Everyone’s A Winner
EVERY SUMMER, WHEN FOOD DAY CANADA rolls around, I wonder where the year has gone. Then I get excited thinking about what our all-Canadian menu will be, and what new ideas we’ll come up with for making use of all the fabulous local ingredients that are available when the sunniest season is at its peak. Food Day Canada is a nationwide celebration of Canadian food and food producers and if you like to cook, it’s a great way to break out of your routine and take a fresh look at what you buy and who you support with your grocery dollars.
Each year, as a follow-on to Food Day Canada, I join a panel of culinary professionals to judge the University of Guelph Good Food Innovation Awards. These awards were created by U of G to recognize restaurants participating in Food Day Canada and to honour food professionals who strive to create inspiring menus based on Canadian ingredients. Each year the number of participating restaurants grows, making our task of identifying a short list of winners increasingly difficult. We award points for creativity, use of Canadian ingredients, a focus on local, regional and sustainably sourced products, and innovative introductions of new or reformulated Canadian foods. Last year’s FDC menus included items like moose jerky, dried duck eggs and cured quail yolks, cloudberry barbecue sauce, wintergreen ice cream, cattail broth, lobster oil, backyard honey foam and sprouted lentils!
Inevitably, after reviewing these amazing, creative menus, our own effort looks embarrassingly homespun. But I remind myself that the kitchen team at
is made up of enthusiastic home cooks, not professional chefs, and I think of how much fun we have shopping for, cooking and eating our allCanadian meal. So in this issue’s feature story, as well as introducing some of the talented chefs who’ll be wowing diners coast to coast with their imaginative menus, Food Day Canada founder Anita Stewart has included a selection of recipes for the home cook that show just how easy it is to join the party.
Happy cooking! Janet P. Boileau