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Tag Archives First We Eat

Duck breast roulade from Steve Squier, chef at Picaro in Saskatoon.
Farm Life

Food influencers

First We Eat: How to translate culinary art into home cooking

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In a pivotal moment of the 2006 movie The Devil Wears Prada, the protagonist Andrea, a fashion novice played by Anne Hathaway, snickers as she watches her icy boss Miranda, played by the iconic Meryl Streep, make decisions for a fashion shoot. Miranda, reputedly modeled on the equally iconic Anna Wintour, head of Vogue magazine, […] Read more
Celebrating matters more as we age — I think it’s the law of diminishing returns that shows us so clearly as our years diminish, we are moved to make the most of every celebration- worthy event, which naturally includes the season’s firsts.
Farm Life, FarmLife

Celebrate the firsts of summer

First We Eat: New potatoes, apricots, cherries and peaches are just some of the ingredients that can really jazz up your summer cooking

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Gardeners, cooks and farmers all know, respect and sometimes love the cycles that circulate throughout our lives. Those cycles — the annual return of summer, for instance — mean each year we experience a whole boatload of firsts all over again, and if we’re hip to the general wonderfulness of life, we’re open to celebrating […] Read more
Scholar L.L. Newman, who exhaustively researched the history of the Nanaimo bar, learned that the sweet was first mentioned in print in the 1947 Vancouver Sun...
Farm Life, FarmLife

Canadiana classics, Part 1: Nanaimo bars

First We Eat: This favourite has been around for years and was likely developed by a member of the Nanaimo Hospital Auxiliary

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I lived in Vancouver in my 20s. Yaletown didn’t exist yet, other than as hulking rows of empty warehouses to be bicycled past quickly. Granville Island was an industrial wasteland, the Fairview Slopes didn’t exist, and False Creek was still a reclamation project. Elsewhere in town, the Ridge Theatre became known as the city’s repertory […] Read more
Was the planting of lentils by an early immigrant family the forerunner of today’s crops?
Farm Life, FarmLife

Was the planting of lentils by an early immigrant family the forerunner of today’s crops?

First We Eat: In 2020 Canadian-grown lentils generated over $2 billion in export sales

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In 1923, Jirys Ya’qūb Sallūm kissed his wife and young sons goodbye in the town of Qar’awn, located in the Biqa’ Valley, in the French protectorate of Lebanon and Syria. Speaking only Arabic, he travelled to Canada to work for a relative who had a farm in southwestern Saskatchewan. He wanted a safer home for […] Read more
Why do we cook?
Farm Life, FarmLife

Why do we cook?

First We Eat: Cooking needn’t be just a chore we do every day – it could help us improve our metal health and well-being

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When bad news hits or good news shows its smiling face, I head to the butcher block and start chopping. When my neighbour or my kids visit. When we need comfort. When Dave remembers another in his wonderfully long list of our anniversaries. The reasons we cook are many, and often have nothing to do […] Read more
Southeast Asian foods — Part 2: Try Thai
Farm Life, FarmLife

Southeast Asian foods — Part 2: Try Thai

First We Eat: Thai cuisine offers contrasts in tastes, textures and temperatures

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When talking about Thai food on the TV show “Parts Unknown,” the late Tony Bourdain said, “It was like discovering a colour I never knew existed before. A whole new crayon box full of colours.” Bourdain loved Thailand, and had the means to visit it repeatedly. Lucky man. But his life was tougher than we […] Read more
Jyubeen’s version can be made with palak (spinach), mustard greens, amaranth, chard, or other greens. The creamy paneer is spooned into the spinach mixture at the last minute, where it melts into the sauce. Serve with basmati rice. Serves 4.
Farm Life, FarmLife

South Asian favourites — Part 3: Vegetables take centre stage

First We Eat: The combination of warm spices and vegetables makes for tasty cuisine

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I moved to Vancouver from rural Saskatchewan when I turned 18, landing in an Edwardian house with two roommates on the East Side. I’d grown up on my Germanic mother’s honest meat and spuds, but the West Coast was a popular destination for immigrants, and I lucked into a South Asian enclave — shops and […] Read more
To find locally raised lamb, read the menu at your favourite restaurant and ask who supplies the kitchen, visit independent butchers or farmers’ markets, and browse the internet using key words like “local lamb” and your province’s name.
Farm Life, FarmLife

South Asian favourites — Part 2: Learning to love lamb

First We Eat: Lamb consumption is on the rise in Canada so it may be easier to find a local producer

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My Saskatchewan-raised mom never served lamb while I was growing up. She hadn’t eaten it as a child or young woman, and as a result, I didn’t learn to love lamb until I was in my 30s and living in Calgary. Sheep have been a presence in Alberta since the late 1800s, when thousands of […] Read more
South Asian favourites — Part 1: Pakoras
Farm Life, FarmLife

South Asian favourites — Part 1: Pakoras

First We Eat: To start off, try these vegetarian appetizers — fritters served with chutney

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When I told her I thought I was a changeling, my mom laughed out loud. “With those eyes? Those cheeks? That chin? You are the spitting image of your Aunt Lila.” It’s true. In the mirror, I see my family staring back, just as when I look at my sons, I see my dad’s face. […] Read more
Umami dates back to 1907, when a Japanese chemist discovered that kombu seaweed formed crystals of glutamate — an abundant amino acid — for a taste neither sweet, sour, salty or bitter, but savoury, rich and meaty.
Farm Life, FarmLife

Becoming a better cook — Part 2: The taste of umami

First We Eat: This Japanese word has various translations such as ‘savoury’ or ‘deliciousness’

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The four tastes — sweet, salty, sour, bitter — underpin every dish we eat. Smart cooks reach routinely for a bit of honey, a smidgeon of salt, a splash of lemon, or a drop of bitters to balance a dish, and fat too, like butter, oil, or whipping cream. Asian and Latin cooks add pungent […] Read more

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