DockPotato's Profile
Maple Syrup? Availability? Price?
We have an annual task that takes us past our favourite producer south of Tara in Bruce County, Ontario - roughly across Lake Huron from Michigan's thumb. I mention this to give some context of climate as our seasons roughly correspond.
As I suspected, this mild winter has cut into production. Severely. Mr. Howard informed me that production had been ended for some time and that he had realized half of normal production.
We bought two imperial quarts of #2 Amber (Grade B U.S.?) at $18 each. That was the last of his quarts for the year. We were reduced to buying a pint of the same for my sister at $12. Little remained, the rest had shipped to market.
We normally buy more about mid summer but I doubt any stock will remain even of the other grades.
How does this compare elsewhere?
Tell Me About Your Favorite "Square Meal?"
Husleves - Hungarian beef soup which was our typical Sunday main meal.
A good slab of beef shank was slowly simmered with chunks of root vegetables - celery, carrot , kholarabi and parsnip, plus parsley and peppercorns. Towards the end potatoes were added.
The soup was strained and returned to heat where liver dumplings were added, or the soup was added directly to the plate to previously boiled, finely cut or other egg noodles.
Enough soup? - good, bring on the boiled-out veggies and tap the marrow. Marrow was spread on rye bread, salted and divvied up.
Veggies and beef were then doled out and served. The meat was stringy, the veggies spent, but there was still a subtle taste, texture and pleasure there. Especially if there was tomato "martas" as an accompaniment. Dessert was simple pastry - kifli, beigli or sponge roll.
I loved Mondays.
Are oxtails really ox?
I dunno.
Don't like the part about "free from blaze and smoke" otherwise sounds fine to me.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
Local, pragmatic comment on GM Canola where it's grown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDY6bWT5oTM
Mouldy Chestnuts
"Now, I pick each and every chestnut individually at the store. It takes time, but I rarely get bad ones now. I look for a shiny shell, heavy for its size, and most importantly, when I squeeze it, it stays hard. If the shell gives at all, I put it back"
Didn't work for me, Goat. Some of the heavy, shiny, fat ones were rotten and many were putrid with mould. I expect that you have a source that rotates its stock frequently.
Mouldy Chestnuts
I can't recall, Dudey, but I don't think that origin is an issue here. With the exception of a handful of groves we have no edible chestnuts here so everything is imported. Nonetheless I'll check the sign.
Last year I bought a lot with very few discards from the same source. On the strength of that I bought again this year only to be disappointed once more. This is after many years of hit and miss, mostly miss.
On inspection it seemed that the mould begins at the stem end and works its way down. I expect that I was dealing with less than fresh.
Mouldy Chestnuts
How do I avoid them? What causes the mould?
I just wasted the better part of an afternoon, blanching and peeling 1 lb of chestnuts intending to make puré. Fully two thirds were mouldy or rotten. Thank God it's just the two of us tonight. I'm willing to accept minor waste in a purchase, but not to that extent. They were $3/lb but the biggest loss is the disappointment and wasted time and effort. I picked them out of a huge bin at a local chain whom I won't identify but will inform: I'm sure it's the same at all of our very few national chains.
Why can I get fish, fruit and other perishables at decent freshness, but not chestnuts?
This is a perennial problem here in Canada. Surely the nation's vendors are knowingly setting out mouldy product as an annual rite. Don't they test their product?
Is the situation the same elsewhere?
K/W Fresh Co and /Sobeys
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the following:
Central Fresh Market at 760 King St. West, Kitchener near Grand River Hospital;
http://www.centralfreshmarket.com/
It looks dinky from the street but its size surprised me the first time I entered. It's very, very busy with a high turnover and a better selection by far than either of KW's Sobeys. Very reasonable prices too. It's independent but I do believe "Compliments?" or some other private label is available.
Glogowskis EuroFood, 403 Highland Rd West, Kitchener across from Food Basics;
http://polishbusiness.ca/listing_en.php?id=99
This was a big find for me. A Polish Deli that makes and smokes its own meats. A huge selection of in-house sausages. Several different Kielbasas, Csabai, Debreceners, Hurka and others whose names I can't recall. I made fiends there with stuffed bacon - ground meat rolled in smoked bacon and sliced thin. There is a large selection of smoked fish - don't know if that's done in-house or imported. I've sampled all kinds of imported salamis from there and am working my way through the large selection of Central European cheese. If you're looking for real cottage cheese, they carry the full line of Western cheeses. I didn't know Western had such a variety. Service is "wrapped in brpwn paper" and the staff really knows the goods.
There is a large imported grocery section - with a Polish bias of course. I load up on halvah, chocolates, St. Jacobs sauerkraut and bulk half and full sour dills. This is a large shop with stuff I'm still exploring.
Finest Sausage & Meat Ltd. 268 Trillium Drive Kitchener;
http://www.butcherskitchenerwaterloo.com/
This shop is German run. They make and smoke their own too and import specialty meat items. The site above shows an extensive list - about what you would find at Glogowskis, give or take German/Polish preferences.
When I go south I hit both places. At Finest I can get head cheese in natural casing with paprika - sometimes smoked. They usually have goose liver pate too. Not a wasted trip. Bonus, across the street in this industrial park is a small, very fine German bakery for elevenses.
Kitchener Farmers Meat Mkt Ltd , 1575 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
No site. Don't be offput by the name. This is again a largish shop that cuts and cures its own meat. It's either Serb or Croat run - no matter. Here you'll move a bit further east in Europe. It has the most extensive European selection amongst those listed. Burek, sour cabbage heads, another look at different sausages and pre-cooked specialties along with local cheeses and pastries. This is our must stop for Hungarian Paprika (sweet and strong), and hard-to-find European condiments. A large grocery section.
So, itryalot, try some more and have some fun.
Maple syrup prices
At the height of the run I paid $10C for 500ml
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/696735?tag=boards;topic-696735
I have no idea what others were paying here.
As per your last post the run ended abruptly here in Central Ontario as well due to an unusually mild winter. The winter also brought very little precipitation - instead of 30+ feet of snow I doubt we saw more than 4 feet. I understand that this also greatly affected sap yield. I suggest that you suffer "your "slight increase" while you can.
In hindsight we should have bought a bit more.
Beef Rings
Before refrigeration was common a different member family would share out a whole beef with other members of the ring every week.The arrangement is described in this audio clip:
http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/downloads/portplayer.php?AudioID=1591
I've first heard them mentioned by people with roots in Huronia, certainly not where I grew up in Southern Ontario or from Westen Canada where our family settled.
Were they common elsewhere or were there other arrangements for fresh beef in warm seasons? Google turns up nothing.
Where to find spring ramps downtown
Was in Leamington this weekend. They're pretty far off as well. Sorry folks, local leeks are still a myth. Another 2 weeks, perhaps?
Best place to buy a Weber gas grill in the GTA?
Odd things here. A thread about 2 years ago highlighted difficulties at Sobies and I found that to be very much the case on two occasions. De to a change of ownership.
I learned of OGB here and it was highly recommended. All i wanted was a fitted cover for my Chargriller but stil ended up in a fairly long and pleasant dialogue with the owner. My experience was positive.
My hope is that Sobies has levelled out because it was previously such a great source uptown.
Now here is a bit of information. OGB wholesales to Home Hardware for some lines. There is a tie in. Instead of waiting for a trip to Toronto I could have ordered my BBQ cover and sundry accessories up the street at my local HH. I don't know if this is still the case but can't see why not.
Maple Syrup Tasting
The same.
Mapquest doesn't work but Google finds it. They retail pretty well all year long and do honey as well.
Very informative web site, thank you - bookmarked.
Maple Syrup Tasting
The sap run is well advanced and we noted lines still strung in maple stands on our excursion today. We made our year's first syrup purchase this afternoon from Howard Smith who operates about 1 mile south of Tara on the Arran-Elderslie Line in Bruce County.
The syrup comes from several stands on the land. Certainly it's anything but a commercial blend, which I would never denigrate.
Business is conducted in the same barn workroom as the evaporator in an outbuilding guarded by the obligatory farm-yard dog who greets guests by immediately crowding the first person out of the car looking for a free ride or free gloves. I've met worse.
In the past, we simply plucked a jar of whatever was on offer, paid and enjoyed what we bought with pleasure. Today we had a choice of Canada #1 Light, Canada #1 Medium or Canada #2 Amber. Samples of all three were available in tiny cups similar to restaurant butter containers.
We were finally able to compare grades and there is a huge difference - not so much in taste, but in concentration. Actual taste may vary from producer to producer, but not very much at all in the three samples we tested from this single farm.
For sure the taste was more subtle and refined in the Light and grew as we moved down, but it was essentially the same. The Medium was more assertive and the Amber even more so. I always thought that there would be taste difference as I moved down the grades but couldn't find much
In the end we opted for the #2 Amber, well, I didn't, but...
Without adult supervision I would opt for #1 medium next time.
Cost was $10/500 ml for any grade. As we were leaving Howard was about to process "Dark" which is super intense and the preferred grade to use in cooking/baking.
Fresh Fish from the Great Lakes?
Kincardine. I saw Whitefish last saturday and Walleye the week before.
They even have a whole Shark about 3 feet long which I've never seen anywhere. Needless to say, the Shark was not local : )
The only Sobeys I'm familiar with in Toronto is the one at Yonge & St. Clair which I doubt very much would fit this bill at all. I would assume that there is uniformity of product chain wide but may be wrong.
Fresh Fish from the Great Lakes?
It is illegal to sell "recreationally-caught fish" and even getting commercial product to the counter is a weighty process. No, it sounds like creative marketing which I wouldn't let stand in the way of a good meal.
Incidentally, there is one mainstream source for freshwater fish - Sobeys. Pickerel and Whitefish are common at our local store. Hopefully this is the case for GTA as well.
Fresh Fish from the Great Lakes?
..."fresh, line-caught ontario pickerel"...
The operative word there is "line." I'd be very sceptical about that line. I think they're "lyin'."
Anyone with a commercial licence and Walleye quota uses gill nets or trap nets.
Yes, your fish were fresh and tasty and if i were still in TO I'd be down there.
best way to grind poppy seeds if you don't have a poppy seed grinder?
Sorry to hear about it.
Our failure is usually with the pastry - cracks.
Filling is good but the bread is often sad.
Same with you?
best way to grind poppy seeds if you don't have a poppy seed grinder?
I've never heard of the seeds being ground into a paste and don't know if that's even possible. Typically they're ground and then boiled with milk and sugar, with vanilla and lemon zest added toward the end. That' a basic poppy seed filling used in Hungarian palacinta, kifli, and strudel as well.
Suggest you use a blender or better yet a coffee mill. Mortar and pestle works fine as well.
"Organic" Maple Syrup?
A couple of weeks past my eye was drawn to a special on maple syrup - obviously making room for this year's coming product. We are talking a major-chain house brand here - 2 items side-by-side on the shelf differing only by their labels: one of them stated "organic" and carried a $2 premium for a purchase less than $10.
How is this possible? A producer typically does syrup as a sideline to general farming here in Canada - probably the same in the States, no?
The maples are not cultivated or managed, or are they?
They are not sprayed, fertilized or modified. The woodlot where I buy my syrup is older than me and older than pesticides.
Some claims cite purity in that the product is non-blended. What do we have if 2 organic syrups are blended?
Maple Syrup is a "found" food it seems to me with little or no industrial intervention. Or am I wrong?
How is the term "organic" justified and applied here?
Margarita's- the Mexican restaurant underneath the Waterloo Hotel on King Street North in Waterloo
I've munched upstairs at the Kitchener Farmers market at the little Mexican food concession. Decent, tasty and crazy cheap.
where to get light maple syrup?
"... and what am i looking for? a farm? a store? a sign?..."
Any of the above if you accept a seasonal stand as a store.
Option 1
Head north on King St past the Wallmart and the next left should be Lobsinger Line where you turn left towards Heidelberg. This is probably about a klik from the market district but you will be out of the city and come upon a lot of interesting producers - chickens, ducks, eggs, seasonal and winter-stored produce, baked goods, summer sausage, all kinds of meats... and maple syrup. Farm families post their specialties prominently on roadside signs.
Suggest you run as far as Millbank - in addition to farm gate you will come across: Martin's Orchards shortly after you turn onto Lobsinger; Stemmler Meats and the Heidelberg Inn in Heidelberg; and Annie Mae's Restaurant and Millbank Cheese in Millbank.
Option 2
Take 85 north to the roundabout and follow it north to Wallenstein and beyond. There are few commercial sources here but perhaps a greater number of family operations.
As a sidebar:
If you prefer ligh syrup the sap should start this coming week (some producers may already be boiling) certainly by the week following.
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2459453
where to get light maple syrup?
Drive a wee bit north on Hwy 85/86 and you'll find several producers within a few minutes of the market. No sales on Sunday.
Help me find the world's best cheddar cheese spread!
Kraftness shouldn't be a drawback in this case or others of the brand - still a good choice for many whose shopping choices are constrained - especially the Cracker Barrel. Decent cheddar is still excellent cheddar in my book.
Yes, you need a sturdy biscuit for to spread MacLarens.
Help me find the world's best cheddar cheese spread!
Pine River is a regional Ontario product and I doubt that you'd find it in a U.S. chain. I've never directly compared Kraft's MacLaren's Imperial to Pine River Spreaddar, but will say that it is more spreadable. My memory impression is that the MacLarens was sharper and certainly more crumbly than than the other. Sorry I can't be more help there.
Help me find the world's best cheddar cheese spread!
MacLarens is very good, but I've sampled Pine River Spreddar and would recommend it.
http://pinerivercheese.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=38&products_id=101
Is There a Gypsy (Roma) Cuisine?
Very informative posts here. At the following site some Hungarian Rom recipes and comments are found. The term "botos' - store-bought - crops up as a negative and earns my respect.
http://www.chew.hu/recipes/
Roma have offered little in cuisine perhaps but have figured huge in western music in all genres. There is a genius there that travels with as per this Magyar C&W bit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0_SPBJXduA
And then Junior says;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRw5Q3XoJc4&NR=1
Smoked whitefish -- uses besides salad?
There are actually two Great Lakes "Whitefish" and they are both Salmonids although you wouldn't guess it. We're talking Lake Witefish and Round Whitefish and they do taste different from any freshwater Salmon or Trout .
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLWL/Fish/salmonids/salmonids.html#Pcy
The tugs are out on the lakes now and the commercial catch is underway. In a short while the fish will be coming into shallower water inshore and hang around till the ice is gone. At 4 to 5 lbs average they provide 2 very nice fillets.
Maple syrup prices
In Southern Ontario we experienced an erratic spring in terms of temperatures and their durations. Sap production was down and local producers were stymied. Also, I was told by my supplier that sugar content was down. In short it was not a good year here and I assume the same held true for the US.
This winter also promises to be mild although we have not reached the second weekend of February which determines our weather through to near end of March.
Given recent weather reports, what are the possibilities of a sap run in Britain?
