Flavourful Saskatoon, December 21, 2020

The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.” (A Visit from St. Nicholas, Clement Clarke-Moore) 

Local News 

The Jamaica Food Basket, across the street from the Scotia Centre, has a retail section, a bar, and a restaurant. They try to offer seasonal products like Jamaican mango. 

In the Kitchen 

An avocado a day keeps the doctor away – or so the researchers say. “Avocado is an energy-dense food, but it is also nutrient dense, and it contains important micronutrients that Americans don't eat enough of, like potassium and fiber. . . . It's just a really nicely packaged fruit that contains nutrients that are important for health. Our work shows we can add benefits to gut health to that list.” 

UNESCO has added the Berber dish of couscous to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. “Despite major differences, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania got together to highlight their shared love for the dish, which joined Zambia's Budima dance, Spain's wine horses, Singapore's hawker culture and other new entrants on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage.” 

In the Field 

“Hundreds of native North American plants, often dismissed as weeds, deserve a lot more respect. . . . These plants, distant cousins of foods like cranberries and pumpkins, actually represent a botanical treasure now facing increased threat from climate change, habitat loss and invasive species.” 

“That paradoxical sunflower, for instance, can survive in a salty environment that would kill most plants. So plant breeders cross-pollinated it with commercial sunflowers and created new varieties that can grow in places where the soil contains more salt.”

 

Between the Covers 

Having spent a couple of weeks in Lyon, France, in 2019, I was eager to read Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking by Bill Buford. Buford is a remarkable man. A journalist with a gift of the gab, he sweet talks himself into kitchens and cooking classes that would normally be closed to all but a select few and becomes friends with some of France’s top chefs. He’s also an extremely hard worker who not only wants to master the art of French cooking but to uncover its historical secrets. 

In a concluding chapter of the book, Buford says, “I had gone to France to learn basics. The basics of its kitchen. The basics of place, and what grows here and what doesn’t grow there. I wanted to get as close to my sources as possible, where the words come from, how we arrive at flavor. I wanted to re-examine my assumptions about the kitchen, to restart my education, to get as elemental and as primary as possible. Heat. Water. Labor. Place. And its dirt.” 

Food for Thought 

 Modern Farmer has published a backgrounder on the farmer protests in India. “At its core, the clash over Indian agriculture is both sides—the right-wing central government and the rural farmers—understanding that the industry is completely untenable. The government wants to address those issues by opening Indian agriculture up to the free market; the farmers want significantly more government aid and regulation to ensure their survival. . . . Economists don’t necessarily agree with the government’s position. Many have said that the Indian government should, as the farmers want, expand the social safety net, simplify the subsidy system (perhaps simply giving cash to rural Indians), and create more sustainable systems like farmer-owned cooperatives. And in the longer term, they argue the government will need to shunt people off of the land and into manufacturing, as China and other countries have done.” 

The next issue of Flavourful Saskatoon will be posted on January 4. In the meantime, remember “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” (Charles Dickens)