GIVE THE GIFT OF DELICIOUS
Ottawa artisans craft tasty treats fit for foodies
Grab a bottle of TreeWell — Canada’s newest beverage — and pop the cork on local flavour and bubbling creativity. Or pick up a jar of what must be the world’s only raspberry jam spiked with whisky and fermented black garlic. Or perhaps you’d prefer some pretty candy cane-studded macarons, arguably on a par with those from Ladurée of Paris, made by one of Ottawa’s many outstanding artisans.
You can start tomorrow — at Christmas markets at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and in Carp — and keep picking up wonderful local products for the next three weeks, until Dec. 22, at the final day of the Ottawa Farmers’ Christmas Market.
“Ottawa is filled with foodies and there’s so much culinary adventure going on,” says Robin Coull, whose line of artisan caramels includes such new flavours as matcha black sesame and pistachio cardamom.
Tyler Steeves, the guy behind TreeWell maple-sap-based sparkling beverage, recently flew by his goal on Internet fundraising site Kickstarter by 50 per cent.
“It’s neat to see this kind of ecosystem that’s coming up with new things and a culture that’s willing to take it on,” says Steeves, who received more than $22,000 from backers eager for a sip of his sparkling new product.
“I’ll bet there are 40 to 50 new specialty food producers in the Ottawa area,” says Andrew Craig, who started Major Craig’s Chutney and the Ottawa Specialty Food Association, which is putting on two holiday food markets, including a new stocking stuffer one in New Edinburgh. “It’s just exploding.”
Here’s a taste of some of the top seasonal products from the burgeoning Ottawa-area food scene.