Flavourful Saskatoon, February 9, 2015

 

Primal Pasta 
Primal Pasta restaurant, serving handmade pasta made with local grains, will be opening soon at 423 – 20th Street West. Their Facebook page says, “We are influenced by traditions throughout Italy, with inspiration from our gardens, farmers and the variety of heritage grain growing in Saskatchewan.”


Uptown City Perks
Uptown City Perks in the Ens Toyota dealership is now open on Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm.

Prairie Pie Company 
Prairie Pie Company at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market is now serving 49th Parallel Small Lots Coffee.

Seabuckthorn Tea
I picked up a large bag of seabuckthorn berries from Northern Vigor Berries on Saturday and sampled their tea made from seabuckthorn leaves. Betty Forbes says it’s full of goodness and the perfect thing to drink if you’re coming down with a cold. The Indian army serves seabuckthorn products to its soldiers to keep them healthy.


BC Tree Fruits 
February is Apple Month and I was lucky enough to receive a box with 4 different varieties of BC apples from BC Tree Fruits. I’m a strong supporter of local products, and fruit is so nutritious.

Ambrosia is a BC original, discovered in the 1990s as a chance seedling. It’s a little bland but has a lovely crunch. Royal Gala is one of my favorite apples. Not quite as crisp as the Ambrosia, it is packed with flavour. The Golden Delicious apple hadn't travelled well, so I stewed it with Saskatchewan sour cherries rehydrated in leftover green tea and added a dollop of seabuckthorn syrup and chopped nuts. It was a delicious way to eat local fruit. The Spartan is another BC original; I’m saving it for tomorrow. My thanks to BC Tree Fruits for reminding me how much I enjoy apples.


Third Wave Tea
There are so many different varieties of tea – green, white, oolong – and they have such individual flavours. A smoky lapsang souchong is so different from a delicate matcha; I see no need to add chocolate, fruit, or nut flavours.

I found an interesting article about the introduction of third wave tea stores in the US, but it points out the difficulty of emphasizing tea in a coffee-drinking culture.

Banning Food Waste 
Food waste accounts for approximately 40% of Metro Vancouver’s garbage. As of January 1, residents are expected to put their food waste in their green compost bin, not in their garbage.

Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post regular profiles of culinary entrepreneurs, new restaurants and new food products.

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