Edible Tulip

Box Hunting

Who knew that looking for moving boxes was an urban sport?

Earlier today, at 7:38 a.m. to be precise, I was sitting in the Dufferin Mall parking lot with a coffee and a croissant listening to CBC Radio. Even though the No Frills didn't open until 8:00 a.m. there were a few other cars idling or parked - windows down, radios on, wood burning smoke from the Dufferin Grove Park ovens streaming its way from the treed hillside to the cement lot - waiting like me. I thought these people were waiting for food. Stupid me.

I sat in my car until 7:59 a.m. listening to CBC Radio's Andy Barrie talk about the unavailability of access to grocery stores which in essence debilitates a person's right to food in many low income areas in the GTA. It piqued my interest for obvious reasons (food + politics) and so I sat there in my car after the interviews were over thinking when something in my rear view mirror made me look outside. I saw a mad flurry of colour move towards the front entranceway to the No Frills. Someone had opened the doors and a flood of people with carts and without carts, old and young, strong and sinewy, started pushing their way in. People were jumping out of their cars all over the parking lot and quickening their pace towards the door. I put my coffee cup on the dashboard, grabbed my car keys and started to run towards the door too. I knew these people couldn't be that excited about grocery shopping. It turns out it's all about box hunting.

The boxes are lined up on the other side of the cashiers. I had been prepared to be sneaky, thinking that the No Frills manager might not like me taking their boxes without filling them with their groceries. It turns out I had way over-thought this - not only did nobody bat an eye but this was a national sport I had not heard of. Although there are hundreds of boxes piled high along a beltway, expert box hunters would agree that there are only a few worthy boxes - sturdy and big enough to pack a decent amount inside with a closed bottom and not too much evidence of old food. The rest are flimsy and dirty.

I started at the left hand side and began awkwardly stacking boxes as the other box pickers' arms grabbed boxes with expert efficiency and ease. As I watched them, I became aware of the fact that I was suffering from box envy: I was looking at the guy with the glasses down the aisle from me and his boxes looked like boxes I would like to have. I had to keep telling myself that this was cardboard. Cardboard that was eventually going to be broken down and put to the curb. I made 4 trips to the car and arrived home with at least 17 boxes so that my living room floor is now an array of "Prime Time Peppers" and "Orient's Delight Rice Sticks" and "Easy Chow Mein" and "Cheerios" and "First Class Russet Potatoes".

Rashnaa - Sri Lankan Restaurant

This restaurant suffered a horrendous fire a few years back and when they re-opened after being closed for a 6 month renovation their business never really revived entirely. Since I think their food and their service is outstanding I try to visit whenever I crave Sri Lankan spice and a good old Cheetah beer. I also try to spread the word about them.

Rashnaa means tasty in Sanskrit. The food is inspired by Sri Lankan/South Indian traditional tamil dishes which means not only tasty but SPICY.

There were two of us and we ate heartily and there were still leftovers. There are a range of vegetable curries ($4.95 each) that come in round silver bowls (3's enough for 2 people): Eggplant, potato, carrot, spinach, dhal, beets, okra, leeks, soya, cauliflower, beans, Indian Squash, chick peas. We ordered a large serving of Pilau rice ($3.95) with currants and cashews and peas that comes seasoned with aromatic herbs and spices. And our main meat dish was Chicken Devil ($8.95): strips of boneless chicken, sauteed with onion, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, and fresh herbs in a hot chili sauce.

There are also lots of Dosa dishes, Vermicelli platters, and Rice/Curry entrees both vegetarian and meat oriented. They tend to, unlike the Persian restaurants I like which favour lamb, prefer beef and chicken for their carnivorous creations but there are also shrimp and whole fish dishes.

The restaurant decor/ambiance is low key and humble. The food is marvelous. It's located on one of Toronto's best kept street secrets: Wellesley Street just west of Parliament. At this time of year, late spring, the eccentric funk of Cabbagetown is in full array in the frontal scapes of the various Victorian cottages that line the street.

Afterward, hop the fence and wander through the shadows of the Necropolis - one of Toronto's oldest and most historic cemeteries across from Riverdale Farm.

Father's Day

Dad spent his father's day working in his garden and driving around the property in his pick-up truck with his 2 1/2 year old granddaughter. His daughter was at the farm too because her husband, father of her children, was away on a golf trip. My brother, who is the son of my father, is treeplanting in The Pas and obviously couldn't make it home for the day. And me? My sorry excuse for not being a part of my father's day today is my imminent move. Nothing like moving to a place half the size of your current home to realize - My God I have to purge, what am I doing with a curling iron from grade 9?! There's not only packing, there are also a few time-consuming tasks at the new place that have so far taken 3 entire weekends: painting, stripping paint, taking doors down, taking off shelving, caulking, cleaning, and creating a garden by pulling up large concrete slabs. The kitchen smells like gas. And my key pulled out the lock from the knob today as I locked the porch door. The door remains locked but there is no lock in the door. It's all starting out a little odd.

Since I'm packing the kitchen first, all week I will struggling with the "what can be cooked in one frying pan and one pot" dinner game. Apparently three poached eggs on steamed asparagus with melted pesto sauce is one answer. Dad got barbecued lamb and lettuce from his garden.

Morsels of Morels

I'm dying to go mushroom hunting! I've been online looking at where to find morels in Ontario and very soon I'm going to head a bit north out of the city at dawn or at dusk with a spade and a cloth bag and an old worn indispensible book on mycology.

I find something about morels totally charming. Maybe it's their unabashed feral look or the smoky earthiness of their flavour but really I think it's the spongy, conical-capped shape of their honeycombed exterior. Within each small compartments insects thrive in a haven of life.

Morels tend to cluster around Aspens and abandoned orchards (due to soil alkaline). Here's more information from the University of Guelph.

I grew up detesting mushroom. Nowadays I give them a little more credit because of their ability to saturate a larger dish with a grounding sustenance. They make a brilliant risotto because they hide their texture within the rice but coat it with their flavour. Another 5 minute simple meal is sauted morels in butter (3 or 4 minutes) with a few lightly beaten eggs and mixed slowly over low heat with a wooden spoon. A rather decadenct elaboration on the scrambled egg.

REMINDER: Morels must be cooked. They contain a toxin that will make you very sick if you eat them raw.

To get a glimpse of the giant puffball mushroom I came across last August and subsequently dug up for my parents to take as a cottage gift ("Here, we brought you something gourmet as a thank you for having us: a 2 foot diameter fungus!") check this out and check here to see the oyster mushrooms I received as a gift at the retreat centre last year.

Summer Cocktails

The great thing about booze is that it isn't necessarily seasonal. I mean a beer by a lake on a hot summer night is as good as a beer after a sauna after a long cross-country ski. Red wine is great with hearty wintry stews but it's also great with pizza late at night sitting shutting down an August day. Champagne? Goes with everything. Including baths. My personal favourite. My summer white wines are pinot grigio and Burgundian blends and Ontario rieslings whereas my winter whites are mostly gewurtz. and new world chardonnays. Cocktails? Cocktails may be the one drink I hardly venture toward in the winter. Although sweet vermouth on ice with an orange peel is yummy. As is a negroni. My dad makes the best (verified by at least a dozen friends) gin/vodka and tonic/soda drink in Ontario. Maybe even further afoot. It's his exceptional knack for balance of flavour and a deep abiding respectful love of booze. I can do a sangria pitcher on a leafy patio with a girlfriend. I'm not a martini fan. I don't love vodka. But I do love campari. I've found people either adore or despise the bitter syrupy almost pomegranate taste of campari. A shot of campari with a douse of soda and fresh lemon or lime on ice is great sitting in the grass, hanging out in a tree branch, sitting on a mossy stump. I love it because it's full of a complicated simplicity - Dorothy Parker floating down the river in a canoe.

Dufferin Grove Farmer's Market

In this woodburning oven in a public park in Toronto cooks a focaccia with pesto and spinach. The fire creates a smell that reminds me of camp. Bordering the oven are community gardens beginning to bloom with spring herbs and local flowers. Down the small slope of a hill are at least 200 people out on a Thursday night to visit the Dufferin Grove Farmer's Market. It was a sunny hot May 30th day when I visited. The park is open every Thursday from 3:30 - 7:00 p.m. every week year round. I have to say I didn't stay long. I had terrible blisters wrought from wearing "impractical" shoes I had bought in Poland almost 8 years ago. I was geared with a straw bag and I was coming straight from work and I meant business. Plus there were throngs of kids screaming and laughing and playing and tangling themselves in my legs. Families with young kids and babies seem to gravitate to this place on a nice summer night as a way to get out of the house, socialize with neighbours, join in a community event and buy delicious food.

I had a great conversation with Jonathan Forbes of Forbes Wild Foods. Please try their cedar jelly if you ever get the chance. They harvest natural foods wild to Canada, not imported, not cultivated, not brought by settlers but food from our own woods and fields. Mostly Quebec. Ah the French, they're so sophisticated but then again they're so down with the land.

I mostly bought in-season produce - too many enormous lettuces for one girl to eat, some incredible thyme and blossoming chives, baby potatoes, Ontario asparagus and some lamb sausages and rainbow trout from Stonehenge Farms blurb from the website: "not certified, but local: Ute Zell and Tom Greenall raise English game birds, chickens, guniea fowl, pheasants, Pekin and Muscovy ducks, wild boar, goats, lambs, and deer at her farm near Guelph, using methods based partly on organic practices, partly on bio-dynamics, but using conventional feed when the birds and animals are not grazing off the land."

It's a fun place to visit. I'll miss it when I move in a few weeks. Check it out. Be sure to wear your birkenstocks and Peruvian knit wear and maybe even tie your hair in dreads for the occasion - sounds silly I know but why does everything earthy and natural and organic have to be so darn conforming as I witnessed on this occasion? Actually wear heels and make up and knock yourself out clamouring down the grassy knolls to get to the stalls. Heck, why not.

Mariages Freres Tea

This beautiful tin full of chestnut coloured smoky flavoured dried tea was a gift from one of the girlfriends I was visiting in New York. She had been traveling in France with her husband, spending 10 days in Paris, while en route to her brother's wedding. Since I'm a bit fickle with my devotions and we had not spent quality time together in ages she had thoughtfully booked my birthday dinner celebration at a very elegant vegetarian restaurant on the upper east side of NY (I'm of course now a full on carnivore) and she had brought back this delightful gift of tea remembering that I had gone off coffee (I'm back working in an office and that tends to induce strong java cravings). Regardless, the vegetarian food was some of the best and most inventive cuisine I'd experienced in a long time and the tea is truly a decadent way to spend an afternoon. It has a chocolately cocoa flavour with a bit of Indian spice present in the aroma. The French are just so damn good at everything is seems. Merci beaucoup!

Taste Canada

Jennifer of the sweet-tooth inducing blog The Domestic Goddess has come up with a brilliant idea for Canadian bloggers to celebrate our culture and heritage through food in a traditional way (Alberta beef, campfire meals, Niagara produce, wild foods, fiddleheads, artic char) and in a modern melting pot way (walk down any street in a Canadian city and you're bound to see global influences all over the food lanscape).

A group of Canadian bloggers have come together in this nation-wide net event called Taste Canada and we'd love for other fellow Canadians to join us. The theme is food, specifically Canadian food, whatever that means to you, and on July 1st the various blogs participating will post their entry to the web. If anyone else if interested in participating please drop by Jennifer's blog and you will find an official invite with more details about the event for your interest.

We would love to link Canadian bloggers together to not only celebrate food but also to celebrate the traditions that make us unique as Canadians.