Flavourful Saskatoon, August 6, 2012

It’s looking good! Saskatoon’s first vegetarian restaurant, cooking classes for university students, and a sustainable gourmet feast 

At Last! A Vegetarian Restaurant
Turning the Tide bookstore is opening a cafe with a tentative opening date of August 10 in the old Encore (Cava) space in the Ideas Inc. building adjacent to the Saskatoon Farmers' Market building.

The yet-to-be-named café will be a 'pop-up' for 3 months to give the workers’ cooperative a chance to get their feet wet at both running a cafe and functioning as a workers' cooperative. They will be serving vegetarian and vegan food with a focus on local, organic ingredients and excellent taste.

Sustainable Gourmet, September 22
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is hosting their annual fundraising dinner on September 22 at the Saskatoon Club. All the main ingredients are grown by local producers. Candace Savage is the keynote speaker.

Start from Scratch – Saskatoon-style
Start from Scratch has been offering 10 weeks of free, hands-on cooking classes to University of Calgary students since January 2011. Dan Clapson is now expanding the program to include his home town of Saskatoon. The course is designed to show university students how easy it is to prepare a quality, home-cooked meal – and have fun in the process.

Mogul Divaan
Renee Kohlman, aka sweetsugarbean, had a meal at the Mogul Divaan on 22nd Street last week. She says they have a good selection of yummy Pakistani food and suggests ordering from the menu rather than having the buffet. Their online menu included a good variety of vegetarian dishes. (Thanks, Renee!)

Organic Farming on the Prairies 
The second edition of Organic Farming on the Prairies will be available this fall from the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate. Additional resources will be available online. Contact SOD for additional information.

Wallnuts Catering, Regina
@thekyleguy recommended the take-out meals from Wallnuts Expressive Catering, Regina, as gifts at times of birth or mourning. He also sent me a link to an article in the Regina Leader Post.

I like the fact that Laurie Wall, the owner, makes all her dishes from scratch. On Tuesdays, you can deliver your empty crock pot in the morning and pick it up full of something tasty in the evening. And her Christmas cake and pumpkin maple breakfast bread are so popular that she ships them across Canada. (Thanks, Kyle!)

LEED for Food?
LEED is a voluntary green building certification program. The US Healthful Food Council has recently released a similar certification program for restaurants, caterers and food service providers. Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) will award points to restaurants that use nutrition best practices, such as organic and local foods, restricted dietary offerings, fresh fruits and vegetables, free-range meats, and moderate or multiple portion sizes. The entire menu, rather than just a few menu items, will be expected to meet key nutrition standards. They hope this will help businesses attract customers who are looking for healthy, nutritious meals. (Thanks, Mike!)

Seaweed Snacks 
I’ve been enjoying munching on seaweed snacks because they are low-cal and healthy. But they may not be so healthy for the people harvesting the seaweed. A recent study of female seaweed farmers on the island of Zanzibar identified serious health problems and low income. The researchers hope that they can identify ways to improve the situation as it has implications for thousands of poor households worldwide.

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

Follow me on Twitter, like the Wanderlust Facebook page, or subscribe to Wanderlust and Words by email (top right-hand corner) to stay on top of Saskatoon’s evolving food culture.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 28, 2017

Image
The Next Great Food Business Public Tasting, Sept. 7 The Local Kitchen is hosting a public tasting with samples from each of the finalists in the Next Great Food Business competition. Finalists are: King’s Jerky, Kind Condiments , Smoke and Salt BBQ, Bannock Express , and Voodoo Van . Wine Tastings Guess the most expensive wine (Sept. 8), sample some Rhône wines (Sept. 22), or attend the 2017 Premier Showcase Wine Dinner (Sept. 28) sponsored by Saskatoon Co-op Wine Spirits Beer. Premier Showcase is also offering a Portugal with a Splash of California wine seminar (Sept. 29) and a Women & Whisky seminar (Sept. 30). Refresh and Renew I had a chat with Trent Loewen about his plans now that he has sold Earth Bound Bakery. He is heading east to visit chef friends in Ontario and then off to New Zealand to explore what's happening there. After 9 years with a single focus, it's time to explore new ideas. Interestingly enough, the bakery's new owner is a business...
Read more

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 21, 2017

Image
Prairie Harvest Café I was sad to learn that Prairie Harvest Café has closed its doors. It’s been one of my favorite Saskatoon restaurants since day one, and I really appreciated the fact that the chefs focused on cooking with local ingredients, many supplied by the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. All the best of luck in your new adventures. We’ll miss you. Hug a Farmer This has been a tough summer for many farmers. Prairie Sun Orchard lost their entire cherry crop to insects. Drop by their stand at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, tell them you care, and have an ice cream. My favorite is the chocolate cherry fudge, but Clare Pearson, the principal ice cream maker, says her new favorite is the salted caramel. Peppers If you’re like me, you assume that all small, skinny peppers are super hot and avoid them like the plague. But that’s a big mistake. Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens is offering two long, skinny peppers – one can be hot, but the other isn’t. Padron chile pepper...
Read more

Saskatoon's Persian Store

Image
Mulberries, Pomegranate Sauce, Dried Lemons, Kashk and Doogh From the outside, it looks like an old-fashioned corner convenience store. But step inside, and you quickly realize that you’ve discovered a Middle Eastern treasure trove. The Persian Store at 223 – 25th Street West is operated by Mahyar Behnami, who has been in Saskatoon for two years. The store serves an Iranian/Persian community of approximately 500 people, but it’s an opportunity for all of us to try new things. Mrs. Behnami kindly gave me a tour of the store and explained how the different dishes and ingredients would be served in Iran. Canned Goods There is a large assortment of ready-made, canned dishes. (The stews are always served over rice that is dry, not sticky.) Ghormeh sabzi is often considered the Iranian national dish. It contains herbs, dried lemon, onion and red beans – you can add your own meat. The herbs usually include parsley, leeks/green onions, cilantro, spinach and fenugreek, and the...
Read more

The Golden Towns of Beaujolais

Image
Heading north out of Lyon, you pass through a long tunnel and exit into a lush green countryside leaving the city far behind. You then turn and head up the hill onto winding roads between a patchwork of vineyards. Many of the vines are really old with short, thick, twisted trunks and a thin stem of green leaves and buds. These are the Gamay vines of Beaujolais, interspersed with a few fields of greener, leafier Chardonnay vines. South Beaujolais, just 45 minutes northwest of Lyon, encompasses 25 medieval villages of orangey-gold stone (limestone and iron) that is surprisingly vibrant (I had been expecting something lighter, similar to the Cotswolds in England). Some of the villages still have the remains of 14th century castles. Oingt is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it really is lovely. You can take a walk around the town on the former ramparts and the church is austere and beautiful. I was on a half-day tour , which combined stopping to...
Read more

Petra Market: A Mediterranean Grocery

Image
Tucked away in a strip mall on Primrose Drive (north of Lawson Heights Mall) is Petra Market, a treasure trove of food products from the Arabic countries in the Mediterranean. I’m fascinated by grocery stores full of unknown-to-me products but also a little nervous about trying things, so I was really happy when Nour Dabbour, the owner of Petra Market, showed me around and told me about the different items. Nour is trying to stock products from as many Middle Eastern countries as possible. He even stocks the same product from a number of different countries because he says that each country’s product tastes slightly different. Za’atar , a spice mix, is a prime example with packages from Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and each one is a slightly different colour with a slightly different taste. The most popular areas of the store are the nut and treats bars with an amazing assortment of Middle Eastern candies and mildly spiced nuts. Nour gave me a variety to try and I’m real...
Read more