Delicious Food Memoirs that Entertain and Feed the Soul

January 8, 2021

From North America to the United Kingdom, these are my favourite food memoirs

A few days ago, I was craving a Walnut Whip. I bought three of them.

Why did I have a longing for an iconic British candy first made by Duncan’s of Edinburgh in 1910? Why did a milk chocolate cone with a whipped vanilla filling and a walnut on top urgently beckon to me? The answer: I was recently researching this blog post by re-reading the compelling memoir “Toast” by Nigel Slater and watching the brilliant BBC film by the same name. Read more…

20 years on, I’m Still a Fan of Charming Chef Jamie Oliver

May 25, 2020

This appeared as a longer feature article in the Toronto Star food section on January 26, 2000, after I discovered Jamie Oliver’s fledgling show “The Naked Chef” on TVO. I spoke to Jamie in the flesh a few months later when he was consulting at a London restaurant – the Toronto Star article appears below this one. Twenty years later, he’s had his ups and downs, and I am still a fan.

Jamie Oliver must have supernatural powers. He can make a person leap out of her comfy chair, run downstairs, fling open the freezer and act on an overpowering urge to roast a leg of lamb. I should know. It happened to me. Under slightly different circumstances, it also happened to Jody Read, acquisitions programmer for TVO. Read more…

My Croqueta Quest in Miami

April 21, 2020

Croquetas are a breaded and fried snack food with various fillings that are extremely popular in Miami

Carlos Frias, the food editor at the Miami Herald, is my buddy and guide to all things delicious in his Florida home. Read more…

John Ota Serves up Delicious Matzo Balls in Chicken Soup

March 11, 2020

*This delicious chicken soup with matzo balls from the Tenement Kitchen in New York City appears in John Ota’s book: The Kitchen*

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Ingredients: A hunger for knowledge; boundless energy and enthusiasm; a love of architecture and design; a passion for cooking and for good food. Read more…

Surviving the Apocalypse Involves Dutch Babies

November 24, 2018

Dutch Babies are a crepe-like dish that can be filled with a variety of goodies
Read more…

Greek Salad and Whole Roasted Cauliflower are Tops in “The Last Schmaltz”

November 8, 2018

Country Greek from “The Last Schmaltz” is a Salad Comprised of
the Usual Ingredients Plus the Welcome Addition of Chickpeas

What is a nice Jewish boy from North York doing with a mini-empire of quirky restaurants in a gritty neighbourhood of downtown Toronto? Doing pretty well is the short answer. Read more…

I Ate Up These Delicious Food Memoirs and So Will You

June 19, 2018

“The table could sometimes breed violence and it could be the backdrop to the proscribed and the forbidden and the perverse … But feeding people made them happy; it made me happy, and grounded me.” From “Treyf” by Elissa Altman

From left to right in the photo above, here are my favourite food memoirs. All of them are beautifully written (in varying degrees) and all evoke the way food played a part in the author’s life. Some contain a bonus: recipes. Read more…

Tasty Cookbook by Chef Massimo Bottura and Friends is Pure Gold

December 6, 2017

“Bread is Gold” is the result of the “refettorio” launched at Milan’s Expo in 2015. Top-notch recipes from famous international chefs creatively use discarded food. The caramelized bananas with balsamic drizzle from the book are delicious! Read more…

Chef Lynn Returns to Scottish Roots with Mince ‘n’ Tatties

October 15, 2017

This recipe is from the excellent cookbook ‘AT HOME with LYNN CRAWFORD’.

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When I was interviewing well-known Canadian chef Lynn Crawford for a podcast, we chatted about our long friendship, her TV career, our joint project that raised $40,000 for a new kitchen at a Toronto homeless shelter for women called Sistering – and what we like to cook at home. Read more…

Matty Matheson’s Easy, Fluffy Pancakes May Be World’s Best

April 6, 2017

Chef Matty Matheson is a rising star mostly thanks to his inimitable wit, outrageous antics and yes, cooking talent. His never-dull hit show “Dead Set on Life” on VICE TV along with his huge – and growing – popularity on social media are icing on the cake.

“You need almost no cooking skills to make the world’s greatest pancakes” – Munchies Staff Read more…