> Niagara’s best cherries are in! When a farmer calls, I go running like a puppy. Sue Pohorly, farmer and owner of The Fruit Shack in the Village of Virgil called, “the cherries are in”. On the Pohorly farm there are two giant hoop rows and inside are beautiful cherry trees that bear the big, black, juicy, ultra-sweet cherries at farmers in Niagara don’t grow because they split with the least amount of rain. But the Pohorly’s protect them with their own hoop house so they’re guaranteed to be big and beautiful. I went running down and sure enough […]
>Excited about Sourdough!
> Went to a bread and wine tasting at The Old Mill Inn yesterday staged by Puratos. If you’ve never heard of this company before it’s because Puratos make bread ingredients and sellw them to the baking industry. Today we were to sample breads made from various sourdough starters. If you’ve ever thought sourdough was all the same, I’m about to introduce you to a world of variances and textures of sourdough bread to get excited about. First tasting was a crusty roll made with Sapore Tosca. A typical Italian durm wheat sourdough made from fine hard semolina. This […]
>In Defence of Local Food
>I am beyond concern now. It’s another dark day for Niagara’s food scene. If you’re a regular at the Good Shepherd in Vineland you know more than anyone, it’s about more than buying meat. Franz and Denise Gerber are Mennonite farmers who converted their barn into a retail space so customers like you and I can buy good, organic, safe meat. In their coolers you’ll find various cuts of beef, pork and chicken. From these animals they also make cutlets, pies, rolls, pepperettes, kielbasa, sausages and cheese. There are lamb roaming in the pasture and turkeys to be ordered […]
>The Flavours of Greece on a Plate and in a Glass
> Treadwell’s in Port Dalhousie does regional cuisine superbly! So when they were approached by the Kolonaki Group of Toronto and WineSavvy Consultants of Niagara to organize a special (trade only) Greek wine tasting, it was way over the top in flavour and authenticity. It became a delicious, palate lead journey to Greece. To say Greece is the new up and coming wine region is not quite accurate. Greece has been producing wines like these for a few decades now, but without the giant marketing budgets other wine growing regions of the world have, they become the treasures of […]
>Feasting on the Best in the World
> I love openings, especially of great food shops! And he did it just for you and me. Lino Collevecchio is owner of Woodland Imports, an import company that brings in the most exquisite food products from around the world – and he’s just opened up his warehouse to retail sales. Born and raised in St. Catharines, Collevecchio became a chef at George Brown College, worked in some of the best kitchens around the world and opened Woodland 15 years ago in Ancaster. Just last year he moved his business to Niagara and this past weekend (April 11, 2010), […]
>The Season Has Begun
> It’s Niagara’s first agricultural crop of the season. Harvesting maple syrup starts around mid February and depending on the weather, lasts until the end of March. “We need 3 days above freezing to get the sap running”, explains Ann Bering of White Meadows Farm in beautiful Effingham. The freezing and thawing temperatures starts and stops the sap many times. Maple syrup starts as a sticky sap from the insides of a maple tree and is then transformed into a lusciously sweet nectar that is irresistible to all who try it. White Meadows Farm is in full maple syrup […]