Noshfest packs Wychwood Barns with Jewish Food lovers

I would have to say that NOSHFEST at Wychwood Barns was a big success for the organizers and for most of the vendors selling their Jewish food.  I would say it wasn't as successful for the many people lined up to get in.  There is clearly a demand for these type of Ethnic centred events and since a Jewish Food Festival isn't a common thing in Toronto it brought out a whole lot of Jewish people and more looking for something to do and eat on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in November.

It was so packed that I only stood in one line to get food.  I waited somewhere around 20 minutes for a Lox and Cream Cheese Bagel from Schmaltz Appetizing.  I waited because the only time I finally got a chance to go there when I had my car I found it to be the best Lox in the city.  I would say the lox was good but the bagels weren't as fresh as they could have been so it wasn't as good as my trip to their tiny out of the way spot.  Unfortunately I don't even have a photo because it seems my phone was too full to save the photos I was snapping away.  I guess I should have checked them.  Luckily I used my Canon camera for a bunch of photos at the beginning when i scoped out the vendors.

Well known restauranteur Zane Caplansky was kept very busy slicing meat for his deli sandwiches.  Because he is so familiar to Torontonians he had a very long lineup too. I prefer to get food from his trucks or restaurants and he attends a lot of shows so I didn't feel the need to wait in line this time.

Also there slicing corned beef were the people from Pancer's Deli.  I didn't have any but my cousin did.  I know it can't be the same as getting a hot steammy sliced stack on rye from the restaurant.  It's hard to keep the food hot at these pop up events so the food suffers a bit.

The predominant thing at Noshfest seemed to be pickles,  pickles on sticks, sweet pickles, garlic pickles and more.  I did sample 3 of the pickles and it's nice to see a variety for different people's tastes.

 There were different babkas, cookies, brownies, and other desserts.

Not so traditional foods included Beer, Fried Chicken with Moroccan seasoning or something like that and some vegan plate of food I couldn't exactly tell what it was but my cousin tried it and it didn't look like something I would seek out so I didn't try it.

There was a matzoh ball soup,  and lemonana lemonade drink and oddly there were fish tacos, falafel, hummus and pizza.

I think I had higher expectations of what this festival could have been.  I would have liked to see someone like Anthony Rose there showing some interesting Jewish Food and more traditional dishes that are harder to find or elevated.  I suppose I have gone to too many festivals and I am always looking for a bit more.  There was gefilte fish from Central Epicure but it's the stuff you can buy at grocery stores and I would have loved to see things from Regina's Deli or something similar with hand rolled Gefilte fish and dishes like chopped liver, knishes, dumplings, latkes and other delicious Jewish foods.  It seems that Jewish food has kind of fallen out of trend in this city while Asian food is booming.  Most of the Jewish food restaurants are very dated and need a little modernization and updated way of serving the food.  I know there are people out there doing some interesting things and i would have like to see them showcase those things at this festival.   Maybe next year.  It's always hard to get people involved at the beginning.   Maybe people will jump on the bandwagon and turn Jewish food into trendy food.  One can hope.

LG presents Chuck's Bites with Chef Chuck Hughes

Chef Chuck Hughes

Montreal Chef Chuck Hughes was in Toronto for LG presents Chuck's Bites to show off a bit of his mom's easy Tomato Pie recipe and his partnership with LG Canada's new Kitchen Appliances.  In an intimate studio setting he met with small groups of food and lifestyle writers and showed how easy it is to make an easy pie using phyllo pastry and some fresh tomatoes and cheese.  It literally took him 10 minutes to put together.

But aside from the fantastic recipe demo he was there to talk about the appliances.  Unfortunately our group only got a few tips of what he likes about the appliances from the childproof lock on the oven to the see inside door of the fridge.  I have included more details that were provided below.  I can tell you that they are beautiful appliances that I wish I could have in my apartment and if I had the money when I was living in a house I would have bought them for sure.

I have seen Chuck so many times that it was more of a catch up on what's going on in his life with his growing family,  he has 2 young boys now and he also has a couple of new shows he has been working on that he hopes get released in Canada.  One with his fellow chef and friend Danny Smiles. They travel around the world and stay at campsites and cook up meals with local chefs.

Chuck owns 2 restaurants in Montreal about 15 minutes away from each other,  Garde Manger and Le Bremner.  He doesn't have plans to open any more restaurants in the future but I was hoping he would open one in Toronto as I have yet to visit his restaurants in Toronto but luckily he does a lot of cooking demos in Toronto so hopefully you can attend one soon.

Get the Recipe for Chuck's Mom's Tomato Pie here:  
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BybnRQ1bwFYzdlozQTJPVFY2eEU



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*this is not a sponsored post.  I was invited to the cooking demo but not compensated for this post.  Photos are my own above and courtesy of LG Canada with Appliances.

Taste Canada Awards - Canada's best Cookbook Authors -Food Bloggers

   

Taste Canada Awards 2016 Shortlist

The winners of Canada’s only culinary writing awards will be announced at the Taste Canada Awards Gala in Toronto on November 14, hosted by Mary Ito, former host of CBC’s Fresh Air

Taste Canada Awards - 2016 Shortlist featuring 55 world-class culinary writers in both official languages.

This year, Taste Canada Awards received 150 submissions (96 books and 54 food blogs) for a coveted award, which has been honouring culinary writers for 19 years.  

At the Taste Canada Awards Gala on November 14^th, Taste Canada Awards will present 22 winners with a Gold or Silver Award. CBC radio personality and former host of the top-rated show, Fresh Air, Mary Ito, will serve as host of this year’s Gala at the Arcadian Court in Toronto. The Gala is a one-of-a-kind gastronomic event with more than a dozen chef-led food stations presented by Toronto’s most celebrated chefs, and a Red Carpet walked by some of Canada’s most celebrated writers and culinary personalities.  At the Gala, Taste Canada Awards will also name this year’s Hall of Fame Award inductees (living and posthumous) sponsored by The Culinary Historians of Canada.

What’s New in 2016

·       New Category: Health and Special Diet Cookbooks

·       This year, Taste Canada Awards will present two prizes for each book category, a Gold and Silver (previously just Gold was awarded).  In the Food Blog category, presented by Canadian Lentils, a Gold award will be given.

Taste Canada Awards: Categories

·       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 / Les Narrations Culinaires

·       Health and Special Diet Cookbooks/Santé et diète particulière (NEW CATEGORY)

·       Food Blog / Blog Culinaire

Taste Canada Cooks the Books

Taste Canada Cooks the Books is a cooking competition that invites Canadian culinary students from across the nation to compete for the title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs. Taste Canada Cooks the Books showcases the talent of Canada’s next generation of chefs, honours the authors and brings some of this year’s outstanding submitted cookbooks to life. Cooks the Books is presented by Taste Canada Awards and by the Alberta Canola Producers, sponsored by The Egg Farmers of Canada, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and Ricardo Cuisine.

The teams are paired with a culinary author and given the challenge to recreate a recipe from the author’s cookbook, along with their own signature garnish. This year, the students will compete in front of food lovers, industry professionals and peers at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on November 12^th and 13^th. A mentoring author who will offer guidance and motivation will join the teams on stage. A panel of notable culinary experts will judge the competition. The winners will be announced at the Taste Canada Awards Gala on November 14^th where they will be presented with prizes, a letter of recommendation and a trophy to display at their school.

About Taste Canada

Our Canadian story, as told through the art of culinary writing

Taste Canada Awards celebrates 19 years as the only organization in Canada that recognizes this nation’s abundance of outstanding culinary writers. The mission of Taste Canada Awards is to be the authoritative culinary writing award in Canada by showcasing and recognizing the best. Our vision is to promote Canadian-authored culinary writing so it is recognized as world class. Drawn from Canadian academic, publishing, creative and institutional fields, the independent panel of judges reviews submissions across six categories.  In 2015, the total units sold in Canada for books in the “Cooking” subject category amounted to 1.3 million for a total value of $38.7 million, according to BookNet Canada.

2016 TASTE CANADA AWARDS:  THE SHORTLIST IN ALL AWARD CATEGORIES:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Culinary Narratives

Alford, Jeffrey. Chicken in the Mango Tree: Food and Life in a Thai-Khmer Village. Douglas & McIntyre, Madeira Park

Gaylard, Linda. The Tea Book. DK, Toronto

Hamilton, Alissa. Got Milked? What You Don’t Know About Dairy, The Truth About Calcium, And Why You’ll Thrive Without Milk. HarperCollins, Toronto

McClusky, Peter. Ontario Garlic: The Story from Farm to Festival. Arcadia Publishing and The History Press, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Mechefske, Lindy. Sir John’s Table: The Culinary Life and Times of Canada’s First Prime Minister. Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton

General Cookbooks

Canadian Living Test Kitchen and Irene Fong. The Ultimate Cookbook. Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montréal

Neal, Peter and Chris Neal. Goodness: Recipes and Stories. Blakeman Books, Richmond Hill

O’ Brady, Tara. Seven Spoons: My Favorite Recipes for Any and Every Day. Appetite by Random House, Vancouver

Smith, Mairlyn. Homegrown: Celebrating the Canadian Foods We Grow, Raise and Produce. Whitecap Books, Vancouver

Wimbush-Bourque, Aimée. Brown Eggs and Jam Jars: Family Recipes from the Kitchen of Simple Bites. Penguin Canada Books, Toronto

Regional/Cultural Cookbooks

Dammann, Derek and Chris Johns. True North: Canadian Cooking from Coast to Coast. HarperCollins, Toronto

Flinn, Craig. Out of New Nova Scotia Kitchens: Best-loved East Coast Dishes for Today. Formac Publishing, Halifax

Knight, Chris. One World Kitchen: The Cookbook. TouchWood Editions, Victoria

Musgrave, Susan. A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World. Whitecap Books, Vancouver

Nimji, Noorbanu and Karen Anderson. A Spicy Touch: Family Favourites from Noorbanu Nimji’s Kitchen. A Spicy Touch Publishing (Canada) Inc., Calgary

Single-Subject Cookbooks

Hynam-Smith, Adam. Curbside: Modern Street Food From a Vagabond Chef. Whitecap Books, Vancouver

Jones, Bill. The Deerholme Vegetable Cookbook. TouchWood Editions, Victoria

Langford, Signe. Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs: Keeping Chickens in the Kitchen Garden, with 100 Recipes. Douglas & McIntyre, Madeira Park

Mundy, Jane. The Ocean Wise Cookbook 2: More Seafood Recipes That Are Good for the Planet. Whitecap Books, Vancouver

Walsh, Victoria and Scott McCallum. A Field Guide to Canadian Cocktails. Appetite by Random House, Vancouver

Health and Special Diet Cookbooks

Eustace, Mary Jo. Scared Wheatless: Delicious Gluten-Free Recipes That Won’t Make You Lose Your Mind. Whitecap Books, Vancouver

Green, Patricia. Sweet Goodness: Unbelievably Delicious Gluten-Free Baking Recipes. Penguin Canada Books, Toronto

Houston, Jennifer and Ruth Tal. Super Fresh: Super Natural, Super Vibrant Vegan Recipes. Penguin Canada Books, Toronto

Nadel, Jessica. Superfoods 24/7: More Than 100 Easy and Inspired Recipes to Enjoy the World’s Most Nutritious Foods at Every Meal, Every Day. The Experiment (Thomas Allen & Son), Markham

Telpner, Meghan. The UnDiet Cookbook: 130 Gluten-Free Recipes for a Healthy and Awesome Life. Appetite by Random House, Vancouver

Food Blog

In Pursuit Of More

www.inpursuitofmore.com

Mortar and Pestle

www.mortar-and-pestle.ca

She Eats

www.sheeats.ca

FRENCH LANGUAGE

Les Narrations Culinaires

Chartier, François. L’essential de Chartier. Les Éditions de Presse, Montréal

Dô, Sylvie. L’Épicerie : Le plaisir de faire les bons choix. Les Éditions Caractère, Montréal

Francoeur, Jean-Marie. Encyclopédie de la cuisine Nouvelle-France : Histoires, produits et recettes de notre patrimoine culinaire. Fides, Anjou

Lavallée, Bernard. Sauver la planète, une bouchée à la fois: Trucs et conseils. Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal

Livres de Cuisine Générale

Coup de Pouce, St-Germain, Claudine. Cuisiner pour une semaine, un mois, un an. Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montréal

O’Gleman, Geneviève et Alexandra Diaz. Famille futée 2 : 175 recettes santé à moins de 5$ par portion. Éditions La Semaine, Montréal

Risler, Clémence et Emilie Villeneuve. Chefs de famille : Portrait et recettes. Les Éditions Cardinal, Montréal

Robitaille, Josée. C’est l’hiver! Les éditions de la Carotte blanche, Montréal

Siri, Florence-Léa. L’Art de cuisiner sans gaspiller ni se ruiner : Trucs et astuces d’économie familliale. Plus d 250 canevas de recettes. Les Éditions Caractère, Montréal

Livres de Cuisine régionale et culturelle

Alary, Christophe et Frédéric Smith. Saveurs de saison : Une cuisine inspirée du domaine Cataraqui. Les Éditions Sylvain Harvey, en collaboration avec la Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec, Québec

Bérubé, Caty, Richard Houde, Miléna Babin, Benoît Boudreau, Annie Lavoie et Raphaëlle St-Laurent Pelletier. Les plaisirs gourmands de Caty – Cuisine québécoise : les secrets de nos grands-mamans. Éditions Pratico-Pratiques, Québec

Di Domenico, Maria. Fine cuisine italienne des Abruzzes. Les Éditions Glénat Québec, Montréal

Loureiro, Helena. La cuisine d’Helena : 80 recettes portugaises pour ensoleiller votre table. Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montréal

Livres de Cuisine Sujet Unique

Gauthier, Emilie. Révolution sandwichs. Les Éditions du Trécarré, Montréal

Gosselin, Virginie et Marie-Pier Gosselin. Au Gré des Champs : Une histoire de famille, d’agriculture et de cuisine. les éditions du passage, Montréal

Lavoie, Maxime. BBQ au Max : 100 recettes débiles par le nouveau guru québécois du BBQ. Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur, Laval

Ricardo. Mon premier livre de recettes. Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal

Vézina, Daniel. La cuisine réfléchie : Bien manger sans gaspiller. Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal

Santé et diète particulière

Cormier, Hubert. Ma table festive : Yogourt. Éditions La Semaine, Montréal

Côté, Stéphanie et Philippe Grand. Nutrition Sportive : 21 jours de menus. Modus Vivendi, Montréal

Michaud, Eliane. Naturellement sucré : 100 desserts à base de sucres naturels. Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur, Laval

René, Jacynthe. Délices détox : Mon guide gourmand et vivifiant. Les Éditions Cardinal, Montréal

St-Pierre, Véronique. Les pâtisseries de Rose Madeleine : 50 recettes véganes. Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montréal

Blogue Culinaire

Nana Marmelade

www.nanamarmelade.com

The Green Life

www.thegreenlife.ca

Champagne & Brunelle

www.camillebrunelle.com

Taste Canada social media handles:

http://tastecanada.org/

https://twitter.com/TasteCanada

https://www.facebook.com/Taste.Canada

https://www.instagram.com/tastecanadaawards/

#TasteCanadaAwards

I will be live Tweeting from the awards and will do another post about the event and winners.