Vol. 3: No. 158 – January 10, 2012

What on earth do you do now if you are a seasonal restaurant? Pray for the coming of the next season?

The beginning of January is obviously the toughest time of the year from a seasonal standpoint. The Chef reported from the Ontario Food Terminal that there are lots of Ontario apples and vegetables available this year stored in cold cellars. He found excellent beets, leeks, carrots and parsnips which he was pleased with. He reports that there is tremendous cold storage inventory this year because of abundant harvests in 2011. Not much is coming from Ontario hothouses at the moment but in any case, the Chef stops using tomatoes and peppers in his recipes preferring to give them a rest until they are harvested seasonally in Ontario fields later this year.

In the import section of the Terminal, the Chef found good California produce including artichokes, fennel, rapini, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Surprisingly he recommended the California strawberries and table grapes. He bought kiwis from Italy and persimmons fromIsrael. There are some Californian blood oranges around but they are in our view greatly inferior to the much less sweet Sicilian blood oranges due here in the next two weeks. He noticed Australian blood oranges which looked awful. Pomegranates from Europe are done but there are some US pomegranates still around.

So what is the Chef’s strategy for overcoming the obvious setback of running a Toronto seasonal restaurant in the winter? Here it is:

• Hold steady using Ontario root vegetables.
• Switch from squash. The Ontario varieties will soon be replaced by inferior South American varieties.
• Move to tropical fruits and citrus. See our article below on the Chef’s recipe for a citrus miso vinaigrette for salads. Currently there is excellent papaya available from South America but do not buy mangoes for awhile because they are not ready. Use green veg from the US. See our article with a New York Times link below on Mexican organic produce which might give one pause.
• Use less fresh imported herbs and shift to spices.
• Produce more warm rather then cold dishes and eliminate cold salads and garnishes.
• Present more game and much less raw or lightly cooked meat.
• Eliminate raw or cold fish.

Here are three dishes which are examples of what the Chef believes are appropriate for this season in Toronto

• Dungeness crab with wild rice and grapefruit and bruléd avocado
• Braised veal blade  with Ontario root vegetables and chestnut potato
• Rack of venison with citrus späztle and beet terrine

Finish it off with apple sponge cake and burnt honey ice cream or the Chef’s latest creation using a combo of chocolate and caramel and coffee garnished with tropical fruit.

What you don’t know when you buy certain Mexican organic vegetables

As Winter comes on, stores like Whole Foods feature more and more organic produce. It turns out that this produce is not only much more expensive but it can come at some considerable cost to the environment. The New York Times in a story ‘Organic Agriculture May Be Outgrowing Its Ideals’, argues that the new organic export-driven vegetables like tomatoes and green onions produced in the Baja are cultivated using water from underground aquifers which are being permanently drained and will effectively not be replenished naturally. The production of such vegetables is not sustainable but consumers do not appreciate that the organic label does not imply that sustainable methods are used. And the growers and chains do not have to inform us of environmental damage being done to future agricultural production.

See the article at http://nyti.ms/t3xibo

It’s a black eye for organic but it does support the Chef’s view that it is more important to know something about the reliability and practices of the farmer who produced what you buy rather than relying on the label. That is one of the reasons why the Ontario Food Terminal where buyers and growers interact personally is so important to Toronto.

A quick visit to Cozumel

Cozumel is a large island located off the Mayan Riviera on the Yucatan Peninsula. We went there as a restorative measure for one week during the Holidays. It was surprisingly fabulous. The island itself is surrounded by an underwater marine park with wonderful snorkeling and diving. On the windy west side of the island there is a national park seashore which is superb. We stayed at the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel which was well located and good value. The food was good but we wondered about whether its flavour was derived from small packets produced at Intercontinental’s HQ when we saw the breakfast omelette man throwing out the egg yolks when he was asked to prepare a white omelette. Suspicious they had no use for the yolks.

The island has not yet been developed other than on the hotel front and the restaurants are mostly small and owner operated with some character. We did have a margarita at the Jimmy Buffet’s chain which was too sweet. The margarita at our hotel was too sour but we found a beach bar, Mescalito’s, on the wild side of the island which made a perfect one balancing sweet and sour perfectly. Is this something George can duplicate?

The caveat about Mexico is not the murder rate which we assume in Cozumel is zero but the lowlifes it attracts as tourists. The English used to say that the trouble with going to Spain was running into your milkman on the beach. No problem with that any more since the species have vanished.

A happy midwinter salad dressing to cheer you up

Aji Blood Orange Vinaigrette
1 tbsp pommery mustard
50 ml  aji paste (South American Chili Paste)
1/2  tbsp crushed pink peppercorns
1/2  tbsp mashed roasted garlic
1/2 lemons, zest and juiced
1 blood orange, zest and juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
750 ml olive oil
1 tbl Chinese wine
salt to taste

Chef Loseto says that this vinaigrette will keep for a month or so if covered and refrigerated