Insider’s Tips - April.10
It was freezing cold this week when Chef Loseto went to the Ontario Food Terminal and few customers were around. He reports that the spring crop has been postponed.
Chef bought some of the last cold-storage Ontario produce along with Ontario hothouse produce (except for tomatoes, which were absent this week). He wondered whether the hothouse material may run out as pickers lose heart this week while working in this extreme cold. Chef bought hothouse rhubarb, which he is using on his B.C. halibut dish together with desserts.
White Holland asparagus continued to be wildly expensive this week, and the Washington State normally-delicious green asparagus crop has not yet arrived. Chef ignored the Mexican green asparagus.
Chef bought newly-arrived loquats from Spain as well as Brazilian mangoes. Argentine pears and citrus looked good. The pears were good substitutes for a shortage of U.S. pears.
With reduced demand at the Terminal, Chef did not see bargains but heard that sell-offs at really good discounts are occurring on Fridays. So on Saturdays, you might look for bargains at veg and fruit stores which source at the Terminal.
The B.C. halibut season started this week. The short and exciting Nova Scotia fresh snow crab season is starting, and the first fresh snow crabs should arrive next week. Compared to the frozen Fogo Island, Newfoundland snow crabs which have been cleaned and cooked, the fresh crabs are hard to clean and are easy to overcook. But Chef believes the extra work is worthwhile, delivering better texture and flavour. Like the Fogo Island crabs, he will incorporate them into a cold salad.
The founder of the Acadian Sturgeon and Caviar Company, Cornel Ceapa, was in for dinner and talked to Chef about carrying his products. His operation is located in Carters Point, New Brunswick, and produces and sells caviar, sturgeon products, and fresh sturgeon directly. His motto is Canadian, Sustainable, and Delicious. He sells caviar in refrigerated pods which can preserve fresh caviar for up to four weeks. It’s a great story at www.acadian-sturgeon.com.
Meat-wise, Chef is bringing in Ontario rabbits which he will confit and serve with foie gras.
It may seem a bit early in the year given the weather, but Chef has started producing gelato and sorbetto, which he offers for sale on Fridays and Saturdays at the kitchen door of our building at 111 Queen St. East. Of his many offerings, he recommends his signature salted caramel with olive oil, and ginger tea and strawberry jam zabaglione gelatos, as well as the California blood orange sorbetto.
If you are a seafood lover, don’t miss our annual Seafood Dinner next Friday, April 18. We will have a wide selection of wines which will superbly match the plates.
After what seems an interminable winter, GEORGE will welcome the return of warmth and brightness with a Spring Dinner that celebrates the season’s freshest ingredients. Oh, the joy of it! Details to follow.