Flavourful Saskatoon, September 7, 2020

Pictured are French tomatoes on sale at a public market in Avignon, France. European tomatoes are bred for flavour. Unfortunately, in North America, “our consumers have been conditioned to demand aesthetic perfection, perfectly shaped fruit and vegetables, without blemishes, and without considering flavor.”

Local News 
Amy-Jo Ehman provides an overview of Saskatchewan’s ever-evolving food culture in Planet S magazine.

Covid & Farmers’ Markets 
“Did you ever think you’d hear about a farmers’ market speakeasy? That’s what the government in Puerto Rico has forced upon local agriculture and those who wish to support it. While the supermarkets and malls are open, the weekly outdoor market in Old San Juan, where I live, has had to resort to pre-orders via email that are then picked up in a small alleyway. . . . There’s a beauty in how rapidly people came together to keep farmers and small food producers able to sell their wares, though, and it’s heartening to see how many were not willing to sacrifice their ongoing commitment to local agriculture just because the government was actively acting against it.” This may well ring true for residents of Swift Current whose farmers' market was abruptly shut down during an outbreak of Covid.

Here & Elsewhere
A recent article in Taste discusses the differences between Korean food in North America and Korea as well as one chef’s plan to open an Asian snack and convenience store. “I mean, why is convenience store food so bad in America? In Asia, it’s a pretty viable option for lunch or dinner.”

Continuing with the Korean theme, an author waxes poetic about kimbap but goes on to discuss what we mean when we refer to “authentic” international cuisine. “for many, many years, i was one of those dumbasses who would automatically write off any asian place that wasn’t “authentic.” the really dumb part of that was that i wasn’t knowledgeable enough really to know what “authentic” was . . . . food adapts — it has to. the immigrant cooking we get in america is one of adaptation, especially for immigrant cooking that exists in places where access to certain ingredients is incredibly limited. realizing this is why i no longer have much patience for people who shit on americanized chinese food or dishes like chicken tikka masala; no, they are not “authentic” in the racist way that white people use the word; but these are foods that came from immigrants and their need to survive in new places where their food, in their traditional forms, was unfamiliar to the mainstream.”

The story of food is never simple, integrating history, politics, geography, and economy as outlined in this article about Palestinian cuisine. It’s a long article but well worth reading.

In the Kitchen 
A cookbook critic names this coming season’s best cookbooks. I’m curious to look at In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean.

Food for Thought
I had never considered the link between food and myth, but I am fascinated by the idea that Pandora’s jar is blessing as well as curse. “Her jar is the prototype of all containers that move, preserve, and transform food for humans.” Pandora “encapsulates the contradictions of our relationship to food: the benefits and consequences, the freedom and dependencies it creates. The jar that Hesiod paints as a symbol of disease and toil is also a symbol of security and surplus, the guarantor of life beyond harvest for the individual and collective.” Large-scale agriculture and animal domestication were designed to increase food production but are also linked with the outbreak of  diseases such as Covid.

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Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post articles about food that is good, clean and fair; travel; and books. You may also enjoy EcoFriendly Sask profiling Saskatchewan nature/environmental initiatives and events. 

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