Seville oranges, halfway to being marmalade
Bitter. Oh, so bitter. Yet intensely fragrant. A fruit of perfect balance.
That’s the calling card of the Seville orange (Citrus aurantium), also known as the sour orange or bigarade. Its fleeting season, a scant few weeks in the dead of winter, makes this fruit’s appearance at markets a much-anticipated event.
With thick, pockmarked, and highly fragrant ...
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Sweet corn soup shooters
Here’s the scene: People are arriving at your cocktail party on an icy January evening. The biting wind has driven the temperature down to a frigid –20°C. Guests unwind scarves from their necks, shake out their hair from the confines of toques, and sling their bulky long coats over the entryway banister before entering the dining area ...
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Tablecloth embroidered by my great-grandmother
I only remember her hands ravaged by age: skin thin and spotted, knuckles gnarled with arthritis. I can still see them working a crochet needle, kneading dough, and wiping the warm wax from the surface of a just-written pysanka. I thought about those hands and the woman they belonged to, my maternal great-grandmother, ...
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Derelict shed in alleyway behind Brooklyn Avenue, Leslieville
It was time for a new look.
Cursive Mechanics will be four years old later this year, and it was beginning to show its age. It wasn’t a derelict space by any means, but it did need updating to reflect the content evolution that has taken place since the Continue reading ...
Pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts)
I say “natas”; you say “custard tarts.” We’re both right and they’re one of the simplest, most delicious pastries around. You’ll find a little history behind this popular sweet and tasting notes on natas from some Toronto bakeries in my “A Tart for All-Comers” piece published over at Continue reading ...
Celebrating Grandma and Grandpa’s birthdays, Christmas 2009
This December, my grandparents turned 81 (grandma, on December 21) and 87 (grandpa, on December 24). On Christmas Day, when we sang the birthday song and watched them together blow out the candles on their banana-chocolate-walnut chiffon cake — my grandmother’s recipe, my uncle, the baker, told us — they were barely two weeks ...
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Dinner, at the roll of a die
Sometimes, I just don’t know what to make for dinner.
Such a quandary should be impossible, what with my kitchen bookshelf stuffed with upwards of 100 cookbooks in regular use, my utility closet bulging with food magazines, a blogroll that scrolls on and on through sites showcasing food from all over the world, and an ...
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Creamed chicken and cornmeal porridge (Ciulama de pui si mămăligă)
I’m trying not to take offence.
I realize that the dish my mother’s people are famous for is commonly referred to as “gruel” (a cornmeal gruel, in fact, made simply with meal, water, and a flick of salt), which is not exactly a glamorous calling card. Still, it is rather disheartening to ...
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Round crusty loaf from Offshore Bakery in Southampton, Ontario
One of the treats mom and I brought back to Kincardine from Southampton during our August vacation. All things good food in Grey and Bruce Counties can be found via the Grey Bruce Agriculture and Culinary Association.
Beefsteak tomatoes at Ottawa’s ByWard Market
Has there ever been a varietal more aptly named than the “beefsteak” tomato? Weighty and dense, tender and flavourful. Best eaten in thick slices. Just like a nice cut of, well, beef steak.
My favourite thing about this tomato, however, is its reputation as a bit of a renegade. Its defiantly large size ...
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