Volume 1, Number 19 | Toronto, Ontario| A Good Food Media website | News & features from the good food revolution

Canadian Cookbook Awards:
An Alberta Upset - Company's Coming Triumphs Over James Beard Book of the Year

Ricardo Larrivée won best French language cookbook for Ricardo: parce qu'on a tous de la visite: cuisiner en toutes circonstances

Cuisine Canada held the 12th annual Canadian Cookbook Awards last week in Toronto to a packed house at The Royal Agricultural Fair. A complete list of winners is here, including Ricardo Larrivée's Ricardo: parce qu'on a tous de la visite: cuisiner en toutes circonstances, which won Best French Cookbook and Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Beyond The Great Wall, which won English Special Interest and Anita Stewart's Anita Stewart's Canada, which won Best Canadian Food Culture beating out Margaret Webb's Oysters to Apples, which won silver. But the big upset came from the Alberta recipe house founded by Jean Paré, Company's Coming, whose Small Plates For Sharing, edited by staffer Laurie Stempfle won Best English Cookbook. Stempfle's bested legendary Canadian Living food maven Elizabeth Baird, whose The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book won second place. Stempfle's slim volume also won out over Jennifer McLagan's Fat, which had had previously won Best Single Subject at The IACP Awards in February, in addition to the James Beard Award for Cookbook of the Year in May. The decision left much of the Toronto fooderatti present surprised and curious. - Malcolm Jolley

Breakfast Bowl Revolutionaries

English cereal and porridge makers Camilla and Nick Barnard want you to read the label on the box on your breakfast table. The duo behind the company Rude Health have brought the good food revolution to the breakfast table, where Malcolm Jolley finds out, some of the worst culinary crimes are being committed to unaware consumers. More>>

In Season: Romanesco

Locavore maven Kathleen Mackintosh can't resist the alien aesthetic of Romanesco cauliflower. She explains, "This crazy shaped cauliflower is an architectural wonder of the food world. Fractal points of jagged green cauliflower look great and taste it too. I love it’s nutty flavour and prefer to eat it raw."| Culinarium, Ontario's Locavore Store, sponsors GFR's weekly seasonal produce report.
   

Much Ado About Stew

As it gets colder and the days get shorter Kelly Jones says it's stew season. Jones asked chefs Andrew Mackenzie (Buddah Dog) and Jonathan Gushue (Langdon Hall) and what they're stirring in their pots this autumn. More>>

All About Vintage Port

Like Champagne, the Port houses only declare vintages in the best years, reports Anne Martin. Martin attends a revealing tasting and explains the basics on port,  from tawny to LBV - includes tasting notes from four ports. More>>

DON'T MISS: Slow Food Fat & Bones Tasting with Jennifer McLagan! Nov. 19. Click here.

Ivy in Ottawa

Ivy Knight and Phillipa Croft present a photo essay form their recent gastronomic tour of Ottawa. More>>

OLA: Latin Cuisine
Conquers Toronto

Mary Luz Mejia reports on the sold-out festival of Latin chefs that took Toronto by storm last month. More>>

How to Finish Your Cheese

Cheesemonger Nancy Peppler travels to Vermont to learn about affinage, the art of finishing or aging cheese. More>>

Vandava Shiva in Toronto: Rethinking Organic Food

Photo: Jo Dickins

From GoodFoodRevBlog, Malcolm Jolley on his meeting with Vandava Shiva, India's outspoken food activist who takes the debate on organics beyond consumer choice. More>>

News: Speck Bros. of Henry of Pelham Inducted to IF&B Hall of Fame

The fraternal triumvirate that runs Henry of Pelham, Paul, Matthew and Daniel Speck were inducted into The International Food & Beverage Hall of Fame in Rhode Island.

 JP Challet and colleagues at ICI Bistro celebrated the award of a long sought after liquor license for their 24-seat restaurant on Harbord Street, despite opposition from City Councillor Joe Pantalone.

Gourmet Media: Click here for GFR's weekly round-up of Food & wine stories from around the world.

Chef Michael Smith Gets Personal

Chef Michael Smith at George Brown College's School of Hospitality. Photo: ED Fisher.

Author, TV host, Iron Chef contestant and PEI ambassador Chef Michael Smith candidly explains to Malcolm Jolley why he's so excited about his new book Best of The Inn Chef, what's next and why the message must be "cooking is fun." More>>

Sponsored link:
Hart House's 2009 Tasting Series. New tastes, led by experts every Thursday evening. Click here to see them all.

Darioush: A King of Wines

Anne Martin reports on a Napa cult wine with a Persian connection. More>>

What's On The Table 2009: Why One Chef Won't Miss WOTT
Mildred's Temple Kitchen chef Donna Dooher will cook at one of more than 13 chef stations dedicated to serving their best for The Stop's annual gastronomic gala What's On The Table, on Wednesday, November 4. She explains why cooking for The Stop and their mission of Good Food For All is a labour of love. "It's worth coming just to see what the Stop is doing with their Green Barn," Dooher explains adding, "I couldn't say no, they run so many wonderful, and crucially important programs." Click here for last minute tickets.

What Exactly is LFP?

Greg Bolton finds out what it is that Local Food Plus does and stands for. More>>

Wine Under $20:
A South African Old New World Charmer

The 2008 Klien Zalze Barrel Fermented Vineyard Selection Chardonnay (LCBO# 96495)  is an example of South Africa's evolution back towards an Old World wine techniques. With enough acid to give it a pleasant citrus tang, and subtle use of French oak to round the corners, the $16 white offers great value and wonderful counter balance to creamy autumn soups: find a bottle near you by clicking here.

19 Top Chefs at One Event:
What's On The Table 2009
Keith Froggett squeezes it out last year for The Stop
at Toronto's most serious annual culinary event.

The list of chefs says it all: Hemant Bhagwani (Amaya’s Bread Bar), Jason Inniss & Bertrand Alépée (Amuse-Bouche), Andrew Mackenzie & Andrew Hunter (Buddha Dog), Ted Corrado (C5), Anthony Walsh (Canoe) Ezra Title (Chezvous Dining), Albino Silva (Chiado), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Claudia Egger (Frangipane), Lorenzo Loseto (George), Jamie Kennedy (Jamie Kennedy Kitchens), Jonathan Gushue (Langdon Hall), Donna Dooher (Mildred’s Temple Kitchen), Guido Saldini (Noce), Keith Froggett (Scaramouche), Tom Davis (The Stockyards), Chris Brown (The Stop), Chris McDonald (XOCOCAVA). No event rallies Toronto's top toques like What's On The Table, the annual feast in support of The Stop Community Food Centre, one of Toronto's most innovative organisations dedicated to "good food for all". Both elegant and casual, WOTT offers a showcase of the best talent, ingredients and creativity in the region's fine dining scene.

Throughout the event, participating chefs compete to out do each other at cooking stations, interspersed with Niagara wine stations. This year will be different from the previous four, though, as dinner will be served at The Stop's Green Barn facility at Artscape's spectacular Wychwood Park barns. Explains event co-chair Emma Waverman: "Holding the event at the Green Barn means we can show diners some of the neat things The Stop is doing and growing while they enjoy the best local food and wines. It's going to be magical." Click here to reserve tickets now.

Next week: what the chefs say about WOTT.

Good Food Revelation is proud to sponsor The Stop Community Food Centre's What's On The Table 2009

Food Trends From London

Polpo in Soho has hit the Zeitgeist right between the gut and wallet with Anglo-Italo Venetian "tapas"

The great recession suits London, figures Malcolm Jolley, who just spent a week eating at some of the city's hottest new spots, and a "pop-up" spot that isn't even really a spot at all. Plus, he has a scoop on a menu change at the original nose to tail restaurant. More>>

Small is Beautiful at Niagara's
13th Street Winery

Sommelier Lindsay Groves looks at Niagara's 13th Street Winery and offers tasting notes on 11 of their current wines. More>>

Zoltan's Notes

The Toronto-Transylvanian Sommelier-Extraordinaire Zoltan Szabo offers his unique tasting note stylings on 17 wines. More>>