Food Unites All of US - Food Bloggers Potluck in Toronto

TORONTO FOOD BLOGGERS GET TOGETHER FOR 1st POTLUCK

I am a member of the Food Bloggers of Canada Community and although I don't participate in the Forums on a regular basis I saw a post by the people that run Food Bloggers of Canada, Ethan and Melissa, on the Facebook forum about a discussion they had about getting people together over food to combat some of the terrible things going on in the world.   Local Community Kitchen The Depanneur had some success with having some Syrian refugees use their kitchen to make their own food and it brought a lot of interest in their food.

So when they suggested that each City in the Canadian Food Blogger world organize small Potlucks to meet each other and share foods from their Ethnic Origin to get to know each other I thought it was a great idea.  I have always believed that sharing food builds relationships or in some cases not so much when it's families who hate each other forced together,  but that's not what we are talking about here.  My fellow Food Revolution Ambassador and Food Blogger of Canada member (Hema - Nomadic Nutritionist) has a membership at workshare space C.S.I. in Toronto so she was able to book a room that we could hold our Toronto potluck in that space.

After going back and forth on the date we settled on March 12th on a chilly sunday afternoon.  We were supposed to meet at Noon but a few got a bit lost so we waited as long as we could before diving into the food we had.  In total we had a total of 6 people but the diversity of backgrounds and foods was amazing.  We had Bloggers from Poland, India, Jamaica and with Japanese mixed roots and me who is all over the place.  

I decided to make a simple dish that my mom made because I wasn't sure about people's intolerances and allergies, so I just made a simple carrot salad with a simple vinaigrette.  My mom was from Europe and made this a lot especially in the summer when it was too hot to cook.  I just happened to have carrots and not a lot of time to make something so this was what I was able to do.

My fellow bloggers got a lot more creative.   We had fantastic cabbage rolls,  Cassava Pon,  Ackee and Saltfish and Festivals,  Pavlovas, a quinoa and something else mixed in latke and some great cardamom and chocolate cupcakes.  It was a fantastic lunch and it was great to get feedback on what everyone was doing and what was working or what they were trying to do with their blogs.

We hope to continue to do this on a Monthly basis or at least every couple of months if everyone is too busy and I know that there were many more Toronto bloggers that weren't able to make it but wanted to.  We hope that we can form connections and knowledge and try new foods at future Potlucks.  It's great to share a meal with people you have never met but still have something that connects you like food blogging.
Thanks to Hema for organizing and booking the venue and to everyone that took a chance and showed up,  with hangovers and time changes and all.

Now that we have done the first one let's see who turns up for the next one.  I am looking forward to trying some new foods and meeting the rest of the Toronto Food Blogger Community.

Thanks to Ethan and Melissa of Food Bloggers of Canada  for making the #FOODUNITESALLOFUS  suggestion for a Potluck event.  It got the ball rolling and we appreciate it.

This event really falls in line with the things I try and do with my Food Revolution participation.  It's all about sharing food and educating people about different food and eating real food.

See you all next time.  I will bring my Dish and a spare and my appetite and of course my camera too.

Little Sister big Indonesian flavours

Where:  LITTLE SISTER
When:   Sat, Jan. 14, 2017
Address:  2031 Yonge Street, Toronto
Social:    @littlesisterto

Website:  http://www.littlesisterto.com/

I tried Little Sister's food for the first time at the Taste of Toronto Festival and the first year they won a prize for their mind blowing sweet pork belly dish.  I had their fried rice again last year but even though their restaurant was on my TO DO List of places to check out, I never seemed to have the right opportunity to go until this past weekend.  My fellow food blogger Natalie (http://www.cookingquidnunc.com) and I decided to go see a movie and after a long search of places that were near the theatre at Yonge and Eglinton we both thought the best choice would be Little Sister.  We didn't realize it was only a few blocks south of Yonge and Eglinton.  It's got one of those signs that don't pop out when you drive by so you have to pay attention to the address.  We have both been saying for a long time that we should go so early Saturday evening was the perfect time.
We got there around 5pm before the crowd and the reservations started flowing in.  That was the perfect time for us because we sat by the window and actually had some daylight for our first items but as you can see the food looks a bit more yellow as we lost the sun.

I ordered the Chicken Satay.  I love Chicken Satay this one had a great satay sauce.  It's made with chicken thighs, although not my favourite, I prefer the white meat, but it keeps the chicken a lot more moist when it's the chicken thighs.

We both shared the Beef Wontons with Sriracha sauce.  Nice and crispy and a bit of spice kick.

 

I also ordered the Roasted Cauliflower with Puffed Rice.  It was served cold.  I expected it to be a warm dish but I guess it was more of a salad or street food type of dish.  The flavour was really good and it's one of their popular dishes.

The dish that blew our minds was Natalie's Braised pork in Star Anise.  The balance of flavours was perfect.  The star anise wasn't overwhelming.  The pork was perfectly seasoned and all of the flavours were rich and satisfying.  I really want to make this dish in my slow cooker one day and if I go back to Little Sister soon I am having this again for sure.  

Natalie also ordered the fried rice which was good but the photo didn't really make it look great so I didn't include it.

The place is really cozy with rustic wooden tables and a beautiful bar.  It feels like a downtown hipster westend restaurant but it's tucked away Uptown.  It would be insanely packed all the time if it was located on Queen Street but I am really happy that it's Uptown where people really appreciate that there isn't anything else like it in the area.

It's one of those places you don't want to tell anyone about because you want to save it for yourself.

They aren't open for lunch and I would suggest making reservations because it's not a huge space.

Enjoy.

*This is not a sponsored post.  We paid for our own meal and the opinions expressed are my own as well as the images.

A taste of Casa Manila

Last night I felt like I took a trip to Manila for one night.  I joined fellow food bloggers once again for a media tasting at Casa Manila on York Mills at Don Mills in North York.  Immediately when you walk in you are greeted the way you might be into someone's home for a family gathering.  The space is larger than you would expect and it is decorated with art brought from Manila and the chairs and some decor are made of bamboo which invokes a real island feel in the space.

We were welcomed by the very animated and excited Mila who is the owner and brainchild of Casa Manila.  She is very passionate about explaining all of the dishes and their origins and the ingredients and the quality of the food.  Her goal in the restaurant was to provide Filipino Food that is authentic for the sorely lacking choice of Filipino food in Toronto.  There have been a few restaurants pop up with Filipino food, one is a modern version on Queen Street and there are some smaller less fancy places around the Bathurst and Wilson Area but this space is designed to make you feel like you are celebrating a special occasion with your Filipino relatives back home as they say.

We were invited to participate in Kamayan style dinner.  It translates into "eat with your hands".  The food is served on a bamboo leaf covered table and the food is placed on the table.  No utensils except for wooden spoons to grab the rice and the items placed at the centre of the table.  Only dishes of various dipping sauces and of course carved out coconuts for drinking were the only dish and glassware provided.  Imagine a Filipino Luau and that's what it's like to dine this way.

Mila invited a group of food bloggers to sample this feast because she is launching their own brand of dipping sauces and cooking sauces.  She wanted us to experience the whole dinner as an event and try the sauces in context. She has plans to expand her business by looking to wholesale her products and get them into people's home kitchens and also commercial kitchens.  The sauce flavours include a Savoury Peanut Sauce, Creamy Coconut Ginger and Adobo Sauces.  You can pick them up in their restaurant but Mila is looked for grocery store placement.

We ate and drank a whole lot of very authentic and beautifully flavoured food.  The drinks available to us were a really refreshing Calamansi (a Filipino lime) Mojito, Sansi a root beer, Royal an orange drink and San Miguel Beer.

The food included Sinigang Baka (Beef Tamarind Soup) which was so delicious with an array of vegetables it had a balance of sweet, sour and spicy.  I loved this soup.

The appetizer was a Chicharon Manok and Atchara, instead of pork they deep fried chicken skin and served it with a pickled green papaya and garlic aoili.   Crunchy goood.

The Kamayan included:

1. Rice
2. Tinuhog na Manok which are chicken skewers and dipping sauces.
3. Inihaw Baka, thinly slices beef ribs with Coconut ginger sauce.
4. Lechon Kawali, Crispy Pork Belly
5. Flying Talapia, a deep fried whole fish.
6. Hilaw Manga Insalada, a green mango salad with jicamas, tomato, red and green onions, served with shrimp paste.

For Dessert Mila brought out a huge trifle bowl filled with Halo Halo (Mix Mix). This is a shaved ice that has over a dozen different things that are mixed in including: sweet beans, custard, purple yam, puffed rice and assorted fruits.

There were a lot of very stuffed food bloggers that rolled out of Casa Manila last night.  I am sure the other patrons must of thought we were all nuts because we all Foodarazzi'd every dish that came out by pouncing on them with our cameras and smart phones all the while Mila was explaining everything.

This is what the blogger aftermath looked like.  We were fully entertained and stuffed and I am sure a lot of us will go back and take our friends for special occasions for this feast again soon.  

You don't have to go there for a feast only,  the have lovely regular family meals and they deliver within the Toronto area and willing to deliver as far as Barrie with an extra delivery charge.

If you ever dreamed about visiting the Phillipines but couldn't afford to then visit
Casa Manila at 879 York Mills Road, Unit 1, Toronto, ON M3B 1Y5
P: 416-443-9654
E. info@casamanila.ca
W. casamanila.ca
F Casa Manila Restaurant
T/I @casaManilaTO
P Casa ManilaTO