Charcuterie (pronounced “shahr-ku-tuh-ree”) is a French word referring to the art of preparing and assembling cured meats and other meat products. However, with its growing popularity, many people use the term ‘charcuterie’  to describe a sharing or snacking board. Nowadays, anything is included, from an assortment of meats to different accompaniments, such as toast and crackers, fruit, cheese, pickles, and sauces. Charcuterie boards work especially well with crowds – the foods are finger-style yet filling and easy to snack on. A well laid out board can easily accommodate a food intolerance or preference, with meat on the one side and vegan products on the other. Guests cutting carbs can do so without any fuss; gluten-free diets work equally well. And they look spectacular!

The word ‘charcuterie’ originated in France, meaning ‘pork butcher shop’. The style of cooking, which involves cured meats, includes pork products such as; ham, sausage, bacon, and confit. The person that prepares the meat is called a Charcutier. While the original French translation refers to pork, modern charcuterie boards include many other types of food, such as duck, goose, chicken, cheese, even vegan cheeses, and meats.

Readers of British origin may wonder how a charcuterie board differs from a Ploughman’s Platter or Ploughman’s Lunch. This is a traditional British dish that features bread, cheese, and pickles. On occasion, they may include ham. Unlike A Ploughman’s Platter or Lunch, a charcuterie board’s traditional mandate is to feature meat with a strong leaning towards pork.

The art of the charcuterie board is in the detail of its elements, and it’s always best to mix flavours and textures. For instance, chewy salami pairs well with a rich and smooth pâté, while spicy chorizo complements sweet fruits. Also, be sure to add some colour – fruit and vegetables do this effectively, while also adding some height to the board.
To make the board multi-dimensional, breadsticks or vegetable sticks standing in a jar can be very attractive or a taller hunk of cheese can add visual appeal.

Due to their trendiness and popularity, charcuterie boards are available in many restaurants and stores. In Oakville and Burlington, we have many at our fingertips. While some offer the ingredients to prepare our own, others have fully prepared boards ready to order.

Block Co. in Burlington, uses the tagline “When all else fails, cheese”. They serve a variety of exotic and enticing cheese and meat boards and cater to events.

Farmhouse Artisan Cheese on Kerr Street prides itself as being Oakville’s only cheese shop. They also sell charcuterie from Ontario, Quebec, and Europe, as well as cheeses from Britain, three European countries, the USA, and Canada. They also have a delightful selection of the proper accompaniments. They offer cheese and charcuterie boards to serve at home and gourmet baskets as gifts.

The Culinary Pickpocket provides fine charcuterie catering and has a range of boards, from tapas to BBQ, and Fruits de Mer (seafood) to dessert.

The Sandwich Society, also on Kerr Street, has some exotic delicacies like truffle pecorino spread and salami with fennel seeds and offers a wide variety of different boards of all sizes.

Burlington’s Platter Company provides varied cheese and meat platters like the Artisan Cheese Platter, the Charcuterie Platter and the Custom Grazing Board which is the “I can’t decide” board and is a mix of many things.

Creating your own charcuterie board is simple and can add a great impact to your regular entertainment dishes. These days there are no rules, so be bold and give your board your signature style.

Whether for date-night, an accompaniment to a party, or even for a work-place meeting – charcuterie boards are flexible, beautiful, and certainly a fun and tasty addition to any meal.

by Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright

Local Links

Block Co, Burlington
Theblockco.ca

Farmhouse Artisan Cheese, Oakville
Farmhouseartisancheese.com

Culinary Pickpocket, GTHA
Theculinarypickpocket.com

Sandwich Society, Oakville
Sandwichsociety.ca

Burlington’s Platter Company, Burlington
Theplattercompany.ca

As the holiday season approaches and temperatures begin to drop, many of us look forward to the comfort of a traditional home-cooked holiday meal – steaming golden turkey, with mash, gravy, and of course the family stuffing recipe. Many families have holiday recipes passed down for generations, creating special legacies and remembering those gone before.

Variations on timeless classics can shake things up a bit. In a new trend, we see creative cooks heading to the barbecue to make their turkey. A barbeque can cook a turkey to perfection (be sure to use a meat thermometer) and has the bonus of leaving the indoor oven free for other dishes. Try Florence Meats on Speers Road in Oakville for your holiday fare, from the turkey to ham, and the wide selection of sausages for stuffing. Dietrich’s Meat and Denninger’s are other great options. Or, you could consider farm-to-table fare by ordering straight from Hayter’s Farm. Harry Hayter added turkeys to their product selection in 1948, and they have been supplying birds ever since. Hayter’s is the only turkey farm in Canada that raises birds and processes them on-site, and their turkeys are free-range and raised without hormones.

A turducken has also recently been gaining popularity. It is a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, stuffed into a deboned turkey. It’s super easy to cook and carve, and looks visually impressive. There are also variations within the turducken theme from bacon-wrapped to stuffed with chorizo, or chicken and apple.

 Turkey stuffing can vary greatly, usually with a base of bread, but flavoured with anything from chestnuts, sausage meat, caramelized onion, cranberry, apples, or mushrooms. Many people skip the turkey altogether and just enjoy stuffing as a main dish. A bacon-wrapped sage and sausage stuffing can be beautifully presented as a terrine and served with all the regular sides. The stuffing can be served in individual muffin cups, making for easy service. Cranberry and sage stuffing muffins look impressive and have the bonus of being crispy on top. Cornbread stuffing with sausage and fennel is another innovative option or even tortilla chip chorizo stuffing for a Tex-Mex version.

 However, plant-based and vegetarian solutions are where the real innovation in the holiday meal comes about. The meal solutions are so delicious, even the most committed meat-eater will be salivating.

A vegan or vegetarian gravy can be made simply and slathered all over vegan mashed potatoes. Jamie Oliver has a wonderful gravy recipe using onion, carrot, celery, porcini mushroom, herbs, tomato paste, and vegetable stock amongst other things. This version is healthier and more flavourful than the traditional counterpart. An even simpler solution combines blended mashed potato, almond milk and dried porcini mushroom. Or, you could try something a bit more exotic with a base of coconut milk, dark soy, and garlic.

 If your goal is a plant-based holiday meal, the ideas are endless. A fun idea is to stuff mini pumpkins with anything from vegan chili to roasted eggplant and serve them with their lids on for a huge visual appeal. Jumbo pasta shells can be filled with a lentil ragout and drizzled with rich tomato sauce and Parmesan, or a cheese alternative. There is even the option of a butternut “turducken” stuffed with eggplant and zucchini. Visually appealing, healthy, and cutting edge culinary cool.

 Tofurky has become popular as a plant-based turkey option and will soak up all the delicious sauces and gravies.

 There are so many options available that even the pickiest family member can be catered for – and there is so much fun to be had experimenting with new things in the kitchen. Dig in and happy eating! 

by Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright

Local Links

Florence Meats, Oakville
Florencemeats.com

Dietrich’s Meat, Oakville
Dietrichs.ca

Denninger’s, Burlington & Oakville
Denningers.com

Hayter’s Farm, Dashwood
Haytersfarm.com

Deboer’s Poultry, Burlington
Deboersfarm.com

Organic Garage, Oakville
Organicgarage.com

Whole Foods Market, Oakville
Wholefoodsmarket.com

Yotam Ottolenghi, the famed London-based Israeli chef, is quoted saying: “The differences between a tart, a pie, and a Quiche are a blur.” With the diverse backgrounds of many Canadians, this is certainly true – one person’s pie is another person’s tart and both seem interchangeable. In fact, the French word ‘Tarte’ can mean either pie or tart.

Starting as an apple pie and ending as an apple tart, the Tatin sisters Stephanie and Caroline of the Hotel Tatin in France were the first to create this blurred line. To this day we know that the upside-down pie, or tart, was made in error but the way it got that way is still oft disputed. Now a classic on many French restaurants’ menus, it shows that the best kitchen errors can become favourite dishes.

Tarts are thought to have come from Medieval times where they were viewed as high cuisine and eaten by the nobility – filled with meat rather than sweet versions. As sweeter tastes started to prevail, fruit or custard fillings became more common.

The great thing about tart or pie is that it’s usually seasonal, filled with the offerings of nature at that time of year. Springridge Farm began their business with simple fruit-filled cherry pies and 50 years later are still producing a variety of seasonal pies.

COBS Bread has a few outlets in the GTA and makes a range of single-serve tarts: a bracing lemon tart, extra creamy butter tart, or pumpkin tart.

To blur the lines between pie and tart, British Pride Bakery in Burlington does UK favourites like rhubarb pie and banoffee pie (a British mix between banana and toffee, and a childhood favourite of many who grew up there). Meat pies are a specialty and there are masses of flavours to choose from, or you can opt for a classic pasty or sausage roll.

Monastery Bakery in Oakville produces a delicious fruit flan that could quite easily fit into our broad baking categories, while the Black Forest Pastry shop (also in Oakville) makes a range of fruit-filled traditional latticed pies.

For a more continental slant, try Ola Bakery for their Portuguese custard tarts. Pasteis de Nata is an egg tart dusted with cinnamon, found mostly in Portugal (especially Lisbon) and Brazil. It is traditionally served with coffee or fresh orange juice at breakfast and is well worth trying. These little tarts were created by the monks in the Jeronimos Monastery. At that time the nuns and monks used egg whites to starch their clothes, so the leftover egg yolks became a major ingredient in desserts.

As decadent as these pies and tarts are, it might seem tricky to recreate with vegan or gluten-free options. This is certainly not the case. There are many recipes to suit your needs. A peach tart with a crust made from gluten-free rolled oats, cashews, and coconut oil is easy to make, with a filling of peaches, coconut milk, and thickened with arrowroot, makes it all possible. The same can be said for vegan or gluten-free savoury tarts, filled with in-season vegetables and tofu.

More fun than your “typical” tart … is a spooky tart – a creepy confection to add to your Halloween menu. There are easy ways to transform homemade or even store-bought tarts into something spectacular. For those of us who are less creative, you can grab Halloween themed candies from the local grocery store and add spiders, candy corn, pumpkins, or even orange, black, and white sprinkles to the top of the tart.  If you want to take it to the next level, cut out a Jack-O-Lantern in pastry puff and toss it over the top filling when baking. You can use small pieces of black liquorish to design a spider web, or even use cookie cutters to cut tarts into ghosts and goblins. Whatever spooky treat you’re making, be sure to fill it with something nice – like pumpkin spice.

by Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright

Local Links

Springridge Farm, Milton
Springridgefarm.com

COBS Bread, Oakville & Burlington
Cobsbread.com

Monastery Bakery, Oakville
Monasterybakery.com

Black Forest Pastry Shop,Oakville
Blackforestpastryshop.ca

British Pride Bakery, Burlington
Britishpridebakery.com

Ola Bakery, Oakville
Olabakeryoakville.com

Mention early mornings and everyone gets the jitters. When you’re trying to get a busy family out the door – and on time – breakfast often is the last thing you think about. School bags, briefcases, sports bags, school lunches, and now they want breakfast too? Folks, believe it or not, it is possible to achieve a healthy nutritious breakfast. Here are a few ideas to gain superhero status in your family.  

 The key to success is to start breakfast preparation the night before. Alleviating most of the morning pressure is what makes a healthy grab-and-go breakfast suddenly possible. Make-ahead breakfast cookies are a way to ensure the most important meal of the day is consumed willingly. Many recipes are gluten-free, and can also be vegan or refined sugar-free. They are also freezer-friendly. Adding chia seeds and hemp hearts will provide omega 3, fibre, antioxidants, and protein. Protein powder can be added to give an extra boost of energy and leave you feeling full for longer. Play around with flavours like carrot cake or chocolate peanut butter. No one will resist your temptations or realize you’ve tricked them into a healthy start.

 Yoghurt and fruit cups can be prepared and layered in a glass jar the night before. Add some granola or seed mix to create interest and texture. The jar can be washed and reused, making it great for the environment and cost-effective, too. Layer fresh seasonal fruit with Greek yoghurt or even make your own compote from fruit that is ripening faster than you can eat it.  

 Egg muffins (also called mini frittatas) are a high-protein, easy to eat breakfast. They can be made the night before and stored in the fridge for the next few days. Beat eggs with any flavour of your choice: cheese, spinach, peppers, bacon, or mushrooms and bake in deep muffin cups until they are set. Super quick and so nutritious you won’t even be hungry by lunchtime.

 Healthy granola bars can come in any flavour with additions of nuts, seeds, or protein to make you feel more satisfied. They can provide a great breakfast and can also be used for school lunches. Freezer breakfast sandwiches are another great solution and can be pre-made and grabbed as you rush out of the door. Once you’ve perfected the breakfast sandwich, switch it up with frozen breakfast quesadillas, filled with scrambled eggs, black beans, corn, and cheese. 

A family favourite is peanut butter and banana overnight oats. It’s vegan and gluten-free and can be pumped up to superfood status by adding chia seeds. Pop it into reusable glass jars and you’ve got a budget-friendly, healthy, enviro-friendly meal.

 Smoothies are another easy choice and the flavour possibilities are endless. Green Press (greenpress.ca) in Oakville and Bodhi Bar (bodhibar.ca) in Burlington produce freshly pressed organic juices and shots (such as ginger or turmeric) and will deliver to your home. With blends including kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, green apple, parsley, ginger, and lemon,it’s a great way to load yourself and the kids up with antioxidants and vitamins A, C, E, and K.  

 For other busy homes, Savor Living (savorliving.ca) in Oakville produces healthy breakfasts delivered to your door. You can order a la carte or sign up for a meal plan. All their food is vegan (and delicious). Try any of their jars or waffles, you can’t go wrong. 

 A little organization and preparation the night before will ensure you and your family eat a full balanced breakfast, leaving you ready to take on the day. 

by Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright