Since so many of us are choosing Canadian and local, maybe it's time to look at Ontario wines? Chatted with a couple of local wine experts and got some ideas about some ideas beyond what's on LCBO shelves.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/jasmine-mangalaseril-ontario-wines-beyond-lcbo-shelves-1.7507938

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #Wine #OntarioWines #VQA #VirtualWineries #LocalFood #BuyLocal #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #Mastonom

It’s my first columnaversary as CBC-KW’s food columnist!

What better way to celebrate a year of exploring local foods than with maple syrup?

Talked about terroir, this year’s harvest, and there’s a Salted Guinness Maple Caramel Syrup recipe that’s mighty good on ice cream!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/maple-syrup-season-jasmine-mangalaseril-1.7502007

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #MapleSyrup #LocalFood #IndigenousFood #BuyLocal #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #Mastonom #Food

Thought it time to do a bit of a dive into fish! This week’s column is bound to reel in those who are just dipping their toes in eating (more) fish at home. Great advice from local fish people from everything to choosing fresh fish to cooking it, so your experience can go swimmingly!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/cooking-fish-t-j-seafood-white-rabbit-1.7495988

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #Fish #Seafood #HomeCooking #Restaurants #BuyLocal #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #Food #Mastonom

Five years ago, Covid kept us home while restaurants and other food businesses looked for ways to stay open.

From cookies, to cooking classes to cooked meals, owners had to be creative about what their businesses were, could do, and could be.

Grateful to the following for talking to me about that headspinning journey:

Lou at Sweet Lou's
Fran at Frannie's
Jody and Kirstie at The Culinary Studio

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/jasmine-mangalaseril-covid-19-pandemic-look-back-five-years-later-1.7489702

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #C19 #Restaurants #BuyLocal #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #InstaFood

Pi Day is only one day, but pie can be had every day! My latest food column is up, along with some tasty handheld pies available in town!

Thanks to these fine people for sharing a slice of their time with me :)

Dianne and Henry from Sweet and Savoury Pie
Nathalia from Melina's Kitchener
Adam from Damask Resto-Market

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/pi-day-pie-sweet-and-savoury-pie-company-damask-melinas-1.7482688

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #MiddleEasternFood #GreekFood #LatinoFood #Pies #PiDay #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #Mastonom #Food

As Annie and Aretha sang, Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves. While men get most of the attention and almost all the investment funds, women are doing the work, founding, running and growing food production companies.

We’ve a few local female-founded companies who are stocking shop shelves across the province and country, and supplying restaurants. So, For International Women's Day, I chatted with a couple of them about their journeys:

Morgan from Green Goddess Fromagerie
Becky from Beck's Broth

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/green-goddess-fromagerie-beck-s-broth-waterloo-region-guelph-1.7477608

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty#GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies#CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #Cheese #Vegan #BoneBroth #IWD2025 #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #Food #Mastonom

My final post in this series!

Day 30 of 30 Days of Local Food: @oddduckwandp

I started this list with a favourite and I’m ending with another favourite. I met Jon Rennie a few years ago when he was in a restaurant kitchen, and then he turned up at my then-butcher’s counter. He told me of his plans to open a restaurant with his best friend, Wes Klassen. What they proposed seemed so different to what we have here. Sure, lots of places do local, seasonal, but theirs is about what’s at the peak of readiness, bringing in disparate influences. The bar program also focuses on small producers we may not have heard of (and I’ll say their sober cocktails are fantastic). It’s a respectful workplace where servers don’t have to put up with *those* behaviours, *those* words to work for a tip. Good people. Doing good things. Creating food that’s well above good.



Odd Duck Wine + Provisions: 93 Ontario Street South, Kitchener #BuyLocal #Canada #SMB #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #Restaurants #LivingWage #ExploreWaterlooRegion #Food #Mastonom

Day 29 of 30 Days of Local Food: Vincenzo's

We’ve a few food landmarks in this town, and I think Vincenzo’s is one. I’ve been shopping here for a couple of decades. Here’s where I find those ingredients that my favourite food writers call for. Here’s where I find ingredients made by small Canadian makers, as well as grab and go meals from local restaurants and caterers. Local foods. Imported foods. Hot counters. Groceries. Fresh-made bespoke pizza. Butcher, cheese, fishmonger, and pastry counters. A deli that will create the sandwich of your dreams. It’s a place where I run into old friends and make new ones. Where listeners tap me on the shoulder after hearing me ask for half a wodge of cheese. It’s a favourite place.

Vincenzo’s 150 Caroline St S, Waterloo,

#BuyLocal #Canada #SMB #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #IndependentGrocers #SpecialtyFoodStores #ExploreWaterlooRegion #Food #Mastonom

Day 27 of 30 Days of Local Food: Local Black Food Entrepreneurs

Whether they're nurturing a new generation of farmers, continuing a legacy, creating new flavours or making it easier to find tastes of home, Waterloo-Wellington's Black food entrepreneurs are helping to shape our food scene and add to the national conversation.

Thanks to the following for speaking with me :)

Tito from mychopchop.ca
Kevin from Big Jerk
Cheyenne from Sundance Harvest
Malcom from MH Fine Foods

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/how-black-entrepreneurs-are-shaping-the-local-food-industry-jasmine-mangalaseril-1.7471285

#Canada #FoodWriting #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #kweats #CanadianFood #Africanfood #JamaicanFood #HotSauce #Agriculture #ExploreWaterlooRegion #CBC #Food #Mastonom

Day 26 of 30 Days of Local Food: Nith Valley Apiaries

When I read about the adulteration of those convenient, cheap, (and sometimes cute) bottles of honey, I switched to locally-produced sweet stuff. When I’m not gifted with a jar from a friend’s hives, I turn to Nith Valley. Part of the local sustainable food system they’ve been around since 1918 and now have hives dotting the swath of territory including Perth and Oxford Counties and Waterloo Region. I prefer their unpasteurised liquid honey, but I cannot turn down their strawberry creamed (mixed with butter and sprinkled with salt and black pepper, on toasted seedy bread).

The pic: A 1kg jar of Nith Valley’s unpasteurised, unfiltered summer blossom honey.

Nith Valley Apiaries: 1041 Christner Rd, New Hamburg

#BuyLocal #Canada #SMB #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #GuelphFoodies #Waterloofoodies #kitchenerfoodies #CambridgeFoodies #KitchenerWaterlooFoodies #CanadianFood #Honey #Bees #ExploreWaterlooRegion #Food #Mastonom