BEYOND THE COOKIE JAR

From potatoes to truffles to steak, we have some heady ideas for cooking with cannabis

“You don’t want to be a cookie casualty,” says Vanessa Lavorato, co-host of the Viceland series Bong Appétit and founder of L.A.-based marijuana confectionary Marigold Sweets.

Thankfully, cannabis cooking has moved well past pot cookies and brownies so intense they required extreme portion control if your desire was to remain coherent.

Low-dose foods designed for enjoyment are increasingly becoming the norm.

And with Canada now the second country in the world to have legalized marijuana for recreational use, the timing of Bong Appétit: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Weed (Ten Speed Press, 2018) by the editors of Munchies couldn’t be better for curious Canadian cooks.

Most of the 65 heady recipes — including infusions, drinks, and savoury and sweet dishes contributed by the likes of Jewish food expert Joan Nathan and chef Deuki Hong — were created to stay within the dosage limit of between five and 10 milligrams of THC, with advice on how to adjust potency.

“The goal with the book was (to) keep these doses pretty light so that people can enjoy whatever they’re making,” says Lavorato.

“Less is more. You can always add more later, especially when you’re first testing a recipe … But when you’re a home chef and you’re just getting started … it can be very variable. There are a lot of elements that can create a different effect.” Recipes excerpted from Bong Appétit: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Weed by Editors of Munchies. Published by Ten Speed Press. Note: If you can’t find trim (sugar leaf) and substitute flower (bud or nugget), be aware that trim is “a much-lower-potency product than flower.” Flower is 9.05 per cent THC by weight; trim is 3.68 (Forbidden Fruit strain; dried and cured).