Mmm, what better cocktail to ring in the holidays than eggnog? Unless you are allergic to eggs or lactose intolerant, eggnog is probably pretty high on your list of winter indulgences … and judging by the run on the store-fresh organic stuff from our local produce chain, Farmboy, there are a lot of people who…
Traditional Tourtière
Some traditions run deep …. A few weeks ago, I broke with French-Canadian tradition and created a vegetarian tourtière and wrapped it in a gluten-free crust that stole the show. While the French-Canadian in the family loves her whole grains and veggies, she isn’t a vegetarian and she couldn’t for the life of her figure…
An Untraditional Canadian Christmas: Vegetarian Tourtière
I believe in Christmas and I believe in the power of tradition. For me, the power of Christmas, and the true spirit of it, is beautifully wrapped up in O. Henry’s masterful short-story “The Gift of Magi.” In this story first published more than a century ago, O. Henry beautifully shows the power of giving…
Vegetarian Tourtière
I probably will go to hell for this …. I acknowledge, that despite this being a Christmas dish, the fact that I’ve taken the traditional French Canadian meat pie and made it without, well, ‘meat’ may add fodder to the national unity to debate (again). I want to assure everyone that my Canada not only includes…
Harvesting an Identity
Long has the harvest been an important part of my life and long has it been associated with fall, bountiful cornucopias of food, and Thanksgiving. Growing up in the Okanagan Valley, the fall harvest meant picking the last of the fruit and stripping our garden of its remaining plenty before tilling the vegetation back into…
Maple-Apple Jelly
At its most fundamental level, cooking is pure chemistry and physics. At its most profound, it is art, tradition, culture, identity and love. Nothing arguably combines both as purely as making preserves. Thus when I took up the most recent challenge in The Canadian Food Experience Project chose to make it personal, I found myself with the challenge…
Preserving: Our Canadian Tradition
I grew up among trees. Indeed, trees define a huge part of our national identity – and our food – in this country. Speak to any foreigner about their image of Canada and it will almost universally be of “wilderness” and the wide expanse of mountains, water, open spaces, and trees. Growing up, everywhere I…
My Cherished Canadian Recipe … My Grandma’s Soup
My Grandma nourished me. When she passed away seven years ago, she left a hole in my world; and much like the hole left in Haida Gwaii’s Cathedral Forest when its giant Golden Spruce was tragically removed, a space nonetheless remains even while on its verges new growth finds space. I have survived, even thrived,…
The Shore Lunch … My First Authentic Canadian Food Experience
A few weeks ago, I jumped into the Canadian Food Experience Project in medias res when I wrote about my Canadian Food Hero. Now, circling back to the beginning, I’m being challenged to write about an authentic Canadian food experience. I was a bit stumped by this challenge and I understand in retrospect why this is…
My Canadian Food Hero
Valerie Lugonja began the Canadian Food Experience Project on June 7, 2013. Each month, participants share their collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape through our regional food experiences. As I personally think Canadians do have a food identity, the hope of the project is that we will bring clarity to our Canadian…