Sial Canada 2019 - Food innovation

SIAL CANADA 2019

https://sialcanada.com/en/article/sial-toronto-kick-off-2019-edition/

I had the privilege of attending this year's Sial Canada Show at the Enercare Centre in Toronto.  I attended the 3 day Food Industry trade show on May 2nd, 2019.  Sorry for taking so long to get to this post but there was so much there that I took loads of pics and have lots to write about here.

Samples,  there are so many samples that I have to strategically choose what I want to try because I can't possibly try it all.  I learned after the 1st year when I stuffed my face on the massive quantities of cheese available from mostly the Quebec region and after the cheese indulgence I had no room to try anything else.  So now I try and look for things I haven't tried before or things I can't resist.  The 2 items above fall into the things I couldn't resist category.  The spinach Spanokopita were so light and flaky if there weren't a thousand other things to try I would have ate a whole lot more of the.  The arancini on the right were gooey cheesy rice goodness.  These 2 things are the kind of things I would buy myself to keep in my freezer for guests and for myself for time saving snacks.  Both Spanokopita and Arancini are labour and time intensive and these were as good as homemade.

And here's Chuck...... Chuck Hughes is now a Brand.  He has a new line of products like Antipasto's, oils,  and a few other products.  I have tried the oil before and it's great, it's from Greece I believe.  I tried the antipasto at the show before having a great chat with Chuck about his new APTN show about Indigenous cooking traditions.  Looking forward to seeing that soon.

After chatting with Chuck we went over to the Chef Demo stage where we sat through 3 demos which familiar Chefs like Chuck who was with his sidekick Tracy Winkworth who does most of the prep work while Chuck does his stand up routine in front of her then he adds the finishing touches and everyone claps.  Yes Chuck is the fun but Tracy brings the food.

Brad Long is the owner of Cafe Belong at the Brickworks and he has also spent many years cooking for Elite Chefs for MLSE organization.  Now he has a new book about butter so of course he was making a dish that featured butter so we caught most of the demo and my friend Jenny was chatting up the woman next to her and it turns out she was the maker of the butter that was featured by Brad.  After the demo she gave my friend, myself and our other blogger friend Carol some of her Thornloe butter.  We were all very excited about that because it's great butter and really expensive too.

It was also good to see Emily Richards who made an Onion soup and a crostini dish.

The unique thing about this show is the Sial Innovation Award for the best new products.  One of the ones that I loved was the ICE coffee which won one of the awards.  I also took home a container of the tofu spread.  It does not taste like tofu.  I didn't try all of the Innovation Award nominees,  just too many things but I tried a bunch of them.  The other interesting one was the Yummy doh.  Pre mixed cookie dough. 

I also enjoyed this Pear hazelnut spread,  definitely an elevated dessert spread. I think I remember them saying they were from Quebec as well.

I didn't try this but this Cauliflower quick meal looked kind of interesting.

I tried this Iceberg water.  I admit that packaging gets my attention and I liked the bottle and of course the Water was very good too.

There was LOTS of meats this year,  With Keto going strong Meat is back.  There were lots of cured hams,  massive steaks and more.

I also had to stop and take a photo of this guy from Bad Dad Tea.  He gave me a nice little sample pack and I told him I loved the branding.  It stands out from most of the tea brands.

I don't know what this thing is called but it was pan fried kind of like shreds of phyllo with pistacio's on top.  I think it's a Persian dish kind of like a Baklava type of thing.  Because I was in a hurry I just blew by as much as I could and didn't take the time to find out more about it unfortunately.

Chef Stefano Failto also entered the product market with his line of sauces.  I wanted to try these but by this time I just didn't have time to wait for a sample and was really full but I hope to get a chance to try these in the stores soon.

The one product that had myself and fellow blogger Carol Nelson Brown stop dead in our tracks were these flavour spheres.  The grapefruit one on the left was a game changer.  I took home a honey one.  These things have the texture of fish roe and just burst with fruit flavour or honey when they hit your tongue.  This would make your appetizers literally POP.

I missed so much because I was only able to go to 1 day of the 3 day massive show and would have loved to have more time to explore more.  I found out later that my friend Vicky was representing another Sial Innovation product the UnBun.  I passed the booth but didn't see her and didn't stop to check it out because it was the end of the show.

You really have to have time and a strategy at this show.  If you are in the food industry you focus on making connections and sales.  For myself and my blogger friends we try and see as much new food and chef demos as we can.   It's also great to run into people we know at the show after going a few times you become familiar with some of the people who do the show often.

It's not open to the public but I hope that I gave you a peek at what's coming to specialty food stores, grocery stores and restaurants in the future.  I hope to have more time next time to showcase a lot more products.

If you are a Food Industry Professional and would like to find out more about the show or would like to find out more about the products check out the website for more information:

https://sialcanada.com/en/article/sial-toronto-kick-off-2019-edition/

Taste Canada Award winners 2018

Taste Canada Awards / Les Lauréats des Saveurs du Canada (tastecanada.org) has announced the winners of the country’s only national, bilingual food writing awards. 

 October is National Cookbook Month #Love Cookbooks #MoreThanRecipes

#TasteCanada

Date: Oct 29th, 2018

Location: Fairmont Royal York Hotel

At the gorgeous and opulent Royal York Hotel a group of food writers gathered to show their appreciation for great cookbook writing and fantastic food blogs.

This is a look at some of the winners. I kept it to the English category for space and my audience.  Photos below are just a few of the winners of the Taste Canada Awards.

A champion of cookbook authors and food bloggers, Taste Canada inspires readers to discover delicious recipes and diverse food stories written from a Canadian perspective. Taste Canada is a not-for-profit founded in 1998. More than just recipes, cookbooks and food blogs reveal Canada’s unique history, culture, and diversity.

“When we write about food, we are really writing about humanity and community; about love and death and biological imperatives; and about the powerful connections and similarities between us. Food writing has been as undervalued as the actual work of food preparation. Taste Canada is the only body in the country recognizing the importance of the work of food writers. Food stories are after all, the real stories of our lives,’ said Lindy Mechefske, author of Out of Old Ontario Kitchens, and Sir John's Table: The Culinary Life and Times of Canada's First Prime Minister (2016 Taste Canada Gold Award Winner for Culinary Narratives),

This year, 91 cookbooks and 50 food blogs entered the competition. A shortlist announced earlier in the year narrowed the competition to a maximum of 5 entries per category.

The 26 gold and silver award winners were revealed at the Taste Canada Awards Gala on October 29 at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto, co-hosted by Shahir Massoud and Claire Tansey. The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Her Honor Elizabeth Dowdeswell delivered the welcoming and opening remarks. 

The Hall of Fame Awards were presented to The Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr (living) and Constance Hart (posthumous), the first Jewish person in Canada to write a cookbook. This award, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Canada, goes to authors of a stellar culinary book or body of work that has had a lasting impact on Canadian cuisine.

The annual Gala brings together writers, publishers, chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, industry, media and cookbook fans to promote a vibrant national conversation about food and the art and culture of culinary writing.  

The evening started with a welcome reception by Summer Fresh, followed by the awards presentation, and then, aone-of-a-kind gastronomic celebration, presented by Good in Every Grain,featuring food by Fairmont Royal York Executive Chef j.W. Foster, as well as Ivana Raca (Ufficio), Matt Basile (Lisa Marie/Fidel Gastro’s), Ted Reader (Ted’s Famous BBQ), Trevor Lui and Hemant Bhagwani (Fat Rabbit), Charlotte Langley (Restaurants Canada), Brad Lomanto (Conestoga College), Brian McCourt and Benjamin Lillico (Ignite Restaurant Group), Daniel Stubbe (Cacao Barry), Dufflet Rosenberg (Dufflet),  Trevor Ritchie (Bocuse d’Or Team Canada), and Vanessa Yeung (Aphrodite Cooks). Wines were presented by the Niagara College Teaching Winery. 

In 2017, the total units sold in Canada for books in the “Cooking” subject category amounted to 1.4 million for a total value of $47.4 million, according to BookNet Canada's national sales tracking service for the print English-language trade market, BNC SalesData.

Award Categories (English and French Language)

• General Cookbooks / Livres de Cuisine Générale
• Single-Subject Cookbooks / Livres de Cuisine Sujet Unique
• Regional/Cultural Cookbooks / Livres de Cuisine Régionale et Culturelle
• Culinary Narratives / Narrations Culinaires
• Health and Special Diet Cookbooks / Livres de Cuisine Santé et Diète Particulière
• Food Blogs: General / Blogues culinaire
• Food Blogs: Heath and Special Diet (English only) 

About Taste Canada A champion of Canadian cookbooks and food blogs, Taste Canada inspires and encourages readers at home and abroad to discover delicious recipes and diverse food stories written from a Canadian perspective. Taste Canada brings together Canadian food and beverage writers, publishers, chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, industry, post-secondary culinary colleges, media and cookbook fans, recognizing that food connects us all.  Since 1998, Taste Canada, a national, bilingual not-for-profit, has presented awards to the best Canadian food writers. Awards are presented each year at a Gala in Toronto. For more information, visit tastecanada.org. 

Taste Canada Awards would like to thank our partners who support our mission to champion Canada’s culinary writers including the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, Summer Fresh, Fairmont Royal York, Good in Every Grain, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, Restaurants Canada, Toronto Star, Canada’s 100 Best, Eat Your Words and Education Awareness Partner, ThinkBeef.  For more information, visit, tastecanada.org.

TASTE CANADA AWARDS / LES LAURÉATS DES SAVEURS DU CANADA
THE 2018 AWARD WINNERS

English-Language Books
Culinary Narratives

Gold
Vij, Vikram. Vij. Penguin Canada, Toronto

Silver
Phillips, Rod. 9000 Years of Wine. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Markham

General Cookbooks

Gold
Crawford, Lynn. Farm to Chef. Penguin Canada, Toronto

Silver
Wimbush-Bourque, Aimée. The Simple Bites Kitchen. Penguin Canada, Toronto

Regional/Cultural Cookbooks

Gold
Anderson, Lindsay and Dana VanVeller. Feast: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip. Appetite by Random House, Vancouver

Silver
Butters, Rod. The Okanagan Table: The Art of Everyday Home Cooking. Figure 1, Vancouver


Single-Subject Cookbooks

Gold
Kohlman, Renée. All the Sweet Things: Baked Goods and Stories from the Kitchen of Sweetsugarbean. TouchWood Editions, Victoria

Silver
Gardner, Kristy. Cooking with Cocktails.Countryman Press, New York

Health and Special Diet Cookbooks

Gold
Podleski, Greta. Yum & Yummer: Ridiculously Tasty Recipes That'll Blow Your Mind, But Not Your Diet!Author/One Spoon Media Inc., Kitchener


Silver
Wright, Laura. The First Mess Cookbook. Penguin Canada, Toronto

English-Language Food Blogs

General Food Blogs

Gold
Rhubarb & Cod, Susan Keefe
www.rhubarbandcod.com

Silver
The Lemon Apron, Jennifer Emilson
www.thelemonapron.com

Health & Special Diet Blogs

Gold
Oh She Glows, Angela Liddon
www.ohsheglows.com

Silver
Joyous Health, Joy McCarthy
www.joyoushealth.com

I will post more about the Cooks the Books event on my next blog post.  Too much to get into one post but a little bit about it.

The winners of Cooks the Books, a cooking competition that invites Canadian culinary students from across the nation to compete for the title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs, were also announced at the Gala. The Silver Medal was awarded to  Celina do Souto and Sydney Lutz from Conestoga College (Kitchener, Ontario) for their Braised Beef Cheeks with Roasted Squash & Maple Milk Foam recipe.  Jessi Coulter & Kaitlin McCarthy from Assiniboine Community College (Brandon, Manitoba) won the Gold Medal for their Cast Iron Seared Hudson River Arctic Char with Smoked Maple Birch Glaze, on Heritage Grain recipe written.  Cooks the Books – A Student Chef Battle was held at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen in Toronto on October 28.  This competition is presented in partnership with the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and sponsored by Summer Fresh, with Education Awareness Partner, ThinkBeef.ca. 

I have only included the English Canada Categories for the French Canadian winners please check out the Taste Canada Website www.tastecanada.org

Casting Call for Great Bakers in Canada

Are you a serious Bakeaholic?  

Do you dream about baked goods and spend all of your free time in the kitchen whipping up mouth watering treats to share with friends and family?

Are you obsessed with the Baking Competitions on TV?

Are you looking for a big break in your life and a challenge?

Well the good news is there is an opportunity for you in Canada.

The Great Canadian Baking Show which originated in the UK is now casting for Season 2 and you can apply now by clicking the link below.

Click Here to apply:  Great Canadian Baking Show Casting  

I wish I had the talent the time and the energy to apply but I hope that you do and if you do and you get on the show please let me know so that I can watch and cheer you on.

Good Luck and even if you don't apply I would recommend watching the show because it's a lot of fun and you learn a lot about different baking techniques that you can use in your kitchen to impress your friends and family.

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY BAKING!

Make your own Thanksgiving Dinner

It's Thanksgiving in Canada and the weather is amazing.
You don't have to wait for an invite to celebrate Thanksgiving or have a big family to enjoy it.

This week I have been feeling sick and super exhausted.  I think my stressful crazy month of September caught up with me.

Since I don't have family dinners anymore and my friends were either sick, working or busy with family I decided to get up and make my own Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.   I cooked all day and probably could have invited a few people over but I put all my energy into just making the food and cleaning up afterward so I didn't have any energy left to entertain anyone.

It started when I decided to get a Turkey Breast roll from Whole Foods.  I don't eat Turkey that often so it's nice to have some around Thanksgiving since I don't celebrate Christmas.  I thought it might be good to cook up the Turkey Breast and then have it for a couple of meals and sandwiches.


The MENU:

Rolled Turkey Breast Roast
Spiced Cauliflower
Basalmic Brussel Sprouts
Mashed Pumpkin
Stuffing
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Cranberry sauce
Gravy

Since the Turkey took up my whole oven because I only have one oven rack I had to do things in stages so it took me a few different tools and a whole day.  I decided to use my new T Fal Actifry XL to make Brussel sprouts and then I added spiced up Cauliflower.   They took about 20 minutes each without any fussing or turning. The Actifry did all the turning and timing.  It's really a great tool for a big dinner because it's like having an extra oven or fryer because it's a good substitute for frying and also works like a roasting oven.  It caramelized my vegetables beautifully.

I got a couple of small Squash Pumpkin's in my Fresh City Farms delivery so I decided to roast one and then I mashed it.  I also roasted the seeds.

I ate a bit of it but wasn't really in the mood to make Pumpkin pie but I would like to make a pumpkin loaf but need to get some flour first.   You go through a lot of flour cooking a lot of holiday types of dishes but I used up my flour making my no knead bread recipe.  I have posted the recipe I used before.  You can see it on a previous post, but I just used a recipe I got from Michael Smith.  It basically sits and rises for 20 hrs an then you bake it in a dutch oven on high heat for 25 min.
I also made cranberry sauce with the cranberries I had in the freezer from when they went on sale last.  I added star anise, a few cardamon pods and a cinammon stick to the simmering pot for extra flavour.  I would have used orange zest but I didn't have any oranges.   Don't buy the can, it's easy to make and you can add your own twists to it.

I made everything from scratch except for a little help from a bag of Ace Bakery stuffing mix which is just seasoned croutons.  I added fresh celery, carrots, onions and apple and fresh sage to the mix.  I cooked it on the stove and then finished it in the oven.


I added celery, carrots, garlic, onions, herbs and chicken stock to the bottom of the pan of the roasting turkey so I was able to make gravy from the flavours of the vegetables.  There won't be much turkey drippings because there isn't much fat and it's all light meat but using chicken stock added to the pan will give you enough to make a decent gravy.  I put all the stock and vegetables in a saucepot and reduced it down and added a bit of water and soy sauce and then thickened it up with a slurry of cornstarch and water.  I strained all the vegetables out but I think some people don't mind having chunky gravy.  I am not one of them.

I prepared the turkey by rubbing butter all over it and seasoning with salt and pepper and paprika for color and then added fresh sage sprigs on top.  I wanted to try the low and slow method of cooking the Turkey but it took too long so I cranked up the heat so that I could bake my bread.  However you cook your Turkey just make sure you use a Thermometer and cook it to 165ºF to be safe.  But be prepared to wait because Turkey is usually a lot of meat and if you cook it whole and stuff it that takes even longer because the heat doesn't circulate as well.  You could break down the turkey and roast it on a baking sheet but you will lose the presentation factor.  I liked the wrapped Turkey breast I found at Whole Foods.. nothing to do to it.  Just season it and pop it in the oven.

My food came from all over the place.  Some from Fresh City Farms, some from Whole Foods and the rest from Loblaws.  Try and get as much as you can that's local if you can since it's Agriculture Week but I know it can be hard if you don't have a good market near you but you can request local produce from your local grocer and if enough people ask they will add more.  Support your local farmers because they do their work so that you can eat well.   That's what I am thankful for this year.  That I have good food on my table and farmers who work hard for people like me who can't grow their own food.

Here is my finished plate.
Thanks to all the farmers and food workers that had a hand in the ingredients on this plate.

Is it worth it to do all this work?  Maybe not.  I spent a lot of time doing it and a lot of time cleaning up but there is a pride of making everything yourself and knowing what's in your food and also there's always leftovers and no big cooking the next day. Just warm it up and eat and relax you did enough work for a couple of days so you can have a rest now.

I understand why single people don't cook at home.  It's not always as economical but don't lose your cooking skills because they really are skills for life.  Sometimes I choose to cook and sometimes I choose not to but at least I have a choice I can make a great meal or have someone else make one for me.    Don't let being alone on Thanksgiving stop you from having the Thanksgiving Dinner you want to eat.  Just get in the kitchen and make it for yourself.  You are worth it.

Enjoy

Happy Thanksgiving.

Canada gets more stinky cheese from the EU

CHEESE PLEASE!  There is a new Trade Deal being worked out by the Canadian Government and the European Union.  So what's all the fuss about?  More products will be able to be imported into Canada without Tariffs.  YEAH you say...  we get more stinky cheese... but there are a lot of people that aren't happy about this deal.  Mainly some of the great Canadian Cheese Producers in this Country.  A lot of great cheese is produced in Ontario and Quebec.  Monteforte Dairy is one of them, they produce cheese in the Stratford area and sell their cheeses at many local farmer's markets.  But they aren't the only ones. There are a lot of great goat cheeses and even Agropur cheese company that produce OCA cheese in Quebec.  They feel that the opening up of imported cheese to the Canadian Market will take away sales from the Canadian producers.   The government says this deal will create many jobs, but I suppose the Canadian cheese producers feel that it will also take away some of their jobs.

I am conflicted on this deal because I have been to Paris and one of my favourite cheese's that I ate there was Caprice de Deux and it has been sold at some places in Ontario but with Canadian standards it didn't quite taste the same.  I would love to see more new cheese selections in Ontario but I understand how hard it already is for Canadian producers to make a living in Canada.

There are always winners and losers in any trade deal but I suppose you have to weigh what's best for the majority of people when making decisions.   Here are some of the numbers according to the CBC.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Is it just a lot more stinky cheese?

Imports from Europe that would see tariffs eliminated include: automobiles, industrial machinery, wine and spirits, some cheeses, fish and seafood products and many others.

Here's a look at more numbers, from Canadian and EU documents and briefings, related to what both sides have called a "historic" deal:

35 million: Population of Canada.

500 million: Population of European Union.

28: Number of countries in the European Union.

$17 trillion: EU's current annual GDP, the measure of its economic activity.

$1.8 trillion: Canada's current annual GDP.

$12 billion: What the Harper government expects in added GDP for Canada annually.

$16.3 billion: What the EU expects in annual GDP gains for Europe.

$1.5 billion: Annual value of increased agricultural exports expected by Canadian producers.

$700 million: What the EU expects in annual tariff savings (and what Canada would lose in duties).

20 per cent: The government's estimated increase in bilateral trade as a result of the deal.

29,000 tonnes: EU cheese allowed into Canada tariff-free annually, up from 13,000, once fully implemented.

65,000 tonnes: Annual quota for Canadian beef in Europe, up from 15,000, once fully implemented.

75,000 tonnes: Annual quota for Canadian pork, up from 6,000, once fully implemented.

100,000: Number of cars Canadian automakers will be able to export a year, 12 times the current limit.

2 years: Extension of drug patents for brand-name pharmaceuticals.

24: Number of languages into which the agreement must be translated.

5 years: Time elapsed since initial study of a trade deal began.

2 years: Expected length of time before deal is ratified.