Cuisine Canada Scene

French Canadian Spice Question – Can you help?

Pat Crocker, a long-time Cuisine Canada member, and cookbook author emailed with a question. “My friend, Dr. Arthur Tucker, a research professor at Delaware State University, specializing in the chemistry and identification of herbs and author of The Big Book of Herbs and others, recently asked me about Mignonette Pepper, of which I have no knowledge.” [...]

Sodium – Is it worth its weight?

Sodium.  It all depends on who you ask whether it is ranked among the most notorious of chemicals in our food, or one of the most essential.  Sodium has been implicated, study after study, in being one of the major causes of heart disease in Canada.  Reducing our sodium intake, on a whole, is a [...]

Foraging Etiquette, Foraging Regulations

As you enjoy your long weekend hikes through the woods, and are tempted by the marvelous wild delicacies, please remember the following: -When foraging plants, remember the general etiquette: know your plants, and know about their life cycle.  Never take more than the plant can quickly regenerate within a year.  Some of my personal recommendations [...]

A Vilified Herb Revisited

While enjoying the San Francisco Farmers’ Market in the Ferry Building this past fall, I happened upon a rare and exquisite shop, Culinaire. Specializing in culinary antiques that were designed for specific kitchen or table uses, the unique shop is filled with rare finds like the tools below. Do you know what these delicate, silver-plated [...]

Building Direct Relationships Between Farms and Restaurants – Part 1

Today, many restaurants showcase local, Canadian products.  While sourcing these  products is becoming more of a main stream industry with typical wholesale marketing, building direct marketing chains between food producers and restaurants or other retail markets is a real boon for both the agricultural industry and retailers.  Producers retain value on their product, while restauranteurs or retailers have [...]

Seasoned Pork – Worth its weight in salt?

As a Home Economist and a Registered  Dietitian,  I am at times torn between loving food (and I mean ALL food – including the delicious crispy fat on a BBQ’d pork chop;  full fat Brie cheese with white crusty bread;  that yummy icing made out of sugar and lard on bakery cakes) and, well… being [...]

Have your Pumpkin, and Eat It too!

The shops are bursting with them.  Take a country drive, and you will see road side stand after road side stand.  Jack-o’-lantern pumpkins everywhere, and not a bite to eat. Well, yes, you can eat them.  But why would you, when there are better choices for getting a really decent, and memorable eating pumpkin. I [...]