The Writer's Kitchen

Restaurant Review - Hawksworth

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:38:00 +0000

I thought I’d start off the new era of this blog with something I find easier to write – a restaurant review. I have recently returned from a vacation to Vancouver. Only a couple hours after arriving in the city, I had no plans for meals – no restaurant reservations. I actually ended up not making a single reservation for the entire week out west. I generally would not advise this, especially if you are into fine dining as I am, but when you are only 1 person, it is generally a bit easier to squeeze in, especially if you are willing to sit at the bar if need be.

I arrived on a Thursday and, knowing Thursdays are not generally the busiest of days, I figured this would be the best opportunity to try and get a table at a top restaurant, especially if I went early. And I was able to get a decent table. Hawksworth is located in the Georgia Rosewood Hotel in downtown Vancouver, on W Georgia St at Howe St, only a few blocks from my hotel. This is one of the top rated restaurants in the city of Vancouver, and in this year’s release of the top 100 restaurants in all of Canada, Hawksworth came in at #11, second highest in Vancouver. Once I had a table, and especially since I wasn’t at the bar, I elected to go with the 8 course tasting menu, with full wine pairings. This would end up being my most expensive meal by far, though it was also the best. Prior blog readers might recall my descriptions of a tasting menu at the North Restaurant in Barrie, and I my review compared that experience to big city tasting menus, finding quibbles on execution, though the price tag was lower. So here is a review of a full, big-city, award-winning, restaurant tasting menu.

The opening course was fresh Dungeness crab served with a hibiscus granité and a hibiscus and elderflower consommé. This was paired with a Slovenian Muskateller (didn’t understand either of those last two words? Doesn’t matter. It’s a white wine from Eastern Europe). The wine pairing signalled the beginning of a trend that continued throughout the meal – very different and interesting wine pairings with more obscure wines from all over the world. All were great matches and the sommelier is obviously very skilled and works well with the chef. This first course was nice and light – a cold dish meant to highlight the delicacy of the crab. One slight misstep is I felt the iciness of the granité somewhat overshadowed the crab. However I did notice that the crab was the best I have ever had. I had never had crab that was quite that sweet and luxurious – though I should note this was also the first time I had perfectly fresh Dungeness crab on the west coast – I just wished I could have had a little more of it. Apart from that though, the dish worked.

Dungeness crab with hibiscus and elderflower

The second course was based on mushrooms. This was a King Oyster mushroom “carpaccio” with pine mushrooms, pesto, crème fraiche and green garlic. The wine pairing was actually not a wine at all, but a Japanese Sake, chosen for the mushroom notes in the sake that would pair well with the mushroom dish. The combination was exceptional, as the mushroom aromas in the sake were very evident, and the mushrooms were meticulously prepared and were well paired with the crème fraiche and the green garlic.

The mushroom dish. the carpaccio is underneath the greenery on the right. The stalk on the left is the green garlic

The third course was BC Halibut, wrapped in seaweed and served with more seaweed and other foraged greens and a seaweed dashi. It was also accompanied by a piece of the halibut skin deep fried and studded with black garlic puree. It would actually be somewhat long winded and difficult to accurately describe how this came together and was presented – fortunately we have the picture below. They curly piece with the little flowers is the halibut skin.

Halibut with seaweed. The halibut skin is with the shells and rocks and has the purple flowers

This was paired with a BC Chardonnay – this was actually the only local wine among the tasting menu pairings. It was a good match as most Canadian Chardonnays are somewhat lighter than the big, bold versions that are produced in California so do not overwhelm fish. This was fantastic – this was my favourite course to this point, and remained one of the best courses of the evening. I think the success of that dish had to do with the seaweed. Not only was there a salty/briny flavour from the seaweed that boosts the overall flavour of the dish, but seaweed also contains glutamic acid, a natural version of monosodium glutamate (MSG). This is an ingredient that gives a punch of both sodium and umami (that “fifth” taste that refers to the sense of savouriness).

Fourth course was a braised and crispy skin pork belly with pickled vegetables and a mead sauce. This was paired with a Chilean Cinseault. This is another unusual wine selection – this is not a variety usually associated with Chile, nor is it a grape that is frequently used on its own, outside of a blend. In fact, it is most often used in France to add deeper colour to red wine blends. Yet this wine has a mild flavour that was a good match with the rich but mild pork belly. While the pickled vegetables (carrots and radish) were quite nice and do serve to counter the fattiness of this cut of meat, I found the amount of pickled vegetables were a little out of balance with the amount of meat and sauce and that amount of pickling ended up a little bit harsh. Again, this is just a small critique of an overall good dish.

For the fifth course, came another contender for best dish of the tasting menu. This was a spring lamb dish. The lamb was served as two parts. The main plate featured a seared lamb loin served with a mint jus, fresh peas, mushroom puree, and morel mushrooms (the first morels of the season!) Then on a side board, there was a lamb rib, slow cooked and basted with a BBQ type sauce. That lamb rib was the best bite of the entire meal, and the rest of the dish was wonderful as well. The wine pairing was, by the standards of the meal so far, a little more expected, featuring a Syrah from France. Shiraz, the New World version of this varietal, is a very common pairing with lamb dishes, and this Syrah worked equally well as a wine pairing, even though there were two very different expressions of lamb in the dish and the wine was able to work with both.

Composed lamb dish with the lamb rib served on the side

Sixth came the palate cleanser. When I reviewed North, I talked a bit about the function of a palate cleanser and how their version(s) did (or didn’t) work. Here the palate cleanser was blueberry granité with lemon balm. The addition of the lemon balm, and the way it worked with the blueberry, helped this dish achieve something very difficult – to be a memorable course within the tasting menu, yet still effectively cleanse the palate in preparation for dessert.

Course number seven was the primary dessert course. This was interesting, and as you can see, a very beautiful dish. This was a bay leaf (yes, bay leaf) mousse set on a vanilla cake with a strawberry and bay leaf ice cream, served with a rhubarb consommé. While you do occasionally see savoury herbs (basil or thyme, for instance) accenting a dessert, I have never seen bay used in this way before. However it worked exceptionally well. The bay, together with the rhubarb, opened me up to a new way of balancing the sweetness of desserts. When a dessert is only sweet, it can be overwhelming and unpleasantly cloying to eat. This is why you want a contrasting taste or flavour to counter the sweetness. Sourness for instance is probably the most common way to balance sweetness, though you can also see bitterness used, or even saltiness. This is the first time though that I have seen astringency used to balance sweetness, at least in a composed dessert. Astringency is often linked with bitterness but is somewhat different. It is associated with a drying of the mouth. You will often find it the tannins from heavy red wines or in tea leaves. Bay leaves are also astringent, and rhubarb, while it is more noticeably tart, or sour, it also has astringent elements to it, especially when amplified by the bay leaf. With this dish also came the final wine pairing. This came from New Zealand and was a “Noble” Riesling. “Noble” refers to grapes affected by botrytis, also called “noble rot”. This is a fungus that can grow on grapes under certain conditions and, while usually you do not want fungus on your wine grapes, this particular strain, when used with the right wine (usually a sweet white wine but I have had a very successful botritized dry Chardonnay) produces a unique and excellent product. A French wine produced this way, called Sauternes, is very famous and desired, with one winery’s version one of the most expensive wines out there. So this was a Riesling, a different grape than is used in Sauternes, and was from New Zealand, but had some of the characteristics of a Sauternes, and paired very well with the dessert, as the bay and rhubarb kept the sweetness level of the dessert low enough to not detract from the wine.

The final course was a “chocolate box”, a selection of three small chocolates. There was white chocolate with raspberry inside, a chocolate truffle with cardamom, and honeycomb candy (a sort of toffee with the airy look of a honeycomb) coated with very dark (90%) chocolate. To prevent the chocolates from rolling around, they used cacao nibs, the roasted and crushed cacao beans before they are sweetened and made into chocolate. While they weren’t really meant to be eaten as part of the dish, I find them tasty and a nice bitter chocolate addition to the sweet chocolate candies that were served.

That was the entirety of the tasting menu, though the restaurant does add a final little bite along when they give you the bill – traditionally called “mignardises”. We made these at one restaurant I worked in (the fanciest of them). The mignardises were a mini chocolate cake bite and a grapefruit pâte de fruits (a fruit jelly). Both were excellent, especially the pâte de fruits, which is technically difficult to make as well as it was.

Throughout, the service was excellent. Sometimes, when dining alone, you can be somewhat overlooked by restaurant staff, mainly because you are bringing in less money for the time spent by that server. Also a single diner at a table that usually holds at least two people represents less money. This was not at all an issue at Hawksworth. The waiter serving me was very good, and I was also personally served throughout the meal by the sommelier for each wine pairing and even the maître d’ came over multiple times. Another strong point for the wait staff was that everyone was very well trained on the menu – and of course this was the tasting menu, which changes more often and is likely ordered less than the regular menu. This was all the way down to the bussers, who when they brought out dishes could all clearly describe each element on the plate in what were very complicated multi-component dishes.

And as for the price? Just never mind. Expensive. That’s all you really need to know. While prices are high everywhere in Vancouver, this is a particularly expensive restaurant, and a full tasting menu is going to be very expensive. In my mind though, it’s worth it. It is however the kind of place that if you are cost conscious, you would likely consider it too expensive for you. In part, you are paying for an exclusive experience, and that doesn’t come cheap. For those of you who read my blog before you would be aware that, when I was last writing, I was not exactly wealthy – in fact I was in deb t and living with my parents. Well, as later posts will touch on, plenty has changed since then. While I am certainly not making huge amounts of money, I am making far more than I ever was as a cook, most of my debt is paid off, and I am in a position where I can occasionally spend on indulgences, which I did plenty of during this vacation. Still want to know the price? OK, fine. For the 8-course tasting menu, with wine pairings for 6 courses, tax, and a deservedly generous tip, over $200 CAD for one. As I said. Expensive.

So that is my first full post of the re-start. I hope to have more coming.

A Return to Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Wed, 01 May 2019 05:41:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Is anyone still here?

It has been more than 5 years since my last post here but lately I have been thinking about restarting my blog. My life is a lot different than it was when I started this, so that is likely why after the first year or so posts got less frequent, stopped for long periods of time, and eventually ended for good. In later posts I might explore some of the reasons why but for now I just want a post up to indicate I am returning.

My plan for upcoming posts is for more of those posts that focus on travel, places to see, and - the big part - food, including recipes and reviews. For instance, I will be going on vacation soon, so there will likely be one or more posts related to my trip. I will probably be posting my photos as they relate to what I am posting. I know some of my readers really appreciated the more involved think pieces, and I enjoyed delving into those and writing them as well. However those took a lot of time to write and likely contributed to why I discontinued the blog, especially once I was working full time in research. So I may not be writing so much of those any more, but you never know. If an intriguing topic presents itself and I have the time to write it, that sort of thing may show up again.

So we'll just see what happens and how often I will post, or if this re-start even sticks, but for now I am eager to start up the blog again.

Solidarity Forever?

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 02:40:00 +0000

These days, so many right-wing governments are making attempts to take power away from unions, supposedly to save money and give businesses more flexibility in difficult economic climates. While the political right has never been greatly interested in the rights of workers or the strengthening of the lower middle class, it is interesting that the idea that unions need to be curbed is getting more traction in the general public - even among those who are not wealthy themselves. Are people simply more gullible or has something actually changed either in society or in the way unions function? And are unions still important or relevant in today’s society?

Before we get into this, there is an additional matter where I suppose I should have to tread carefully. I am currently working full time and my workplace is not unionized. I want to make it clear from the start that anything I say about the benefits of having unions or exploitation at non-union workplaces has nothing to do with my own experiences, as I actually have a very responsible employer that treats employees very well.

Back to the questions, I would actually answer “yes” to every part of those questions. While I don’t really think people have become stupider or more naive, the news sources upon which people rely have become more partisan and less honest. Of course the prime example is Fox News. They have a ridiculously obvious political agenda that influences every thing they broadcast and for some reason some people still trust them as a news source. How else does one explain that a majority of people claim to be against ObamaCare but are in favour of everything it does? So in this environment, if a broadcaster such as Fox News says that unions are destroying America people seem to believe them. Now, they may claim that while their opinion and commentary shows may have a particular political viewpoint, their news is still fair and unbiased as all journalism is supposed to be. But any serious media watcher will see that the choices of what to cover and the language used in the coverage are clearly designed so that the viewer will draw a particular conclusion. And that is even more dangerous since the viewer will be more likely to believe the news to be trustworthy and unbiased. So a news story about a union dispute that puts all the focus on increasing demands from the union against financial hardship of the company may be a very selective reading of the situation but will draw a viewer to an inevitable conclusion of who is right and who is wrong. This is incredibly dangerous for the credibility of the news and journalism, but that is another topic in its own right.

To the next question, has society and/or unions changed? I believe it has, but that may simply be a matter of time and short memories. But I think an important factor is the virtual disappearance of employee loyalty to a company. It used to be a person would work with the same company from graduation until retirement. During that time they would receive a series of promotions and a secure pension on retirement (often owing much to union involvement). In exchange for all that expense, the employer would have exclusive access to the skills of that employee. Now jobs are far more transient. An additional side effect of this is that very few companies want to put significant time and money into training, especially since those precious resources they invested in will in all likelihood leave in a few years and join their competitor. There is so much more to this issue, but this will get me too far off track.

Have unions changed? Once again, yes. Unions began due to concerns for worker safety and basic compensation and human rights. Horrific industrial accidents in overcrowded factories were commonplace in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, generating public desire for an organized labour movement. With the factory collapse in Bangladesh earlier this year, we see this very scenario at work 100 years later in the developing world, that now seems to do all the manual labour for those of us in the west (and that is where all the union jobs went). It was very hard to get unions going, almost everyone involved was accused of being communist (not that many in the labour movement weren’t in fact communists) and violence and intimidation were incredibly common tactics to discourage unionization. And about the presence of Communists, a lot of that can be attributed to the intimidation and use of force weeding out all the moderate labour organizers leaving only radicals, many of whom were communists. But once unions became a reality, things did change a bit. To safeguard the gains that were so hard-fought, union leadership sought control of the political process, to make sure they had a government champion just like the employers. By the time a large proportion of workers were unionized, the biggest unions had tremendous amounts of money from union dues. Of course these are needed in case of large, extended strikes which would need a war chest, but when the reserves get so large, it attracts the interest of big greed, and, more problematically, organized crime. Even without this issue, there are additional reasons unions have been associated with greed when their initial purpose was to stand up against greed. It likely again comes down to substantial union dues that are collected as unions merge and become larger. You now have union presidents and other executives within unions that are extremely rich individuals. Some even become involved, like executives in other fields, in corruption and greed. This gives the impression that unions are no longer true to their original purpose. Furthermore, the “unions” that represent professional athletes that make millions going on strike to get more money from billionaire owners hardly generates sympathy or support for the union movement as a whole.

But now to the final question: are unions still relevant or useful? Absolutely. And this does not only apply if you ascribe to socialist ideals about even distribution of wealth as the benefits of unions are not limited to increased compensation for the working class. And there are benefits even to those workers who do not work in a unionized environment. That is because one of the great successes of the labour movement was, as I mentioned above, more progressive and humane labour laws and increased regulation related to worker rights and safety. After disasters like factory collapses, there have historically been increased demands for union representation, so if there are company-wide issues, a worker can have a group that represents every employee make the complaint, rather than raise it individually at risk of their job. Often union-based campaigns for better condition extend beyond the immediate company in the form of legislation that affects other workers as well, whether unionized or not. And of course if a large segment of an industry is unionized and thus likely receiving higher pay, competition will likely push non-union wages higher as well.

Also, when employees have better benefits and working conditions, they are likely to be happier and, as a result, become more productive generating more income for the organization. Now good employee morale and resulting high productivity can occur outside of a union environment, but such a situation is out of the control of the worker; the conditions of work are entirely dependent on the goodwill (or lack thereof) of management. Good management will create a strong company where people are paid well, have benefits and have good morale without needing a union. An example of such a company is Canada’s second airline, WestJet, where the employees are not unionized. Instead, all employees receive shares in the company and thus are all part owners. In contrast, their competition, Air Canada – which was once the national airline – has mainly unionized workers and there has been one labour dispute after another and morale is generally understood to be somewhat lower. Yet there is little discontent at WestJet. Another strong, though smaller, non-union company, is the one I work for. They really seem to care about employees, the benefits are certainly acceptable, and there are opportunities for advancement. However, in another situation workers may be exploited at every turn if a union is not behind them. Usually this scenario does not create a strong company, but they can still be successful based on factors other than their workforce. Walmart is the prime example. Their mistreatment of workers is legendary by now, yet the company is a remarkable success, mainly due to their supply chain and the low prices they can offer as a result. I have so many issues with Walmart it could fill another full post (maybe I’ll write it) but in terms of labour, this would seem like a situation where only a strong union could improve things, since management is not inclined to provide anything not required by law (and even then sometimes not). Also their workforce is so large that only a single organized unit could be an effective influence on the company to actually provide any more to their employees. If a few workers at a few stores (or even all of one store) were to walk off the job, they could easily be replaced. But if all of them act together as one, that might bring some concessions.

So where are we? It seems, unfortunately, that we may almost be back to where we started in some industries, where there is great hostility to unions but a great need out there, due to poor working conditions. To make matters worse, the unions that are established have in many cases apparently lost touch with their overriding purpose and seem more interested in consolidating power, both financial and political. Also, as unions have traditionally used seniority as their guiding principle instead of merit, many employers – and workers – see a union workplace as one where inertia and incompetence are rewarded. When unions get large, the bureaucracy also increases, leaving a situation where some workers feel they can get more effective results by approaching the employer directly than by going through the union, especially since some may actually see the employer as more understanding and responsive than the union! Clearly something has gone wrong in this scenario – the whole point of a union was supposed to be to look out for the needs of the workers. When the union is no longer doing that, their perceived usefulness is severely limited. Even worse, this disinterest in union representation can play right into the hands of greedy business operators who can convince their employees that they don’t want a union and then proceed to cut away pay, benefits, and opportunities to air grievances.

Obviously something needs to be done, but what? Regular readers of my blog should know by now that I’m not one that provides that many answers. I blog about topics where I have questions myself, so it is a bit much to assume that I can also provide answers to the questions in my own mind! What I might suggest is that unionization really does need to come back, but I think it has to be a rethought and renewed movement that takes into consideration the priorities and values of modern workers, and also is able to adapt to the present day economy, where there is less manufacturing and more service-type employment. The trend of more temporary and contract work should also be addressed, perhaps as a union dedicated to those workers or as a force trying to reverse the trend. Again, I don’t really have answers and even the suggestions are very general and not fully formed, but this is a complex issue. What do you all think about this?

On Forgiveness, Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 02:56:00 +0000

And, now as promised, the remainder of my reply to The Sunflower and my analysis of forgiveness. Where we left off, I had finished explaining there is really no way that the dying Nazi can be forgiven, as murder is unforgivable and there might be good reason to doubt the sincerity of his remorse. Where we left off, I was explaining how deathbed pardons seem insincere and inappropriate to me.

Why then is this sort of pardon considered acceptable by some? This seems to be something found often in Christian tradition, where deathbed confessions and conversions are frequently performed. There also seems to be a popular mythology in Christian traditions that one does not lie when about to die, so confessions made at that time are bound to be honest and come from the heart. I would firmly disagree with that notion. Death is something many are greatly afraid of, especially if one believes in an afterlife where God will judge their actions in life. If what they have done will be likely to lead to eternal condemnation they will want to do anything they can to improve their standing, even though when death was not staring them in the face this was not considered a priority.

Christian traditions also seem to explain why many think this Nazi should have been forgiven. In this area I do not have as much expertise, but I think this stems from the teaching that forgiveness is the greatest virtue that every Christian should practice. In general, I do not disagree, but this leads to something more problematic. People are extolled as highly virtuous for forgiving the most heinous of acts, as though the ability to forgive the worst atrocities shows how pious they are and how good a Christian they are. This happens often in the absence even of a request for forgiveness from the guilty party, let alone true evidence of atonement. This generates the notion that forgiveness is an act that only has impact upon the victim – it is a way for them to heal and move on with their lives. If you look at the comments on part 1, I believe this is what Scottie and Randy are referring to when they speak of forgiving. Not forgiving is not the same as holding a grudge. Carrying the hurt around can absolutely be emotionally and psychologically damaging, but it seems here the beneficial forgiveness that must occur is completely internal – you must forgive yourself for whatever perceived sins you may have internalized. When you are blaming yourself there is no other injured party (except perhaps loved ones who must put up with you) so this process would not involve another party. I think this is of particular benefit in the case of a victim of abuse. There is often a great deal of internalized guilt and self-blame for any number of reasons, which also sometimes manifests itself as hatred of the abuser (or abusers in general). This is damaging in so many ways and the process of forgiveness is probably a good way to heal from this kind of damage. But this has nothing to do with forgiving an external guilty party. They must come to you of their own accord, sincerely request forgiveness, make restitution, and show at least an indication that they have truly changed and would act differently in the future. The case in The Sunflower completely lacks the latter two elements, and even for the first part, there are reasons to doubt the sincerity of the remorse.

And then there is the very act of relating this litany of horrors to Wiesenthal, an inmate of a concentration camp who had every reason to expect he would soon be killed in such a manner as Karl describes. Karl’s description of the scene was very detailed and vivid. As the story was being told, Simon was reminded of a boy he knew in the Ghetto, who had managed to keep himself alive for some time but, in the end, eventually was seen no more and was almost certainly killed too. It almost seems a form of torture in these circumstances, as several of the published responses have noted. Wiesenthal is already in a struggle just to stay alive – is it fair that he now be subjected to another graphic account of the horror waiting for him and then be asked to forgive this – or bear the emotional burden of not forgiving and then later doubting himself. Or possibly even fear the consequences of a refusal. The confessor is a Nazi in a Nazi hospital and Simon is a Jewish prisoner. If Karl had asked to have Simon killed, it would have been done. This too casts doubts on the sincerity of Karl’s remorse. Can he truly understand the gravity of his crime and be fully remorseful if he does not seem to acknowledge the position in which he places his confessor? Some have even suggested this is yet another sin being committed as he asks for forgiveness of another.

So this is why Karl cannot be forgiven and, in general, why certain crimes are unforgiveable. But at this point you may ask: it all seems quite logical, but isn’t this just a bit too harsh? What about compassion or sympathy? Well, thinking of the paragraph just before this, is putting a person in such an awkward and potentially dangerous situation in any way compassionate, and thus merit some compassion in return? Aside from this though, I did say at the beginning of this long essay that I would get to the issue of sympathy and compassion and how that is different from forgiveness. Actually I have been talking around that topic for the last few paragraphs, but never directly to the issue. Those alternate notions of forgiveness I was picking apart also seem to meld forgiveness, compassion and sympathy into one all-purpose “right thing to do”. The reality is these are all different things, and The Sunflower actually shows how each one of them is separate and, while Wiesenthal does not provide the former, he does provide both compassion and sympathy, on different occasions. With the dying SS man, Karl, he doesn’t have much sympathy for the man – this is one of his tormentors after all. Yet he most certainly shows ample compassion. A fly was buzzing around the dying man’s blinded face, and Simon shoos it away. Despite the emotional pain this is causing him, Simon still hears Karl out. And it seems this alone was of benefit to the man, as the next day, when the nurse told him that solider had died, she presented Simon with Karl’s effects, as that was Karl’s wish. Later, when meeting Karl’s mother, Simon shows sympathy in this instance. He does feel and understand the genuine pain the woman was feeling and genuinely did not want to do or say anything that would cause her additional hurt. Here there was compassion too, and one gets the impression that compassion is simply one of Wiesenthal’s traits – he was a very compassionate human being. So to review, compassion is to treat people with kindness and gentility, and provide assistance, sympathy is to commiserate and to share in the feelings of another, but forgiveness is to actually absolve another of sin or to declare that no further atonement is necessary. No preconditions are needed to be compassionate. To be sympathetic, usually some sort of common ground or understanding is needed, but not much more than that. But since forgiveness is more definite, and more official, there are many preconditions, and the SS officer meets very few, if any, of them.

So this turned out to be longer than many of the submissions to Wiesenthal’s symposium. But some of the offerings there were quite long as well, and there was a lot to say. I had it in my mind to write a post about the Jewish view of forgiveness almost since I started this blog more than three years ago. And it has been two months since I promised part two (or as it turned out, parts 2 and 3) to follow up the book review. I still don’t know if I’m fully happy with it, but I am glad to have finally written it and to have it posted. Scottie and Randy, I appreciated your comments on part one and hope you will be able to get through this long piece as well, as it does give my perspective on the issues both of you raised. It seems now every time I post, I once again promise to post more, and then have another very long delay before the next post. However I have more ideas now and hopefully more posts will be on the way. And I got two out of this one so that’s a start!

On Forgiveness, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 03:29:00 +0000

In the last post, I examined the dilemma posed by Simon Wiesenthal in The Sunflower and suggested that, in my (unsolicited) response, I would explore the Jewish idea of forgiveness, what it is, what it is not, and how it may differ from other conceptions of forgiveness. I will start with the simpler, easier, answers before moving on the deeper stuff. Also, my post will be split into two parts so it isn't so much to read all at once.

To answer Wiesenthal, first I respond to the direct question – what would I have done? Like some others have stated in their published replies, I will not answer, because I have no answer. That is part of what is so compelling about The Sunflower, the situation Simon is placed in is truly incredulous. It is almost impossible to imagine oneself accurately in such an extreme situation. To flesh this out a little more, I can’t answer because I truly have no idea of how I would be thinking if I had gone through what the Jews of the Holocaust went through. I grew up in an entirely different environment, with little to no discrimination, much less brutality. I do not know what it is like to be constantly expecting to die in some sudden violent manner. What I do know is that, if I were face to face with someone who had tormented me and this person asked forgiveness, I would find it quite hard to be charitable. But even this is not the situation at hand. This is a person unknown to Wiesenthal but is merely a member of the same group of people who were systematically killing the Jews. So perhaps I might be able to feel sympathy but, as I will explain shortly, that is not at all the same thing as granting forgiveness.

Moving on, I will briefly discuss the interaction with Karl’s mother. Wiesenthal wonders if he was right to not tell her the truth about her son, to let her continue believing the lie that he was not a murderer. I believe he was right in this. She had lost her entire world, her family, her faith in her country. To take away her last pleasant fiction would just be cruelty and perhaps more than she could bear. There is one reasonable counter-argument to this though. If we extend the principle further, and say in general we should let the “good” people continue believing in the supposed innocence of Nazis who committed atrocities, we are minimizing and excusing, perhaps even denying, what happened and are creating conditions where such evil can reoccur. To me though, the mother’s situation is a special case. It was too much too soon. Also, she had tried to teach her son right from wrong and, from some of the things she said to Simon, one gets the impression she suspected he was not quite as innocent as she hoped. Perhaps, if the meeting had happened many years later, or if her husband had not been killed too, maybe the circumstances would be different and it would have been the right thing to tell her the whole truth. But at that time, sitting in the ruins of her bombed out home, with nothing but the memories of her family left – even her family was stolen from her – and still coming to grips with the extent of the evil done by her country, the truth would not likely have done any good and could have done harm.

Now with the easy stuff out of the way, we move on to the deeper question. Was Simon’s choice the correct one? By that, I mean based only on abstract principles, taking what he had written to be the full complete and exact facts of the matter, was he morally correct in not granting forgiveness or would it have been appropriate to grant Karl’s wish? All the commenters, even those who thought forgiveness should have been granted, take pains to point out this is in no way making a judgement on Simon’s character or questioning the appropriateness of the decision, especially given the circumstances involved.

Based on my view of Jewish traditions and assessment of the purported facts, Wiesenthal was right not to grant forgiveness. In fact, it would have been incorrect for him to grant it. It is for a reason mentioned even in the text of the story. One of his friends back in the camp pointed out that these crimes were not committed against him, and Jewish tradition holds very clearly that one can only forgive sins committed against you. You are only permitted to forgive in your own name, not in anyone else’s. From this, the logical extension is quite obvious, and Jewish teachings confirm this: murder is not a sin that can be forgiven, under any circumstances. The reason is really quite simple: the victimized party is deceased and is thus unavailable to hear, much less grant, a request for forgiveness. As death is the definitive result of all murder, there are no circumstances where murder can be forgiven. An interesting sidebar here is that Jewish teaching holds that there are in fact two – and only two – sins which are unforgiveable: murder and lashon ha-ra, a term referring to the spreading of malicious gossip (other scholars have defined this sin as destroying someone’s reputation). The reasoning why this second sin is unforgiveable is also another reason why murder cannot be forgiven. That is because, just as one cannot raise the dead, damage done to a reputation cannot be undone. Why this permanence is important we will see later.

But what about remorse? Does it not count for something if a murderer is sincerely sorry for all the hurt he or she has caused, to everyone affected? Yes of course it does, but it does not count for everything. Without that remorse, forgiveness is never possible but, by itself, that is not enough. Jewish traditions have a very well established process of forgiveness, called teshuva. To start with, the approach to forgiveness depends on the sin. There are two types: sins against God and sins against people (traditionalists would say “against man”). Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest day of the Jewish year, the day when Jews ask God for forgiveness of sins committed against Him. But the thing about sin is quite often one action would be a sin both against a person and against religious law (i.e. God). So in the weeks leading up to Yom Kippur, Jews are expected to atone for all the sins they committed against others, make amends and gain forgiveness, if possible. Because it is said God does not forgive the sins against Him, until the sins against man have been made right. With this in mind, even suggesting the SS officer beseech God for forgiveness might not be of much use, as no atonement has been made for the human sins. And at any rate, this person is not Jewish, so any claim that he may be asking for a religious type of forgiveness is doubtful. He was raised Catholic, so if that were his aim it would seem confessing to a priest would be more appropriate.

In any event, I’m really more interested in sins against people. I’m not entirely sure I believe in God and, even if He (or She!) does exist, I believe that interpersonal relations have far more importance as far as morality is concerned. We have to live with each other, so it is important we do so on the best of possible terms. The process of teshuva here is well established. The first step is admitting the commission of the sin to the injured party and expressing remorse. But the most important part is still to come. Teshuva means “to make right”. This quite clearly means that the sin must not only be regretted, but concrete action must take place to correct matters. If money was stolen, it must be repaid. If one showed rudeness, one must now show kindness. If there was an injury, assistance should be provided, as appropriate, in the healing process. Some form of appropriate restitution is necessary. Finally, the individual must find him or herself in the same situation and this time choose the correct course of action, and not repeat the same mistake.

With those steps and requirements in mind, it is easy to see why the Nazi can not achieve forgiveness. Since restitution, in the sense of undoing the damage, is critical, it is clear that this can never happen in the case of murder. Try as one might, there is no repair of the damage done. The only possible form of forgiveness conceivable in the case of murder is to seek forgiveness from the victim’s family and friends – not for the murder itself, but forgiveness for the emotional harm to loved ones this crime has caused. This is nowhere close to a complete forgiveness but is a possible saving grace attainable by at least atoning for a collateral sin committed as a result of the other, unforgiveable one. Another mark against the SS officer is that there is no way he could be tested in the final stage of teshuva, not repeating the action in similar circumstances. As he is about to die, there will obviously not be the opportunity for this occasion. Because it is never known whether a particular circumstance will ever arise again in one’s lifetime, this final step of teshuva is not necessarily essential to be forgiven, but it is necessary for complete atonement on the personal level. Put another way, it is acceptable for an injured party to grant forgiveness without this final stage but the sinner would not be considered completely atoned until that final test is passed. In the SS case, it may seem a non-issue, since this last stage is not essential to the request and there are many other reasons why it cannot be granted. However, it points to another reason why this request for forgiveness is not appropriate. Since the full process of forgiveness would require this evidence of changed behaviour, deathbed requests for forgiveness are thus highly dubious and not in my mind appropriate. While as I just mentioned, it cannot be known whether the opportunity to test resolve will ever arise, if one asks forgiveness when one knows they are about to die, it is a certainty that the last condition will not be completed as it is abundantly clear there would be no time to do so. It calls into question the sincerity of the remorse, since the sinner knows there is no way their change of heart will ever be put to the test. And, as with the case we are examining, why was the request not made earlier? The murders Karl confesses to were committed a year prior and there was no thought of remorse or forgiveness until he is about to die.

There is still quite a lot more to this post, but I will end it here, since it is already quite a lot to digest. But this time when I say the conclusion will follow shortly, I really mean it since the second part is already written. Expect the post in a week from now or possibly sooner.

On Forgiveness Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 02:56:00 +0000

Towards the end of a long ago post about justice, I briefly touched on the concept of forgiveness. This is a topic I have been meaning to address for some time, dating back to last year and, really, almost back to the beginning of the blog. I never got around to it then, but I would like to do it now, as it is now the High Holidays and it seems like an opportune time. This also serves as a review of the book The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal, as this book is centered around the nature and limits of forgiveness. I believe that most people misunderstand what forgiveness actually is and I will attempt to address the issue. This post will be written in two parts: the first is the book review, which will lead into my thoughts on forgiveness in the second part.

Saturday September 14 is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, considered by religious Jews the holiest day of the year. It is described in English as “the Day of Atonement” where Jews ask God for forgiveness for their transgressions in spiritual matters. But how does this relate to asking forgiveness from other people for transgressions against them? And how does one respond when someone who harmed you (or someone else – an important distinction) asks you for forgiveness? And do Jewish and Christian (and other religious and/or secular) views of forgiveness differ?

This is the central theme of The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal. The book (really a non-fiction novella followed by a series of responsa) provides a variety of views and attempts to answer the essential question Wiesenthal poses in the story. This was originally written in the 1970’s and refers to events in the 1940’s but the themes remain relevant to this day. A revised edition with new responses was published in the 1990’s. As I mentioned in that earlier post, Simon Wiesenthal survived the Holocaust and devoted his life afterwards to locating escaped Nazis and bringing them to justice. In The Sunflower, Wiesenthal recalls an incident while in a Concentration Camp in 1943 when he was assigned to be part of a work detail for a few days cleaning a German army hospital. In that hospital there was a Nazi soldier near death from his battle wounds. Apparently he was aware that Jewish prisoners were at the hospital that day and requested to speak to one of the Jews in private, it just so happened that Wiesenthal was the one chosen. The soldier was obviously severely wounded and had also been blinded. He was also well aware that death would come soon. The soldier proceeded to describe an incident a year ago when he participated in the slaughter of a Jewish family by burning the house and shooting anyone trying to get out. He also vividly described the child, as that image continued to haunt him. And why was he telling all this to a Jew who was already well aware of these brutal methods and had already suffered greatly and would soon suffer even more or be dead himself? Well, the soldier new he was about to die and now his conscience had finally re-emerged – or perhaps he was concerned that he would not be heaven bound as a result of this great sin. In any event he claimed to feel great remorse for what he had done and asked Wiesenthal – as a member of the Jewish people – to forgive the Nazi for this sin. Wiesenthal was shocked and somewhat disgusted at that request. At the time, Wiesenthal said nothing and he returned to his work detail and managed to survive the Holocaust. But this incident continued to bother him. He wondered if he had done the right thing. The man seemed to be genuine in his remorse – so shouldn’t he have forgiven him? After the war, he was able to locate the dead soldier’s mother and went to visit her. He saw that this man apparently had a moral and religious upbringing and, as far as his mother knew, her son had been involved only in the war and had nothing to do with atrocities. Wiesenthal ended up not telling her what the soldier told him, leaving her in the dark. This caused him more psychological disturbance. Was this the right thing to do? Was it right to allow her to continue to believe her son was not involved in genocide? Was this the humane choice or is this dishonesty? But the final question he poses to the reader is: should he have forgiven the man? And what would the reader have done in that situation?

As many of the respondents to the symposium that follows were writers, several stated they would have been pleased to offer a literary criticism of the book, but what he had asked was actually far more difficult. Wiesenthal’s challenge puts the reader in the very difficult place to imagine oneself in a situation so horrible as to seem unfathomable to many (and for survivors to relive the most horrifying and traumatic time of their lives) and then respond to a request that seems unfathomable. On top of that they are to critique the actions of someone who found himself in that singular situation. Quite the task, but the revised and expanded edition contains 53 responses, of which only a selection of the first edition responses are included. There are Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, and secular commentators. Many are academics, in theology or secular disciplines such as the Humanities, others are authors. Others are religious leaders: rabbis, priests, and even the Dalai Lama. Most of the Christian commentators are Catholic, in large part because this was first published around the time of the Second Vatican Council, which had a focus on Christian-Jewish relations, and also because Karl, the SS officer in the story, was raised a Catholic so his request for forgiveness came from the viewpoint of a Catholic. A great many agree Wiesenthal’s decision was the correct one, though sometimes for different reasons, while others believe forgiveness should have been granted. Others seem to skirt this issue, by evasion or explicit refusal to answer, and instead address another aspect of that central theme. A very notable contribution that must be mentioned was written by Albert Speer. Speer was a high-ranking Nazi and a minister in Hitler’s government. At the Nuremburg Trials in 1946 he was one of the very few to plead guilty and perhaps the only one to publicly acknowledge responsibility for the crimes of the Third Reich. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and, after serving that term and after reading the Sunflower, began a correspondence with Wiesenthal, eventually resulting in a lengthy face-to-face meeting. In part, his response is a thank you for that meeting, praising Wiesenthal’s remarkable compassion, both towards Karl and later to Speer. As for forgiveness, he expects none, from Wiesenthal or even from himself. He acknowledges these crimes are unforgiveable; the best he can advocate is sincere repentance with the hope of receiving understanding and compassion, with no expectation or request of forgiveness.

There are so many big questions raised in this work and are open for commentary. One of the biggest issues raised is whether Wiesenthal has any right to forgive, as the crime confessed was done to someone else, now dead, and not him. Can one forgive on behalf of others? Is forgiveness based on a deathbed confession too easy, a form of “cheap grace”? And is Karl truly reformed and sincere, and thus potentially deserving of forgiveness, or do his actions still show an unchanged callousness right to the end? Finally, what of the mother? Was Simon right to withhold the truth of her son’s activities? Was this compassion, as most agree, or was it irresponsible? Stepping away from the incident itself, what, if any, are the limits to forgiveness? Is there such a thing as collective guilt (such as the guilt of the German nation for Nazi crimes)? And if so, can this collective guilt ever be forgiven? Is there a difference between forgiving and forgetting, and can one exist without – or with – the other? So many different questions and so many views on each question. It is a general pattern that Jewish respondents tend to say he shouldn’t forgive while more Christians say he should. Although my views will come next time, I want to note here that this pattern appears have much more to do with different approaches to and definitions of forgiveness between the two religions than from personal or emotional responses. I will attempt to address a few of these questions, based on how interesting the answers are and how much time and space I want to devote to this.

The Sunflower is a rather intense and thought-provoking read. To begin with, reading a first-hand account of a concentration camp experience can be difficult and emotional, especially when the writer is as gifted with words and mental imagery as Wiesenthal, since he can actually put you in that awful place. The book also serves as a partial and limited biography of the author’s life (he wrote a more complete account of his life and work in a later memoir) which gives some context to his decision to bring Nazi war criminals to justice (not to get revenge, as I mentioned in that earlier post). Next comes his challenge to the reader – what would you have done? Finally, though his story is now finished, the book is nowhere near its end. Such a diverse collection of commenters are featured it makes for very interesting reading. It is virtually certain a reader will strongly disagree with at least some of the opinions expressed, while most likely there will be others that fit perfectly with your views. Naturally, the cover gives top billing to the more famous, household names that are featured, such as the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu. However these replies are among the shortest and least involved essays, especially when there are far more detailed offerings from others that truly address the core of Wiesenthal’s question. There is even another entry that gives a reply from the Buddhist perspective that is more detailed and nuanced than that of the Dalai Lama.

Again, my discussion on forgiveness will come in the next post, but my very short response right now, is that from my view of forgiveness, Wiesenthal was completely correct in his actions, both regarding what he did and did not do. It is entirely consistent with an appropriate approach to forgiveness and being a compassionate person, despite the unimaginable circumstances. More details to follow.

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A postscript. In a future post you will see something most interesting in this blog. It occupied a fair amount of my non-work time this summer and is one reason for lack of posting. I wrote an article based on the report of my final research project at school and will be published very shortly in an industry magazine. After waiting a certain required time after publication, I will be able to share it here with you. So stay tuned.

Restaurant Review – The North Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 02:14:00 +0000

This is the fanciest dining restaurant in Barrie and, yes, probably the most expensive. Naturally that made it irresistible to try, even in my financial position. But I justify it in that I hardly ever eat out so, when I do, I can spend more on that dining experience. In fact, over my stay in Barrie, I ate twice at the North, and I think the differences between the two experiences, as well as what was common to both events, say something about the restaurant.

I ate at the North at the end of last December, and again in mid-April, as I was getting ready to leave Barrie. On both occasions I opted for the 7-course tasting menu as, in a high-end restaurant with a top-caliber chef, the tasting menu is the best way to see what a chef truly has to offer and to try the most variety off the menu. As far as I can tell, the North is the only Barrie restaurant with a true tasting menu. Other places may have something they call a tasting menu, but is usually a “table d’hote”, a fixed price specials menu, that is often lower priced than the a la carte menu. The price, at $70, may be steep for a restaurant meal for one but is actually quite a reasonable price for a 7-course menu, as long as the food is sufficiently elevated and the portions are of appropriate size. In Toronto, you would expect to pay quite a bit more for a chef’s tasting menu. The two tasting menus I tried of course were different, as the menu changes seasonally and a tasting menu changes often on a nightly basis.

The first menu, in late December, could be best characterized by (almost) flawless execution, excellent flavours, but lacking in cohesion, both within each course, and in the flow of courses. The first course was bits of beef tenderloin with asparagus. It was somewhat of an odd choice as a first course and, while good, was not especially memorable. Next came a trio of carpaccios. I believe the meats involved were kangaroo (?), bison and kobe beef. The kangaroo, if that is what it was (it has been a while) was the best and very well suited to both the carpaccio preparation and the garnishes, with the kobe unfortunately being the weakest element. The third course was a trio of shrimp, each with their own sauce. The only one that sticks out for me today was the one with a coconut milk and lemongrass sauce, probably the best single bite of the entire evening. All the shrimp were perfectly cooked, but only that one was accompanied with a truly great sauce. Up to this point, all courses were very small – only a few bites. Now tasting menu portions should always be small since you have more of them (we’ll talk more about this later), but to have not increased portion size slightly by the third course is a bit problematic. The fourth course though certainly was a bit larger. This was at least the size of a full appetizer (if not a bit larger) and was a sea bass rolled around shrimp and lobster puree, served on lobster risotto. The bass was very nice and the skin was especially tasty. I’m not sure the lobster was necessary here, as the shrimp overpowered it, but everything was correctly cooked and was very flavourful.

The fifth course was the intermezzo, a small palate cleanser, most often a sorbet, that prepares you for the main course. In this case it was an apricot sorbet, which I am pretty sure was made on premises. It was an extremely good sorbet, but not sure it was the most appropriate for the purpose. Having chunks of fruit in a sorbet is great for a sorbet served for dessert and makes the overall product much better, but may not be the best choice for cleansing ones palate. Finally the main course was a full size main course, which was necessary given the small size of most of the other plates. This was beef tenderloin with veal sweetbreads. The beef was cut a bit strangely, which did not make for the most even cooking, but the sweetbreads were good and the sauce was very tasty. Finally the dessert was actually quite memorable. This was banana sushi. Yes, banana sushi. This was a cold preparation with nori wrapped rice with banana in it. There was also a thick chocolate sauce smearing the plate which was a good match, but what made the dish was a small sprinkling of sesame seeds, which reinforced the sushi aspect and actually did match with the chocolate and banana (a classic pairing on its own).

This was a Sunday night the day before New Year’s Eve, so the chef was off that night and the sous-chef was in charge. I did get a chance to meet the sous-chef and talk with him for a bit. I discussed my impressions of the menu and mentioned in particular the apparent lack of a clear progression to the meal – there should be a logical flow from course to course that makes the entire tasting menu a cohesive meal. Another issue I had with the entire meal was a noticeable overuse of reduced balsamic vinegar. This intense sweet and sour syrup made by boiling down balsamic vinegar and (usually) adding sugar is meant to be an inexpensive substitute for true aged balsamic, which ages for decades and reduces naturally through evaporation. Since the taste can liven up many things, and it looks striking when squiggled on a plate, chefs have been known to overuse the stuff. This had clearly happened here. It showed up in places it had no business being, like the carpaccio dish, even a few dots on the plate on that shrimp dish. And in a dish where it was appropriate, like the main course, they used a substantial amount, probably too much. This was another issue I discussed with the sous-chef.

If I were to have written the review based on this dining experience alone, I’m pretty sure the impression I would have left would be somewhat negative, which is unfair as I actually did like the food very much. By most standards this is an excellent, sophisticated restaurant with exceptional food. However, since they offer a full tasting menu, I judge them by considerably higher standards, as they are now placing themselves in direct comparison with top restaurants in Montreal and Toronto. So on my last evening in Barrie before coming back home, I returned to the North. This was a Saturday night in April, and both the chef and sous-chef were in the kitchen. This time the experience was quite different. These descriptions will be more detailed as this was more recent. Starting with the first course, right away the portions were larger. While I did feel the portions last time were slightly small, they may have gone too far in the other direction.

The first course was prosciutto-wrapped shrimp with pesto and a napa cabbage slaw, which worked very well, especially considering wrapping seafood in prosciutto can make it difficult to eat, but that was not the case here. Like my previous visit, very well executed – but this time there was something noticeably lacking from my earlier visit: a logical progression to the meal. Lighter courses were served before heavier ones. I do not recall precisely the second course (possibly scallops? – I took pictures throughout this meal. They have served nicely as a memory aid after all this time but I forgot to take a picture of this one).

Prosciutto-wrapped shrimp with napa slaw

The third course was something I feel is almost an essential for a top tasting menu – seared foie gras. Foie gras is often paired with something sweet, like dried fruit. The pairing this time was a bit more unusual but still very effective. It was served on a base of lobster risotto and topped with caramelized onions. A little excessive to be pairing rich with rich but somehow it worked. The peas in the risotto were especially helpful providing that necessary sweet element. Next came the fish course, sea bass served over citrusy lentils, with asparagus. Once again, the bass was expertly cooked, but the citrus flavours actually made the lentils the star of the dish, playing perfectly off the fish.

Seared Foie Gras with lobster risotto

Sea Bass with citrusy lentils

As before, the fifth course was the intermezzo, that same beautifully made apricot sorbet, this time served on a plate drizzled with fruit coulis topped with dusted cocoa powder. While fruit coulis would not normally be smart for an intermezzo (too sweet) the bitterness of the cocoa powder cancelled that and actually contributed to cleansing the palate. The one improvement would have been if the earlier courses were a little smaller. As you can see, this fish course was pretty much a full serving. The result was that, by the time the main course arrived, I was pretty much full. This was quite unfortunate as the main was, for me, a real prize. This was a wagyu beef striploin steak (wagyu is the breed of cattle used to produce kobe beef – the difference is these cattle are raised in North America and do not get quite the same over-the-top treatment as in Japan. And in keeping with the large portions this was a full main course size. As one would expect, this steak had a lot of fat in it, but the beauty of this type of beef is that it doesn’t taste like you’re eating fat; it tastes like an explosion of juices and richness. If I had not been as full, I would have been able to finish it all at this perfect state of doneness. Still, I was able to take it home and it made quite the decadent breakfast the next day.

Wagyu striploin - so good!

After taking some time, I was however able to finish dessert, though I didn’t think I would be able to. This was helped somewhat by the fact the dessert was on the lighter side, mostly mousse and custard based. There was a mini banana cream pie (they like bananas here!) served in a crispy phyllo cup topped with bruleed banana (very good). In the middle was their version of tiramisu. The coffee-infused whipped cream was very nice but overall that did not quite work in its miniature format. But the biggest problem with this element was the pulled sugar garnish. Sugar decorations should be delicate and brittle, but this had the texture almost of taffy – it had probably been sitting around in the humid kitchen for some time after being made, reintroducing moisture. Though somewhat heavier, the best of all was a spiced fudge cake. Very rich and smooth with the spice provided a much needed lift.

left to right: fudge cake, tiramisu, banana cream pie

Once again, execution was again very close to perfect and the flavour combinations were well thought out, exciting and bold. I was also impressed to see the use of the previously ubiquitous balsamic reduction was much more restrained; it was only used on those dishes that could genuinely benefit from its presence. The same sous-chef was there again that evening but, this being a Saturday night, the chef/owner was there as well, though he was not in the kitchen the whole time. He spent part of the time entertaining some friends and/or colleagues and part of the time supervising the kitchen staff. His presence likely meant he had set the tasting menu, whereas it was probably up to the sous-chef last time, and the difference showed in the thoughtfulness of the progression.

Though the food is the centre of the dining experience here, the other aspects should be addressed as well. When dining alone, I often sit at the bar. This is what most restaurants prefer as any of the tables can accommodate at least two people and seating a single diner there represents loss of revenue. I like to do this anyway as it allows for more observation of the service, since ordering stations are often in the area and servers have to go to the bar to get their drink orders. At the North there is an additional benefit, as the bar is next to the kitchen, which is open on the side adjoining the bar, so I have not just a view into the kitchen but also an unobstructed view to the line, the actual cooking space.

The overall ambience is refined and very nice as well. It used to have a corner lot in a somewhat bad area of town. They had recently moved (though only to next door) onto the intersecting residential street into what probably used to be a (possibly) historic house. Their old premises are still standing and I think they use it for storage and it is clear the atmosphere there was less refined than their current surroundings. Even the move of just a hundred metres or so took them off the main street and thus reducing the perception of a “bad area”. A refined restaurant must have refined service. On my first visit service was very friendly but slightly lacking in polish, especially on the part of the bussers (the person who most often brings the plate to your table – if it is not your server it is not a waiter at all). Yes this was a tasting menu which changes daily and it was a slow night, but the busser could not fully explain the elements on the plate, a must for complicated presentations with unusual combinations. I even asked what fish was used on the fish course (the primary item on the plate) and she had to go back to the kitchen to ask. She was probably inexperienced and, since I had no such issues on the second visit, this was either an isolated instance, or an issue that has since been resolved. The wine list is fairly good with a reasonably wide selection of wines by the glass, both imported and local (by which I mean from Niagara. There are no vineyards in the Barrie area).

While I have discussed many things that could be improved and found fault with several things, I want to stress that overall I was very pleased with my experience and would recommend this restaurant without hesitation. It is just that this is a high end restaurant which, for me, comes with some more demanding expectations. And given that they come close to the quality of a big-city restaurant tasting menu, $70 is exceptional value for money, especially in a menu that features foie gras and wagyu steak. Also, I shared my criticisms with the kitchen on my first visit and noticed a marked improvement on the return visit, so likely they will continue to improve and already great restaurant over time.

Spaghetti Bolognese

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 02:23:00 +0000

I can’t believe the blog has gone on this long without posting this recipe, the very first savory meal I ever made by myself. I don’t actually remember when that would have been but somewhere around age 12, possibly a little later and definitely before I was 14. And this is a dish I have made ever since. It was my mother’s specialty but now when we have this meal as a family (and I am at home) I am always the one who makes it (which isn’t usually the case for other family favourites I now make myself). This is likely a dish most home cooks make with at least some regularity, especially if they are cooking for children (what kid doesn’t like spaghetti?). But I really think mine is better. Like many of my dishes it does take some time to make but, like many of the dishes I post here, it is not all that difficult or particularly time consuming.

3lbs ground beef

2 onions

Olive oil

1 head of garlic (you can use a little bit less)

1 green pepper (optional)

Mushrooms (optional)

Carrots (very optional)

2-3 cups tomato sauce (or 1 can San Marzano tomatoes)

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tbsp rosemary

2 tbsp thyme

2 tbsp oregano

2 tbsp basil

1 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

1 tsp salt

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cinnamon

1 piece parmesan rind (or about ½ cup grated parmesan)

½ cup red wine

Spaghettini or Spaghetti

There are many options possible for this recipe. One thing I have done at times is to add some bacon to this. When I do, I add about ¼ cup of chopped bacon to the pot at the very beginning and cook until the fat is rendered out, then use the bacon fat in place of some of the olive oil and proceed with the recipe. Also, there are many vegetable options that you can use, just keep in mind this is not a vegetable-based sauce, so the vegetables should only be an accent. Aside from the onions, none of the vegetables are actually required and others could be used instead. If I happen to have mushrooms and green pepper in the house I will usually use them in this. I know that carrots are very frequently used in Bolognese style sauces, but they would need to be diced very fine or grated in, and I don’t think it’s worth the trouble. Zucchini might be another good option here.

Dice the onions and mince the garlic. Saute the onions on medium heat in olive oil, along with the green peppers, if using. When the onions have softened, add the mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms have cooked. Then add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Then add the beef and brown/cook it (in most pans, with the quantities in this recipe, the meat won’t really brown – too crowded – but that doesn’t really matter here, you just need to get the meat cooked). When all the meat is cooked, add the tomato sauce and paste, mix well. Then add salt and all the herbs and spices (I typically use dried herbs for all the herbs called for here. Yes, I realize many, if not most, chefs consider the use of dried basil to be completely unacceptable, but in this case I disagree. It does have enough flavour. If you have fresh basil absolutely use it, the sauce will be even better, but dried works fine. The same goes for all the herbs with the possible exception of oregano – even with fresh you should still use some dried). Make sure to taste for seasoning and balance here. Herbs and spices vary in strength and they can lose their strength over time. Next add a piece of parmesan rind. The way to get this is, once you have finished grating all the usable cheese off a piece of parmesan, keep the rind – in the fridge or the freezer – until needed. If you don’t have a piece of rind available, just use grated parmesan. Then add the wine and simmer on low with the lid on for at least ½ hour – if you have more time even better.

Meanwhile prepare a large pot of water for the pasta. Make sure the water is salted generously, as this is the only opportunity to actually season the pasta. In my view, there is no real benefit to putting oil in the water – if you use a pot that is large enough, the water will not boil over, and the oil will definitely not transfer to the noodles on draining. When the water is at a full boil add the pasta, making sure to stir it occasionally so it does not stick. Cook to al dente, most package directions are actually not too far off so if you start checking it maybe 2 minutes before the package says, it should be done. Drain the pasta right away but DO NOT WASH IT. Many chefs now tell you to save some pasta water and mix it with the sauce. While this is generally good advice, this is in no way an authentic Italian pasta sauce. The proportion of sauce to noodles will likely be way off and a chunky sauce like this is actually not the best type of sauce for spaghetti anyway. This is really a recipe for meat sauce with pasta. For that reason, adding pasta water won’t help you much in this instance. Anyway, put the drained pasta back in the pot and toss with olive oil. Serve the sauce with the pasta, and garlic bread if you like.

Garlic Bread

While there is some halfway decent garlic butter available in stores, I think it is still worth the effort to make your own.

Garlic

Butter

Fresh herbs (I suggest parsley & thyme)

Salt

White wine

Parmesan cheese

Chop the garlic and mix it with melted butter. Cook in the microwave for a minute or so, then add salt, herbs and wine. Don’t add too much wine, but it is there to add some acid and some water to soak into the bread and help infuse the garlic. Use a crusty Italian-style bread – Ciabatta works very well as it bakes wide and flat. When split, it is perfect to hold plenty of garlic butter. Brush the garlic butter onto the bread, top with the cheese, and broil with the broiler set to low. Watch the bread carefully and you may have to rotate the pan, move pieces around, and remove some pieces earlier, to make sure everything crisps nicely but does not burn. Serve immediately.

Here we go Again…

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Tue, 21 May 2013 01:21:00 +0000

I know you haven’t heard from me in quite a while, but school had taken every bit of my time and even more of my energy. So even when I had a little downtime, the desire to do more writing was not there. Also, some events in the surrounding blog community had some influence as well – specifically the disappearance of Amar’s World. On my list of links, I have added a link to a mirror site set up shortly after Amar went offline. I have been reluctant to encourage this, since there may have been a reason Amar’s World was taken offline rather than continuing to stay up with no more posts. But the overall good the site has done outweighs the other concerns, especially since nobody has requested this site be taken down. The posts are a great source of hope and possibility so I continue to provide this legacy link.

The academic portion of my studies are now complete and I have begun my internship (a paid one!) in Toronto. To save money (and quickly get my debts paid off) I have moved back home with my family again. What this means though, is a very long commute to work every day. However, the good side of this is that I have three hours sitting on the train every weekday. I think this is a good opportunity to add writing time back into my schedule, so I will now try to restart the blog. Just so everyone is aware, one thing you will not see here is anything about my work. The company I work for has many clients with strong privacy requirements and my employer takes privacy and security very seriously. My supervisors are also aware of my blog so it certainly can’t be hidden (in fact I used one of my posts as a writing sample during my interview!).

As before, I do not know how frequent my posts will be, or even if this new dedication to my blog will continue, since I have made similar promises before. And of course I have no idea how frequent the posts might be, so we will all have to just wait and see.

I wonder how many of my old readers are still here and even no I am writing again? Amar’s Brotherhood used to be my largest reader base and that source has been cut off, in addition to my not posting for 6 months. Yet my daily hit totals are not much below what they were last year, so I wonder who my readers are. Regardless, I will continue to write primarily for me as opposed to for whomever I believe to be reading. Stay tuned for more posts…I hope.

The Mega-Quarry is Dead!!

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 02:28:00 +0000

For more than a year now, from Foodstock to Soupstock, I have brought you news of the fight against a giant quarry planned for rural Ontario that would be devastating to the environment. Environmentalists, community leaders and chefs have all been involved to save this prime Ontario farmland and ensure that our land and water remains secure.

Now I have found out that Highland Companies has withdrawn their application for the mega-quarry, specifically referencing a lack of community support for the project. They also expressed displeasure that an environmental assessment had been ordered.

Victory! In an era when large corporate interests always seem to carry the day, it is wonderful and heartening to see a grass-roots community based movement take down a damaging plan from a powerful corporation. And it is clear that the end of the mega-quarry is DIRECTLY tied to these grass roots efforts.

28,000 people attended Foodstock on a remote farm on a cold and windy day last year and a similar crowd converged on Woodbine Park in Toronto last month for Soupstock. And the community groups that rallied around the cause took up as their first challenge lobbying for an environmental assessment for the mega-quarry despite the fact that provincial law did not require one. Fortunately the governing Liberal party was facing an upcoming election and decided to order one to appeal to their base. Then they survived the election and actually carried through on that promise. Now Highland finds the approval process asking many more questions and that they have no community support, so they drop the project and withdraw the application. As they still own that huge tract of land, it is not fully dead, and Highland has not ruled out applying to start a smaller quarry at some future time, still the massive impending disaster of a mega-quarry will not happen. This would not have been possible without so many people mobilizing against it and making their voices heard.

Since I never got around to reporting on Soupstock, despite attending the event, I will write a little and post a few pictures in this post. It was an absolutely beautiful day, a little warmer than average for late October and sunny all day long. This time, we had to buy tickets to get servings of soup, with 3 servings costing $10. I found that this was worth it, as each serving of soup was actually a full portion. Like last year, I attended the event with my mom, and we had about 6 servings each. As this was a month ago, my memories aren't quite as clear as I would like, but some highlights were an onion soup with braised Cumbrae Farms lamb, a hot and sour soup prepared by Susur Lee, a potato, leek, and sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke) soup with bacon, and a peach soup with granola and yogurt. Almost every soup we had was excellent and offered something noteworthy. As this was a park in Toronto, many people brought their dogs along, which added to the friendliness of the atmosphere.

So, great news for Ontarians and all those who care about the environment and sustainability. This may not be over forever, but it still a victory and a sigh of relief.

Soupstock 2012 - Still Fighting the Mega-Quarry

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:46:00 +0000

Hello again. Now I know the answer to what starting school would do to my posting. This has been such a huge workload that I really haven’t had time to write posts, with all the writing I have to do for my classes and all the time the program occupies – both in and out of class. But when time allows, I will continue to make posts, and this one is important.

It has now been a year that I have been following the fight against a mega-quarry in prime farmland in Melancthon Township. Last year I attended Foodstock, a fundraiser on a potato farm in the region that had over 70 local chefs providing tastes of their cuisines. While the mega-quarry is not a reality yet, the application is still alive and making its way through the various permit processes. The Canadian Chefs Congress along with the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) continue to fight the project and are still raising money for legal representation to be sure the voice of sustainability is heard. This year, there will be another big event, and this one will be in the city, with the expectation of more participation and a crowd that could top the 28,000 that attended Foodstock last year.

Now the cause has a large additional ally, the David Suzuki Foundation, perhaps Canada’s most respected environmental organization. This year the event is Soupstock, and it will be held Sunday, October 21, 2012 at Woodbine Park in Toronto, Ontario, from 11am-4pm.

View Larger Map

As the name suggests, all the chefs will be serving soups, something I’m pretty sure was inspired by that cold, windy and rainy day we had at Foodstock last year. The cost of the event is also being handled in a somewhat different way. While last year it was a $10 suggested donation to enter, this year entry is free but the servings of soup will be pre-purchased with tickets. $10 will buy three servings of soup. Similar to last year, participants will be expected to bring their own bowl and spoon. Seeing as they are charging $10 for only 3 portions, I am guessing the servings of soup may actually be full, or close to full, servings as opposed to tiny tastings that they had last year. There are well over 100 chefs this time, I’m sure a result of relocating to Toronto. Notable attendees include returning chefs Michael Stadtlander, Jamie Kennedy and Brad Long, and other chefs joining include Susur Lee, perhaps Canada’s most talented chef, and Greg Rennet, the chef from Painter’s Hall right here in Barrie, the subject of one of my posts this summer. The set list for the musical portion of the day is also considerably more extensive.

I will be attending this year as well. While I am very busy, Soupstock is taking place during my reading week, when I will not be in Barrie and will have access to transportation. Furthermore, this time I have a larger network of friends and colleagues and I will make an effort to spread the word and suggest to many of my classmates that this would be a worthwhile event. Since some of them live in the Toronto area and might be home for reading week, I hope some of them may be able to attend and lend their support to this cause.

Again, I ask any of my readers who live in the Greater Toronto Area to please consider attending this event and lend your support to this very important cause. You can taste soup of some of the best chefs in the country and keep up the fight against the mega-quarry. For information about the mega-quarry visit the Soupstock website or refer to my post from last year. And in addition to my voice, I include this message from David Suzuki of the David Suzuki Foundation.

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Oh, and of course, one more thing. Happy Birthday to me!! I'm 31 now, and at least I'm finally making some progress towards my future.

Beer Can Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:09:00 +0000

A long time ago I wrote a post about how to roast chicken. Click here to find that post. It was a general post that explained what I termed the best way to roast any form of poultry. Well, in the summer you don’t really want to use the oven very much. Fortunately there is an even better way to roast chicken, this time on the barbecue. Though this is cooked on a barbecue, it has a taste less like the typical BBQ chicken, and more like a rotisserie chicken with some smoke flavour. This is actually a very easy method and even easier than the roasting method I described before.

Beer can chicken is a chicken cooked slowly on a barbecue standing up perched over a can of beer. While this sounds like some bizarre hillbilly cooking experiment, this is actually a very sound culinary technique that actually roasts better than in an oven. The first reason is that this allows the bird to be cooked standing up, so all sides receive the same amount of heat, assuring even cooking. And the can of beer performs an absolutely critical role; providing a constant source of moisture inside the chicken throughout the cooking process. So this avoids the ever-present problem of dry breast meat, which I addressed in that earlier post. And finally, cooking chicken on a barbecue will provide some smoke flavour to the chicken. Like in my previous roast chicken post, this technique will also work with other birds, however your barbecue will need enough clearance underneath the lid to be able to cook larger birds.

1 medium chicken, about 1.7 kilos

smoked paprika

paprika

granulated garlic

salt

pepper

cayenne

olive oil

1 can dark beer

Set up your barbecue for indirect cooking. This procedure will vary depending on what type of grill you are using. When I posted about BBQ brisket I described how this is done for a charcoal grill and suggested that a gas grill might be more troublesome. For this application, a gas grill will work just as well and the set up would be easier. Since the cooking time is shorter you shouldn’t need to worry about running out of gas and a gas grill has the added benefit of being easier to control the amount and location of heat. For a charcoal grill, set up coals on the outsides of the grill and place a drip pan in the centre, underneath where the chickens will sit. You will most likely not need to add another batch of coals as they should last to some degree for the entire cooking time needed. But you should still keep an eye on things because conditions can always vary when using charcoal. On a gas grill, put a drip pan under where the chicken will go, and do not light that section of the grill. Usually you will only need to turn on one section of the grill to generate sufficient heat (though this may vary depending on your specific grill). On a gas grill, remember that there are often small racks above the main cooking surface - these will need to be removed.

Combine the spices to make the rub. Again, I am not really giving you any proportions, but paprika should make up a large component. Lightly coat the chicken with olive oil, then coat with most of the rub, leaving about a teaspoon aside. Massage the rub into the chicken on all sides and some inside the cavity. Then take the dark beer (in most cases, darker beers are better for cooking as they have a lot more flavour to impart) and empty half the can (what you do with that half is up to you!) Then add the reserved teaspoon of the rub to the half-full beer can. It will foam up a bit but that’s OK, it will subside. Then, when the coals are ready, add a foil-wrapped packet of soaked wood chips (on a charcoal grill, split the wood chips into two packets and add one to each side) and prepare the grill for cooking. Then insert the beer can into the cavity of the bird and stand it up on the grill over the drip pan. You will need to push the legs forward so the two legs and the base of the can form a tripod that will allow the chicken to remain upright. Then close the lid and leave it alone for about 1hour and 15 minutes. For a chicken of the size called for, this should be enough time to cook the bird through. Carefully remove the chicken to a platter, still standing up, tent with foil and all the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes. Then, using tongs, remove the can. The liquid that remains in the can makes a nice gravy for this dish, though it may be a little thin for some tastes. Carve the chicken (check my roast chicken post for instructions) and serve with a side dish of your choice and the gravy.

It's Been A While

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:27:00 +0000

Here we are again, such a long time without posting. But then this has been a very busy time for me. In less than two weeks I will be moving out again – this time to Barrie – and will be beginning my studies at Georgian College as I enter the field of marketing research. So this month has been about finding housing, figuring out my finances, and just getting mentally ready to go back to school and be ready to work at a level I haven’t been at in years. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time now and it is almost here.

My new school

Now how will my starting school affect the blog? Honestly I’m not sure. On the one hand, I will be busier than I have been in a very long time, so I might well be too busy to write posts most of the time. But on the other hand, I have a feeling that this move might actually motivate me to write more often. Almost immediately after I moved back home over a year ago, the frequency of my posts dropped off dramatically, even though for much of the time I was not particularly busy. I now believe part of the reason was that, as I am living with my parents, I talk to them every day and discuss various issues, and consequently have less need to write for the blog. Now in Barrie I will again be living on my own, so I hope that will mean I will want to write more so I can share my thoughts with people, since my family is no longer living under the same roof. So maybe more posts will be coming soon. Or not. But I have plans for more posts and at least one that should be coming up quite soon. So keep checking and see what happens.

A New Way to Dive

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:02:00 +0000

For those of you interested in new scientific innovations or who like to SCUBA dive, this post is for you. There is a coming development that will change the way diving safety is managed by offering a new way of calculating the risk divers face from Decompression Sickness while SCUBA diving.

I should let you know from the start that I do have a personal interest in this project. The man behind these innovations is Dr. Saul Goldman, PhD, my father. And I have also been working with him in constructing a website to publicize his findings. This is in fact the major project I am undertaking until I start my graduate program in the fall.

Very briefly, Decompression Sickness (DCS) involves a set of physical and/or neurological symptoms that sometimes arise when diving underwater and breathing compressed air, then resurfacing without giving the body adequate time to safely eliminate the gas dissolved in blood and tissues. For over 100 years, there have been protocols used to avoid DCS using various techniques such as slow ascents, and stops at shallow depths. Originally this took the form of mathematical tables that divers had to understand and use when receiving their SCUBA certification, and is still part of the certification process. Now this is all computerized, but the algorithms used are based on the same assumptions from decades ago. I am not even going to go near all the details of how the current models are deficient, as I will probably get things wrong, and my dad would insist on complete (and VERY thorough) accuracy, which would involve a whole lot of stuff some people may have difficulty understanding. But Dr. Goldman, being not only an avid and experienced SCUBA diver, but also having very strong backgrounds in chemistry and physics, was able to create an algorithm that not only better reflects the rates at which the body actually eliminates these gasses, but also conforms better than current models to actual data gathered regarding cases of DCS. This new development, the Safe Advanced Underwater aLgorithm (or S.A.U.L. - clever, huh?) is fast becoming the talk of the scientific community, as he has presented his developments at conferences around the world and has published both in scientific, peer-reviewed journals and in diving magazines. The next step will be to incorporate this into a dive computer and take this to market. This is what the world will use to dive. A better, safer way to dive. Again there are many more details on the website, moderndecompression.com, you can click either on the link here or on my sidebar. The website features publications containing all the scientific details, as well as plenty of readable and understandable information about what the SAUL model is and why it is so important.

While it is not my intention that this blog becomes a forum for promotions and advertising, I am keenly aware of the importance of using what means I have at my disposal. The field I will be studying and eventually working in is Marketing Research, so the project of designing a website and generating traffic is some interesting practice for me before I start my studies. The experience I got in learning how to build a website was very useful as well. Putting up a blog here on blogger (or a similar free platform) is a very different experience that is little like the real thing. While having this blog was useful in that I already was familiar with using CMS programs to post information online, building a site from the ground up and having full administrator controls is something else. First, though I decided to run the site using WordPress software, it is not primarily a blog so I had to figure out how (and whether) I would be able to customize the setup sufficiently to deliver what was needed. I have also begun to learn just a smattering of HTML and CSS coding, because I know there will be things that I want to customize further than the templates make possible. And I am even delving into SEO tactics, though that appears to be quite a bit harder, though so important. A website is not of much use unless people are able to find it, especially those who don’t already know it is there.

Also, if any other bloggers out there have an interest in this area, feel free to either link to this post or even repost it on your own site, with appropriate attribution of course.

Local Food Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 06:11:00 +0000

Guelph is a city that takes environmental stewardship seriously. Guelph often takes the lead in green innovations to waste management and champions local food producers. I think part of this is because the University of Guelph is home to an agricultural college, a veterinary college, and a food science department. There are many farm and garden co-ops in Guelph and nearby and several festivals that celebrate local food. Back on June 24, I attended the Local Food Fest, held on the grounds of the Ignatius Jesuit Retreat. This is quite an interesting institution right on the north edge of Guelph that does a wide variety of things. First it is a religious retreat, where people can get away and take part in spiritual workshops and other activities. The Ignatius centre is also a farm that grows a wide array of crops, mostly on a small scale. It is also a Community Shared Agriculture co-operative, where people can buy shares in the farm and receive a regular basket of the various foods grown there. They also have many plots devoted to community gardens, where local residents can cultivate a small garden plot with whatever they wish. There are also various community initiatives that the centre undertakes, mostly involving the environment and community service.

Part of the Ignatius property. The garden plots are community garden plots (click to enlarge)

One thing that impresses me about the Ignatius centre is that, while they obviously have a particular set of religious beliefs and this is meant to be a religious and spiritual centre, they do not seek to impose their beliefs on anyone, even those who attend the spiritual retreats. They claim to welcome people of all religions and beliefs and from what little I was able to see, they live up to that. The most obvious values and purposes they seem to espouse are not so much their religious principles, but more the concepts of environmental stewardship and responsible, sustainable agriculture. Everything they do reflects on being environmentally aware. So it is a natural that this is the location for the Local Food Fest.

While this was not a particularly huge event, there were many different things going on. One aspect was like a one-day farmer’s market, with local food purveyors selling their product. As this was late June in southwestern Ontario, there were strawberries, some lettuce, radishes, green onions and only a few other things that were fresh from the ground. Also many restaurants set up booths, and provided various good lunch and snack options. There were other stalls selling bread, honey, preserves and other stuff. There was even a local kitchenware store represented.

The tents for the market stalls

There were also workshops where people could learn how to start up various gardening-related projects. I sat in on part of a workshop about growing your own food on a small plot, designed for urban dwellers with only a small backyard to use. Other workshops included raising backyard chickens, hobbyist beekeeping, building and maintaining organic soils, and other things. There were also several cooking demos throughout the day. Two that I watched were making kimchi and making sourdough, in which I was particularly interested. This past winter I have started experimenting with making sourdough bread, and was definitely interested in picking up some more pointers. The presenter was from a local bakery I like very much and sells at the local farmer’s market and he gave some interesting advice and gave some useful tips on maintaining a sourdough starter and how certain details in the breadmaking process affect the finished product. It gave me some valuable insight and some strategies for the next time I do baking.

The two white tents were for the musical acts and the cooking demos

There were also tours of Ignatius farm available. There were wagon tours and you could also walk their network of trails on your own. There was also information about the programs run by the Ignatius centre. Finally, there were also several live musical acts and play areas for the kids.

One aspect I like about this, and about any event that is supposed to be for the public good, there was no set admission fee. Like foodstock last year, this was a pay-what-you-can event, with the suggested donation set at $2, which I think was sensible given what was offered. The wagon tours carried an additional suggested donation of $2 and, of course, the farm and restaurant booths set their own prices for their products. You could still get to this event, located on the edge of the city, even if you did not have a car. The local airport limousine service partnered with the event and offered a free shuttle from downtown and a community centre. I was thinking of using this myself but, since the weather was unsettled and I thought I might want to leave at a different time than the shuttle was scheduled, I did take the car and found there was plenty of parking.

I can certainly see why this centre is a spiritual and meditative retreat. It is just on the very edge of the city so, even though it is quite easy to get to and close to many people’s homes, it is such a peaceful area on a large expanse of land. There are hiking trails through their large property, including one through a wetland and another past ruins of historical significance. Seeing the property for the first time gave me a great deal of perspective on a local furor over a development issue several years ago. I might write a post about this, but several years ago, Wal-Mart decided they wanted to open a store near here and the way everything went down is one of the reasons I refuse in all circumstances to shop at Wal-Mart.

Anyway, it was quite the enjoyable day and a celebration of Guelph’s agriculture and environmental awareness.

Restaurant Review - Painter's Hall Bistro

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:51:00 +0000

Yes, I’m still here and the blog is still alive. I am working on several things right now and haven’t been writing as much. But I have a few more things in the works now and hopefully the posts will be a little more frequent. I doubt I will ever be back to the nearly 2 posts per week pace I had back in the beginning, but I will try to post a little more.

Two weeks ago, I made a trip to Barrie, Ontario. I will be attending Georgian College in Barrie starting this fall and I was there to take care of some business. I was also there two months ago for a Preview Day when I toured the school and met people in my program. Some elements of those visits may show up in a future post but for now here is a review of the restaurant where I ate on a Thursday for lunch - Painter’s Hall Bistro.

Painter’s Hall is a small restaurant that has been around for years right in the middle of Barrie’s downtown, just blocks from Kempenfelt Bay, around which Barrie’s core is wrapped. At first glance, Barrie’s restaurant scene appeared to be rather underwhelming, and the content of online reviews seemed to indicate preferences for more pedestrian fare - in other words a dining scene like Guelph’s. But I no longer have concerns - even if Painter’s Hall is in fact as good as Barrie gets, that is plenty good enough for me.

This was the best all around meal I have had in quite some time, and it was a lunch, a service that high end restaurants sometimes neglect. On a first glance, the lunch menu seems ordinary, with nothing too daring or refined. But the dishes themselves tell another story. For an appetizer, I had seared scallops with pork belly, with some pickled carrots, a cider glaze and local microgreens. I might consider doing some very slight nitpicking, in that I think, given the size of the two scallops on the plate, the portion of pork belly could have been slightly larger to create a more even distribution of the two proteins. The scallops were incredibly fresh and flavourful, expertly seared and only barely cooked on the inside, making for a very elegant and impressive appetizer.

The main course was a chicken supreme (this is a skin-on chicken breast, boneless except for the first joint of the wing; it is also sometimes called an airline breast), stuffed with chicken forcemeat, roasted garlic, shallots and truffles. It was served with barley pilaf, lingonberry jus, and local, seasonal vegetables. I am usually reluctant to order chicken as a main, especially chicken breast, as it is so easy to overcook and be completely dry. But it also rare that the chicken is the most expensive item on the menu, as this was, and I liked the accompaniments. The perfect execution continued on this dish. The chicken was perfectly seared, well seasoned and cooked to perfection. Very moist and the stuffing was quite interesting. At first it confused me a bit, but I believe it was because I hadn’t expected the truffle, which I assume was black truffle, which I have not had very often. Also I had expected the roasted garlic to be more dominant, but it was really only a background flavour. The barley was perfectly done and delicious, and the sauce was a smart match with the chicken. I was impressed as it seems almost all the vegetables on the plate were local, particularly impressive as we were not quite yet into June. Asparagus was a natural as it is asparagus season, but I was pleasantly surprised to also see some fiddleheads on the plate. Another early spring vegetable, this is the shoot of a particular fern, so named because the edible portion is shaped like the head of a fiddle. Another well-conceived dish, executed to perfection.

Finally dessert was best of all. A warm flourless chocolate cake with the garnishes kept to a minimum - just a little raspberry coulis, mango coulis and a little fresh fruit. Also topping the cake were some cooked (or maybe macerated?) raspberries and some poured sugar garnishes as well. Well now that I write it, there appear to be several garnishes, but they were so minimal that it seemed like there was very little there other than the cake (the picture explains what I mean a bit better), which was absolutely the correct way to go. This cake was completely flawless, the best course of the day, even with such a high standard already.

While there seemed to be only one server on duty for lunch, the service was exceptional. Merv was very personable right from the beginning. She was clearly selling the menu, but only selling to what I already wanted. That is the sign of a truly gifted server. As I had come in at the tail end of a slight rush, by the time the mains arrived I was the only customer still eating in that room. She pointed me toward a wine that was decent quality considering I was limited to house wine (as I was ordering only a glass). She was also very perceptive, noticing that my inquiries and compliments indicated some substantial food knowledge and I did indeed tell her I used to work in the industry. And I also got to meet Greg Rennet, head chef of Painter’s Hall Bistro, who came out to my table. I was actually contemplating asking whether the head chef was in the kitchen, because the execution had been so flawless it was actually un lunch-like, and indicated to me someone particularly skilled was running the kitchen. And indeed I was right so I was able to convey my appreciation directly to the chef and talked with him for a few minutes. (You may have noticed that I have not previously mentioned any names in other restaurant reviews. Often I don’t pay attention to remember the names, especially as its not terribly important to me. Here there was a very familiar and personal atmosphere, so I believe that naming names makes sense here).

So I know there is at least one excellent restaurant in Barrie. As with many other places I have reviewed, the prices can be a little steep, but they use top quality products, make everything in house, and deliver extraordinary quality. And there is always lunch for slightly lower prices. When I move to Barrie in the fall, I will definitely be returning to Painter’s Hall, this time for dinner, so I can fully experience the best of what they have to offer, which already looks so good.

A Mega-Quarry Update

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:16:00 +0000

If you recall, last fall I wrote two posts about the proposal to create a mega-quarry on prime farm land in Dufferin County, not far from where I live, and about Foodstock, a celebrity chef fundraiser to raise money and awareness for the cause. I had mentioned a pending environmental review, but there was also a revision ordered to the Aggregate Resources Act, that lays out the manner by which quarries are to be set up and operated in the Province. On Monday, I received an email from the Canadian Chef's Congress Foodstock Committee, saying that they had received word that the review was scheduled to start on that very day. This is prime planting season, so the affected farmers will not be able to attend these meetings, and the time allotted for public consultation is too small. Below is the email sent to me.

Foodstock Call to Action

Dearest Friends in Arms, As you know, back on September 1st the government promised that they would undertake a review of the Aggregate Resources Act. We have consistently attempted to get information on the process and when it would start, and just found out that the review will start in Toronto on Monday, May 7, 2012. Not only is the hearing taking place in Toronto (a place from which no aggregate is extracted), it is also taking place during prime planting season (virtually omitting the participation of farmers and others whose livelihoods depend on the preservation of farmland). It feels very tricky and we suspect that it is. The government has set aside just 4 short sessions to gather public input and we'd like to create a groundswell of participation to jam these sessions (there are currently only 12 hours allocated to public comment) so that they have to extend and expand the hearing. This is our chance to be heard and to share input on the future of how aggregate is extracted in this province. People wanting to voice their concerns have been asked to contact Sylvia Przezdziecki and Tamara Pomanski (their email addresses and a sample note are below). Please consider taking the time to write to them to request a chance to speak, or to voice your concerns about the destruction of farmland for aggregate. Please also consider sending this email along to your friends--our hope is to extend the hearing and to prove to the government that we can't be caught unprepared.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” —Edmund Burke

Sincerely,

Michael Stadtlander, President
Canadian Chefs' Congress and on behalf of the Foodstock Committee members

Sample email

Subject: Public Participation: Aggregate Resources Act
To: sylwia_przezdziecki@ontla.ola.org, tamara_pomanski@ontla.ola.org

Dear Sylvia and Tamara,

I am an Ontario resident and taxpayer.  I ask that the Government of Ontario, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Standing Committee established to review the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) amend the ARA to address the following values:

1.  Make conservation of aggregate, a non-renewable resource, a priority over approval of new extraction sites.  Conservation can occur through aggregate recycling and use of alternative materials.
2.  Reserve virgin aggregate, a non-renewable resource, for use within Canada.
3. Prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table without a full Environmental Assessment and full understanding of the impact on all areas, near and far.
4. Prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table in drinking water source areas.
5.  Develop a process and guidelines for identifying and designating new Specialty Crop Areas to safeguard unique agricultural land resources.  Prohibit aggregate extraction in Specialty Crop Areas.
6. Conduct a thorough study of all existing aggregate reserves in Ontario.  We cannot know what we need until we know what we have.
7. Develop an “Aggregate Master Plan” and disallow new aggregate mining licenses within the Niagara Escarpment Plan Area, Oak Ridges Moraine and Green Belt until the “Aggregate Master Plan” has been approved by the province.
8.  Provide an assessment of the cumulative affects (dust, noise, air quality, traffic emissions; effects on water) of the “Aggregate Master Plan” on Ontario residents by district.
9.  Require that new quarry proposals demonstrate the need for additional aggregate resource extraction in meeting the demands of the Ontario market.
10.  Mandate that an Environmental Assessment occur for all new or expanding aggregate operations.
11.  Realign the cost of virgin aggregate to reflect reality.  Economically, aggregate is a low-priced, heavy-weight commodity that takes the bulk of its cost from transportation. Today, however, the price of virgin aggregate must include the activism necessary by residents to fight for their best interest despite the elected and public institutions designed to represent and protect the public interest.  As well, the cost must encompass the environmental cost on residents.  In other words the market cost for virgin aggregate is unrealistically cheap. Create a management system that works for residents and price the product accordingly.
12.  Address what will happen to the operators of small aggregate resources if a mega-quarry becomes the sanctioned approach.  What will small operators do when they are subjected to the monopolistic power of the goliath-like mega-quarry?

Until such time as the above noted issues are sufficiently addressed, I do not consider the ARA an up-to-date and relevant piece of legislation.

Sincerely,

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Copyright © 2012 Canadian Chefs' Congress Ltd., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you attended the Canadian Chefs' Congress's FoodStock in 2011. Our mailing address is: Canadian Chefs' Congress Ltd. 148 Pearson Avenue Toronto, Ontario M6R 1G5 Canada Add us to your address book
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I definitely agree with what is said here and with the importance of making sure this isn't all kept quiet so big business can do whatever they want to cropland, not to mention the watershed. I will be acting on this. The email also asks that this email be sent to friends, so here it is. And I hope those readers who are actually residents of Ontario will also decide they want their voices heard so the government can know the environment and the food supply is at least as important as building materials.

Oh, also as a foodie and former cook, I also consider it cool and a bit of an honour that I have a communication from Chef Michael Statdlander, one of the best chefs in this area. Sure, it isn't an actual signature and not addressed to me directly, but still...well, I like it.

Gender and Transgender

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Before I begin this post, I should say that this post took an incredibly long time to write. I have been trying to write this post for about 5 months now, seemingly reaching dead ends several times and shelving it for long periods. Because this is an issue I still have trouble understanding, it has been very difficult to get my thoughts in order and to make sure it doesn’t say things I did not intend. That said, I think I am happy with the way it finally came out and it was worth not giving up on the idea.

In the area of gay rights, generally grouped as LGBT, or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered, acceptance of transgendered individuals is often considered the final frontier of widespread discrimination. For example, there was recently a Canadian contestant in the Miss Universe pageant who was disqualified because she was not a “natural born female”, whatever that means. I guess that is probably because being trans is not as common as being gay, so there are fewer of them. Even in the gay community they often are marginalized. I have to admit that, until recently, it is something that seemed so weird and abnormal to me that I didn’t really consider it as equivalent to homosexuality, in the sense of it being a fundamental part of one’s identity. Part of the problem is that I thought of this as just feeling uncomfortable with who you are or not liking yourself. Thus I considered this an issue that could be treated psychologically, or by not being so strictly bound to traditional gender roles. After all, not liking sports and liking to play with dolls does not make a boy a girl and the solution to misogyny is not to become a man. So through either therapy and/or social change, I was of the opinion that this would take care of the issue of people being “transgendered”. Now I believe I have a better understanding of the issues involved and I will get to that shortly.

First though, I think my biggest barrier to understanding the nature of the issue is the same barrier that much of society has to acceptance of gays and other sexual minorities. If it is not a situation that applies to me, these differences can be very hard to understand. I do not have the slightest concept of what it would mean to be transgendered; I have never thought of myself as anything other than male nor have I ever wanted to be any other gender, even for a moment. I know being male is the way I am supposed to be and I am quite happy with that. The concept of feeling otherwise is quite alien to me and I have difficulty understanding how someone could feel they are the “wrong” gender. Likewise, someone who is straight would have a very hard time understanding how a man could be sexually attracted to another man. To that challenge, we answer: it is who we are and how we are made.

But is that the same for the transgendered? It now seems quite clear that is the case. What really helped me to understand was several recent stories about children and gender. Over the past few months, there have been many stories in the media regarding the experiences of children growing up in a home where gender roles are reexamined, and several in which children are convinced they are the wrong gender. There are so many different stories out there. One was a story in the Toronto Star last year (see what I mean about how long this took to write?) about two parents who were determined to raise their latest child gender-free. They would not tell even their immediate extended family the sex of the new baby and were determined to provide equal access to the toys or activities typically associated with either gender. I’m not sure I entirely agreed with their approach, but I do understand their goal, as learned behaviour and acculturation is a big part of how a child learns to be a male or a female. For instance, their older son identifies as, and is acknowledged as, a male, has certain preferences and characteristics than many people would associate with girls, like preferring long hair and other “girly” characteristics. While he certainly identifies as a boy, some people might look at him and think he is a girl, based on what he looks like and the activities he prefers. Since this child had many problems resolving gender identity issues, my theory is this family wanted to avoid this with their next child and make the attempt to entirely sever the connection between sex and gender. This way, whatever preferences the child may have, the gender expectations placed on children will not be an additional pressure on the child to ignore his/her nature and conform to whatever society considers acceptable. I disagree somewhat with this approach. While the goal is commendable, I believe it loses sight of reality. The reality is that nobody lives in a bubble. Kids will go to school, and even before that, they will be in day care and play groups where kids will learn that there are boys and girls and boys do “boy things” while girls do “girl things”. While that is not necessarily the way things should be looked at, that is the reality that all kids are faced with. Although I must say that part of my opposition to this approach was related to reporting that was not fully accurate. In later interviews, the parents confirmed they were not in fact ignoring the fact the new baby is one particular sex and that the full immediate family was aware, but that they simply did not want any outside influences directing how the new child will see their gender identity. I personally believe this is something of a Quixotic quest, tilting at windmills that cannot be taken down. Societal conventions are all pervasive and I believe it is naive to think they can be changed by simply rejecting them.

Still, there are some children who know their biological sex does not match their internal gender and the recent media stories have shown me that for many children this is a long standing problem that has existed from a very early age, far before puberty. One criticism of transgender identity has been that some people who claim to be transgendered are really gay and they believe they are the wrong gender because they are attracted to people of the same sex and they may think they have more in common with the opposite gender. Until recently, my opinion was that if these people simply were not as intransigent in their assumptions of how men and women are supposed to behave, gender dysphoria would either no longer exist, or at least become far more unusual. But now I am hearing about stories of boys convinced they should be girls and vice versa since the age of 4 or 5. And it is clearly not role playing or being unsure about what defines a boy or girl as these attitudes most often do not go away over time, but rather get more intense. There was even one story about identical twin boys, one of whom identified as a girl starting at a very early age. Now in their early teens, the transgendered twin is almost ready to start taking female hormones so she can grow up as a woman and not a man. Interestingly, her brother (the other twin) is her strongest defender and seemed to understand the issue better than even the parents. Even he knew his twin wasn’t really his brother but rather his sister. And it was not any kind of judgement or loaded statement - simply a matter of fact. He understood that in every way (except for the parts, I guess) his twin sibling is a girl and always knew that she was.

So maybe gender identity is more than whether you like playing with guns or with dolls or if you’re attracted to boys or to girls. Then what is it? Damned if I know. As I said earlier, I have a hard time understanding this since such a feeling is so foreign to my own experience. If these dysphoria issues are appearing almost as soon as a child can communicate full thoughts, it is probably something inborn. So is this genetics? Well, the case I just mentioned involves two identical twins; by definition they have identical genetic structures so any differences must be the result of other factors (or perhaps other factors interacting with certain genetic predispositions). By the way, the same is most likely true of sexual orientation, as there are known instances of identical twins where one is gay and the other is straight. But again, it must be clarified that, just because something is not genetic in origin does not mean that it is something changeable. We don’t really know how our mental characteristics come to be - and it seems not all is the result of conscious or even unconscious learning.

So I guess this post doesn’t really have an ending. But since I think I was trying to answer a question or maybe solve a problem, there can’t be a real ending because I don’t really have any answers. All I have is a bit more understanding and respect.

My Passover Story

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:12:00 +0000

While I don’t necessarily observe all the Jewish holidays, Passover (or Pesach) is one that is always important to me and I try to always celebrate it with my family (yes I realize that Passover ended over a week ago, but now is when my post was finished, so here it is). Even when I was living away from home I would usually try to get home for at least the Passover Seder, which is on the first night (well technically there are two but we’ll get back to that). We are not an especially traditional family and, though we have altered some of the ritual practices to find a tradition that works for us, we do keep more of the traditions here than at other times.

Passover celebrates the freedom of the ancient Israelites (the forerunners to present day Jews) from slavery in Egypt. It also serves as a holiday to welcome the arrival of spring and, in ancient times, even served as the start of the Jewish Year (though now the accepted New Year is Rosh Hashanah which occurs in the fall). While the exact timing will always vary, Passover is often close in time to Easter, and this is no coincidence. It is generally accepted by biblical scholars that the “last supper” of Jesus and his disciples was actually the Passover Seder.

The Passover Seder itself is a ceremonial meal replete with symbols representing the story of Passover and the purpose of its existence is to tell the story of Passover to the next generation. Most often, we read from the Haggadah, a book that sets out the specific order in which things are done and which prayers are said at what time. Now my dad is definitely not into prayers so, although we used a traditional text for some time in my early years, we switched to something more progressive many years ago. From about the age of 10 until my Bar Mitzvah I received my Jewish education with a Toronto-based organization that billed itself a Secular Jewish Association. What this essentially meant, is that while they kept a Jewish identity and some traditions, there was pretty much no discussion of God and almost no purely religious aspect. It was with this group that I had my Bar Mitzvah which would really be more accurately described as a school graduation ceremony. First it was a group event. No Torah readings, no prayers but plenty about what we have learned about Judaism and being Jewish. I must say that I really needed that school at that point in my life, as I really didn’t understand what it meant to be Jewish; all I really comprehended was that I was not Christian like everyone else at school (hmm, knowing I’m different but not knowing how - it seems this pattern keeps coming up through my life!!) But this experience taught me to have pride in my background and allowed me to define myself not by what I’m not, but by what I am (again, great practice for coming out - it just took me a really long time to see it).

So where were we? Oh, that’s right, Passover. Before I got off on that tangent, I was going to explain that when we joined that organization, they had produced their own Haggadah and the content seemed to reflect our values very well and that is the version we use to this day. The point I’m trying to make by telling you this is that sometimes we can get bogged down by the old traditions that we do just because we are supposed to do them and this can obscure the intended objective of that tradition. I have a guess that this is one reason I am meeting so many people who still claim to have a spiritual side but have pretty much abandoned established religion. I think that learning about Jewish traditions and history has taught me that letting go of that identity has imperiled the survival of the Jewish people so, even if I do not accept some tenets of the faith or some of the ritual practices, I am and will always be Jewish. I might suggest that an alternative to just declaring oneself non-religious might be to take a closer look at your faith and do some cherry-picking; making your own traditions by keeping what works and either eliminating what doesn’t or changing it so that it does. In fact, a family member shared something recently from a rabbi that advocates doing exactly that, albeit with a starting viewpoint quite a bit different than my own. I will provide the link here though you should be warned that those of you who do not know much about Judaism and all the traditions associated with Passover will likely be lost. There are even some things in there that I don’t understand. But the basic point he is making is that we should be examining the Seder traditions and, for it to be meaningful, we cannot get stuck in an endlessly repeating pattern but instead we should be fulfilling the goal of retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt by making sure we do not turn it into a bore or a meaningless rite, but make it a time for learning and truly examining the lessons of not just this holiday, but all our religious practices. To read the article click here

It seems this post just does NOT want to be about the Seder itself. Oh, well I bet this is more interesting anyway. Still, I wanted to share a bit about the Seder itself because Passover is about telling the story and explaining the meaning of everything that is done. Very briefly, it is the story of the Book of Exodus: the Israelites were enslaved by Egypt in the days of the Pharaoh and it came to be that Pharaoh wanted to keep this slave population from growing. Then Moses received a command from God to lead his people and demand their freedom from Pharaoh (this part is not really mentioned in our Haggadah, but reference is only made to the people being oppressed and demanding release). The story goes that, when Pharaoh refused, 10 plagues beset the Egyptians and Pharaoh relented. All the Israelites left Egypt in a hurry. But then Pharaoh reconsidered and pursued the escaping Hebrews to the Sea of Reeds (or possibly the Red Sea - there is a certain vagary in the translation and in reconciling with a physical location). Then, miraculously, the waters parted allowing the Israelites to cross then, while the Egyptians were crossing, the waters came back drowning the pursuers.

Because they departed in a hurry, the story is that they had no time to wait for their bread to rise before baking it to have food for the journey, which is why we do not eat any leavened products (especially bread) throughout Passover, eating matzah instead. There is also no baking or cooking with flour or most other grains, and no grain-based alcohol. For some sections of the Jewish community, rice and legumes are also proscribed. Despite these difficulties I actually enjoy baking on Passover, particularly because of those very interesting challenges. But, yes you can bake cake on Passover. Since no leavening agents are permitted, sponge cake is the method of choice, as the only leavening present in such a cake is beaten egg white. As flour cannot be used, the substitute is a blend of matzah cake meal (which is matzah ground to meal, then ground further and sifted to make a very fine powder) and potato starch. Ground nuts are also very commonly used, most often walnuts or almonds.

The matzah is one of three elements of the Seder that are considered especially important to be explained, the others being the pesach and the maror. Pesach, which is also one of the names of the holiday, refers to the lamb that was sacrificed on the eve of the final plague on the Egyptians. The Angel of Death was to come and kill all the first born sons of Egypt and the Israelites would sacrifice a lamb and put its blood on the doors of their homes as a sign for the plague to pass over their homes (hence the other name). In the days of the Great Temple in Jerusalem, animal offerings were made at the temple, and a lamb was offered on Passover. Finally the maror is bitter herbs, the eating of something bitter at the Seder. The obvious symbolism is to remember that the lives of the slaves were bitter so we must remember that by tasting the bitterness ourselves. Different families use different items to represent bitterness, but the most common these days is probably horseradish. Now the interesting thing is that I don’t consider horseradish to be particularly bitter. It certainly is very pungent and sharp and it can be painful to eat but the bitterness is not at the forefront. However, what my family has done (this does go back to previous generations) is to take a whole root and soak it in water at room temperature for at least a couple weeks before Passover, until it begins to sprout. The germination and growing of sprouts does in fact make the horseradish more distinctly bitter and maybe a little stronger too. Other possibilities for maror include endive, radicchio or a similar bitter lettuce. A long time ago, I heard at some point some Jewish families would use romaine as their bitter herb. Now who really considers romaine lettuce bitter? I think this was part of a trend to not have anything eaten at the Seder to be the slightest bit unpleasant to eat, particularly for the kids. But the most important part of Passover is teaching the kids and I think it is a worthwhile lesson that the lives of the Hebrew slaves were bitter and quite unpleasant. The maror should not be a joy to eat - it is supposed to be reminiscent of the bitterness of slavery.

There are other symbols on the Seder plate too. Haroset is a mildly sweet paste made of apples, nuts, wine and a bit of sugar and cinnamon (there are other variations too) that represents the mortar used by the Israelites to build monuments for Pharaoh. It is eaten together with matzah and maror. There is the z’roah, a roasted shank bone, ideally of lamb, that represents the pesach sacrifice. Baytzah, an egg, represents new life and rebirth of springtime. Karpas is a green herb that represents springtime and the new growth. The Karpas is dipped in salt water when eaten, the water representing tears cried by the slaves.

The Seder Plate - Clockwise from top: Karpas, Baytzah, Maror, Z'roah, Haroset

There are so many more details regarding the Seder, from the four cups of wine, to the cup for the prophet Elijah, to the afikoman, to the story of the four sons and so much more, some of which varies by family or regional origin. But for our family, we complete the Seder by following along in the Haggadah, which includes various stories, quotations and songs, some drawing parallels to modern day issues as well. More traditional Haggadot (that is the plural of Haggadah) would have more of a focus on prayers. Then we eat boiled eggs also with the salt water. Next comes chicken soup. This is quite commonly served with matzah balls, but mostly we just have the soup with crumbled bits of matzah. Then comes the main course. Some of the most frequent meals we have are either roast chicken or a pot roast brisket (of course I have recipes now on this blog for either one)

As you can see, I could go on and on for pages and pages about what Passover and the Seder are about and what lessons can be learned. But since this is getting quite long, and I think I mentioned the most important things, I will simply finish by saying that perhaps the ultimate lesson is to not take our freedom for granted but rather to celebrate our freedom and to work towards a day when everyone can be free.

Oh, wait a minute! It seems I said I’d come back to the part about there being two Seders. Yes, tradition does dictate that a Seder be held on each of the first two nights of Pesach. Now this makes sense if you have a large extended family living reasonably close by so one Seder would be at one house and the second at another house, quite likely with different guests (this is definitely a holiday where hospitality and inviting guests is encouraged). That does not really apply to our family and doing the same Seder with only the three of us on consecutive days really makes no sense. So we only have the one.

Beef 101

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:10:00 +0000

This is something unusual. Normally I don't post other people's content on this blog, but a reader brought this to my attention and asked if I would consider drawing attention to this. As the information is good and says some of the same things I have already referred to in previous posts, I decided to go ahead. This graphic comes from frugaldad.com and I have permission to use it. The site itself seems to have fairly good content and general advice and, while I have not read enough of it to give a full recommendation, this bit of information is good and what I have seen of the rest of the site seems worth reading. You might want to check it out.

If you would like to read my post about selecting and buying beef, check out my post Choosing Your Ingredients - Part 1 (published August 17, 2011)

Thank you to Megan from frugaldad for bringing this to my attention and allowing me to share this with you.

One additional note: this information and the definitions of the cuts mentioned are all as set out by USDA rules - in other countries, including Canada, there are some differences, though most is similar.

Source: Beef 101 - frugaldad.com

Source: FrugalDad

Beef Paprikash

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:23:00 +0000

5 lbs beef bottom blade (or other stewing meat)
3 onions, diced
1 lb parsnips, peeled and cut large on the bias
3-4 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
olive oil
½ head garlic, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup good quality hungarian paprika
½ Tbsp cumin
1 Tsp cayenne
6 thyme sprigs
1 Tsp salt
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup red wine
2 cups tomato sauce or canned tomatoes
1 ½ cups sour cream

This is another braised meat dish so it follows the general theme of my post about How To Make a Stew. But this meal is a classic in my family so I feel it deserves its own post. There are also a few modifications of the basic technique. Paprikash is a traditional Hungarian dish typically made with veal, although beef chicken or pork are often used as well. As this dish is named after the primary spice, it is important to use good quality paprika. This is not a place for smoked paprika and I would generally advise against using Spanish paprika, as it is generally of inferior quality to Hungarian. Hungarian paprika is sold in two variations, hot and sweet. The “hot” in hot paprika shouldn’t normally refer to the heat associated with chili burn, but more to the pungency. Hot Hungarian paprika is the ideal form of paprika to use for this dish. Sweet paprika will work as well, though you may want to increase slightly the quantity of cumin and (maybe) the cayenne to compensate for the relative delicacy of the sweet paprika. Of course this will all depend on the actual quality of the product. Sometimes the hot paprika can be quite spicy, though it is not supposed to be. In this case reduce (or even eliminate) the cayenne so it doesn’t get too spicy.

First brown the slices of parsnip and set aside, then brown the meat and set it aside, as described in my stew post.

Then add the onions, carrots and celery and saute until soft, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add the tomato paste and paprika and cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes to open up the aromas of the paprika. Do not let it burn. Then add more oil and stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for about a minute. Then add the wine, then the tomatoes and the salt, pepper and other herbs and spices. Add the meat and parsnips back to the pot, bring to a boil and cook in a 275 degree oven for about 3 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Before adding the sour cream

After the sour cream

When the stew is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Make sure it is no longer boiling. Then stir in the sour cream, one or two dollops at a time. At this point, if you bring the paprikash back to a boil, the sauce will separate and appear curdled. This won’t affect the taste but when done properly you will get a very smooth texture that boiling will undo. However, when frozen and reheated, the damage is actually not as bad as one might think, as the sour cream stays more or less emulsified. We serve this over egg noodles or another broad pasta, such as pappardelle. Other pasta will work as well, or any other starch you would normally serve with a stew.

Pierre Poutine And The Disappearing Democracy

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:58:00 +0000

I have written before about the current Canadian governing party doing whatever they can to suppress dissent and undermine democracy. There is now another scandal that strikes very close to home here in Guelph. Actually it is not really news, as this is something that happened during the federal election last May and was reported on locally when it happened. It is only now that the rest of the country has noticed that something is going on.

What originally happened is that on the day of the election, many Guelph residents received an automated phone call (known as a robocall) with a prerecorded voice claiming to be from Elections Canada and that the call was to inform you that your polling station had changed. For those who are knowledgeable, this is obviously not a legitimate call. First of all, Elections Canada never conducts robocalls, they do not give notice of poll location changes by telephone, and they do not even have lists of voter phone numbers. If a poll location changes, they will send out a revised voter information card or, if there is not enough time to do that, they will have officials staff the former location as well, and direct people to the new location. For most people who received this call, the new location they were given was downtown, which is not where these people lived. Most often mentioned was Old Quebec Street Mall, which to my knowledge has never been used as a voting location. Generally churches, schools, retirement homes, or community centres are used as poll locations. Recently there has also been some claims that similar calls have occurred other places in the country, including in some ridings (districts) where the election was decided by fewer than 50 votes.

On further investigation, the phone that made the suspicious calls in Guelph turned out to be what is referred to as a “burner” cellphone - a phone that is acquired, often under an assumed name, used for a short while then abandoned. This phone was registered to “Pierre Poutine” living on “Separatist Street” in Joliette, Quebec. Aside from the obvious fakery, the story takes a couple more interesting terms at this point. There is in fact a restaurant in Guelph that is called Pierre’s Poutine which, interestingly enough, is located in the vicinity of Old Quebec Street. Now this is not the same restaurant I reviewed a few months ago that also was in downtown Guelph and serves poutine. It seems that Guelph is becoming a regional poutine capital. Well, at least it may give Guelph some kind of food identity because it was known for absolutely nothing culinary before now. The owner of the restaurant of course has no connection to the scandal, but he is nonetheless enjoying the notoriety.

Next came a suspiciously coincidental resignation from a Conservative party aide who had extensive involvement in the election campaign in Guelph. Michael Sona was a communications director for the local Conservative candidate during the election and until recently was an aide for a Mississauga area MP. During the Guelph campaign he was involved in another mini-scandal. There was special early balloting on the University of Guelph campus because the election would have come immediately after the end of term so the poll was set up to allow Guelph students to vote in Guelph. Apparently the Conservatives had some concerns with how the polling stations were set up but Sona’s inexplicable form of protest was to attempt to grab the ballot box. I still don’t really understand why there were no charges laid in the incident and everything was kind of ignored. Now once the robocall story becomes national news, Sona suddenly resigns from his current position in the Conservative party. Again, we don’t know if he actually was involved in this exercise, but let’s just say it looks suspicious.

Then reports from other ridings across the country began coming in. Some calls were automated but others used live voices; some claimed to be from Elections Canada and some claimed to be from the Conservative Party and others may have claimed to be from one of the other parties. There were also calls from people claiming to be from the Liberal Party that called Liberal supporters at inappropriate times and were harassing or otherwise rude to voters. In many of these cases the calls have been tracked back to Conservative Party callers. Other ridings also had calls about supposed changes in polling station locations, some hours away from where the voter lived. It seems that the majority of ridings affected were heavily contested ridings and many had slim margins of victory. Thousands of complaints have been made with Elections Canada and they are now undertaking an investigation more comprehensive than they have ever done before.

Recently, another “interesting” situation has come to light. In a Toronto area riding, a high profile Liberal MP was defeated by about 4000 votes in a closely watched race, and the Conservative victor was rewarded with a position in Cabinet. This riding also received reports of Liberal supporters receiving harassing phone calls. Now we have found out that nearly 3000 late voter registrations were filed. In Canada, even if you are not on the voters list, if you are eligible to vote and you have a residence in the appropriate riding you can go to the polls on Election Day and fill out a form, including your address, show ID, and you can still vote. Since I have moved several times in the last few years I have had to go through this process more than once. But in this case, it seems many of those late registration form showed irregularities: in particular on many of these forms the address was left blank. In others, the address given was either phony or for a business. As the address is needed as proof you live in the riding, it must be a residential address. Despite lacking this critical information these forms were signed by election officials so these people were able to vote. We don’t yet know how many of those late registration forms contained irregularities, but reports now are saying there could be at least a couple thousand. When you consider the margin of victory was only 4000, this combined with the voter suppression tactics, begins to call the result into doubt. And if these registrations were apparently allowed from people without giving a valid address, is it possible they may even have voted twice? Do we need the purple ink in Canada too now?

While it is certainly possible that rogue Conservative Party sympathizers did this on their own without approval from leadership or the official campaign (apparently it is disturbingly easy and cheap to set up an account to send out robocalls to a given list of phone numbers - any one can do it with a few minutes, a few dollars, and instructions from the Internet), the number of ridings involved, the slight differences in tactics used, and the overwhelming pattern of which places and which voters were targeted suggests the party probably has something to do with this. And when we put this together with their general approach to governance and integrity, it seems downright plausible this was orchestrated by someone higher up. Also, as this seems to have been a tactic for voter suppression, mainly targeting those who had previously told the conservatives that they would not vote for them, it is consistent with previous government tactics remove the part of government that has to do with representing the people. They are forcing through a regressive crime bill that will establish tons of mandatory minimum sentences for broad ranges of crimes, removing a judge’s discretion in sentencing, and are trying to form a very intrusive bill very similar to the SOPA bill that was proposed in the US. There are all kinds of other things they are doing to ignore public or government opposition or to keep everything secret, but I won’t go into all that here. I just hope people won’t just forget about this like they have all the other scandals this government has been involved in. But that seems to be what is happening and meanwhile this party remains in government and even gains more power. I suppose it could be worse though. I don’t think there are many Canadians who take Rick Santorum seriously.

BBQ Brisket

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:56:00 +0000

While a post roast is rather flexible in that either fatty or lean brisket will work quite well, a fattier piece of brisket will work much better on the BBQ. If you can find it, the ultimate cut of meat for this is Wagyu brisket. Wagyu is a hybrid of the breed used in Japan for the famous Kobe Beef. This meat has far more marbling than other beef and that quality will serve well for the dry heat of the barbeque. Failing that, look for a fatty piece of ordinary brisket.

The cooking process and cooking time will depend somewhat on what equipment you have for barbeque. If you have a true southern style pit smoker, well... I wish I were you!! If you have such an elaborate piece of equipment, I assume you would know a little something about barbeque, so simply put on a good rub, like the one below, and cook it on a nice slow heat for many hours (the time will depend on the size of your brisket but at least 4-6 hours - I am not so familiar with the time frames for this). If you have another type of barbeque, there is still a way to get a result very close to true barbeque. The problem is that most household BBQ’s are designed for hot and fast cooking, which is exactly the opposite of what you want for brisket. A charcoal grill will work better for this purpose than gas, especially because running a gas grill for 2-3 hours puts you at high risk of running out of propane part-way through. But the basic idea is that the coals will burning at the sides of the grill with the meat in the middle, so it is not directly over the heat. It will be subjected to a somewhat higher temperature than is ideal, but I find it works extremely well, especially if there is a lot of fat.

Dry Rub
1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence or other blend of dried herbs
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp coriander
2 ancho chiles, seeded and ground
1-2 pasilla chiles, seeded and ground
1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp coarse sea salt
2 tsp demerara sugar
1 Tbsp smoked paprika

Mop
½ cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup dark beer
1 Tbsp dry rub
1-2 tsp soy sauce
black pepper

Barbeque Sauce

½ cup steak sauce (from July28, 2010 post)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp dry rub

Again, all the amounts and proportions for the dry rub are very approximate, I do all this by eye and taste, and it will also depend on the size of your brisket. You will need enough rub to coat the brisket, with two tablespoons left over to add into the mop and the barbeque sauce.

Combine all dry rub ingredients. Rub a small amount of olive oil on the brisket then thoroughly coat the brisket with the rub, massaging the spices into the meat. Refrigerate at least overnight, 24-48 hours would be even better.

When ready to cook, set up the barbeque. Pile the charcoal on either side of the grill and light. Make sure there is plenty of excess coals for later as they will die out before the brisket is done. Now our barbeque is set up with hinges at each side of the grate so they can be lifted up to add more coals without removing the entire grate. There are also dividers that can keep coals on the sides so they do not fall into the centre of the grill. You will still be able to do the recipe without these aids, it will simply be a little less convenient.

When the coals are ready, place a foil drip pan in the centre of the barbeque, then put on the grate and place the brisket over the drip pan and put the cover on. A 4-lb piece will likely take at least 3 hours, and each batch of coals will last about 1 hour. If you have a chimney starter you can light the coals before adding them to the barbeque, but this is not necessary as long as the coals are not fully burned out. Just add the fresh charcoal to the still glowing coals and the new ones will catch.

Make both the mop and the barbeque sauce. Simply combine all the ingredients for both the mop and the sauce.

After the first hour of cooking, begin using the mop. This mop is almost more of a vinaigrette and will add back much needed moisture, as well as cool down the cooking brisket, so it doesn’t burn. Baste the brisket with the mop every half hour after the first hour of cooking. Cook until the brisket feels very soft and yielding. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes then slice against the grain and serve with barbeque sauce ON THE SIDE ONLY and coleslaw. This reminds me that in the previous post I failed to mention that brisket should always be sliced against the grain, including for the pot roast.

In Praise Of Brisket

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:25:00 +0000

Brisket is one of my favourite cuts of beef. It may not be the most familiar to many and even to those who know it, it can seem intimidating. There are a few reasons for this. First it can be a very tough cut and requires a very long cooking time to be edible. Also the uneven fat marbling throughout a single piece can be very difficult to manage, being either impossibly fatty or bone dry. And finally, unlike other stewing meat, brisket is usually sold in larger single pieces. But it has so many different uses and such an amazing flavour and texture, it is actually one of the most versatile, if you know how to use it.

Probably the easiest and most common use of brisket is in a pot roast. Pot roasting is a cooking technique similar to stewing and braising with only a few key differences. In a stew, the meat is cut into pieces and cooked in liquid for a few hours until tender, at which point it is ready. With a pot roast, a single large piece of meat is cooked in a similar liquid for a few hours until tender, but then there is an additional step. At this point, the meat is removed from the sauce, cut into thick slices, and returned to the pot and cooked for an additional period of time. Later in this post there will be a recipe. Pot roast is very much a European peasant dish. The poor people would only get tough cuts of meat to use as roasts, so the only way to make such roasts tender is to braise them. Brisket is a cut very well suited to pot roasting as the fat is distributed unevenly, which means the lean pieces could be dry inside. The slicing and additional cooking once braised will allow the meat to moisten after it has tenderized. Brisket is very prominent in Jewish cooking for two reasons. First, Eastern European Jews were definitely peasants so all they had were cheap cuts of meat. Also Jewish dietary laws only allowed the use of cuts of beef from the front half of the cow. Brisket is a large cut (so it could feed a lot of people) from the front half of the cow (it is actually at the very front of the stomach just behind the front shoulders) that, because it is tough and so difficult to cook, was not very expensive. Therefore brisket became a Jewish specialty.

Brisket Pot Roast

Brisket is also found in Texas barbeque. While most Southern barbeque is centred on pork (ribs, shoulder, whole hog), in Texas beef is and always will be king. While I greatly enjoy beef ribs, the favoured cut for Texas barbeque has got to be brisket. Here, brisket’s greatest advantages are the large fat cap and the thick veins of fat found within the meat. This allows the meat to baste itself as it is cooked on low, dry heat for hours on end. The standard method is to apply a dry rub to an entire brisket and put it in a pit-style smoker for many hours. For most people, this is not practical to make at home, but a little creativity can get you a reasonable result at home.

Dry-rubbed brisket ready for the barbeque

For another great use of brisket we return to Jewish cuisine. Jewish delis in Montreal have a marvellous creation that is Montreal-style Smoked Meat. Other deli staples featuring brisket include corned beef and pastrami, but smoked meat is the best of the best (to the New Yorkers who claim otherwise, as is the case with bagels I merely suggest you come to Montreal and have the real thing). To make smoked meat, briskets are cured with various spices and curing salt for several days then smoked, and finally cooked by steaming. Many of the key elements of the procedure use industrial equipment and others are kept secret, so I don’t really know how one would make this at home. Even worse, you really cannot find proper smoked meat outside of Montreal, what is available elsewhere is a poor imitation. The best way to experience it is take a trip to Montreal and eat at Schwartz’s Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen. You can also buy a full piece of fully cooked smoked meat in a vacuum-sealed bag that can be reheated and sliced at home by placing it on a rack in a roasting pan with water at the bottom and reheat covered in the oven. Maybe in a future post I will post an old review of Schwartz’s I started but never finished.

The Smoked Meat Plate at Schwartz's

Brisket Pot Roast

1 piece of brisket - try to find a piece that is at least 4 lbs
olive oil
3 onions, cut in large chunks
5 carrots
2 ribs celery
½ head of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp flour
1 can tinned tomatoes or equal amount of homemade tomato sauce
1 Tbsp beef stock concentrate or 2 cups beef or veal stock
½ bottle red wine
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp cayenne
salt & pepper

Most of this recipe follows the procedure for making a stew I posted back on December 13, 2010. In short, first season the brisket on all sides with salt and pepper then heat the widest pan you can find with some oil and sear the entire piece on all sides, then set the meat aside. Saute the vegetables and the tomato paste, add more oil and flour and, after cooking a minute or two, add the liquids and boil to reduce slightly, then add the seasonings. Put the meat and sauce together in an ovenproof pot and put in a 275 degree oven for about 4 hours, or until fairly tender. Then take the brisket out, slice it into ½ inch thick slices and return the meat to the pot, making sure to submerge them in sauce. Return to the oven and cook for 30 minutes more then serve with potatoes or something else that will absorb liquid.

slice the brisket when it is pretty much fully tender

This post will be continued in a day or two with a recipe for barbeque brisket that can be made at home with reasonably common household equipment.

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Before I finish this post, I need to make note of a sad passing within the blogging community. For those of you familiar with Amar's World may know about CJ, a fellow blogger who gave great advice and assistance to Amar and created Amar's Brotherhood, of which I am proud to consider myself a member. Well, CJ passed away on Tuesday from a brain tumour. CJ was a man of great humour with a big heart and I got the chance to chat with him on occasion in various places over the last couple years. We will all miss him.

A New Year - A New Direction

noreply@blogger.com (Evan) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:22:00 +0000

I realize I have not been posting much at all in the last little while. There are a few reasons, some of which involve my increased focus on a new career path, some things are personal, and some is just laziness. The truth is, when I do not make a habit of writing reguarly for the blog, it just doesn’t happen and weeks go by. Also, since I have been living at home, there are more people to talk to so I do not feel as much of a need to write about the various things I think about.

No, this blog isn’t going anywhere. I think this has just been another cycle where I don’t post much and the frequency may increase in the future, but I am just not sure. A lot depends on my new plans and how busy I will be. I told you all some time ago that I would not be making a career as a chef and would be looking for a better paying, more intellectually fulfilling line of work. Now I believe I have reached a decision as to what I want. As my background is in Psychology, my first step was to meet with a career counsellor at the University where I did my undergraduate work. She was able to highlight various careers that psychology graduates go into, focussing on those that do not require a PhD, which I have no desire to get. It did become clear that a Bachelor’s alone was generally insufficient for any of these fields. Some required a Master’s while others look for various graduate diplomas in particular specialties. Areas like therapy and most non-profits did not seem to fit with my temperament or interests, but one thing that stuck out was marketing research. I was unsure about this initially because I didn’t know that this was any different from marketing, which is rather low level and rather devoid of ethics. But on doing further research, I found there is a big difference. Marketing research is the field that lays the ground work and provides information for marketers to do what they do. Market research also includes polling firms and all those polls you see day after day during election campaigns (which are now eternal, right?) In this industry, it seems there are many different types of qualifications, from MBAs to PhDs to nothing more than a bachelor’s. Most though, expect some sort of graduate education in business, marketing, or consumer studies. One option I have is a Master’s program here at Guelph, but that is three years, a lot of money, and no direct work experience. And at my debt level and age, time and money are very much considerations. Then I found a graduate diploma program at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario, which is about 2 hours away from Guelph. Their program is one year, costs about the same as one year of graduate school, and includes a 3 month paid internship with leading companies in the field, many of whom hire most of their employees from graduates of this program.

So now I have just put in my application for this program and, if accepted, I will start in school next fall and hopefully be working in the industry a year later. Of course this means a great deal more debt, but government student loans should be able to cover all the tuition and a good deal of my living expenses during that time. So if all goes well, I will be living at home for only another 8 months.

Now in the New Year, I find it interesting to look back on the post I wrote last New Year’s Day. On the surface, it would seem that few of the goals I set last year are actually accomplished now. I am not currently employed and do not have a boyfriend. Yet I do finally have a career track planned out, one that should be more rewarding, both personally and financially. As for my personal life, I think that living at home probably has held me back somewhat, but mainly because I am not in a large city and my lack of funds means I can’t really go out much. This is another reason going back to school appeals to me: even though Barrie is not a big city and somewhat on the conservative side, a college environment will probably be good for me. But at least this New Year’s Eve, unlike last year, I was not alone. We hosted a New Year’s party with some family friends, which also gave me the chance to spend lots of time working on an elaborate party menu. Fun times. I do still love some aspects of the culinary arts, but that can never be my career. Maybe one day, it could be a side venture but not a full time job.

I am still thinking about some interesting topics for posts. There’s one interesting topic I am working on now and, as my parents are once again in Hawaii for holidays, I may do some Hawaii-related posts as I did last year.