If you were thinking that Ontario rhubarb was one of the first crops out of the ground every spring and it’s harvested along with strawberries so you can make delicious pies, you wouldn’t be totally wrong. But there’s something more exciting to know about it.

Did you know that in England, there’s such a thing as forced rhubarb? Yes, and it’s harvested from January to April, right before the traditional rhubarb season. As with most delicious foods, it was discovered completely by accident. The town of Wakefield in Yorkshire, England is part of the nine-square mile Rhubarb Triangle and, as the story goes, a workman digging a ditch piled some soil over a patch of rhubarb roots. Weeks later when the soil was removed they found young, tender, brightly coloured shoots that were more succulent, tender and sweet than traditional rhubarb.

Today, throughout the Rhubarb Triangle, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb is grown in old mushroom sheds or specifically designated buildings. It’s used in much the same way as Ontario rhubarb, but because it’s harvested earlier, it’s married with apples and made into fruity crumbles, moist yogurt cakes, mouth-watering tarts and savoury chutneys that go so well with pork or duck.

Although rhubarb is technically a vegetable, we typically enjoy it more as a dessert. Soon you’ll find the tall, red stalks at your famers’ market. Look for firm, crisp, plump stalks and perky leaves with good colour. Never eat the leaves: they’re poisonous.

The traditional way to cook rhubarb is to wash the stalks and cut them into small pieces, and then stew them until tender. There is no need to add much water as rhubarb already contains a great deal of it that comes out during cooking. While still hot, sugar is added to balance out the acidity. There’s no shortage of recipes available thanks to social media and foodies – even for roasted rhubarb…. I get the concept; caramelized roasted root vegetables are delicious, but through experimentation I can tell you that it just doesn’t seem viable. You end up with a baking sheet full of water and soggy rhubarb. Like roasting strawberries, don’t be fooled.

When I was a small child, I’d steal a cup of sugar and sit in the rhubarb patch behind my grandmother’s garage eating to my heart’s content. Sitting there for hours in the quiet of the garden, I’d hear creaking and snapping noises all around me. My grandmother told me that rhubarb screams as it grows. She was referring to the rapid almost an inch per day growth of rhubarb and the noises it makes as it shoots up.

Besides adding a delightful tartness to otherwise sweeter desserts, rhubarb’s tart flavour cuts through the richness of meat, and especially cheese, very well. That’s why some courageous chefs recommend picked rhubarb on a cheese platter. Personally speaking, I think it would be lovely with rich fatty cheeses, but if you’re planning a wine and cheese event, I would not recommend pairing rhubarb with wine.

I called a few farmers and no one has any plans to grow forced rhubarb in Ontario – pity. For now, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb will remain a delicacy as rare as white truffles. But it doesn’t have to be this way. When you’re at your farmers’ market this spring, buy a bundle of fresh rhubarb and start a conversation with the growers about how much you would like to taste and experiment with forced rhubarb. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?

by Lynn Ogryzlo

Lynn Ogryzlo is a food, wine and travel writer, international award winning author and regular contributor to Look Local Magazine. She can be reached for questions or comments at www.lynnogryzlo.ca

I picked it up very carefully with my chopsticks. If it were not for the soft tempura batter on the outside to give me some leverage, the supple slice of sweet potato would have slipped through the slick sticks. It got me thinking. Do sweet potatoes have a Japanese heritage?

This ugly, tuberous root vegetable piled high on grocers’ shelves became popular in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, spreading from Polynesia to Japan and consequently it became popular in many favourite dishes in Japan such as tempura. Who would have known?

But all sweet potatoes are not the same, explains Nick VanBerlo of Berlo’s Best Sweet Potatoes. “We grow predominantly the orange flesh varieties but we are growing more of the triple skin, white flesh varieties for the Asian community”. Nick, along with his brother Peter and father Peter Senior, own Canada’s largest sweet potato farm in Simcoe, Ontario. Berlo’s Best produces a whopping 20 million pounds of sweet potatoes annually from 1,000 acres of repurposed tobacco land.

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how that’s possible. How could one farm grow so much of one vegetable that is traditionally relegated to Thanksgiving and Christmas use? “Not any more”, explains Nick, “people eat it year round because of the intense Vitamin A content,” he boasts.

I checked it out and the vitamins and minerals found in a sweet potato are huge! Some resources even go so far as to call it a ‘superfood’.

Simcoe is a relatively warm area where peaches and grapes grow. It has warm days, cool nights and a longer growing season that encourages richer flavours; perfect conditions for growing sweet potatoes, which is typically a warm weather crop. It means that sweet potatoes grown here have a higher Brix level (a measurement of sweetness).

So Ontario grows a sweeter, sweet potato with richer flavours – good to know. But Nick likes to talk about eating them more than growing them. Peeled or unpeeled (for extra fibre), he always looks forward to his wife’s sweet potato chili or sweet potato hash browns. He rhymes off more ways to use sweet potatoes – from topping on Shepherd’s Pie to marrying them with curry, sweet potato soup, and as he often does, adding leftover sweet potatoes to a salad. 

At country fairs you’ll see sweet potatoes roasted whole in their jackets and drizzled with maple syrup. In restaurants, sweet potato fries outsell traditional potato fries or they are sliced, battered and deep fried into tempura – yum. You can make mashed sweet potatoes with garlic and Parmesan cheese, fry them into crispy chips, or take whole sweet potatoes and load them with anything you want for a complete meal. Even vegans prefer sweet potatoes to make dozens of dishes from sweet potato and corn cakes to sweet potato noodles and even sweet potato meatballs!

Because of their high sugar content, sweet potatoes can also be used as a dessert. They can be substituted for pumpkin in any pie recipe or use the flavour for a delicious twist on classics such as Crème Brulee or Bread Pudding. Just cut down on the sugar when substituting with sweet potato in recipes for sweet potato bread, brownies and muffins – now doesn’t that just make us all feel better?

by Lynn Ogryzlo

Lynn Ogryzlo is a food, wine and travel writer, international award winning author and regular contributor to Look Local Magazine. She can be reached for questions or comments at www.lynnogryzlo.ca

Christmas is a magical time of year, a time when people who usually don’t bake find themselves in the kitchen trying out family recipes. For some it’s a chance to relax and transform a few simple ingredients into something amazing that captures the joys of the season. For others, it’s a chance to create gifts that come straight from the heart, a symbol of the sweetness of friendship and family. For me, it’s about family tradition.

My mom was an excellent baker; every Christmas she would put out a magnificent display of her culinary talents with impressive trays of holiday cookies. She always made her famous shortbread that everyone fought over, there were never enough of her mini pecan tarts or thumbprint cookies; her iced cutout cookies were sheer holiday decadence and everyone would wrestle for her
mincemeat tarts.

Sometimes she would make her luscious chocolate and mint squares, her festive dried fruit icebox cookies, Italian pitzels or anything else that caught her eye that year. She would even craft the most beautiful gingerbread house that adorned our table, begging to be nibbled at throughout the season. I try my best at baking during the holiday season but my mom’s shoes are big ones to fill. I bake her traditional cookies but have added my own such as Whisky Pecan Bites, Niagara Biscotti and Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies.

The kind of cookie you bake is not as important as the flavour of the cookie. If you like that “melt-in-your-mouth” burst of flavour decadence in a cookie, nothing is better than butter. I’ve discovered through trial and error however, that cookies made with shortening hold their shape better. I don’t use margarine, but if you do, never use whipped margarine, the solid sticks are better for baking and they’re easier to measure.

If you’re a fan of chewy cookies you can melt the butter before adding it to the sugars and of course, cook them a few minutes less than the recipe calls for. Brown sugar will give you a chewy cookie while white sugar makes them crisper. Speaking of crisp cookies, try using two egg yolks instead of a whole egg and you’ll be surprised how much crispier each bite will be.

Try cookies with a vinous flair like Black Chocolate Baco Noir Cookies, Lavender Raspberry Cassis Cookies and Cabernet Crescents. Even the trendy French macaroons taste better with some wine with framboise cream between two little raspberry coloured cookies, or champagne cream sandwiched in light golden cookies.

Anyone who loves to bake during the holidays knows that Christmas baking is much more than about baking cookies – it is a way to celebrate life, family and friendship. These irresistibly sweet, icons of enchantment are perfect for gifting, decorating the tree and of course, leaving for Santa. To you and your family this holiday, all of my best wishes for a wonderful holiday season.

by Lynn Ogryzlo

Lynn Ogryzlo is a food, wine and travel writer, international award winning author and regular contributor to Look Local Magazine. She can be reached for questions or comments at www.lynnogryzlo.ca

Have you ever noticed that most of the vegetables we see at the farmers’ market grow above ground?  It may not be something you think about when you look at the abundance of greens, squashes, melons and eggplant.  But fall is the season for roots and tubers that grow below the ground and offer what other vegetables cannot: savoury textures and natural sweetness.

As I walk through my farmers’ market at this time of year, I look at the parsnips and carrots and my mouth waters at the thought of them caramelizing along with a joint of meat.  I can visualize parsley root to be made into breakfast fritters served with maple syrup, and onions roasted with figs and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  I can imagine my sweet potatoes being puréed for pies and velvety custards, and beets diced into a warm beet and corn salad.

The best part of fall roots is that they keep for longer periods of time in cold cellars or “root cellars” as they were once called.  These little basement closets moderate temperatures for the sole purpose of extending the growing season, giving us the ability to eat local long after the first snowfall.  Because so many roots will keep, we think of them as winter foods but they’re harvested in the fall making them an essential part of a great Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving is a true food holiday that isn’t cluttered with the frenzy of buying presents, stringing lights or group singing.  Thanksgiving dinner is a celebration that marks the end of a season filled with bountiful harvests; it’s about delicious food from the garden and good cooks.

Years ago my Thanksgiving dinner evolved into an affair of friends.  Our Thanksgiving dinners have also evolved from the traditional menu of my childhood to the wondrous offerings of the cooks who come together, each brining a different dish to form a collective feast. There are usually four cooks in the kitchen that have spent an entire week scheming and foraging neighbourhood farms purchasing the necessary roots.  Locally grown roots like turnips and beets, sweet potatoes and onions are in good supply and economical in this season.

When the day arrives, the kitchen is humming as we take turns swapping recipes and commenting on each other’s dishes.  Rutabaga is peeled, Jerusalem artichokes are shaved, carrots are sliced, onions are diced and beets are roasted.  On one workstation, thin layers of pasta are being stuffed with purée of yellow turnip and herbs; on the other side of the kitchen small, caramelized onion tarts are being topped with soft goat’s cheese; meanwhile on the stove, pine nuts are being browned for the soup.

The table is set in the beautiful colours of fall and the aromas in the kitchen are full of roasted turkey and sweet roots.  The first course is served to the sounds of corks being pulled from bottles of wine.  A large steaming terrine of truffled cream of celery root soup dotted with toasted pine nuts sits in the middle of the table; on either side are smaller bowls of glistening baby beets and baskets of Parmesan crusted Jerusalem artichoke chips.

We all sit down and raise a glass to the farmers who labour long to bring us so much fresh and delicious food.  The conversation revolves around food, wine and more food. I hope your kitchen is deliciously bountiful this Thanksgiving.

Lynn Ogryzlo is a food, wine and travel writer, international award winning author and regular contributor to Look Local Magazine. She can be reached for questions or comments at www.lynnogryzlo.ca

Local Links

Halton Fresh Food Box, Burlington
haltonfreshfoodbox.com

Busy Liz’s Farm Shop, Campbellville
busylizs.com

Halton Region Farms, Halton
halton.ca

Farmer Jacks, Burlington
farmerjacksmarket.com

As this story was being written, restaurateur Bryan Adlam of Maracaz Cantinerie in downtown Burlington was just beginning to think about his plans for the Cinqo de Mayo celebration. “Of course we’re going to celebrate,” he says – as if the party had already begun!

The fun and quirky Mexican restaurant on the second floor above Curdz Putinerie on John Street is the birthplace of the Ultimate Baked Nachos. Adlam went around and tasted nachos at all of the other restaurants that served nachos (in the name of research, of course), and made his dish ultimately better. Then, “people began adding different ingredients to the nacho dish and it turned out to be a hit”, says Adlam of the dish that has made his restaurant so popular.

You can look forward to a full Cinqo de Mayo festival at Maracaz Cantinerie including the unbeatable Hermosa Fish Tacos, the smoky barbecued pulled pork Taco Guapos, and the Mac Grande, a much better version of a ‘Big Mac’ that you never knew you needed to have! Adlam is guessing there will be a piñata to bat around, different flavours of Margaritas in the constantly swirling slushie machines and maybe even a Mariachi band.

Besides lots of icy cold Mexican beer, Margaritas have become the signature drink of Cinqo de Mayo. Originally an icy cocktail made of tequila, triple sec and lime juice served in a salted rimmed glass, it now comes in many different flavours from Chili Mango to Jalapeno Watermelon, and in colours of the Mexican flag. Adlam doesn’t yet know what flavours he’ll be offering, but he does know that they’re going to be as fun and wacky as the restaurant itself.

Cinqo de Mayo literally means May 5^th. If that doesn’t sound like a good enough excuse for a celebration, consider that the day commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The stories told resemble Mexico’s version of David versus Goliath. The triumph became an inspiration for Mexican Americans during the American civil war and they began to celebrate the date in full Cinqo de Mayo spirit – and that’s the American history behind this Mexican holiday.

“Yes, we’re going to have a party on the 5^th of May but we don’t celebrate Cinqo de Mayo in Mexico,” says Antonio Marin, owner of Maria Bonita, Oakville’s go-to place for the best and most authentic Mexican food. Marin is from Mexico City and explains Cinqo de Mayo is a Mexican-American festival with the emphasis on American. “So many (people) think it’s Mexico’s Independence Day (September 16) but it’s not. It’s an excuse to go out, drink Mexican beer and eat guacamole.” Olé!

Like Adlam, Marin doesn’t plan very far ahead for the Cinqo de Mayo party but he does say with confidence, “I’ll make burritos. We don’t have burritos in Mexico or on our menu, but people ask me for them, so I’ll make them on Cinqo de Mayo.” Some of the more popular dishes on Marin’s menu include Ceviche de Pescado (light and bright white fish cured in lime juice), Pollo con Mole (chicken with the famous chocolate chili sauce), and Enchiladas (chicken wrapped in a warm tortilla blanket and smothered with salsa, sour cream and cheese). Finish the night with a slice of Marin’s famous Dulce de Limón, described as a lime and cookie pie, which is as light and refreshing as a Margarita. He’ll have plenty of cold Mexican beer flowing and he’s considering a Mariachi band and some flamenco dancers.

Like St. Patrick’s Day, Cinqo de Mayo certainly does bring people together to eat and drink and celebrate cultural pride. Enjoy a grand fiesta at your favourite Mexican place. Don’t miss it!

Local Links:
Maracaz Cantinerie, Burlington
twitter.com/maracazcantina

Maria Bonita, Oakville
mariabonitaoakville.com 

By Lynn Ogryzlo
Lynn Ogryzlo is a food, wine and travel writer, international award winning author and regular contributor to Look Local Magazine. She can be reached for questions or comments at www.lynnogryzlo.ca.