The Duncan Fremlin Blog

Food Terminal or Bust!

I've been buying my produce at the St. Lawrence Market for the past 40+ years.  I often speak with my guy, Murray about his daily visits to the food terminal where he buys his product.  I've threatened to join him but the thought of rising at 3 am for this deflates my enthusiasm. 

George Restaurant on Queen Street publish a newsletter and this is their latest.  I'm even more inspired now to visit this hub in west Toronto.   

 

The misery continues at the Ontario Food Terminal

Chef Loseto reports that things are tough at the Terminal. It’s dark when he gets there, bitterly cold with shortages of all produce. The only thing which sustained him was a trip to Kelowna which as the 2014 Gold Medal Plate Canadian winner resulted in a victory lap where he cooked dinner for 150 people at Big White, to much applause. At the Terminal he found that everything seems to be almost 3 times the price; however, when shopping in Kelowna, he found that prices were twice as expensive as in Toronto. How is that possible?

High prices at the Terminal usually go hand in hand with crop failures and higher energy prices. Judging by the scarcity of products, (he said that he had to fight for everything), it would seem that the higher prices have resulted from crop failures in California. Lower energy prices are offset by our low dollar. Californian lettuces and other green vegetables appear to have taken a hard hit by frost. Shortages have also put pressure on Mexican produce, which also has risen in price.

The good news is that Canadian root vegetables are abundant and of good value. Ontario sunchokes and leeks are nice. Remember though to use them soon after you buy them or they will deteriorate quickly at this time of year because your refrigerator is not cold enough to preserve them. Hot house Ontario vegetables are scarce except cucumbers. There are no field peppers and hothouse Ontario tomatoes are hit and miss at best.

So what was good? The Chef liked the look of Mexican asparagus although he did not buy it because he dislikes serving food not corresponding to our seasons. He also saw really nice looking Mexican tomatoes and notes that Mexican produce continues to get better all the time. Blood oranges from Italy have just arrived. Earlier in the month the Chef did buy Moro blood oranges by Cecelia from California. These are tarter than the sweet Sunkist Californian variety but not as good as the Sicilian ones. The Chef also liked Israeli persimmons a lot. He recommends Portuguese pears, California clementines, Italian kiwis and Spanish peppers. He thinks the cold storage apples are excellent but again, similar to Ontario sunchokes and leeks you’re required to consume them soon after purchase.

Finally, the Chef has discovered some fantastic Ontario hydroponic lettuce which is tinged red. This lettuce is so beautiful it could be used as a floral centrepiece for dining. We have yet to find out who its producer is but we are actively looking. We will report back on our progress.

We are using lamb saddles and bison tenderloin which had not been available so far this year. The Toronto market for squabs has sold out with the demand for Chinese New Year.

New wild bass from the US tops the list of new fish available, along with Nova Scotia caviar which the Chef likes.

On GEORGE’s Valentines menu was dark chocolate banana mascarpone mousse. It appears that the media is pushing chocolate desserts strongly this month. Our head server scoffs and says her grandmother in Jamaica makes her own chocolate (and coffee) from beans she harvests on her own bushes located on her property there.

 

Food Awareness Run Amok!

My most recent article published in the Parliament Street News.  

 

Stressful Eating in the Twenty First Century

 

Contributed by Duncan Fremlin Broker RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Douglas Coupland, Canada’s renaissance man, wrote recently that he misses his ‘pre-internet brain’.  He goes on to reflect that in fact, “he can’t remember his pre-internet brain”.

It made me think how much I miss my pre-food-awareness brain, when I simply ate whatever I wanted with no consideration of potential long-term damage.  Unlike Mr. Coupland, I do remember my pre-food-awareness brain and I’m striving to rediscover the pleasure of mindless, spontaneous and joyful eating.

I don’t mean to harp about rural life in the 1950s and ‘60s, but our relationship with food then was much more immediate.  We went to the corner store and if they had yeast, dad would make bread.  If they had macaroni, mom would make macaroni and tomatoes.  That’s how it went.  Peanut butter came in a pail and everything was sweetened with corn syrup.   Grapefruit, if we happened to be in a city store, was available once a year.

Somewhere along the way, we learned that our well being is connected directly to our food consumption.   One of the first major media storms I recall on this front was about pasteurization.  Milk was, and still is in my household, one of the most consumed food products every day.  While drinking milk from a cow’s teat (well, not directly) had its conveniences and charm, the taste of warm raw milk was never considered to be a delicacy.  Somewhere, sometime, pasteurization became the norm and then, if memory serves me correctly, homogenization soon followed.  The layer of cream that sat on top of a glass milk jug disappeared and the stores began to sell cream separately.  

Slowly, in subsequent years, each food item was analyzed and studied to death and frankly, my head spins when I think of how bad pretty much everything is for us.  I read somewhere that if you eat an entire pail of Jack & Jill peanut butter in one sitting, your blood will stop flowing and you will die a slow and  glorious death.  

The values espoused in 2014 around food products seem to be based on one simple premise — if it tastes awful, it must be good for you! 

• Kale:  No thanks.  Some think it’s delicious if you bake it and call it kale chips.  Simply not true.  
• Brussels Sprouts:  Nope.  Bitter and causes gas.  Try covering it with corn syrup.  Might help.
• Liver:  No need to expand on why this food is to be avoided.  The reasons are legendary.
• Avocado:  I call this the “unfood.”  No flavour and a mushy/gooey-like texture when ripe.  
• Eggplant:  Some add this to Italian veal sandwiches.  I agree it is a good filler.

Those are some of the biggies.  I could go on and on in the condiment department ... Dijon mustard and flavoured ketchup are two that come to mind but I won’t belabour the subject.  

As my 80-year old friend Ron says, our “runway is getting shorter.”  Part of the fun of reaching the end of the proverbial runway is not knowing how it’s going to end.  I do know one thing:  there will be a culinary smile on my face when my time comes and I won’t have spoiled my last years eating rubbish.

Duncan Fremlin is a Broker with RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd,
www.morethanahome.ca email: duncan@morethanahome.ca   416-405-8828

Bucket List Springs a Leak

Forgetaboutit!  That's the general tone of the article recently published in The Guardian.  "These are the things you should avoid before you die" writes the author, Jessica Reed.

I'm a keener generally, eager to try most anything.  But when I read this article, I realized I'm just as keen to say no some adventures.  Happily, I'm not alone is identifying some things in life left to others to endure.

The five things that would come in second to sticking needles in my eyes, as Jack Nicholson once stated in Terms of Endearment are:

1.  Visiting the Vatican;  I've been to the Taj Mahal.  Why would I want to visit this tiny little edifice occupied by strange people in goofy outfits?

2.  Going on a Cruise;  I lined up for 3 hours to get my 1967 license plate (thankfully, those days are over).  Why would I pay to line up again?

3.  Visiting base camp at Mount Everest;  I've seen the garbage bins at St. James Town.  Can't be worse than Mount Everest base camp.  

4.  Bungee jump;  I wet myself in India when a monkey jumped on my shoulder to grab my eye glasses.  Why would I want to experience that again by jumping off a cliff?

5.  Eat kale.  Mom fed me caster oil as a child.  Isn't that punishment enough?

 

 

 

Good Manners is Good Business

I was in a rather nice restaurant having lunch with a client recently.  It was filled with business types, young people climbing the proverbial ladder.  I was surveying the scene and happened upon a gentleman across the room heartily completing his lunch when he unselfconsciously picked up his plate and licked it.  It happened so fast it didn't register for a few seconds.

My first thought was, I'm pretty sure the Downton Abbey folks wouldn't be caught doing that.  My second thought was Bill and Muriel, my dear late mom and dad would also not have approved.  By some standards, Bill and Muriel were manners police, at least that's what I thought when they berated me for placing elbows on the table, holding my fork like a shovel and chewing with my mouth open.  I also couldn't sing at the table but I'm not sure why that was so bad.  However, compared to what I see around me, I now think my folks did a great job teaching their five kids how to generally behave like civilized members of society.  

I thought of this when I read in the weekend paper that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was teaching their students how to behave at a table, the assumption being, if you want to succeed in business, it's a good idea to know when to dunk your doughnut in your coffee and when not to.  

I asked a close friend, who many consider to be Chief of the Manners Police Department, if she would list the most common behaviours that offend her sensibilities.  She was very happy to send me the following:

1. chewing with mouth open 

2. talking with food in mouth

3. serving/passing to self before others

4. starting to eat before everyone seated & served

5. clearing dishes of 1/some before everyone finished eating

6. lowering mouth to food rather than raising food to mouth

7. elbows on table while eating

8. making noise while eating, eg slurping liquids

9. sucking spagetti into mouth & biting it off rather than using spoon to twirl it into manageable bites

10. holding utensils like a sword,  impaling the food & then placing said utensil on the table cloth/placemat rather than on the plate plate after use

The MIT course was voluntary and judging by the eating behavior of many I watched in the restaurant that day, they might want to consider making this course mandatory in all curriculua.  Just saying! 

Keith Richard's Diet

I just finished one of the best autobiographies ever, Life by Keith Richards.  Man, did I read this guy wrong.  I watched Weird Al Yankovic's interview with him a few years ago and that's the image I had in my head about this guy.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  This guy's a Renaissance man.  The wisdom in that book is endless.  I learned a lot about life and my vocabulary has been expanded beyond my wildest expectations.  

 

 

He shares his diet that has kept him skinny and fit as a fiddle for his 65+ years:

1.  he was a junkie for 15 years and,

2.  he doesn't conform to the eating schedule created by the factories during the industrial revolution.  It was dictated during that period that people were to eat when the horn sounded so they wouldn't disturb themselves as they were manufacturing things.  Keith, being the non conformist that he is,  eats a little bit, quite often through out the day hence his sleek figure.  

Oh, and he shares his recipe for bangers and beans,  a must have in every kitchen.

 

Cooking as Theatre

I was at a birthday party last week.  Actually, it wasn't really a party.  The event was a birthday gift for Karen and we all got to enjoy it.  The gift, courtesy her daughter Brittany, was a personalized cooking class by one of Canada's top chefs, Nettie Cronish. 

It's not just that she is an accomplished and skilled expert on fine food preparation, she also has a fine sense of theatre.  She put on a hell of a show.  

Her bio reads as follows:

"A respected natural foods  chef, teacher and cookbook author, she and her recipes have been featured in magazines, newspapers, on radio and television. For the past 20 years, she has been resident cooking instructor at the Big Carrot Natural Foods store. She has taught  at George Brown College."

When  I think of the term "project manager" from now on, I'll think of how skillfully Nettie managed 4 adults in a kitchen best suited to one person.  The meal was prepared effortlessly with the final result being a three course meal to die for.  These were not simple recipes and the preparation was labour intensive.

We dined on Hot and Sour Buckwheat Noodle Salad, Lime Quinoa Salad, Stir Fried Tofu with Vegetables in Curried Almond Butter Sauce and a very exceptional Apricot Lentil Soup.

The evening was sprinkled with a non stop oratory on food preparation, nutrition, spices, tips on how to cut onions, stories about her interesting life and on and on.  That gal can talk!

Just in case you were wondering, she is for hire. 

 

Another City Walk

Over the years, in my quest to know more about the neighbourhoods I sell, I've been trekking the long streets that define who we are.   So far, I've walked the Danforth, Queen Street East, Yonge Street, Kensington Market, Spadina Avenue and Queen Street West. 

On the weekend, an old friend, circa 1966, was visiting Toronto and wanted to experience the music scene here.  John Mabbott had  a Hagstrom guitar back then and I, owner of a lowly Stella, was mightily impressed.  He was the first musician I ever played with if I recall so in a way, he was my Pete Best.  

Our stroll began at Queen West near McCaul and the plan was to  head west until we stopped. 

The  Rex, a local jazz club, was a happening joint.  The stage was covered with musicians and their little music stands with their little sheet music.  In my little world, that can only mean music with no soul.  On to the next club.  The Cameron House.  Now, there's a club with soul.  The room has soul.  In fact, it screams at you when you enter, "I'VE GOT SOUL!"  As we walked in the door, the three piece band began.... Tall lanky guitarist/singer, dog house bass player (doubled on dobro) and old time honey tonk pianist (doubled on accordion) and wow, were they fantastic!

The band is called the Rattlesnake Choir starring (a man who I should have recognized since we've performed together before) John Borra.  There was a fantastic keyboard/accordion player who's name I never caught but he told me in passing that he's played with various bands around town, including Blue Rodeo.  The bass player was no slouch.  The cost for this fine entertainment?  They passed the jug.  They play the Cameron every Saturday, 6 to 8.

With a happy helping of good acoustic music under our belts, we continued our journey.  Stopped at the sex toy store (can't recall the name since I wasn't looking at the sign but you must know the one I mean) to watch "the ladies" dance and gyrate in an attempt to lure us in.  Being the wiley old buggers that we are, we resisted their tempting offer and continued walking.  The street scene was right our of the Rocky Horror Picture Show as in, lots of young people dressed up as gargoyles and freaks and the like.  Did I miss something?  Did they change Halloween to the third weekend in October?  I really must listen to the news once in awhile.

The Swan, local oyster bar/restaurant beckoned as we walked by so we ate heartily and socialized with an old friend in the process.  Damien is the proprietor of The Swan.  I met him years ago when he was waiter #1 at Cafe La Gaffe in Kensington and 12 years ago, he took the plunge and opened this fine restaurant in a strip of Queen Street (across from 999 Queen, the old mental hospital in fact) where there were no other fine restaurants.  This establishment was quite instrumental in changing the area and he is to be congratulated for his courage.

Satiated with good halibut and good wine, John and I are now in the final stretch.  For a couple of old 60 year olds, it's getting late and I'm fading fast.  It's 9:00 pm for crying out loud.  I can't stay up all night.

My plan was to take him to the  Caddie (Cadillac Lounge), home of Whiskey Jack the first Sunday of every month.  However, the sandwich board in front of the Gladstone advertised another band I've performed with often and they're one of my favourites, Mr. Rick and the Biscuits.

As it turns out, John couldn't have picked a better Saturday to walk the strip.  This band was also in fine form and we finished the night listening to their version of the gospel classic, Down By The Riverside.  Wow.  They brought the house down.

Queen West at night?  Not a finer street in the city.

Around the world in three hours!

 Sunday was an exhausting day.  It wasn't a hike up a mountain.  It was a stroll around the world, figuratively speaking. 

We began our journey,  appropriately enough, with a ride on perhaps the most interesting subway route in the world, the Bloor/Danforth line.  Our destination?   Greenwich Village (aka Mirvish Village).  Toronto's version is perhaps a bit cleaner than the real one in NY, but it certainly has the vibe. 

I wanted to check out Vintage Video.  I'm in search of an old movie called Tin Pan Alley (great music from the 1020's) but they did not have a copy.  The owner of the store is sometimes on the radio so I guess he's some kind of expert.  He may be a video expert but he's no expert on how to operate a warm and cuddly store.  This joint is annoying and I shall never return.  The prices are absurdly high and the staff go out of their way to be unfriendly.  The "DO NOT DO THIS.....DO NOT DO THAT..." signs are also annoying. 

I "binged" the store name out of curiosity and found a web site with many other video fans who cannot tolerate this store.  Here's an example of what was written here: 

"Dave Gale on May 23, 2008 at 6:22 PM

OHH MANNNNN.. 100% true about vintage video.. the prices were RIDICULOUS.. The pirated crap in there was priced at like $10000 and the old man was such a jerk.. my buddy walked in with a bag, and the old man told him in a rude manner to be careful.. i hate that store.. i want everyone to know my hatred for VINTAGE VIDEO.. CUZ IT IS HORRIBLE!!! go there just to laugh at the prices and the old horrible man.. cuz it sucks.. sorry !!suspect was great though"

Our journey continued down Markham Street which could easily have been mistaken for many streets in London England. The Victorians are large and the driveways are tiny or non existent.  We turned left at College (Italy) and ended up at our destination, Kensington Market.

This community has been closing the streets each Sunday for the summer, allowing only pedestrians and bicycles.  Kensington is often in the news for it's battle to keep out the American chains (Starbucks and the like) and it looks like they've been successful so far.  As a result, it's perhaps the only neighbourhood left in the city where each retailer is unique,  exciting and totally unpredictable.  The accompanying photos reveal much about the vibrancy of this area.

We walked through Central America and West Africa on Augusta Avenue.  When we turned left at Nassau Street and encountered a little bit of Europe.  South East Asia makes it's mark often here but Africa and Central America dominate the food and music offerings.  Each country was sprinkled with a touch of Bohemian and lots of Revolutionaries from the tradition of Che and Fidel. 

A few steps later, we found ourselves oin a very congested Spadina Avenue (Chinatown) where we stuffed outselves with some very fine food at the famous Swatow Restaurant.  Very fine indeed.

By the way, what the hell is this?

Our plates overflow

For a 6-8 week period each year, the Ontario food basket is overflowing with goodness.  Farmer's Markets are busy busy busy and the choices and colours are simply too much to bear.  These markets must be avoided. 

This is a recipe that should not be prepared with Mexican or Florida or California peaches, nor with any other fruit created in any other place than Ontario.   When the peach season is over, this recipe is over. 

Combine and mix together, 4 eggs, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup skim milk powder, 1 cup cottage cheese (preferably from the Bulgarian lady at St. Lawrence Market and 1/2 cup plain yogurt (also from same Bulgarian lady).  Let sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and slice many Ontario peaches and let drain.  Drink juice.  Wash and dry many Ontario blueberries (preferably picked by scantily clad peoples of Northern Ontario descent). 

Drop large scoops of batter onto lightly oiled non stick pan, sprinkle with peaches and blueberries and cook (sort of like top of stove baking) on medium heat.  Flip when browned.  When ready, serve with many gallons of maple syrup prepared by scantily clad residents of St. Joseph Island Ontario.

You want me to eat what?

Maybe it's because I spent much of my early life on a farm but I have this thing about wanting to know something about the food I put in my mouth and where it came from.

Yes, my cousins and I cut off chickens heads and watched them run around the barn yard spraying blood every which away.  I sure knew where that night's dinner came from.  I knew the joy of picking home grown tomatoes and eating them like apples.  Fish?  Walk to the end of the road and drop in the line, it was that simple.

Shopping for food today is so far removed from that I can barely stand to eat any more. 

I shop at Murray's at St. Lawrence Market.  While shopping there, I've met John, the fellow who grows the tomatoes he sells.  Murray and his son tell me about the farmer who provides their corn every year.  When it comes from Georgia in the spring, I even know that it's grown with no insecticide and I can probably find out anything else I might need to know.  Same with his peaches, mushrooms and everything else on his shelves.

There's a budget fruit market at the foot of my street that sells "food" for cheap.  I can't imagine where his tomatoes come from that enables him to sell them that cheap.  I bought one once and discovered it lasted on my counter for a few hours before it began to rot.   I walked by yesterday and they had 20 small baskets of California strawberries roasting in the sun.  I'm quite certain that after a day in 30 degree sunshine, these strawberries will melt in your mouth like rotten plums.  I'm also quite certain that the baskets that did not sell yesterday will be out there again today..same price.  THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AT MURRAY'S.  If he doesn't have broccoli on sale, it's because he couldn't find any worth selling.

However, unlike years past, we have choice of where we buy and we know much more about where this all comes from.

Fish however is a different story.  I have no idea what is sustainable, what is farm grown or what is wild and safe to eat.  I've researched it and even the most reputable organizations qualify their opinions by beginning their analysis with  "to the best of our knowledge.....".  Even they aren't 100% sure.

There is one exception.  When I'm in Parry Sound, just north of town near Nobel, I buy fresh fish at a house that sells Georgian Bay fish, fresh from th lake.  Nobel Fish Sales ((705) 342-5825) is owned by John, a local resident who has been fishing Georgian Bay for many many years.  In fact, his dad fished the lake before him so he comes by this trade naturally.

He sells large fillets of trout, whitefish, pickerel, perch, perch cheeks, smoked fish and on and on.  This food goes in my mouth quite easily because I know exactly where it came from and it's mmmmmmmm good!