Marion Kane: Food Sleuth®

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My mum Ruth Schachter

Fond Memories of my Mum and her Delicious Food

April 19, 2019

LONDON UK – It was about six years ago and my mother and I were about to leave her flat on Steeles Rd. in Primrose Hill. We were standing in the small hallway when she put on her new navy blue gabardine coat with a hood. Read more…

Filed Under: addiction, Baking, Holocaust, identity, Jewish, Latvia, London, My mum Ruth Schachter, Personal Change, Recipe, Recovery, Riga, Seafood, Story, Women Tagged With: anniversary, Coulibiac, Latvia, linzertorte, London, mother, mum, pastry, recipe, Riga, Ruth, salmon, yogurt

My Lovely Late Mum Ruth Made a Mean Beef Stroganoff

May 19, 2018

My mother Ruth Schachter (née Nisse) in the garden of her flat in Primrose Hill, London UK, in 2014

I wrote this in 2002 when I was food editor for the Toronto Star. My dear mother, 95, died peacefully in her sleep a month ago on April 21, 2018

Today is Mother’s Day and this is a tribute to the person who first inspired my love of food and cooking – my mum. Read more…

Filed Under: Baking, Beef Stroganoff, childhood, Dessert, identity, Jewish, Latvia, Linzertorte, London, My mum Ruth Schachter, Recipe, Riga, Women Tagged With: beef, Beef Stroganoff recipe, dessert, linzertorte, London, mum, My mum Ruth Schachter, recipe

As I Turn 70, Immaturity and Hair Dye Keep me Young

August 20, 2016

“Immaturity and hair dye keep me young.”

I’m repeating the title of this post for a few reasons: First, everything clever is worth repeating. It usually gets a good laugh – one of life’s giddiest pleasures, especially at my age. It’s true and unabashedly honest. It sums up what’s to follow – the announcement that I turn 70 in a few days. And last, it’s original.

I used to think I stole this funny line from my beloved heroine: the American journalist, author, screenwriter and director Nora Ephron. I steal a lot from that eminently quotable woman who died too young at 71 in 2012 from a rare form of leukemia. It’s hard not to steal from her because we seem to have parallel lives. I talk about her in the present because she lives on in my heart.

We both love food and cooking. We consider crushed pineapple mandatory in carrot cake, we like meatloaf – done right – and both have a recipe for cottage cheese pancakes. We both adore Julia Child and all that she’s about. Read more…

Filed Under: Chocolate, Jewish, Julia Child, London, Mel Schachter, My mum Ruth Schachter, Podcasts Tagged With: food editor, julia child, kensington market, nora ephron, turning 70; aging

Mum, I Knew I Was Coming So I Baked a Cake

November 30, 2015

Mum in her garden, 2014Mum with Ruthie and Esther, 2015

Top photo: My mother, Ruth Schachter, in her NW London garden in 2014

Bottom photo: Mum in 2015, after her serious fall, with my daughters Ruthie (L) and Esther (R)

In Memoriam: My mother Ruth Schachter (nee Nisse), age 95, died peacefully in her sleep at home in NW London UK on April 21, 2018. Read more…

Filed Under: apple, Dessert, identity, Latvia, My mum Ruth Schachter, Recipe Tagged With: apple galette normande, apples, baking, Canada, daughter, holocaust, holocaust survivor, Latvia, London, memories, mother, WWII

Revisiting a Mother’s Day Tribute to my Mum as she Approaches her 91st Birthday

January 12, 2014

ruth reaching out smaller

This appeared as my column “Dish” in the Toronto Star in 2002. My mum Ruth Schachter (nee Nisse) died peacefully in her sleep at home in NW London UK on April 21, 2018.

Today is Mother’s Day and this is a tribute to the person who first inspired my love of food and cooking – my mum. Read more…

Filed Under: Beef, Beef Stroganoff, Latvia, My mum Ruth Schachter, Recipe Tagged With: Beef Stroganoff recipe, Childhood in Riga, Latvia, My mum Ruth Schachter

My Energizer Bunny Mum is Bouncing Back and Baking her Famous Linzertorte to Boot

May 30, 2012

My mother Ruth Schachter in her garden a few years ago

This appeared in the Toronto Star in 2012 when I was its food editor/columnist. My dear mother, 95, died peacefully in her sleep on April 21, 2018.

I often joke with my mum that she’s the antithesis of a Jewish mother. Read more…

Filed Under: Dessert, Healing power of food, Jewish, Linzertorte, My mum Ruth Schachter Tagged With: anna karenina, bottom floor, british comedian, david walliams, demeanour, derek jacobi, doctor medical, french roll, helena bonham carter, jewish mother, life presence, morning coffee, mother ruth, north west london, primrose hill, sadie frost, schachter, stage actor, victorian home

Winning Reader’s Recipe in 2011 Observer Food Monthly Annual Awards is a Winner!

November 29, 2011

My mother Ruth Schachter (nee Nisse), age 88, is one live-wire.

She reminds me (and others) of the cute little old lady in the original “Ladykillers” starring Alec Guinness and a young, dashing Peter Sellers. White-haired and blue-eyed, that sweet, seemingly innocent, slightly scatter-brained octogenarian is far more savvy than she looks. ‘Nuff said.

Mum lives in Primrose Hill between Hampstead and Camden Town in north-west London (U.K., of course) and is a busy bee. Read more…

Filed Under: Chicken, Chicken Pistachio Curry, Jewish, Latvia, London, My mum Ruth Schachter, Observer Food Monthly, Recipe Tagged With: Chicken, London, My mum Ruth Schachter, recipe

Gordon, Angela Paint Camden Town Red

January 29, 2009

U.K. – In January, 2009, I wound up my annual trip to London to visit my mother with dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s newest restaurant York & Albany located at 127-129 Parkway in my favourite neighborhood, Camden Town.

After lack-lustre meals at longstanding vegetarian eatery Manna – bland fare that cried out for seasoning and meat – and the newish Market – bland modern British fare that cried out for salt and oomph – it was a godsend to discover a place in this trendy, gritty part of the city that had all the elements needed for a wondrous meal out. Read more…

Filed Under: Chefs, Dessert, Fall vegetables, London, My mum Ruth Schachter, Restaurant, Risotto Tagged With: Angela Hartnett, camden town, gordon ramsay, London, pumpkin, risotto, York & Albany

Dressed to Kill

November 15, 2007

When I was growing up, my job at dinnertime was to set the table and make the vinaigrette for a salad my nutrition-conscious mother served with each meal. It was your basic version: 2 to 3 parts olive oil to lemon juice or vinegar sometimes with a little mustard whisked in, salt, pepper and, mum always insisted, a good pinch of sugar.

Maybe that influenced my taste in salad dressing but I like a hint of something sweet to counteract the acidity of a vinaigrette. Orange juice concentrate is one trick I use, occasionally maple syrup and often rice vinegar. Read more…

Filed Under: Chefs, My mum Ruth Schachter, Recipe, Salad Tagged With: John Ash, recipe, rice vinegar, salad, vinaigrette

My Kleftiko Coup

November 3, 2007

Whenever I cross the ocean to visit my mother in her lovely North-West London neighbourhood of Primrose Hill, we set out for dinner on our first or second night together to the wondrous nearby Greek restaurant called Limonia. Always packed, it is a local favourite with celebs and regular folk alike.

Often I order fish, souvlaki or lamb in some shape or form. The food is always good, the ambience comfortably elegant and the welcome warm. It’s a ritual dear to my heart.

On our last visit, I suddenly remembered my late dad’s favourite Limonia dish called Kleftiko: a Greek tradition that was originally made by baking lamb secretly under the ground so the cooks in question would not be attacked by their enemies. Read more…

Filed Under: London, My mum Ruth Schachter, Recipe, Restaurant Tagged With: kleftiko, lamb, Limonia, London

Marion Kane, Food Sleuth®

Marion Kane, Food Sleuth®

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Marion Kane, Food Sleuth®

Marion Kane has been a leader in the world of food journalism for a few decades. She is an intrepid populist whose work combines social commentary with a consuming passion for all things culinary. For 18 years, she was food editor/columnist for Canada's largest newspaper: the Toronto Star. She lives in Toronto's colourful Kensington Market and is currently a free-wheeling freelance food sleuth®, podcaster, writer and cook.

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