I attended a foodie event this week that unfortunately, due to contract obligations, I cannot share the details of, but suffice it to say it inspired me to write about how much fun it is to share a passion with like-minded souls.

Have you ever loved something so much that you thought: “this must be abnormal, everyone must think I am weird” or similar such comments?? For me, that something is being a foodie, or as it was once referred to, a gourmet (that word now has a bit of a stuffy connotation, I find). I looked up the definition so that I can be sure to paint you a clear picture, and I found this:

Foodie (also epicure, gastronome, bon vivant): a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink).

It’s true, that’s me. I am not snobbish about what I eat – a good donut is as sensuous an experience as a good piece of foie gras – but I enjoy eating as a pastime and certainly not as a necessity. I enjoy it for the sensual nature – rich flavours, intense aromas, varying textures, brilliant colours, funky textures. I love the camaraderie it creates many of my favourite memories revolve around a kitchen or a dining room table somewhere, shared with friends, family or even new acquaintances.

The event this week was something that I had been meaning to do for a long time, and finally doing it made me remember how much I loved those moments of revelation. It is the bliss you feel upon trying something new and sharing that delight with someone equally as thrilled. This event also gave me a chance to see people I knew in a new light, and I discovered I liked them even more! I was so busy enjoying the experience I even forgot to give myself a kick at having taken so long to get there…

But of course by this point you are wondering if I have any purpose this week besides self-indulgence. I do appreciate you humouring me, but I am here mostly to tell you, “Get off your chair and do something you’ve been meaning to do!” Start spring cleaning the cobwebs in the corner of your brain that stores your dreams and desires, and sign up for a class or cook that recipe posted on the fridge or throw a ball with your kid, or whatever it is that you keep putting off. I would love to think I can inspire you to be inspired about food, to share my delight at say, how exquisite a delightful raspberry Bavarian cream can be with the right wine but if you are inspired at all I know that will do my heart and yours a great deal of good. We will both live longer and smile more, and that is the most important thing.

That’s all I have for this week. Like I said, I wish I could share more, but perhaps someday soon we can share a meal or even maybe compare the tastes of fresh fruit bought at the local stand. Till then, as the ultimate foodie, Julia Child, used to say in salute: “Bon Appetit!”

As we all sit down to cheer on the last of the competitors in these thrilling Olympic games, how shall we show our patriotism in what we eat? What is considered a quintessential Canadian food? I thought I should make sure we all know so we can properly celebrate to the full extent as we rake in a few more gold medals this weekend!

I looked on the web to see what articles had been posted about Canadian food at the Olympics, and I found out the Chef Michael Smith featured wild blueberry ice cream from the Maritimes. There was a blogger who put up a recipe for maple walnut scones that got great reviews (how can you not love something with maple syrup in it, after all?) Then there was the article about McDonalds and their efforts to promote their healthy food menu good enough for athletes. (Did that writer forget that McDonald’s is an American company? In Vancouver if you wanted local fast food, you used to choose Nat Bailey’s White Spot.) And of course, I knew it would come up somewhere, but I was interested to find again that it was an American who mentioned Timmy’s as a Canadian food institution. Tim Hortons is the place for coffee here, not Starbucks, and more often than not people I know would recognize a Timbit before they named a low-fat cranberry scone.

So then I scanned my bookcase of cookbooks. I do have quite a collection of Canadian titles, including a booklet from the Leif Eiriksson Icelandic Club, “Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens”, and my Mom’s dog-eared copy of “The Chatelaine Cookbook”. I even have “The Best of the Best” from those lovely bridge ladies who taught us the Christmas Morning Wifesaver brunch dish and many others. All of these volumes contain cherished traditional recipes I know and love, but nothing in any of them spoke of national identity. Even something more current is tricky famous Canadian foodie and cookbook author, Anita Stewart, would only commit to regional foods as a distinction in her book, “The Flavours of Canada”. Maybe that is part of the mystery that makes this great nation, I thought – perhaps we are impossible to define in one brush stroke or spread of the knife…

So I guess you have to perpetuate your own Canadian food traditions. Martin will be back east having poutine and sugar pie as this gets posted, while I will be home having pancakes with maple syrup for Sunday breakfast. We love to have lobster mushroom linguine, the mushrooms picked from our secret location in the Rockies. We are spoiled here with Okanagan fruits, and on the coast there is that wonderful salmon. I suppose just being proud of the bounty we enjoy and wanting to share it is something that we could call Canadian. I did read that we export about 45 per cent of the food we produce, to 195 countries. Those exports account for nearly $43-billion worth of trade.

I am very proud to see us all excited about being Canadian, and not worried about the rest of the world seeing us wave flags and cheer. We have much to offer. Here’s to us!

Kristin

Kristin and I just came back from holiday. New York was it for us this year and we had a great time. We had so many unique food experiences…

After a 10 hour trek from plane to plane to plane, we were starving and looking to finish the day with a good meal to get us ready for the next day. We found a sushi/Japanese restaurant two steps from our hotel. A buffet 95 feet long and I took the time to count 140 different dishes from cold to hot. Many salads, sushi rolls, sushi cones made to order, sashimi everything, grilled meats, grilled seafood, whole fishes I had never tasted, crispy soft shell crabs, king crab legs, crab cakes, rice dishes, noodle dishes, and so much more… we finished our enormous meal at the ice cream and crepes station… wow I love New York!

A couple days later, we stopped to grab a slice at a famous pizza joint… all of them are actually famous according to locals. Great flavours, great selection and almost no place to sit and eat. The tables were so packed in that restaurant that I could kiss my wife without stretching at all. I love New York!

Our next stop was a very cozy wine and cheese bar in the Soho district. The kitchen was smaller than most house kitchens and to go get supplies you had to go outside the building, open a steel door on the sidewalk and go down a set of extremely narrow stairs. The food was really good and we tasted a few great wines too. I love New York!

One morning we took three subways across town and walked six blocks in the driving wind just to go taste a few donuts. This was a really fun shop we had heard about a year ago watching our CBS Sunday Morning TV show. Not disappointing at all, peanut butter and jelly glaze and the coconut filled and covered with a coconut fondant that was to die for. That night we went to see the Knicks play basketball at the Madison Square Garden and they actually won just for us! I love New York!

It was not the most relaxing holiday, but an extremely brain stimulating kind of holiday. So much to see in a place where the word big does not even begin to explain the size and magnitude of everything.

I will have more about our holiday and my work day(stage) at an amazing restaurant next week.

I love New York!

We were fortunate enough to see the Olympic torch up close recently, when it came through our little town. Not only did we attend the community celebrations but we cheered on a torchbearer, and it was a great way to feel the soul of our community.

I was tickled pink (or should I say red and white?) when one of my dog-training friends mentioned she would be carrying the torch. Her son had carried it in 1988 when it made its journey to Calgary, so she was thrilled to be expanding the legacy for her family. I was in France studying and missed being part of the Olympics in my hometown in 1988, so I was especially keen to support this special occasion for someone I knew.

I saw the torch leave Olympia, Greece, in 1984 when it started its trip to Los Angeles, and I remember how special a feeling it was to be linked to something that had existed for so long in so many countries and communities. In my travels I have often been asked about what it means to be a Canadian and it can be a difficult question to answer. The Americans have a particular identity around the world – they took baseball and apple pie as trademarks, and of course they have plenty of other references, some of which are not so warm and fuzzy, but you can’t argue that people don’t have an impression of what it means to be American. In Canada, being a bit more reserved and intent on not offending people, we are seen as the peacekeepers both literally and figuratively. It is a great honour to come from a country known for its politeness and friendly nature, but you have to admit, when you try to nail down more than that, it gets tricky. Each region of Canada has all kinds of specialties, and we are all proud of our own things. How then, do we show our national pride?

As I stood at the curb all decked out in my red and white, with Ella proudly flying her maple leaf scarf beside the other canine supporters, I felt the swell of patriotism in my chest. I was thrilled to see Liz come around the corner with that torch burning brightly and her smile fueling it further. I choked up when I saw her salute the next torchbearer with a raise of the torch, and then complete the relay transfer of the flame and stop to share a hug before the journey continued on. I could not have been happier to share in that moment.

That evening we went downtown to witness the grand celebration and share in the spirit of it all. It was so heartwarming to see families there with little kids on parent’s shoulders, and older folks waving flags in hands that didn’t hold canes...people from all parts of the community were there to share something they felt was important. The special treats on hand were mini-donuts and “la tire sur la neige” (maple toffee on snow) – not really local traditions per se, but an effort nonetheless to add to the festivities. In true Canadian spirit, people queued in an orderly fashion for free goodies from sponsors, and they made way for anyone working through the crowd. It took a while for the announcer to get everyone to full volume, but when that flame wooshed by, everyone cheered and clapped and hooted with definite enthusiasm.

You may not be in favour of the politics surrounding these Games, and you may not be able to attend anything in person even though it is only a short drive away from us. But we have had a chance to share in the true Olympic spirit, and to show the world what it means to be Canadian. Whether you like salmon jerky or butter tarts or perogies or Timmy’s donuts or sugar pie or salt cod, you can stand next to your neighbour and know that you can and should be proud to be part of something great.

Go Canada GO!