Flavourful Saskatoon, September 14, 2015

Nestor’s Doughnut Sale, Sept. 16-17 
Treat yourself to a doughnut at Nestor’s Bakery. They’re two for the price of one Sept. 16 and 17 to celebrate the bakery's fifth anniversary.

Beer Week at The Woods, Sept. 21-26 
Sept. 21-26 is Beer Week at The Woods Ale House featuring Saskatchewan craft beers. Every day will feature a brewery, a beer style, or a special food-beer pairing.

Winston’s First Annual Cask Festival, Sept. 25
Winston’s Pub is hosting a mini cask event on Sept. 25 featuring 5 of Saskatchewan’s craft brewers. There will be food pairings with each cask.

PayDirt Farm Garlic School, Sept. 27
PayDirt Farm, Wakaw, is offering a garlic school from 1-4 pm, Sept. 27, for people who want to learn how to grow their own organic garlic. The class package will include instruction, seed garlic bulbs, organic sheep manure, and everything else you’ll need for a four-square-metre garlic plot.

Mushrooms – White Raven Foraging 
Text White Raven Foraging at 306.203.1287 if you are interested in purchasing some of the wild mushrooms they’re currently collecting in the forest.

Lobbying for a Neighbourhood Grocery Store 
One of Saskatoon’s few neighbourhood grocery stores is scheduled to close on Nov. 2. Drop by City Perks and sign their petition to try and save the grocery store on 7th Avenue.

If we want livable, sustainable neighbourhoods, we need to fight to maintain our neighbourhood stores. Here’s a useful publication with 10 principles for rebuilding neighbourhood retail. And we might want to remind large grocery store chains that more and more people want options, such as walkable urban grocery stores with a bigger emphasis on prepared foods and produce.

Noting the trend towards more corner grocery stores, another article states, “Small shops are able to dote on customers, and that is something much appreciated by those of us who make good cooking a daily priority. Not only do the keepers of small food shops select the best products to sell to you, but they are also increasingly selecting them with your preferences in mind, making room for the most disparate items on the preciously few shelves available. Beautiful fresh produce is brought in from local farmers' markets, and delicacies are flown in from all corners of the country and the planet.”

The City Park Community Association is hosting a neighbourhood discussion about the store closure at 7:30 pm, Sept. 17, in the City Park Collegiate Library.

Tamarind & Indian Specialties 
I’ve been hunting for tamarind (sweet-sour fruit paste) to try and replicate a tamarind-cashew stir fry that I enjoyed in Victoria. I finally found tamarind (4 different choices!) at Swadesh Super Market (2-1902 8th Street E and 2102 22nd Street W). The store was packed with shoppers, and I noticed they even had a selection of Indian desserts.

Churchill’s British Imports
Churchill’s British Imports is now open at their new location beside McNally Robinson and behind Moxie’s. They don’t have proper signage yet, but their light-filled store is open and attractively laid out.

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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