Food for Thought with Alex Bielak-Taste report and a Year’s Worth of Beer in Two Weeks

Taste report and a Year’s Worth of Beer in Two Weeks 

Beer-lovers have the opportunity to swamp any sorrows they might have over the coming two weekends this July.

Before I give details of how you too can sample over 52 beers or ciders in just two weeks, a short note about the recent Taste of Burlington launch event. In a nutshell it was a terrific showcase of what’ll be on prix-fix lunch and dinner offer at the 23 participating restaurants, July 19 – August 2, 2015.

Though I had my favourites (see photos), there were many fine dishes on offer and it was clear many
of the chefs had upped their game this time around. The judges courageously picked a very simple, but refreshing, watermelon and mint salad from Persian restaurant Rayhoon as the “Best Taste” winner.

It won over a splendid, more complex offering, from three-time champ, Chef Mitchell Lamb from

Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - Dream of Blue Oysters

Dream of Blue Oysters

So, with apologies to Sting, I’ve become a farmer. Well technically I financed a smallholding, and sub-contracted the work to my wife and daughter. How small, you ask? About a foot square by a couple of feet high. Allow me to explain…

A couple of weeks’ back – during the Les Marmitons Gala I mentioned in the last column - I was at a talk by Brad Kuhns and Angela Vessie, the husband and wife team that runs Top Shelf Mushrooms in Collingwood. I love mushrooms, especially the more exotic ones that cost so much at supermarkets, so I found their talk fascinating. They are foragers who eventually founded a business making kits for folk who wanted to try their hand at growing their own. They also now run an expanding mushroom farm.

Their grow-at-home kits, available by mail, are certified organic and come with a couple of

Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - Les Marmitons - Cooks Without Pants

Les Marmitons - Cooks Without Pants 

Made you look! More on pants, or lack there-of, below.

In my last column, while extolling the virtues of several chefs under whose direction I have had the pleasure and privilege of cooking, I mentioned a cooking group I’m a member of. Here’s some more information about it, and how to express interest in joining.

A “Marmiton” was traditionally a young kitchen helper or apprentice chef, and Les Marmitons is a men’s cooking organization with 17 chapters across Canada and the U.S. The Niagara and Toronto clubs are within a manageable drive of Hamilton/Burlington, depending where you live: I’m involved with both. Members at clubs benefit from cooking on pro equipment at culinary colleges, the Canadian Food and Wine Institute at Niagara College, and Liaison College West, in Etobicoke, respectively.

Chapters organize events more or less monthly between September and May, including special ones

Food for Thought with Alex Bielak- Refreshing Rhubarb (with Red Pepper Jelly and Star Anise) and Road Trips

Refreshing Rhubarb (with Red Pepper Jelly and Star Anise) and Road Trips  

My wife loves rhubarb because it reminds her of her Grandmother. Grannie was a wonderful gardener and would give the children rhubarb stalks sprinkled with sugar to chew on as soon as the first harvest from her garden was ready. Tart and crunchy, it’s a memory of carefree childhood. 

Grannie’s approach is too tart for me, so I improvised a version that would work for both Roberta and I. This gloriously-refreshing stewed rhubarb recipe is dead simple to make, and can be eaten as an easy dessert (with a crisp oatmeal cookie, perhaps), as a fillip to the tastebuds at breakfast, or perhaps incorporated in a cocktail. The possibilities abound and I leave readers to experiment with ingredient quantities to their taste.

I took a dozen or so slim fresh rhubarb stalks (the leaves are poisonous), chopped them into inch long pieces and put them in a pan with a cup and a half of water. (They will release more water so use more or less water if you like your compote thinner or thicker.) I then added a couple of tablespoons of sugar, a large dollop of red pepper jelly (for an interesting colour accent, and to add a tad more sweetness as well as a colourful, fiery hit) and a couple of star anise pods.

I stirred the gently simmering mixture to dissolve the sugar and jelly, and as soon as the stalks were tender (perhaps ten minutes or so) I turned off the heat. As the contents cool you can adjust the sweetness: I sometimes add a touch of fresh maple syrup. You can eat the dish warm, or (my preference) chilled in the fridge. It’s delicious with or without a dribble of cream.

Thinking of spring also brings to mind road trips and discovering the bounty of other parts of Southern Ontario.

A wonderful event is coming up June 6th – 7th, just to the south, in Beamsville. Nearly sold out, Graze the Bench has eight wineries teaming up with some of the top chefs in the area for what promises to be a splendid weekend of bevvies, munching and tunes. You can also “Rock the Bench” on the evening of June 5th at Thirty Bench Winery. Our friends at Memphis Fire are providing the bound-to-be-tasty BBQ.

Try Smoking Buddha’s oriental offerings at Angels Gate winery, Chef Mark Hand’s fennel sausage at Mike Weir winery, El Gastro’s amazing food (Check out my early review of their new cookbook, Curbside, in the previous column) at the Organized Crime Winery, and Chef Victor Barrie’s “100 day aged chuck burger” at Hidden Bench Vineyard among others. As a member of Les Marmitons, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of cooking under the direction of all these chefs and can promise you their food is nothing short of amazing and alone worth the trip. And the wines at all the participating wineries aren’t half bad either!

Going north, I’d alert readers to the upcoming May 30th Spring Rural Romp in Wellington County. It is a self-guided farm, plant nursery and food tour and includes great opportunities to win prizes by participating in the Butter Tart Trail Challenge (mmm… butter tarts), and a photo contest.

Enjoy the warming weather and all it brings to bloom!

To see more pictures, click here.

To see all past columns please see (and “like”) the Food for Thought Archives

Alex (Alex can be reached at fft@thehamiltonian.info or on twitter @AlexBielak)

Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - Sips Between the Lines, Curbside Bites and Tastebuds Edition

Sips Between the Lines, Curbside Bites and Tastebuds Edition

Just published this week, Curbside: Modern street food from a vagabond chef (Whitecap Books), is a terrific book by Chef Adam Hynam-Smith: he and his partner own the gourmet food truck – El Gastrónomo Vagabundo (know simply as El Gastro to his many mates) that ranges throughout the Niagara Region up to Hamilton.

I just received my review copy a few days ago, and was totally blown away by the quality of the nearly-300 page book. Hynam-Smith, Aussie by birth and now Niagara-based, is one of the bright lights on the culinary scene, and in the book he shares his own innovative recipes, along with

From the Lens of Ron Ogulin

Click on pic to enlarge

Ron Ogulin is a talented local photographer. From time to time, The Hamiltonian features local artists and photographers. 

If you are a photographer who would like to submit a picture for consideration, please send to admin@thehamiltonian.info