-facing and hilly, with granite-based soils. Naramata Bench is the most diverse site, both in climate and geography. This is old vine Riesling country, granite bedrock, along with five blocks planted in Pinot Noir in a variety of micro climates. Fritzi’s Vineyard, nestled at the foot of dormant volcano, is named after owner Anthony von Mandl’s 102-year old mother. The south east-facing block catches the sun in spades and has quartz in the soil. Shane Munn the winemaker, is originally from New Zealand, loves skin contact, Austrian Riesling and un-hurried minimalist winemaking. The first releases from 2014 are now in the market. The wines are spectacular— communicative, ageable, impeccably balanced, even in their youth, but don’t be in a hurry to drink any of them, as your patience will be rewarded. From $75.
24 May June 2018 | The Tomato
The name is a cheeky reference to the idea of a rude American trying to make an Italian classic (bruto means crass, or rude and St. George Spirits is an American distillery), yet the quality is such that even the most staunchly Italian aperitivi lover will enjoy Bruto Americano. Made with both hot-steeped and cold infused ingredients (California-grown Seville oranges, balsam fir and California buckthorn bark) and coloured with natural cochineal. Try it in your next Negroni. $50
Fans of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon are thrilled to know that the Yalumba Coonawarra 2016 is now available. This juicy Cab, with silky tannins, restrained oak and intense black fruits and red berry flavours, from the terra rossa soils of the Menzies Estate. Super drinkable right now. $22.
Mary Bailey A Canadian, an Australian and a Mexican walked into a bar. That’s not exactly the origin story of Tromba Tequila but it’s close. Eric Brass, Nick Reid, James Sherry and Rodrigo Cedano met during an exchange school program in Guadalajara. Rodrigo introduced them to high-quality artisan tequila made from 100 per cent Highlands Blue Agave. Eric knew only the late night, knock-a-shot-back tequila. Rodrigo’s father Marco was the creator and master distiller of Don Julio. So, from that serendipitous meeting (tromba is the intense rainstorms of the Jalisco highlands, and, also, means change is brewing) Tromba Tequila was born. Marco and Rodrigo are in charge of the production in Los Altos and Eric is in charge of everything else in Toronto. Tromba (Blanco, Reposado and Anejo) is a rising star, $42-$65.
Through Viña Montes we discovered a world of Chilean quality wine beyond cheap and cheerful Cabernet Sauvignon and fridge door Sauvignon Blanc—not that there is anything wrong with those. But, there was more, such as fine Syrah and Cab from high-altitude vineyards meant to age and challenge the best of Europe. Michelle Murphy (Tromba Tequila) with her favourite Trombasoda.
Nicolás Catena founded Bodegas Catena Zapata in 1902 with a singular vision of quality. Great-greatgranddaughter Laura continues to innovate, finding the best sites and opening the door to more experimentation. By doing so, Catena has changed the wine culture of Argentina. “Now we find lots of small innovators, creating interest and excitement on the local level,” says Andrea Nunez, export director. “It’s become fashionable to say look at this new label.” Catena has new appellation wines such as the San Carlos Cab Franc, with its ripe, taut tannins and violet aromas and the Vista Flores Malbec, bright and heady, smoke and plum, violets and roses. The high-end Malbecs don’t disappoint. Of note is the Argentine with its glorious label telling the story of the family.
A key tenet for the winery is sustainability, especially water use. “The lack of irrigation helps to create grapes with thicker skin to protect from the sun and creates more concentration,” said Pedro Brancoli of Viña Montes at a recent tasting of new releases. The entry-level Classic line is well-made everyday wine for under $20. The Alpha Cab, with its green notes, nice ripe tannins, red currant flavours and balanced acidity, similar in style to a Petit Bordeaux, is terrific value, around $25. The Montes Folly, 100 per cent Syrah, made from selected grapes in those high-altitude vineyards is a gorgeous wine, as is the iconic Purple Angel.
Drink Scarpetta Frico Frizzante in a can this summer. Dry and a bit fizzy, utterly refreshing and just the right size, (187 mL, $22/4pk), I can see this going into a lot of picnic baskets and golf bags. Made in Friuli, northern Italy, of Glera, Chardonnay and 50 per cent Trebbiano by American master somm Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Patterson. The two love Friuli, its wines, culture and its ham, hence the amusing labels. The Scarpetta Rosso IGT is a Tuscan field blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Colorino and Mammolo. Juicy, lowish tannins, earthy red fruit flavours, moderate length—crushable! $18.
Please see “Maven” on page 26.
The Tomato | May June 2018 25
Maven Continued from page 25
“Gneiss, granite, blue slate, schist.” Pierre-Henrí Gadais of Domaine Gadais Père et Fils is identifying the rocks in his hands, explaining how they form the soil in his family vineyards in Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine, 15k south-east of Nantes in north-eastern France. That is the very cradle of the appellation in SaintFiacre, the patron saint of gardeners, where the Sèvre and Maine Rivers meet. Growers were praying to Saint Fiacre in 2017 when frost took about 40 per cent of the crop. “The Vieilles Vignes (old vines) is on gneiss, planted by my grandfather in 1929,” says Pierre-Henrí. Most Muscadet spend about six months on the lees, but the Vieilles Vignes spends 14 months, which lends the wine a slightly chewy texture and amazing complexity. (Crestwood had some, about $35). We look forward to getting our hands on a bottle or two of the highly sought-after Monopole (single vineyard). Aged in oak, it spends anywhere from 18-24 months on the lees and comes from vines that average 40 years. In the meantime, we’ll happily drink the beautifully light and refreshing Domaine de la Tourmaline, about $22.
Bertrand Varoquier (Champagne Veuve Cliquot) and Juanita Roos (Color de Vino) at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald launch of the Extra Brut Extra Old.
The widow Clicquot must be, by now, the most famous person in Champagne. For good reason. At 27, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin took over the family business upon her husband’s death; she invented riddling on her dining room table (to remove sediment from the wines) she was the first to ship to Russia, creating an entirely new market for Champagne, and, she invented rosé. In 1818. Veuve Clicquot is celebrating the 200th anniversary of rosé. What better time to taste the 2006 Grande Dame Rosé? $450. Lucky those wine lovers who have some in their cellar. Another first —the Extra Brut Extra Old, $125. Bertrand Varoquier was in Edmonton recently to talk about the first ever blend of reserve wines. First made in 2103, with wines from 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 1996 and 1988. “The idea was to show the richness and complexity of the reserve wines,” said Bertrand. “Some of our best wine are put in reserve for the next generation. It’s the spirit of the house.”
Pierre-Henrí (Domaine Gadais Père et Fils). We know spring is really here when Okanagan wineries start releasing their white wines. Joie Farm’s 2017 Pinot Blanc, Rosé, En Famille Muscat, Un-oaked Chardonnay and the Noble Blend are beginning to show up in stores. The wines are all drinking well right now and will be ideal for enjoying on patios and decks well into fall. The Rosé, 80 per cent Pinot, the rest Gamay, is bone dry and fairly structured with bright red fruit, juicy acidity and a hint of pleasingly bitter tannin. We are also quite taken by the En Famille Reserve Muscat, with its generous citrusy, peachy fruit flavours, white flowers and green grapey notes. It’s dry, which is unusual for Muscat, and delish. Under $30 for all whites.
26 May June 2018 | The Tomato
The blend is on lees for three years, then disgorged and aged under cork for one year. It has slightly less pressure than most Champagnes, giving the effervescence a pleasing creaminess. There is much less sugar added to the dosage, resulting in a wine that has 3g/l residual sugar (Brut can be up to 9g/l). The result? A wine that is pure and precise, refined and complex, with savoury notes of mushroom and soy and a lingering aftertaste. Absolutely delicious. About $120. Prices are approximate. Find at better wine shops such as Bin 104, Color de Vino, Hicks Fine Wines, The Wine Cellar and Vines. Not all products in all stores.
EVENT CALENDAR MAY 1-6
FRIDAY, MAY 18
Dig In Horticulinary Festival St. Albert, tix: $0-$120, www.eventbrite.ca, diginstalbert.ca
Kitchen by Brad’s Meatball Madness kitchenbybrad.ca, 780-757-7704
MAY 3-MAY 13
MAY LONG WEEKEND
Canmore Uncorked, Canmore canmoreuncorked.com
Food Bike Tours, weekends and summer Thursdays foodbiketour.com, 780-250-2453
FRIDAY, MAY 4
SATURDAY, MAY 26
Quevedo Port Tasting and Tapas with Oscar Quevedo, Bodega Tapas & Wine Bar by Sabor, 780-757-1114
SATURDAY, MAY 5 Crestwood Wines Spring Tasting featuring Oscar Quevedo, Crestwood Wines, 780-488-7800
SUNDAY, MAY 6 Cavern Cheese School Spring Pairings $75/p, Cavern, 780-455-1336 thecavern.ca
MONDAY, MAY 7 Avignonesi Wines with Giuseppe Santarelli, $25/p, Hicks Fine Wines hicksfinewines.com/events-classes
TUESDAY, MAY 8 Quevedo Port Tasting with Oscar Quevedo, $35/p, Everything Wine Sherwood Park, 780-417-3356
SUNDAY, MAY 13 Mother’s Day Brunch Buffet, $26-$52/p, XIX Nineteen, 780-395-1119 or 780-569-1819
SUNDAY, MAY 13 Mother’s Day High Tea, $35/p Juniper Bistro, Two seatings: 1pm and 3:15pm, 780-490-6799
TUESDAY, MAY 15 Think Pink! Rosé in May $10/p donation to the Food Bank Aligra Wine & Spirits aligrawineandspirits.com/events
HFW Annual Spring Open House, donation to the Sturgeon Community Foundation, Hicks Fine Wines hicksfinewines.com/events-classes
FRIDAY, JUNE 1 Culina Pop Up Pyrohy Dinner and Silent Auction, $12-$25/p tixonthesquare.ca or 780-420-1757
SUNDAY, JUNE 3 Claustrum (a Found Space Theatre Performance) by the Third Eye Theatre Production, $40/p, Cavern 780-455-1336
IN LIT TLE ITALY AT 10826 - 95 ST, EDMONTON, AB OPEN: MON-WED 9-6, TH-FRI 9-8, SAT 9-6, SUN 11-5
TEL: 780. 428.0754 WWW.ZOCALO.CA
MONDAY, JUNE 11 Indulgence, a Canadian Epic of Food & Wine, $100/p, Delta Edmonton South, jledmonton.com
TUESDAY, JUNE 12 Gins in June, $35/p Aligra Wine & Spirits, aligrawineandspirits.com/events
TUESDAY, JUNE 12 Not by the Hair of my Ginny, Gin, Gin with Nathalie Mulder $85/p, Hicks Fine Wines hicksfinewines.com/events-classes
JUNE 16 - JUNE 17, FATHER’S DAY WEEKEND The Porkapalooza BBQ Festival Northlands Casino and Racetrack, porkapalooza.ca.
THURSDAY, MAY 17
THURSDAY, JUNE 21
Think Pink – HFW Annual Rosé Tasting, $40/p, Hicks Fine Wines hicksfinewines.com/events-classes
Pasetti Wines with Massimo Pasetti of Abruzzo, $30/p, Hicks Fine Wines hicksfinewines.com/events-classes
hardware grill hardware grill hardware grill est. 1996
est. 1996
est. 1996
Enjoy award-winning cuisine in relaxed elegance at Edmonton’s original farm-to-table restaurant. est. 1996
est. 1996
est. 1996
Join us for dinner Monday-Saturday from 5pm.
780.423.0969 • www.hardwaregrill.com • 97 Street & Jasper Avenue
The Tomato | May June 2018 27
Vietnam Continued from page 17
add 3 meatballs and 4 slices of pork belly. Serve the noodles, remaining pork and greens and herbs separately, allowing your guests to dip the noodles and greens in the dipping sauce to eat with the grilled pork. Serves 6.
Bun Cha Pork Two Ways with Vermicelli Noodles
Evviva!
Family-style sharing plates. Join the party! 780.756.7710 for reservations vivo ristorante • 18352 Lessard Road • 780.756.7710
We had an amazing day sightseeing with Nguyen Kim Long, another Hanoi tour guide. Long introduced us to his favourite bun cha which we learned to make in a cooking class. We fell in love with bun cha; it was our favourite flavour in Hanoi. Adapted from a recipe by Tracey Lister. 300 g
pork belly, thinly sliced
350 g
ground pork
25 ml
Vietnamese fish sauce
3 cloves
garlic, chopped
3
shallots, chopped
1 T
sugar
1 egg 10
garlic chives, sliced
600 g
dried rice vermicelli
150 g
bean sprouts
1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated 1 handful cilantro sprigs 1 handful perilla bamboo skewers, soaked (optional) nuoc mam cham dipping sauce (recipe below)
In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, shallots and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Use half of this mixture to marinate the sliced pork belly, setting aside at room temperature for an hour, or in your fridge for up to four hours. Combine the remaining fish sauce mixture together with the egg and garlic chives with the ground pork, massaging well with your hands. Allow to marinate at room temperature for an hour, or in your fridge for up to four hours. To finish, soak the vermicelli noodles in boiling water for 4-5 minutes, stirring to separate. Drain the noodles, then refresh in ice water. Use scissors to cut into shorter pieces. Heat your grill to medium high. Form the ground pork into meatballs about 3 cm in diameter. Use bamboo skewers or a grill basket to grill the meats for 3-5 minutes, until cooked through. To serve, arrange dipping sauce in 6 bowls, then
28 May June 2018 | The Tomato
Arctic Char in a Caramel Sauce This is our take on a Vietnamese classic, using a fish we love (and that is readily available) and local squash. 4 150 g skin-on arctic char fillets 1 acorn or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and sliced into bite-sized pieces 1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2” lengths and smashed ¾ c
light brown sugar
2 T
Vietnamese fish sauce
1 T
lime juice or to taste
1½ T
soy sauce
80 ml shellfish stock, or vegetable stock 1 t
grated ginger
2
bird’s eye chilies, whole
sliced green onions, as needed
thinly sliced chilies (optional)
fresh cilantro, as needed
unscented or peanut oil
steamed jasmine rice (optional)
Cook the squash in salted boiling water until just al dente. Meanwhile, caramelize the sugar in a pan, then add the lemongrass, sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, stock, ginger and chilies and bring up to a simmer. Continue to simmer until thickened, then remove from the heat, strain and set aside. Heat a pan with some oil. Add the char, skin side down. Add the squash. When the char is almost cooked, add the sauce and baste the char and the squash with the sauce, until the char is cooked. Serve the char with steamed jasmine rice, if using, finished with the sauce and garnished with green onion, cilantro and sliced chilies if using. Serves 4. Please see “Vietnam” on page 30.
Douro
Internacional A TERRITORY PROMOTION PROJECT
DOURO EMBRACES THE WORLD
Vietnam
Bubbles
Continued from page 28
Continued from page 21
Nuoc Mam Cham Dipping Sauce
lavished with care and attention, called luxury cuvée and demand a high price. The NV became the house style and the face of the brand.
Adapted from a recipe by Luke Nguyen. 3 T
Vietnamese fish sauce
3 T
rice vinegar
2 T
lime juice, freshly squeezed
125 ml
water
2 T
sugar
2 cloves
garlic, finely chopped
1 red bird’s eye chili, thinly sliced
In a small pan, combine the fish sauce, vinegar and sugar with the water. Place over a medium heat and heat gently stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring just to a boil. Add the garlic, chili and lime juice to taste, simmering gently for a few minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.
Fried Shallots
SAMPLING WINE EVERY SATURDAY (780) 439-9069 | colordevino.ca | 9606 82 Ave Edmonton
6 red shallots, peeled, thinly sliced lengthways
oil for frying
Place oil in a pan and add the shallots. Fry on medium heat for about 15 minutes until brown – adjust the heat if they are browning too quickly. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well.
Egg Coffee This treat was our first taste in Vietnam, served to us by Tu, in a charismatic Hanoi coffee shop off a hidden back alley, then up some rickety stairs. It’s like a custard-topped coffee, very sweet and best eaten with a spoon.
IS ON THE AIR! A podcast about food and drink recorded in Edmonton and hosted by Mary and Amanda.
soundcloud.com 30 May June 2018 | The Tomato
4
egg yolks
150 ml
condensed milk
1 t
vanilla extract
200 ml
strong espresso
dark chocolate, grated
In a bowl combine the egg yolks then place over a bain-marie and drizzle in the condensed milk, whisking until you have a thick creamy egg custard. Pour coffee into 4 glasses, reserving some, then top with the egg mixture. Drizzle on the remaining coffee and finish with grated dark chocolate. Serve with spoons. Makes 4.
New world houses are more likely to make vintage wine every year or only in very good years, particularly if they produce still wines as well. When is Champagne not Champagne? When it’s not from Champagne. If it has bubbles it’s a sparkling wine, only if it’s from Champagne is it called Champagne. Insignificant? Perhaps, but what about all those “Champagne” brunches that serve you a glass of Hungarian Grande Cuvee? False advertising! European wines are named for their region. Crémant de (such as Crémant de Bourgogne, Crémant de Loire) is the name for traditional method sparkling wines made in Burgundy, outside of Champagne, and have their own set of rules to contend with. There is even Bourgogne Mousseux, an appellation for sparkling red wines made in Burgundy. Sparkling wine in Germany is called Sekt, traditional method wines in Spain are called Cava and Espumante in Portugal. Italy, the home of so many interesting bubble leaves the nomenclature up to the region. Franciacorta in Lombardy has to be metodo classico (aka traditional method). Prosecco on the other hand, can be traditional or tank and we are seeing several col fondo wines now, which is the equivalent of pét-nat. The wines are not disgorged, leaving sediment in the bottle. Do you need to learn them all? Only if you want to become a 100 per cent, certified bubblehead. If not, just say sparkling wine and let the wine shop staff guide you. Price is key but more importantly it’s what you like and the occasion. We are even seeing sparkling wine in cans which ups the portability factor. Most high-quality sparkling wines in Canada are made by the traditional method and are proud to tell you so (the key is the quality of the base wines, and the amount of aging on the lees.) I hope Canucky sparklers are having a moment. Our climate and latitude
creates ideal growing conditions for grapes to be made into sparkling wines (high acidity and dry). Some notable wines to try are Benjamin Bridge from Nova Scotia and Henry of Pelham’s Cuvée Catherine. From British Columbia there is Blue Mountain, Maverick’s Ella (available at the winery), the beautiful sparkling wines made by Sperling, Tantalus’ Blanc de Noir and Fitz Brut. Okanagan Crush Pad is up to some interesting
things (both traditional method and pét-nat) and Bella, made in Naramata, is a fun drink. I love a glass of Blanc de Blanc in the winter, its crystalline taste like the sun sparkling on the white blanket of snow, its purity like drinking it. I love a rich and generous Blanc de Noir, especially with food. I like a glass of Lambrusco with Prosciutto. Madame Bollinger said it best: “I drink Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty.” – Lily Bollinger Mary Bailey WEST Dipl has not yet met a Champagne she didn’t like. Then again, she hasn’t tried all of them.
Tantalus 2015 Blanc de Noir (Okanagan Valley, Canada) Blanc de Noir refers to white wine made from red grapes, usually 100 per cent red grapes, in this case 100 per cent from a single block of Clone 93 Pinot Noir planted in 1985. Made in the traditional method, spending two years on lees.
Bigger. Better. BBQ.
Northlands
June 16-17, 2018 Father’s Day Weekend
porkapalooza.ca
The Tomato | May June 2018 31
Kitchen Sink Wine Tastings Happenings and Events Don’t miss the Dig In Horticulinary Festival in St Albert, May 1-6. Dinner with Mary Berg of Gusto TV, Culinary Bike Tours and hands-on Make and Take Workshops; cooking with Elyse Chatterton; herbs for cocktails with Black Diamond Distillery—this event is a gardener’s delight. Tix: $0-$120, www.eventbrite.ca. Canmore Uncorked, Thursday, May 3 - Sunday, May 13, returns to the Bow Valley with 11 days of remarkable dining experiences: the Canmore Wine Festival, progressive dinners; Craft Beer Fest, bistro tours, the Whiskey and Spirits Festival; cooking classes, prix fixe menus, and the unforgettable outdoor experience of the long table dinner. Tix: canmoreuncorked.com. Kitchen by Brad’s Meatball Madness returns starting Friday, May18. Eat in, take out: three meatballs and a side for $9, from 11:30am-1pm most Fridays. The Porkapalooza BBQ Festival returns for its fifth Father’s Day weekend event. The goal is 50 teams competing in the KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society) sanctioned competition. With the BBQ Experience area, Food Stage, Kid’s Zone, and the Beer Garden, Dad will think he has died and gone to BBQ heaven. Saturday, June 16, 11am-11pm and Sunday, June 17, 11am-7pm, at the Northlands Casino and Racetrack. Free admission! Visit porkapalooza.ca for all the deets. The 18th annual Indulgence, a Canadian Epic in Food & Wine is on June 11, 6:30pm at the Delta Edmonton South. Tix; $100, jledmonton.com, available May 1. Upcoming tastings at Aligra Wine & Spirits (1423, 8882 170 Street, Entrance 58, WEM, 780-483-1083, aligrawineandspirits.com): Think Pink! Rosé in May with light appies, May 15, 5pm, $10/p (which will go to the Food Bank.) Gins in June (their most popular
32 May June 2018 | The Tomato
tasting) June 12, 7pm, $35/p. To book: aligrawineandspirits.com/events. Alison from Aligra has some fun cruises set up: AMAWaterways Enchanting Rhine River Cruise, from Basel to Amsterdam, November 19-26, with Tony Stewart from Quail’s Gate Winery. Barging in Burgundy is an eight-day barge and bicycling cruise from Dijon to Dijon, May 18-25, 2019. Email aphillips@thetravelagentnextdoor. com for info. Meet Oscar Quevedo from Quevedo Port in the Douro Valley at tastings around town. On Friday, May 4, 6-9pm, Port Tasting and Tapas at Bodega Tapas & Wine Bar by Sabor (10220 103 Street, 780-757-1114); Saturday, May 5, 2-5pm at Crestwood Wines Spring Tasting (9658 142 Street, 780488-7800, crestwoodfinewines.com) Tuesday, May 8, 6pm, Port Tasting at Everything Wine (25-100 Broadview Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-417-3356.) Pyrohy and opera? Hell ya! Help raise funds for Mercury Opera’s production of Carmen in the Badlands with a ticket to the Culina Pop Up Pyrohy Dinner and Silent Auction, Friday, June 1, 5pm at the London Villas Hub, 9620-109 Avenue, Tix: $25, adults, $12 kids: tixonthesquare.ca or 780-420-1757 Two cool events at Cavern (2, 10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca) Cheese School: Spring Pairings is on Sunday, May 6, 2-4pm, $75/p. On June 3, enjoy Claustrum (a Found Space Theatre Performance) by the Third Eye Theatre—three performances at 12pm, 2:30pm and 5pm, with time between to enjoy a specially designed Cavern menu. Tickets available at Cavern, 780-4551356. Upcoming tastings at Hicks Fine Wines (109-150 Bellerose Drive, St. Albert, 780-569-5000) Avignonesi wines from Tuscany with special guest Giuseppe Santarelli, Monday, May 7, 7pm, $30/p; Think Pink – HFW Annual Rosé Tasting, Thursday, May 17, 7pm, $40/p; HFW Annual Spring Open House, donation to the Sturgeon
Community Foundation, Saturday, May 26, 2pm; Not by the Hair of my Ginny, Gin, Gin, with Nathalie Mulder. Learn about both gin and tonic and make your own cocktail, Monday, June 12, 7pm, $85/p; An Evening of Pasetti Wines with Massimo Pasetti of Abruzzo, Thursday, June 21, 7pm, $30/p. Visit hicksfinewines.com/eventsclasses to book. Juniper Bistro (9514 87 Street, 780490-6799, juniperbistro.com) is having a Mother’s Day High Tea. Two seatings, at 1pm and 3:15pm; includes both savoury and sweet bites and a bubbly cocktail for $35/p. “It was a big hit last year,” says owner Peggy Adams. “I scoured tag sales and picked up old plates and we made our own tiered cake plates. I can’t wait to use them again.” For resos call 780-490-6799. On Sunday, May 13, XIX Nineteen (5940 Mullen Way, 780-395-1119; 150 Bellerose Drive #104, St. Albert, 780-569-1819, dinenineteen.com) has a spectacular Mother’s Day Brunch Buffet with a lavish seafood station, bubbly mimosa bar, roast beef, outrageously delicious cookie-crusted cinnamon buns. Brunch is 9am-2pm. Book by phone, adults $52, children 6-16, $26, kids under 6 eat free. The patio will be open, yaay! The Food Bike Tours get underway on the May long weekend and pretty much every weekend (and Thursdays in the summer) after that. The tours are fun and delicious. Visit several local food and drink businesses, guilt free on your bike. Book at foodbiketour.com. Or, book your own custom tour: info@ foodbiketour.com or 780-250-2453. Here is an awesome idea: The Eat North Rising Awards is a new scholarship competition for emerging Canadian food writers, open to all grade 12 high school students and full-time post-secondary students pursuing a degree (or have a minor) in a writingrelated field. There are three categories: foodservice, fictional culinary short story and agricultural production. Submit
by May 20 via the submission form on EatNorth.com.
Restaurant Buzz Glendon Tan and chefs Peter Keith and Will Kotowicz are opening Meuwly’s Artisan Food Market (10706 124 Street, meuwlys.com) in early July. You may know them through the Secret Meat Club or perhaps you have tasted their fine charcuterie at the Duchess Bake Shop, Three Boars, Bar Clementine, Biera and other restaurants. The market will feature house-made fresh, cured and smoked meats and all the delish things to go with—mustards, pickles, preserves to eat in or take away. Expect 10-15 seats and a deli-style lunch menu (sandwiches, soup, salads) Thursdays-Tuesdays, 10am8pm. We can’t wait. We are eagerly awaiting the opening of Wilfred’s (10429 121 Street, 780904-2138, wilfreds.co) in the Brewery District in early June. The whimsical space, by Shaun and Nicole Brandt and their partner Felipe Aldea, will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a lovely long bar presided over by James Grant and team, and a custom South American blend coffee by Ace Coffee. Just had a sneak peek at the new menu at SC, chef Shane Chartrand’s new restaurant at the River Cree Resort. We love it. It’s the right proportion of simple and good with a new smoker program, cast iron-cooked salmon and bannock flat breads. Opens in early June, can’t wait. Cavern (2, 10169-104 Street, 780455-1336, thecavern.ca) debuts their new Bar Snacks and Drinks Menu this month, in time for their street level terrace opening. Spring really is here. Baijiu (10359 104 Street, 780-4217060, baijiuyeg.com), the idiosyncratic and lively bar in the Ice District, has opened its speakeasy, called Little Hong Kong. Meant to evoke pre-war British Hong Kong, it’s available Friday and
what’s new and notable Saturday nights from 7:30pm. “Quietly ask the hostess for entry secrets,” says LHK’s Instagram, “first come, first discovered.” The Columbian, Santiago Lopez, has been selling his family’s coffee at farmers’ markets for a few seasons. Now, he has opened a coffee bar with his partner Kristin Panylyk (10340 134 Street,780-938-5922, the-colombianmountain-coffee.myshopify.com) in Glenora, near Vi’s for Pies. Open daily, Monday-Saturday at 7am, Sundays, 9am-3pm. Check it out! Aarde Kitchen & Bar has taken over the former Sandwich and Sons space at 10184 104 Street. Not many details yet, but should be open soon. Drunken Ox at Night, Sober Cat in the Morning is opening in the Metals Limited Building on 104 Street midMay. Expect a café, cocktail bar and steakhouse in this historic building. It’s by the group that operates the successful concepts Seoul Fried Chicken, Dorinku and Japonais—if anyone can make that location work it’s them. Open daily, from 7am Monday-Saturday and 9am on Sunday ‘till late. Thrilled to see Bar Bricco, Uccellino and corso 32, all by Daniel Costa, along with Biera and Bar Clementine get more national recognition on the Canada’s 100 Best List. Bar Clementine also nabbed a spot on the 50 Best Bar List as did Baijiu. Check out the full lists at canadas100best.com. Happy Hour is back at XIX Nineteen (5940 Mullen Way, 780-395-1119; 150 Bellerose Drive #104, St. Albert, 780-569-1819, dinenineteen.com) every day from 3-6pm, featuring the refreshing Cucumber Mint Julep and $10 flatbread, calamari, or ginger beef. It’s a good time to have a yen for donuts. The newest place to satisfy your passion is Apollo Donuts, available for preorder online, at apollodonuts.ca, then pick-up at the Ritchie Market. Ohana Donuterie should be on the road soon.
Then there’s Doughnut Party, 10938119 Street, and the amazing bismarcks at Empress Bakery, 9932 82 Avenue.
Product News Check out the new chocolate shop Francois Le Roi Fine Chocolatier (8116 Gateway Blvd, 780-278-8639, leroifrancois.com) for fine chocolate, bon bons, bars and caramels. Bella Casa (9646 142 Street, 780-4374190, bellacasadcl.com) is the best place to find Staub’s new La Mer colour. They have the square American grill, the cocotte and the braiser or order anything from the line. On sale: $168-$329 (regular $225- $475) until July 31. The Pan Tree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-4644631, thepantree.ca) is stocking the new Epicure knives from Wüsthof. Designed to be ultra-efficient and less tiring to use, with a wider shape for safety and ease and a contoured bolster to protect fingers. Prices range from $155-$299. To introduce the Epicure line, the Pan Tree is offering 15 per cent off from May 4-12. Dauphine Bakery is back! They will be at the 124 Street Grand Market Thursday, May 6, and at the 104 Street Downtown Farmers Market, Saturday, May 19. Look for their delish breads such as the dark rye, pumpkin seed granary bread and challah made with Coal Lake honey. They are also working on a new retail space and café, woo hoo! Another thing we are looking forward to, the Effing Seafoods store! It will be in St Albert, in the Riel Business Park, and, yes, there will be shellfish tanks. Expected opening is mid-summer. Jacob Pelletier of the Duchess Bake Shop will compete in the Savour Patissier of the Year competition at the Foodservice Australia show in Sydney, in May. Good luck Jacob! Want to make wine? A group of amateur winemakers have been getting
together since 1996 to do just that. The Edmonton Winemakers buy grapes from British Columbia and California every year. As well, they have socials and organize study trips to the Okanagan. Check out their web site at www.edmontonwinemakers.com or call Giovanni at 780-250 2043 for info.
At the Cooking Schools NAIT offers the opportunity to learn from the pros in a supportive environment. They promise “no kitchen nightmares here.” The popular Pastry Boot Camp teaches fundamental pastry technique, chocolate work and the secret to artisan breads, July 9-13 or July 16-20, $1,475 + material fees. The Culinary Boot Camp is the original five-day, learn to cook like a pro camp, July 10-13 or July 17-20, $1025 + material fees. The Gourmet Boot Camp is the next step, four intense days building on kitchen basics, and includes a final day black box competition, July 17-20, $1,025 + material fees. The Cured Meats, Cheeses and Pickles Boot Camp is for those interested in upgrading old world skills, July 10-13, $1,025 + material fees. For all the info and to book, visit nait.ca/bootcamp.
Festa Italiana, $20/p; June 7, Pies and Other Crusts; June 14, Dehydrating Fruits, Vegetables and Meats; June 21, One Pot Meals. Most classes are $10/p+ and start at 6:30pm on Thursdays. Upcoming classes and workshops at The Pan Tree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-464-4631, thepantree.ca): Wednesday, May 9, Elixirs and Lattes with Amanda Cook C.H.N, $45/p+; Tuesday, May 29, Mediterranean Cooking with chef Stefan Cherwoniak, $95/p+; Wednesday, May 30, Healthy Kids Meals with Amanda Cook, $90/p+; Wednesday, June 13, Dumplings with chef Mai Nguyen of Prairie Noodle, 6pm, $75/p+. All classes start at 6pm. Book online. Send new and/or interesting food and drink related news for The Kitchen Sink to hello@thetomato.ca.
Enjoy a relaxed class preparing some of Kitchen by Brad’s (10130 105 Street, 780-471-6248, kitchenbybrad. ca) most treasured recipes during Brad and Tracy’s Favourite Recipes. Learn to make duck confit, pan-roasted sherry chicken, pecan hummus, and chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Saturdays, May 5 and 12, 12:30pm and Tuesdays, May 8 and 15, 6:30pm. Corey and Brad in the Kitchen: Corey Meyer of Acme Meats joins Brad for prep tips for the summer grilling season and how to work with different cuts of meats, Tuesday, May 29, Wednesday, June 16, Monday, June 18, 6:30pm and Saturday, June 9, 12:30pm. Classes are $145/p+. Upcoming demos at Barb’s (Bosch) Kitchen Centre (9766 51 Avenue, 780-437-3134, barbskitchen.com) May 3, Easy Appetizers $20/p; May 24, Hearty Soups and Chowders; May 31,
The Tomato | May June 2018 33
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.
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Champagne, familiarly Edmonton restaurant with some great raw tuna “So that’s your game!”
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5 Satellite path 6 Type of fish served with sake 7 Soft cheese 8 ___ du jour 13 One in Spain 15 French for salt 16 Match a wine with a dish 18 Compass direction 20 Improve a dish or flavour 21 Legumes 22 Some scampi 26 Prized mushroom 28 Medical show 29 Colour of some Johnny Walkers 30 Like fine wine 33 What a wine taster will do
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Edmonton restaurant with a very tasty Parisienne gnocchi 4 Locally sourced Italian restaurant in Edmonton: the agnolotti is popular! ____ 32 9 Popular Edmonton bakery with its Pain au Levain 10 Pesto base 11 Third in line in the family 12 It’s part of a Caesar 14 Cocktail addition 17 BC host for the Canadian Culinary Championships 19 ___’s Basement Brewery, Medicine Hat based producer that created Ryes Against the Machine 23 Tang 24 Touring vehicle 25 Colour of many beers 27 2018 CCC Champion, Alex 31 Craft 32 Juniper, rosehip and saskatoon berry mixed cocktail from Rig Hand Craft Distillery, 3 words 34 British made non-alcoholic spirit, now available in Edmonton 35 Bottom-of-barrel stuff
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Metro Cinema receives ongoing support from these Arts Funders:
8712-109 Street | metrocinema.org
Sign up at thetomato.ca
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Metro Cinema at the Garneau
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29 June 22 - 24 Metamorphosis captures the true scale of the global environmental crisis. But this crisis is also an opportunity for transformation. The film carves a path from the present to the future, and offers a bold new vision for humanity and the world.
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Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story
June 8 - 13 A team of elephant rescuers, led by world renowned Asian elephant conservationist Lek Chailert, embark on a daring 48-hour mission across Thailand to rescue a 70-year old captive blind Asian elephant and bring her to freedom.
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Tokyo Story
May 27 @ 3:45PM A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity and universal heartbreak, Tokyo Story follows an aging couple’s journey to visit their grown children in bustling postwar Tokyo, surveys the rich and complex world of family life.
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Adult: $13, Student/Senior: $10 ($8 matinee), Child: $8
metrocinema.org
Myles Mellor
The Tomato & Drink The TomatoFood Food and Drink KitchenDesign Design Awards Kitchen Awards 2018
Built a new kitchen lately? Proud ofThe it?Tomato Food & Drink Enter yourKitchen Design Awards kitchen in the
Tomato Kitchen Design Awards (TKDA) TKDA is open to architects, builders, contractors, designers, developers, and do-it yourselfers, offering awards in several categories, including outdoor kitchens. See submission rules and regulations at thetomato.ca.
Submissions Open Friday March 9, 2018 Submissions Close Friday May 18, 2018 Winners will be featured in the July/August issue of The Tomato, online at thetomato.ca and in all press releases and materials related to the TKDA.
June 11, 2018 6:30pm to 9:30pm Tickets $100 Indulge in an evening of fine VQA wines and prairie cuisine. Tickets: available May 1, 2018 from jledmonton.com Entertainment by In 4 Jazz Quartet Restaurants Aarde Kitchen + Bar The Butternut Tree The Cave Paleo Beastro Cilantro and Chive Delta by Marriott Edmonton South Ernest’s at NAIT Kitchen by Brad The Glass Monkey Gastropub
Local Farms, Ranchers and Artisan Producers
Canadian Wineries, Alberta Breweries and Distilleries
Alberta Bison Ranch
Bent Stick Brewing
Doef ’s Greenhouses
Blindman Brewing
Four Whistle Farm
Cedar Creek Estate Winery
Greener Pastures Ranching Gull Valley Greenhouses Irvings Farm Fresh Mo-Na Foods
Highlands Golf Club
Nature’s Green Acres
The Matrix Hotel
Progressive Foods (Barley)
Pampa Brazilian Steak House Ellerslie Red Ox Inn
Rig Hand Craft Distillery & Meuwly’s
Royal Glenora Club
Rosy Farms (Haskap berries)
Share at the Westin Edmonton
Stonepost Farms Sunworks Farms Sylvan Star Cheese Winding Road Artisan Cheese
indulgenceedmonton.ca
@indulgenceyeg
Church and State Wines Culmina Family Estate Winery Dirty Laundry Vineyard Eau Claire Distillery Foxtrot Vineyards Gray Monk Estate Winery Henry of Pelham Mission Hill Winery No Boats On Sunday Red Rooster Winery Summerhill Pyramid Winery Tawse Winery
#indulgence18