We love Canada, and we love food, so what better way is there to celebrate Food Day Canada then to look at what some of our best chefs are passionate about eating this summer?
Here’s to great things on your plate today – if you need a little inspiration, the folks at Food Day Canada have put together a handy shopping list of 149 Canadian ingredients.
“For me, it’s all about salt cod. Salt cod is Newfoundland on a plate – it’s the reason we are all here. Right now it’s cod fishing season, so we’re going out in an open boat, jigging cod, taking the fish back to the stage, splitting and salting some, filleting others… and some go right into the pan on the stage, cooked with fat back. That’s how life should be. ”
Chef Murray McDonald, Fogo Island Inn
Photo: Sébastien Dubois-Didcock
“Birch syrup is something I am having a lot of fun with these days. We get it from Alberta and more locally in Niagara. It’s a fun alternative to maple syrup that everyone loves. But because it has an almost molasses flavour it puts a twist on anything you might have used maple syrup for in the past. Works great in baking, marinades, bbq sauce, drizzled straight on anything.
“Right now we use it in a few applications – in our Wild and Tame salad we use birch syrup in the salad dressing and also in granola which pairs well with the BC cherries and local feta cheese.”
District Executive Chef John Horne, Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants
“Right now at Maison Publique, we’re excited about the beautiful heads of lettuce that get delivered twice a week from our farmers Jocelyn and Pascal from Ferme Bio-Santé in Howick, Quebec. Just 1 hour from the city, this bio-dynamic farm has been faithfully supplying me for eight years now. They bring these amazing heads of baby lettuce of all sorts for us to use. They still taste like the earth with a natural sweetness from all of their hard work. When they arrive, they are fresh picked and have never seen a fridge. I peel off the outer layers to add to Petits Pois à la Français, and then we serve the hearts in a salad simply dressed with herbs, oil, and an apple vinegar that we make. I thin the dressing out with a bit of water so we can let the natural flavour shine. The lettuce is so nice, I always underdress the leaves. The salad is the star, the vinaigrette is the condiment.”
Derek Dammann, Maison Publique
“Right now – peaches. They just got started but for a month already, the hot dry summer has been pointing to an excellent season. The sad truth about our stone fruit farmers in Niagara is that they prefer it when the summer is wet and the fruit is bloated because they sell peaches by the box and the fewer that fit into one the less work it represents for them. But fat peaches are the ones that start to rot about three minutes after they finally get ripe.
“Not this year: they are small and intense, sweet, succulent, and the texture is resilient and never mushy. Bliss. They are perfect on their own obviously. Great for a southern style ice cream, with bourbon and pecans. Perfect to sauté and serve with a maple-brined grilled pork chop. Or to stuff with fresh ricotta, wrap in prosciutto, kiss on the grill and drizzle with balsamic. I could go on but I need to eat a peach now.”
Editor in Chief Jacob Richler, Canada’s 100 Best
