Taste Canada Awards 2015

The Taste Canada Food Writing Awards took place recently at the Arcadian Court in downtown Toronto recently and I was invited to attend the event as a Red Carpet Correspondent with a few fellow food bloggers and other media.

The awards were hosted by Celebrity Chefs Ricardo Larivee and Vikram Vij who were previous Taste Canada Award winners.

Ricardo, Donna Doeher, Vikram Vij

It was a great night that celebrated Canadian cookbook authors and for the first time Food Bloggers were also given awards which were sponsored by Food Bloggers of Canada.   

Food Bloggers of Canada Team

This was the first time they had a red carpet for the award nominees and having been there for the first time last year when they didn't have it I think it added a lot of fun and excitement to the awards and hopefully we made everyone feel like VIP's on the red carpet.  

The Awards were presented and afterwards everyone moved to a Gala Reception where local restaurants and caterers had a lovely set up of some brilliant food.  My favourites of the night were Rock Lobster's Bisque and freshly shucked oysters by owner Matt Dean Pettit.  I also enjoyed the amazing array of chocolates from Cocoa Berry.  Dufflet had delicious tiramisu and lemon cake squares.  There was also a lot of different kinds of pork dishes it seemed with Matt Basile (Lisa Marie) making a pork lettuce wrap and there was also Ted Reader with pork belly and barley risotto.  Vanessa Yeung (Aphrodite Cooks) had a dumpling in braised beef broth is what I think she said. 

 Martin Kouprie (Pangea) had a pretty complicated dish of pheasant I think with a sausage and blanched brussel sprouts and green puree and a few other touches.  The most complicated dish of the night for sure.  It was very lovely and so fun to see so many fellow bloggers and local chefs and Industry people that I know.  Last year there were only a couple of food bloggers there and I only knew one of them and a couple of other people.  After attending a whole lot of events this past year this year was different with a whole lot more familiar faces and new friends to chat with. It turned out to be a really fun event.  Here are the winners.

Taste Canada Award Winners

2015  TASTE CANADA AWARD Winners

Culinary Narratives/Narrations Culinaires

Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen: Unveiling the Rituals, Traditions, and Food of the Hutterite Culture

Mary-Ann Kirkby
Penguin Canada Books, Toronto

Ainsi cuisinaient les belles-sœurs dans l’œuvre de Michel Tremblay : Une traversée de notre patrimoine culinaire 1913 – 1963

Anne Fortin
Flammarion Québec, Montréal

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General Cookbooks/ Livres de Cuisine Générale

Family Meals
Michael Smith
Penguin Canada Books, Toronto

Ensemble : Cuisine gourmande et colorée
Christelle Tanielian
Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal

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Regional/Cultural Cookbooks / Livres de cuisine régionale et culturelle 

The SoBo Cookbook: Recipes from the Tofino Restaurant at the End of the Canadian Road
Lisa Ahier and Andrew Morrison
Appetite by Random House, Vancouver

La récolte
Bernard Dubé
Bernard Dubé, New Richmond
(Mention Spéciale)

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Single-Subject Cookbooks/Livres de Cuisine Sujet Unique

Duchess Bake Shop
Giselle Courteau
Duchess Bake Shop, Edmonton

Soupes-repas gourmandes
Anne-Louise Desjardins
Guy Saint-Jean, Éditeur, Laval

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Food blog – Best Post / Blogue culinaire – meilleure publication

“Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Hazelnut, Orange, and Saffron”
Allison Day
Yummy Beet

« Pizza 3 minutes : saucisses italiennes, épinards, tomates cerises, cœurs d’artichauts et mozzarella »
Christelle Tanielian
Christelle Is Flabbergasting

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2015 Hall of Fame Inductees

Rose Murray (1941–) From writing, to teaching, to television and radio appearances across Canada, over a long career, Murray has shaped our perspective of Canadian cuisine.

Nellie Lyle Pattinson (1879–1953)  Pattinson wrote the Canadian Cook Book, published by Ryerson Press in 1923 and reprinted twenty times up to 1949.

Helen Wattie (1911–2009) and Elinor Donaldson Whyte (1926–) These two women updated Pattinson’s text to reflect Canada’s prosperity and changing food habits after World War II, with an  innovative 1953 edition, that included – for the first time in Canada – a chapter of “Regional Dishes”.

For more info about the Awards go to http://www.tastecanada.org

All photos by Linda Matarasso ©2015

Restaurants Canada Show

Chef Lynn Crawford

I was very lucky to be able to go to the Restaurants Canada trade show today which is a massive show that is dedicated to all kinds of things related to the Foodservice Industry.

 Imaging all the restaurants that are in Toronto only.. that's a huge amount of Restaurants and they all need food, supplies, and everything from things that cook, clean, keep track of the money, uniforms, containers and every little detail that it takes to make up a restaurant including the food and you will probably find a vendor for it at this trade show.   It is being held at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place this weekend, Mar 1-3rd and is only open to Food and Beverage Industry people but you will most likely be seeing a lot of the food products that were at the show at your local cafe, restaurant or even grocery store.

Chef Lynn Crawford, and judges and Chef Vikram Vij

Chef Vikram Vij

Then on to check out all the booths and sample some foods and see if there were any trends or new products that were mind blowing.  I don't know if I saw any mind blowing products but I did see a lot of trends and tasted a lot of very tasty products.

The TRENDS:

1st Trend:   I saw a lot of GELATO,  there must have been at least 4 or 5 places serving up Gelato.  No complaints from me as this is one of my favourite things.  The couple of flavours of Gelato or Ice cream that I tried were so creamy and flavourful.  I hope more places start serving it up in my area this summer because I will be standing in line for some.

2nd Trend:   Fried things.  There were spices for fries.  I tried one that tasted like Ketchup chips,  There were loads of battered and fried things like Arancini, and fried chicken, cheese sticks, and all kinds of other concoctions.

            

3rd Trend:  Healthy products like Hemp hearts, gluten free products, yoghurts, sauces, dairy free products etc.  Allergy education and more. Lot's and lots of different loose leaf specialty teas.

4th Trend:  Bread, carbs are not dead even though people are going crazy for gluten-free products.  I spotted some of my favourite bread makers like Fred's Bread, Ace Bakery and a few more breads and pastry vendors.

5th Trend:  All kinds of technology to make the restaurants run like machines, from fancy ovens, to dishwashing machines and scanners that promote, track, order, do accounting and all sorts of things.

A few other interesting things I saw were Mustard in tubes and a spreadable spicy salami Nduja not sure on the spelling.  Interesting spread for charcuterie platter.

Overall what I saw was a lot.  It takes a lot of attention to detail to run a restaurant and as you can see from the turnover in restaurants in the city it's a hard business to keep going.

I always wanted to own a restaurant but never had the education, money or the energy to do it.  If I was going to startup a restaurant this show is a good place to go and meet some people and find out what you want to have in your restaurant.

I will probably go back tomorrow for some industry sessions and try some of the things I was too full to try today.

I saw a lot of interesting artistry as well with chocolate, sugar, cake and other creations on display.

And there were a lot of Culinary Superstars and up and coming chefs wandering the shows red carpet.

 L-R rep for Abracadabra Signs & Designs M-Phil Freire, of Metropolis Factory -.Chef David Adjey 

I look forward to seeing some of the things I saw and tried in my restaurant adventures in the future.

Good Food and Drink Show in Toronto

The Good Food and Drink Show in Toronto

The Good Food and Drink Show just happened in Toronto this April and I was lucky to be able to attend it on the final day of the Festival.  I am sure it was probably the quietest day of the Festival but it was still a lot of fun with Vikram Vij and Mairlyn Smith in attendance.

Vikram Vij is the Rockstar of the West Coast Vancouver Indian Restaurant World and Internationally too.  He is also now going to be a Dragon on the Dragon's Den.  He is a Chef and and Entrepreneur with a line of frozen Indian Foods.  I hope to get my hands on some one of these days.

Vikram was there to do a demo and sign his latest cookbook.  I got my hands on a copy of it and hopefully will make some new Indian Food Recipes soon.

Mairlyn Smith from Cityline and Breakfast Television and everywhere there is food, was on hand to keep things moving and I think she moved more than anything else.  She was like the stand up comic side to the busy cooking chefs on stage.  Always fun watching her.  Vikram made a chicken curry but unfortunately we didn't get to taste it.

I also stuck around to see Terry from Top Chef Canada make some interesting Trout and Smoked Potatoes.  He couldn't say who won Top Chef but he did mention how intense the whole filming of it was.  We did get to try a spoonful of a dulce de lece pudding that was really good.

Fellow Dragon's Den Powerhouse Arlene Dickenson was also roaming around checking out booths and supporting her own large favourite picks that she supports from the show.

There was a food truck Alley where I ended my food tasting with a new Mexican Taco food truck where I tried a trio of tacos and then moved on to the Pancho's Bakery truck for a freshly made Churro for my last bite.   I started my day off with Indian Food having a really great Samosa and ended with Mexican Food.  That's the way I like it.

It wasn't a huge show in comparison to some others but it was fairly well rounded with some great vendors.   The ME.N.U booth was surrounded when I walked by later in the day so I am sure they sold a lot of rice balls.  These guys are becoming very popular on the local pop up food scene in Toronto and I think they are working on getting a food truck going.  I think they will have that rolling around Toronto in the not too distant future.

I sampled some tasty cheeses, some Chai Tea, and some yummy Salted Caramel ice cream from Kawartha Dairy.    It doesn't sound like all this food would sit well in my stomach but I guess my stomach was ready for a food adventure.

I hope to see it grow and have more vendors showing off some new things next year.

Giada de Laurentis in Toronto for the Chef's Challenge

Yesterday I was invited to go to a Press Conference with Giada de Laurentis the California based Celebrity Chef and mini mogul.  I mean mini because she is a teeny tiny chef who looks like she doesn't have to be surrounded by food all day.   This mini mogul has written many cookbooks with the current one called "Giada's Feel Good Food which is geared to all of the healthy practices, tips and recipes that she uses in her life, including yoga, packing tips and other things she does to keep herself healthy and fit.

She is in town this weekend to be the Head Judge for the "Chef's Challenge" - The Ultimate Battle for a Cure 2014.  An event that has amateur fundraising cooks paired up with some celebrity Chefs like Mark McEwan, David Rocco and Vikram Vij to compete against each other in teams with some random ingredients revealed to them on the day of the competition.  This is the 4th year of this event and Giada got involved after speaking with her friend Bobby Flay about his experience hosting it last year.  It is being held at the Toronto Congress Centre on Saturday, Feb 8th.  (today) as I write this.  and the proceeds of this event will go towards Research of women's Cancer diseases for Mount Sinai Hospital.

Giada has personal family experience with Cancer and wants to take this opportunity to "give back" as she puts it.

The press conference was held at the Hazelton Hotel in their screening room with a select group of mostly food bloggers like myself.  It was an intimate space where we were allowed to ask her questions.  I asked her if she thought chef's were going to far mixing too many different ingredients to think outside of the box.  Her reply was that she thinks there are chefs that use too many ingredients and she thinks that more than 8 ingredients is too much.  She thinks that food should be "clean" as she referred to it and she also thinks it's hard to make things that are made simple with a few ingredients and made well.  She thinks that the food gets muddy when you mix too many things.  At the Challenge she is looking to see things that we all know with a twist like chicken parmigiana with grilled chicken or some other twist.  She said that if anyone knows her they will know the flavours she likes.  Hint: She is partial to citrus flavour if anyone is reading this that is participating today.

She also chatted about her book and her busy life trying to keep up with her tv shows, her products and endorsements, her family and she is now opening a restaurant in Las Vegas that is a huge new venture for her.  She says she has to take care of herself so that she can keep up with her busy travel schedule and hectic life where she finds she must multi task all the time to keep up.

Giada is the first woman chef to open a restaurant on the Las Vegas strip and also the only restaurant that will be located in a small boutique hotel which was a 2 story parking garage which she will convert to indoor and outdoor seating.  She said this was the only one of it's kind on the Vegas Strip.

She is a powerhouse chef with many things in the air.  She said she hasn't been to Canada very much but we hope that she can find the time to come back again a lot more in the future.   Maybe a restaurant in Canada one day??  Who knows what's next for this busy chef. @gdelaurentis

Culinary Showdown - Chef Lynn Crawford and more Celebrity Chefs compete

COOK FOR THE CURE
CULINARY SHOWDOWN

This week I was invited to go to Chef Lynn Crawford's restaurant Ruby Watchco in downtown Toronto for a Fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's fundraiser the Culinary Showdown which takes place on December 7, 2013.

At this special event we got to nibble on some of Lynn's partner Chef Lora Kirk's great appetizers and sip some wine.   The food was great as I knew it would be because I have been to the restaurant in the past.  It's a great restaurant that I wish I lived closer to and could afford to go to all the time.

Here are some photos of some of the nibbles that were served.


We were all encouraged to sign up for the Culinary Showdown which I had already done at a previous event but now it's time for me to try and build my fundraising goal to reach the required $2500 to be able to join Lynn Crawford's team or one of the other Celebrity Chefs like Chuck Hughes ( another one of my favourite chefs)  or the West Coast Rockstar Vikram Vij or Top Chef Canada Judge Mark McEwan or Restaurant Makeover/Takeover chef Corbin Tomaczeski and Dean McDermott (Tori Spelling''s husband) and the great Tyler Florence will be on hand to host the event.

I need to raise $2500 to join one of their teams to compete, but if I raise $1000 I get to go to the event and watch the battle.

I need lot's of to reach the $2500 goal and every little bit helps.   

Click here to donate if you are able to and you will receive a tax receipt.  

If I am able to raise enough money to participate I will blog about my experience after the event.

If you are able to help sponsor me I want to thank you very much for helping me to do something good for a lot of people and help me sharpen my culinary skills.

Top Chefs cook up a showdown to Crush Cancer

Do you know someone that is dealing with Cancer or have you lost someone to some form of Cancer?  I bet everyone that reads this is saying YES right now.  In my life I have lost my father to Cancer,  I have lost most of my aunts and uncles to Cancer and have had close friends lose their relatives to cancer as well. I also have a few friends who have either had their own Cancer challenges or are dealing with it now.

 It is a horrible disease that I would like to see disappear one day.  Chemotherapy ravages the body and makes most people suffer a number of side effects that put a strain on their quality of life.

I worked at Sunnybrook Hospital for many years and would walk into the Cancer wing to get my lunch sometimes.  You realize how much it has increased when you see a whole wing of a hospital being built to deal with the treatments.   While research has been great in detecting the diseases earlier and the treatments have been getting better, there is still an increase of people getting Cancer due to environmental factors and I believe because of our diets and stressful lives as well.   There are lot's of people that don't smoke, eat well and exercise that get Cancer so it sometimes doesn't care who it affects but we can try and do our best to try and raise money to help further research on how to manage it or better yet cure it.

This week I went to a private event of chefs and foodies that was an encouragement to get more people to sign up for the Celebrity Chef's Culinary Challenge that will be held at the Royal York in December.   I decided to take on the challenge of trying to raise funds to participate in this challenge.  I have the time now and would like to do something in honour of my Dad and the people that I have lost to Cancer and friends that are in the midst of it now.

There are several levels of fundraising goals but the main goal is to reach $2500 to be able to join a Celebrity Chef and compete with their team against other Celebrity Chef teams in a Culinary Challenge.  While I am not a trained chef I will get some Chef training/mentoring before the competition.

If you want to see me cook with some of the best Canadian Chefs like Lynn Crawford, Mark McEwen, Chuck Hughes, Vikram Vij or Corbin Tomaszeski then drop a little bit of cash toward the cure.  Tyler Florence and Dean McDermott will be the Host and Emcee for the Event.

You can donate through this link and you will receive a Tax Receipt.

Click on this link to Donate:
KitchenAid Cook for the Cure