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Breaking Bread is a weekly column that explores the culinary highlights of Toronto. Features include recipes from local chefs, editorials, interviews, restaurant reviews and more. |
After another year long wait, Torontonians experienced the 18th annual beer fest last weekend at the exhibitions band shell park. With over two hundred brands of beer, food, and drink, thirsty beer lovers proudly enjoyed some of the finest and caloric treats our city has to offer. After a sunny weekend of beer drinking and eating at the festival, we were reminded why Beerfest has become one of the most anticipated events of the summer in Toronto.
As we entered the venue, it became evident that we were in the right place for dedicated beer drinkers and foodies alike. Celebrity Chef Ted Readers was on hand attending to a whole roasted pig on a spit he had prepared, his eyes glowing with excitement about the food he was cooking. As we spoke with him, we began to feel the excitement that many of the exhibitors were feeling. With so many talented chefs and brewers on hand, there was clearly an undeniable energy in the air.
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Breaking Bread is a weekly column that explores the culinary highlights of Toronto. Features include recipes from local chefs, editorials, interviews, restaurant reviews and more. |
Photo: Joel Levy
While working as the sous chef at Union Restaurant on the trendy Ossington strip, I was constantly challenged by Chef Teo Paul to create braised meat dishes, that were markedly different from the common red wine, and herb braised meats found at almost every other high end restaurant. After numerous experiments deemed too ordinary, I finally hit the nail on the head with this rich unctuous dish. In this particular variation on our classic dish, I serve braised chunks of prime beef, over crispy potato latkes, with a sour cream and chive sauce, and some carrot rounds for good riddance. It succeeds in being exotic, and refined, as well as delicious. The soy and ginger in the braise give this dish an Asian feel, however the latkes and sour cream bring the dish back to eastern European comfort food. This dish is versatile, complex, but most importantly easy to prepare and can be reworked numerous ways.
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Breaking Bread is a weekly column that explores the culinary highlights of Toronto. Features include recipes from local chefs, editorials, interviews, restaurant reviews and more. |
This is a dish I prepared for a good friends special engagement dinner. Since the bride to be had a specific pesca-ovo vegetarian diet, I was challenged to create an entire menu that could accommodate her needs. After a few courses of lighter mostly vegetarian courses, I decided to end our meal with this dish, since its rich flavors were arguably the most intense of all the other courses. The flavors and textures were combined in such away that the fish and the lentils were balanced in intensity, and the sweet potato brought the whole dish together in each bite with its smooth rich texture.
Photo: Joel Levy
This dish succeeds in being healthy, complex, and surprisingly easy to prepare. It also pairs beautifully with an off-dry gewürztraminer, especially that of German origin. The ingredients are not only healthy and locally sourced, but they are also easy to find, and simple to execute. If your local fishmonger doesn’t have impeccably fresh arctic char, salmon or trout make an excellent alternative for this dish.
After finishing our last course, we were all in agreement that it was an appropriate way to end our meal. This dish incorporates the flavors of North Africa and the Middle East, but the ingredients keep it in the realm of local Canadian fusion cuisine.
INGREDIENTS:
Lentils
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion (chopped)
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Breaking Bread is a weekly column that explores the culinary highlights of Toronto. Features include recipes from local chefs, editorials, interviews, restaurant reviews and more. |
Joso’s is a family run seafood restaurant located in downtown Toronto. It is renowned in many circles as the city’s finest Dalmatian (Croatian) fish restaurant. Famous for its cuttlefish ink pasta and risotto nero, and its impeccable fresh fish selection, Joso’s stands out as a feast for your tastebuds, eyes and for that matter all of the senses. Located in a cozy home like setting, the interior is rich with culture, boasting provocative artwork, and Joso’s own artistic creations. Original Picasso and Dali artwork hang on the walls, as well as his own paintings and sculptures - some made from the skin and bone of exotic fish. This sensory overload represents this family’s masterpiece, and serves to foreshadow the sensual delights that await their loyal customers.
Photo: Joel Levy
As we begin our meal, we are immediately presented with an explanation of the day’s international fish selection. The descriptions are poetic, and make it easy for us to make our menu choices. We begin with sharing a salad bowl, garnished with fresh kidney beans and chick peas. Expertly julienned green onions display the chef’s pride, and remind the diner of the care and attention that each plate has garnered before being set on the table. The next course in our feast is a fresh grilled Orada, and rich cuttlefish (sepia) ink spaghettini. Both Joel and I agree that the fresh flavours are masterfully respected. We finish our meal with some homemade tiramisu, and crepes filled with sweet apricot purée, traditional of Dalmatian cuisine. We sip cherry liqueur and drink espresso and are now certain that Joso’s is a treat for all the senses. Joso’s serves to successfully arouse the palate, and kept us begging for more. Before leaving our conversation moves to how soon we can come back, so that we can spend more time taking in the eclectic and erotic art that surrounds us, not to mention the meticulously crafted meals put before us.
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