What has turned cauliflower into the new “it” vegetable?  Not too long ago, it was bland and pale, usually boiled and flavourless, and most certainly uninspiring.  

Then came the remake of this simple white ingredient.  It was initially driven by carb-adverse consumers looking for alternatives to traditional white foods such as pasta, rice, and pizza.  As soon as cauliflower started to become cool for more plant-based eaters, more varieties appeared on the market.  There’s a green variation known as Broccoflower, and an orange variation which is sometimes called Cheddar Cauliflower.  Then there’s the purple variety, bright in colour naturally occurring from the presence of an antioxidant also found in red cabbage and red wine. This variation of the vegetable could be a replacement for meat, rather than tofu or imitation meat products.   

The versatility of cauliflower has added to its popularity, both because of its mild, nutty flavour as well as its multi-use texture.  It can be mashed and whipped with butter and cream to make smooth imitation mashed potatoes. It can also be turned into rice and used in a multitude of ways from stir-fry to sushi, or even served as a meat alternative when it is roasted as a “steak” or as the whole veg in the original Israeli style.  Cauli-rice contains less than one-eighth of the calories of regular rice and one-ninth of the carbs.  One head of cauliflower has more than 125g of vitamin C, nearly twice as much as an orange. For health-conscious consumers, cauliflower is an easy choice.  Plus it’s naturally gluten-free.

The Coop in Burlington serves two variations of cauliflower, one roasted with ranch or honey sriracha, while the other is dusted with general Tao sauce and served on a taco. With many diners becoming more veg-forward and opting for meatless dishes without necessarily being vegan, cauliflower is a natural choice.  Plank Restaurant in Bronte makes cauliflower fritters done with beer batter, roasted garlic aïoli, and Pecorino cheese.  Maro’s on Kerr Street in Oakville, the popular Mediterranean bistro, offers Bella and the Beast, a dish consisting of a fried head of cauliflower with hummus, Moroccan couscous salad, cabbage and beetroot.

Cauliflower is also easy to turn into a fine dining dish.  Jonathan’s Restaurant in Oakville makes a cauliflower-almond miso soup with wild mushroom, lily flower, and Ebi chili, as well as a crunchy mustard cauliflower “Boulangere” which is served as an accompaniment to a rack of lamb.  

On the more casual eating side, cauli pizzas are now widely available both in stores and as take-out.  The pizza base is made with mashed cauliflower to give a gluten-free healthier alternative. Son of a Peach Pizzeria in Burlington has a crispy cauliflower starter with a side of aioli dip that customers claim is “to die for.”

If you’re looking to pick your own, Ontario only has three farms that offer pick-your-own cauliflower – with one of them being in Halton Region. While famous for their beef, Cody’s Cows in Acton offer a variety of pick-your-own fruits and vegetables, including cauliflower. Cauliflower is in season from June through to October. The mature head should be firm, compact, and white. When you’re ready to harvest the cauliflower head, cut it from the main stem but leave a few of the outer leaves attached to help protect the head and prolong its overall quality until ready to eat. Be sure to handle the head carefully as it can bruise rather easily.

With all trends, they tend to burst onto the scene, and slowly, over time fade into the mainstream. You see it in the fashion industry, and the food industry can be similar.  The next “it” vegetables are already on the horizon, (foodie whisperers are saying beetroot and leeks).  Whatever the current trends are, you can be confident that so many things are possible when you use simple delicious ingredients. 

by Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright

Local Links

The Coop, Burlington
thecoop.ca

Plank Restaurant, Bronte
plankrestobar.ca

Maro’s Bistro, Oakville
marosbistro.com

Johnathan’s, Oakville
jonathansofoakville.com

Son of a Peach, Burlington
heypeachy.com

Cody’s Cows, Acton
codyscows.com

Barbeque, it’s about as summer as summer gets. As soon as the weather starts warming up, we head to the grill. It becomes a weekend pastime – throwing on a thick patty or a juicy sausage, calling over a few friends, and sitting around the backyard patio. But there’s more to the grill than meats the eye – we can’t forget our sides. No summer picnic or barbeque is complete without those side staples: a Mediterranean pasta salad, maybe some grilled veg, and we certainly can’t forget the always crunchy and delicious sweet summer corn.

Driving down the highway on a warm summer day, the cornfields can’t be missed. Rows upon rows of silky green stocks. From pick-your-own to roadside stands, corn husks are ready to be picked and enjoyed from August through to October.

At Andrew’s Scenic Acres in Milton, visitors can take a wagon ride out to the cornfield where you’re welcome to pick your own corn. Wanting only the best of the bunch, you’ll want to look for bright green and moist husks – this means they’re fully ripe and sweet! The silk should be stiff, dark, and moist. If you’re not confident in picking your own, you can stop by Andrew’s farm market and find fresh, ready-picked produce depending on season and availability. While you’re there, you must stop by their flower gardens lined with sunflowers, dahlias, and gladioli – they make the perfect Instagram backdrop.

Now, let’s not forget about the incredible farmers’ markets we have right here in our own backyard. Aldershot Farmers’ Market, Burlington Mall Farmers’ Market, OTMH Farmer’s Market, and Oakville Civitan Farmers’ Market, and Oakville Place Farmers’ Market welcome vendors that carry a wide variety of locally grown and fresh produce. If you’re not able to make it directly to the farm to pick your own, this is an opportunity for the farm to come to you. Here you will find the freshest food available, and you will be supporting your local farmers! Be sure to keep your corn moist, and pack a cooler for the trip home from the farm or market.

The best part about getting this delicious treat home? Eating it. There are endless ways to prepare sweet summer corn. Barbeque or boil the corn and serve it with butter and a touch of salt, make it into corn relish, use it in salads, or bake your own corn bread. These tender, succulent, little nibs burst in your mouth the moment you bite in.

Familia Fine Foods in Burlington knows a thing or two when it comes to incorporating corn into unique and vibrant dishes. Corn is a staple in  Latin Cuisine, and Familia uses Ontario sweet corn in a variety of ways. Their arepas are a popular foundation for Latin American dishes. A typical Colombian type of cornmeal tortilla, they can be used for every occasion…add meat, tuna, shredded chicken, stuff with vegetables or use as a pizza crust. You can even pick up their corn meal flour and make your own arepas at home (recipe at looklocalmagazine.com)! While their arepas are scrumptious, Familia’s corn cakes are the essence of summer. Between salty and sweet, this family recipe delivers and goes well with everything – enjoy them for breakfast, as a snack, or a side.

Wherever you’re dining this summer, be it a backyard barbeque or one of our fabulous local restaurants, be sure to bite into to this sweet summer treat. Ontario sweet corn will inspire you to peel away the husk and discover sweet gold.

by Melinda Paletta
Melinda Paletta is a food writer, gourmet epicure, host of her food show DA EATS TV, and she is always ready for a culinary adventure. www.dabutchersdaughter.ca

Pick Your Own

Andrew’s Scenic Acres (Milton)
Andrewsscenicacres.com

Snyder’s Sweet Corn (Haldimand)
Snyderscorn.ca

Murphy’s Country Produce (Binbrook)
Murphyscountryproduce.com

Road Side Market

Allison’s Farm Market (Georgetown)
Allisonsfarmmarket.com

Farmers’ Markets

Burlington Mall Farmers’ Market
Burlingtonmallfarmersmarket.com

Oakville Civitan Farmers’ Market
Oakvillecivitan.ca/market

Oakville Place Farmers’ Market
Oakvilleplacefarmersmarket.yolasite.com

Farm to table, earth to table, garden to table, farm to fork – it’s a movement that is rapidly becoming mainstream in the food world. As Fraser Macfarlane, a locavore himself, from Quatrefoil Restaurant in Dundas says: “most high-quality chefs are moving towards using local farmers exclusively where possible.”  At the RBG (Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington) the chefs have been striving towards a farm to table philosophy for more than 5 years.

There are many reasons for the movement taking off.  Quality is naturally the driver.  “When we first opened, there was a knock on the door and a local farmer showed up with fresh strawberries that had just been picked that day – they had never even been refrigerated,” says Fraser.  Quality is so much higher but so is freshness.  Shelf life is also longer and then there is the provenance of knowing exactly where your produce is from and the integrity that brings.  You actually know the farmer that grew your goods.

Chef Peter Mancini from RBG includes the environment, nutrition, and flavour as the main reasons. “The shorter the distance the product travels, the lower the impact it has on the environment.  Serving local products means that the food is at the peak of freshness, nutritional value, and flavour when it arrives in front of our guests.”

Environmentally, the huge upside is also that the produce arrives without any packaging.  It is delivered in large stackable plastic crates which are returned to the farmer for reuse once empty.  No cardboard.  No disposable plastic.

At Cucci in Oakville, ingredients are selected from local farmers and blended with fresh Italian sensibilities to create modern Italian cuisine. While, low-ley farm to table restaurant Wundeba in Burlington prepares scrumptious dishes with all organic and/or local ingredients. For these restaurants, price is not really a driver as the products are marginally more expensive than using a produce company, but there is great pleasure in knowing the product is locally and sustainably sourced and everything is done by the farmers themselves.

When evaluating farms as potential suppliers, restaurateurs visit farms and look at things like organization and cleanliness, as well as continuity of supply.  You can’t put something on your menu for the season if the farmer cannot guarantee supply.

When dealing with small farmers, the possibility of exotic products opens up.  Fraser is very impressed with the quality of game birds that he can get from Carol Precious of Chassagne Farm.  Her squab is outstanding, not to mention the quail, pheasant and Cornish hen.  The eggs are free-run and super fresh and even the honey (often with the natural comb) is wild and unpasteurized.

Some restaurants have enough demand that they have farmers grow exclusively for them, some even have their own kitchen gardens like the Veggie Village at the RBG.  Another offshoot of the farm-to-table movement is people who forage the land.  Pat Coswick from Babalink Farm off Highway 5 forages what grows on her farm and supplies it to restaurants.  She manages to find interesting mushrooms like chicken legs and lobster mushrooms, and even wild greens like wood sorrel.

It’s a style of eating that is growing in momentum. Always be sure to ask where the products are sourced from to join the revolution. 

Here are some other farm to table restaurants in the area worth a taste:

Earth to Table Bread Bar in Hamilton and Guelph (they also have a cookbook: Earth to Table Every Day by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann).

Community Restaurant on Kerr Street in Oakville serves plant-based dishes and  is currently sourcing products as locally as possible.

Spencer’s at the Waterfront in Burlington. Whether it’s mouth-watering steak from their butcher, sustainably sourced seafood or freshly harvested produce from their farm, each ingredient is transformed into something delightfully delicious. 

Kamoosh Bistro in Waterdown sources meat from local butchers and fresh produce from Ontario farms. 

by Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright

Local Links

Quatrefoil Restaurant, Dundas
Quatrefoilrestaurant.com

Greenhouse Café, Burlington
RBG.ca/dine

Chassagne Farm, Puslinch
Chassagne.ca

Babalink Farm, Flamborough
Babalinkfarm.ca

Earth to Table Bread Bar, Hamilton
Breadbar.ca

Kamoosh Bistro, Waterdown
Kamooshbistro.com

Community Restaurant, Oakville
Communityresto.com

Spencer’s at the Waterfront, Burlington
Spencers.ca

Piazza Bistro, Oakville
Piazzabistro.ca

Cucci, Oakville
Cucci.ca

Wundeba, Burlington
Wundeba.ca

You probably don’t think twice when asked, “Would you like a side of fries with that?” But it’s time to give this popular accompaniment the attention it deserves. Despite their seeming simplicity, it’s shockingly easy to get fries horribly wrong. Often, they’re greasy, pale, and as alluring as the cardboard box housing your morning cereal. Yet, served hot, golden, and just kissed with salt, properly-made French fries are one of life’s grandest pleasures. Here’s our guide to help you find some of the best fries being dished out in Oakville and Burlington.

Oakville

Chippy’s Fresh Cut Fries

Chippysfcf.ca

Get back to basics at one of Oakville’s premier chip wagons. Once you spot the bright yellow exterior, prepare to pull over for made-to-order, hand-cut fries topped simply with salt, Chippy’s seasoning
or gravy.

Gingerman Social Eatery

Gingermansocialeatery.ca

Knowing that nothing goes with a great burger like equally delicious fries, the team here works with Yukon Gold potatoes, cutting them thin, frying them to order and serving them as-is or as poutine, smothered in peppercorn beef gravy. An assortment of sauces, from chipotle mayo to garlic aioli, make great alternatives to Heinz.

Just Braise Sandwiches

Justbraise.ca

Killer gourmet sandwiches draw crowds but Just Braise’s fries are the sleeper hit at this Fortino’s plaza denizen. Russet potatoes are hand-washed and cut, the skin left on for added texture. Then, they’re double-fried to a deep golden brown. Made to order, these beauties are always fresh and give Just Braise’s unique, gourmet sandwiches some serious competition.

Sammy’s Famous Chip Wagon

Oakvillesbest.com

Bronte landmark, Sammy’s Famous Old Fashion Chip Wagon is a family favourite. With potatoes cut into fries in-front of mouth watering guests – it doesn’t get fresher than this.  Crisp and crunchy, they make a perfect evening snack or casual lunchtime treat.

Bru Restaurant

brurestaurant.ca

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. What more do you want when it comes to the perfect fry? Always freshly cut and browned with the skin left on, these french fries, served in a heap, have the perfect balance of smoothness and crunch. Severed with a with a side of roasted garlic aioli, they may be just too good to share..

Burlington

Spencer’s at the Waterfront

Spencers.ca

Featuring farm-to-table cuisine, Spencer’s is known for local plates and tranquil lakeside views. Choosing between mains can be tricky but a side of fries is a must. Cut from fresh Yukon Gold potatoes, Spencer’s fries are first blanched, then finished in hot oil until deeply bronzed. Finished with pine salt and presented with house mayo, they’re a perfect match to whichever main you choose.

Charcoal Pit

Burlingtoncharcoalpit.com

A local landmark, “The Big Pit” has been dishing out robust, Greek-Canadian diner classics since 1969. Hand-cut, and twice fried, potatoes arrive superlatively crisp and lustrous. Served simply salted or Greek-style, with feta, oregano, and lemon juice, they’re habit-forming,
french fry nirvana. 

Easterbrooks Hot Dog Stand

A retro diner, tailor-made for Instagram pics, Canada’s “2nd Oldest Hot Dog Stand” serves more than two dozen varieties of foot-long hot dogs and fast-food style French fries. Crisp and thin, these are the fries you want close by when cravings hit.

The French Fry Guy

It’s lucky this nondescript food truck is somewhat off the beaten path or there’d be line-ups down the street. Here, PEI’s finest russet potatoes are sliced down to steak-cut size, then double-fried. Golden and delicately crisp yet perfectly tender at their core, they’re what every potato aspires to be.

Rust Bistrobar

Rustbistrobar.ca

A menu infused with international flavours keeps locals returning to this popular spot. Here, the kitchen gives russet potatoes the frite treatment — cutting them thin, then frying them twice to maximize crunch. Tossed in truffle oil and herbs, then finished with salt, pepper, and parmesan they’re a gourmet choice well worth the calorie splurge. 

by Christine Peddie