Flavourful Saskatoon, December 3, 2012

Just Ginger 
Just Ginger is right beside the door as you enter the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market.

The vendor has an amazing collection of preserves made with ginger – candied apple ginger jam, ginger seabuckthorn syrup, garlic ‘n chili sauce, raw pickled ginger and candied ginger (with and without seabuckthorn) and more. I really like the chutney.

Eagle Hill Foods
Shelley, my sister in law, visited Sun Dog Craft Fair this past weekend and brought back some Eagle Hill Foods chocolates. They were delicious! Each large square was filled with a fruity mixture of saskatoons and cherries (with a little sugar, corn starch and rice krispies).

Eagle Hill Food also sells fruit toppings, cherry juice and iced teas. All their products will be available at the Little Corner Store at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market; some are available at SaskMade Marketplace and Nutters.

Herschel Hills Artisan Cheese
I am delighted by the variety of different cheeses that are now available from Herschel Hills Artisan Cheese House. The Truffle Camembert is one of my favourites, but I also enjoy the chunks of feta, and I’ve heard that the fresh goat cheese topped with red pepper jelly is also excellent.

Don’t miss their booth at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market on Saturdays and Sundays – there are always lots of samples.

Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, Dec. 8 and 19
There will be Christmas celebrations at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market on both Saturday, December 8, between 11 and 1 and on Wednesday, December 19, from 3-7.

State & Main, Dec. 5 
State & Main, a small Alberta chain of restaurants, opens in Saskatoon on Wednesday. They’re across the street from Persephone’s Remai Theatre and have an outdoor patio that should be great once summer rolls round again. There are a few vegetarian options (veggie burger, flatbreads, appetizers), and you should be able to find gluten-free options. Menus are location-specific, so be sure to look at the Saskatoon menu.

Cake Witch, Dec. 6
Are any of you familiar with Barbara Harder-Lutz, the Cake Witch, who sells German-style cakes at the Wednesday market at the Refinery/St. James? They sound really good (German Chocolate-Vanilla Marble Bundt Cake, Black Forest Biscotti, Linzer Stars, and more!) and I’m eager to try them, particularly as she plans to open a bakery in Rosthern.

You can check out the Cake Witch Café (3008 5th Street, Rosthern) on December 6 from 3-8 pm when Barbara is hosting a Nikolaus Day Christmas Craft Fair with music, crafts, artists, authors and fresh German Christmas baking).

The Griffin Takeaway
In addition to a wide variety of gluten-free baked goods, The Griffin Takeaway, located next to JYSK on 8th Street East, has some really tasty sandwich options. The Avocado and Artichoke sandwich is stuffed with big, fat chunks of artichoke – perfect for artichoke fanatics like me. I also really like the Olive & Goat Cheese sandwich, and I’m looking forward to trying their Jacket Potatoes with a variety of different toppings.

Vancouver Food Strategy
Vancouver’s new food strategy will go before city council in late January 2013. Vancouver’s urban farm land has quadrupled in the last 2 years, and Alterrus Systems harvested their first crop on the roof of a downtown parkade in November. The new strategy focuses on improving food access in low-income neighbourhoods and expanding urban farming initiatives.

Organic Food Certification
The PLU code used by most produce distributors contains some useful information. If the code begins with a 9, you know the produce is organic. A number 8 prefix, less common, means that it’s genetically engineered. (via Isobel - thank you!)

Unfortunately, Canada’s organic food certification may not be too reliable. A recent article in The National Post questions whether there is adequate testing before crops and livestock are certified organic.

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.

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