Saturday, November 29, 2008

And a week later...

Tonight marked the beginning of a new chapter in the Montreal locavore's diet. The sourdough starter which began its process almost two weeks ago was finally transformed into what will hopefully be the first of many local, homemade breads. To my amazement the frothy, sponge-like starter was still kickin'! It was to be enjoyed with some garlic-butter mashed potatoes, fresh spinach, roasted carrots, and spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce (all of which still used 95% local ingredients). Many of the recipes were repeated from last week's feast and so thanks go out to all those who helped. The bread didn't really follow a single recipe but was instead a combination of different resources so I'll leave you with what the basics were:

Sourdough Starter:
1 cup flour (I started with whole wheat and then alternated with white flour just so that it would have some fluffyness in the final product. Feel free to experiment, but I definitely suggest starting with white flour. I felt far more accomplished seeing it rise into a nice soft bread than ending with a really dense, hearty type of loaf)
1 cup water
leave out at room temp with air. Each day throw away half and add another 1/2 cup of flour. Less and less water should be necessary but add enough to keep it sponge-like without being too saturated.

After one week, it is ready to be used. Keep it in the fridge from this point on, still with a little bit of air. You do still need to feed it but instead of daily, only weekly using the same process.

When you decide to use it, you should take out half and leave it in a warm place to "proof" for several hours. The other half can go back into the fridge after you regenerate it with another 1/2 cup of flour, 2 tbsp of salt, and some water as needed. You can also add some honey or maple syrup to the half in which you are using. It will vary in the time it takes to rise, but you should expect to see it double in size before using it. Once this happens you want to "punch" it/ kneed it a bit with an equal amount of flour to starter ratio. Again, you should only add enough water so that you can work with the dough and it isn't too sticky. Add it slowly though since a little water goes a long way and you can always keep adding. Here is where if you put it back in the fridge, it allows for the lactobacilli to multiple but the yeast will be retarded as they don't do so well in colder environments. The longer it stays in the fridge (2-3 hours usually), the more "sour" tasting your dough will be. When you take it out, you will punch it one last time, shape it, add any other ingredients to it you wish to have in your bread, and let it rise again in a warm environment as your oven preheats. Throw it on some lightly oiled tin foil and throw it in @ 425 for about 45 minutes or so. You should smell it once its ready!

I hope this works for others as it did for me. I encourage you all to look up other sources in cookbooks or online since there are many ideas out there which you may like to try. I am by no means an expert. Cant wait to hear how it turns out!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

wrap up

We're done now.
But even so, I haven't dived back into the old habits like I thought I would.

I started off the challenge in a sceptic haze. I didn't realize what I wasn't getting into. I did know that I wanted to learn more about what was in season. This gave me that opportunity and I 1/2 volunteered/forced myself into it. The following is what I've gained.

I learned that there's a lot of veggies to munch on in November. Just to name a few: carrots, beets, potatoes, leeks, celeri, brocolli, squash, cabbage, onions and garlic. And really there's really more.

As for fruits, I've found a new liking for apples. They're quite versatile. Mmm apple sauce and apple pies. I even made up a sauteeing marinade with apple cider, apple vinegar and honey. It's amazing with beets and spinach.

Another thing, I realized that true Quebecoise cuisine involves a lot of dairy. We made fresh honey ice cream. Enough said.

Something else that's truely Quebec? Maple syrup.

I also enjoyed using local herbs for seasoning. Simon & Garfunkel would be pleased. I used parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I enjoyed using basil as well, made some pesto with sunflower oil.

One of my biggest challenges was wheat, more like the lack of in the area. There are 2 grains grown locally: barley and buckwheat. To my surprise, I love buckwheat! It's actaully a comfort food that my Baba (grandma) used to cook for me. I was inspired and made holobtsi, cabbage rolls with buckwheat filling.

We also discovered the Premiere Moisson bakery, which uses an assortment local flour (ontario grown). We were able to make pie crust and spaghetti. And oh damn, I learned how to make white sauce (oil, flower, milk and leeks do the trick).

Some other tidbits:
-100M within Montreal spans over towards Ottawa and east to Sherbrooke. It also heads down into the states. We didn't find much local produce from down south though.
-eggs and other local meats are fair game (jean-talon market)
-dumpster diving can add some exotic variety to the local menu (somewhere is Tim's ecological rational)

It's not a huge deal now that I have the option to get whatever I want. I'm still very happy with my morning apples and baked veggies. Overall, I ate rediculously well these past 2 weeks. I explored local food combinations and experimented with recipes. And if I do it again, it'll be in another season!

Monday, November 24, 2008

MMMmmmMM... Food Miles....

Well, its over now, and I've eaten cake, drank beer and not looked at a label aaalll day!

I've learned a lot about how a local food system can be viable, even in November -- and how it can't be. Let me explain. Recently I've been reading critiques of the 'food miles' concept. Mostly, they are based on classic free market concepts like comparative advantage and efficiency, which frankly just make me roll my eyes. The argument is that some places have climates that are more efficient at making certain foods than others, and the energy saved in production more than makes up for the energy used in transport, and thus local food activists are just local farm lobbyists in disguise, using a marketing trend to sell more produce. While this argument (as many free market arguments do) misses the point completely, it does raise some interesting questions.

They are absolutely right that if I try to grow my own bananas, I'm taxing the environment more than if I ship them from the tropics (yes, this example is actually used...). However, the free marketist is once again attempting to reduce all information about the product down to its price. Throw in reducing social costs, having a connection with the land and the community, acheiving community sustainability, having more control over how your food is produced and processed AND reducing food miles, then you have a good idea why eating local is often the better decision.

But lets look at a less extreme example than bananas. Should we be eating local wheat? It's probably much more efficient to grow in the Prairies, even with train transport (though I haven't done the math). Yet, we did find and use wheat quite a bit. How sustainable is it, if say, everyone ate local wheat in the quantities that we did. The answer is, devastatingly, not really. But instead of throwing out the local diet completely, I think we need to clarify our point. Ideally, we should be eating proportionately to how abundantly the food can be grown here sustainably. Thus, lots of potatoes, squash, honey, maple syrup and leeks, not so much garlic, alcohols, and spinach, very little wheat, exotic herbs and others (though these might grow in small quantities in well-designed permacultural gardens) and no bananas, mangoes or coconut milk. In other words, honest 'food mile activist' isn't looking for everything we eat NOW to be grown locally, they are asking for a change in the types of foods we eat. And trust me, that food can be down-right delicious...

Tim

P.S. Check out the article on us in the McGill Daily: http://mcgilldaily.com/article/6001

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Halfway there!

So we've past the halfway point. I must say that we, as a group, have completed, or are set to complete all the goals I set out for myself in terms of foods I wanted to make. We've found sunflower oil at Le Frigo Vert, hard ciders at the SAQ and wheat at Premiere Moisson. We've prepared amazing apple pie with strawberry jam, sandwiches, mayonnaise, pancakes and cheese sauces. We have plausible plans for ice creams, sourdough breads, pizza and pastas. What does this mean for you? It means that as a group we've decided to throw a lavish meal together on Saturday (the finale) with all the delicious recipes we've come up with and including only local food. The menu for this meal however, is top secret, you have to come to the finale if you want some!

In terms of recent successes, I'd like to describe this in more detail:

It's a sandwich.













But more than that, this is my childhood. One of the things I miss most about home is the lack of sandwiches I have up here in Montreal.

This one is made from scratch: the flat bread is made from wheat from Premiere Moisson's local fields, the "mayonaise" is egg, keifer yogurt, wheat, salt and local spices blended then heated until thick. The onions, cabbage, chicken (thanks Johanna!) and mushrooms were fried in honey and topped with local spinach. My mouth continues to water...

Love/Peace,
Tim

P.S. Shout out to Hulia for her generous donation of sage and basil. Mucho apreciado!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

apples, apples and then some more apples

before I get to the apples, I'll mention the past couple of days.

Sunday was the Jean-Talon market was great. Unfortunately we didn't make it on time for fresh herbs but we did meet a charasmatic guy selling local, free-range chicken. It's the place where they sell $1 meat-on-a-stick.

a bit of dumpster diving was a lovely addition to the trip. You can read Tim's justification on savaging the leftovers. During the hunt, a little old man gave me his recipe to make strawberry jam (sans preservatives). Yes, I made it and have been using it as a salad dressing.

and the collective dinner was outstanding. Local food really can be exceptionally tasty. But you can read Ian's blog for that..

Monday
bk:
-apple cider smoothie with left-over berries
-apple

lunch/dinner:
-roasted squash, carrots, onions, garlic and turnips
*I need fresh herbs!
-carrots to snack on during the day
-salad w. sliced apples in my strawberry sauce

note: I had to pre-pack my meals. By the end of my 9pm class I was starving. Luckily, I had forgotten some food at Tim's and damn, he ended up making one mean meal:

-fried potato wedges
-boiled carrots & steamed spinach
-mmm creamy cheese sauce
-apple sauce

Here's the food:
Here's our reactions:










I got home and prepped some food for the next day.

Tues
apples. they're in season and I've decided to embrace apples during this 2 week trek. so this morning

BK:
-apple cider and apples for Bk.

lunch:
-tba, off to meet Tim and Ian. I'm bringing roasted veggies

prepped dinner:
-spinach salad + baked apples & carrots, carmalized in honey

Monday, November 10, 2008

The Waste Debate

Yesterday, I ate food that wasn't local. In fact, I'm willing to bet it came more than 2000 km, all the way from California. But I don't consider myself to have cheated on the diet, and I'll tell you why.

Ian, Johanna and I made the trek up to Jean-Talon yesterday, in the hopes of getting some of the last veggies that will be readily available this year. You see, all the reputable vendors (you know, the ones that won't lie to you about where their food comes from) of vegetables are taking off in the next week, knowing that local vegetables will dry up by then. Anyone still around selling tomatoes are importing them from somewhere. Anyhow, after we had scoured the market for garlic, spinach, squash, honey, carrots, eggs and other local delights, we headed straight to the dumpsters out back. Here's the shock. Everyday at closing time at markets in Montreal, and across the world, tonnes and tonnes of perfectly good food is thrown out, either because its not worth it for the vendors to take it home, or because it just won't sell. Spying a goldmine, we joined about 10 other people who were scouring the garbage for food throughout the market. We found large boxes FULL of bell peppers, crates of California strawberries, blueberries, a single perfectly-shaped tomato, and even an errant yam. Given that the already paltry labeling system suffers a complete break down once the food hits the dumpster, we have little to no idea where this stuff comes from. So can we still eat it and stay true to our diet???

The answer for me is "Yes." The way I see it, the product I'm getting when I jump into a dumpster isn't the berries, the peppers, or the yam. It's the waste I'm buying (for an admittedly bargain basement price). This waste is locally produced by the mess of a food system we have, where so much sweat, fuel and nature can be thrown wholesale into the landfill. These markets AT LEAST need to get a serious composting program going. What do you guys think? Am I cheating?

To finish, I must say, that while it maybe beneficial to nature in general to nourish oneself on what will inevitably be refuse anyway, eating food waste is not in itself a practice that can be expanded to all sustainably; that is, it's only an exclusive club who can, or even wants to do it. So can I consider it sustainable if only I can do it?

Tim

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Local miche?

Well I've kept track of my eating habits for the week. You may see a common thread or two. Reviewing, everything is local except the various breads, coffee, lentils and crepe toppings/spices (and whatever I ate when at restaurants). All my produce is from Marche Jean Talon, as well as the maple syrup and honey- if only there was local bread.
I have to admit I only drink coffee because it is the least expensive thing to buy at Cafe Art Java (my study spot of choice). As nothing sold there is local I'll have to find somewhere else where I can focus adequately.

Monday:
Premier Moisson baguette smothered in creamed honey- lightly toasted to perfection
Cafe Art Java Coffee (Half mild, half bold)
Honeycrisp apple (MJT)
Curried carrot soup

Tuesday:
Still warm Au Pain Dore baguette smothered in creamed honey- no toasting required
Honeycrisp apple (MJT)
Curried carrot soup (last two bowls)

Wednesday:
Cafe Art Java Coffee
Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot
Homemade Irish Soda Bread- avec miel.

Thursday:
Patisserie Belge miche campagne- creamed honey (naturally)
Braised Lentils with Bayleaf, carrot, celery and onion
Half an acorn squash roasted with cumin and maple syrup

Friday:
Crepes with lemon and sugar
Cafe Art Java Coffee
Honey crisp apple
Edemame, Miso soup, Kappa Maki, Oshinko Maki
Toasted Crumpets with a slabs of melting honeycomb

Saturday: The diet begins
Last Honeycrisp apple
Made and had a bowl of:
Late Autumn Organic Campus Soup (A new recipe I'm coveting)
Squash and Roasted Garlic Soup
Tastes of a plethora of Root Vegetable, Butter and Apple dishes at the commencement party

Mission: Find Local Wheat. Help?

And so it begins...

The first day of eating locally has begun. It's been easy. Period. I don't want to mislead you, fine reader, but eating locally is and should remain the easiest thing to do. That is, if you take into account all the work that goes into the alternative -- well-traveled food.

Here's what I ate today. For breakfast, I had what I am now calling potato-squash pancakes (recipe below), while for dinner it was as easy as inviting people for a potluck. I brought applesauce with maple syrup in it. Yum!

Local Potato-Squash Pancakes
(makes 2 (ful)filling pancake)

1 cup grated potato
1 cup cooked spaghetti squash (in glass baking dish at 350 for 1 hour (more or less))
1 egg
3 cloves garlic (optional)
1/4 of a medium sized red onion (optional)
1 teaspoon vanity salt (optional)
1 teaspoon sunflower oil (you can buy this local from Le Frigo Vert!)
Maple syrup (optional)

Squeeze as much moisture out of the grated potato as possible. In a bowl, mix the potato, stringy squash, egg (and garlic and onion, if you want it savoury), and fashion into a sphere. Schmoosh into frying pan with sunflower oil, filling the entire bottom of the pan. Cook as you would a pancake, flipping only once. Eat straight if savoury (perhaps a dash more of salt) or top with maple syrup or local applesauce (with maple syrup in it!).

A note about the eggs. They are sketchy. I bought them with my roommate at Marché Jean-Talon (MJT) from a stall called Le Capitaine. Originally, we were attracted to them because there was an article in the Gazette about them being uncertified organic (which can be cool if the farmers are "post-organic"), but the article is sparse on actual reporting beyond quotes from the stall owner, and the cheapness of the eggs has raised eyebrows online. I've learned that you have to check your facts with some of the vendors and be suspicious more times than not about "farmers" at the market. It's usually as easy as a friendly chat!

Tim

Band name I made up: "Down low and the High Five"

Friday, November 7, 2008

recent addition

So I'm stepping up to the plate. That's right, I'm ready to challenge myself to locavoritarism. Although I'm nervous (ie I'm throwing myself in without the prep) I'm thrilled about the possibilities of what we'll discover. I should add in that I've recently discovered my love for cooking. It'll be great to learn how to dress up the tasty local food. And I'll keep you posted along the way.

Btw, I'm open to any suggestions you have for "fall" smoothies. So for I've thought of using apples, pumpkin, squash and maple syrup.

cheers

jh,

Thursday, November 6, 2008

At least the exam was local...

The recording of my food choices this week has been lack-lustre, though it's probably in my best interests to keep it hush-hush anyhow. All that matters is that my midterm is done, and now I can focus on other things, like getting ready for this local food dealie. My diet so far this week has been as follows (excuse the gaps, it's been rough):

On Sunday, I woke up with Vegetarian Chili with cheese (Santropol), presumably with tomatoes(origins unknown), beans(origins unknown), and other assorted veggies (origins unknown). Dinner was pizza from a local spot on my street. I'm starting to realize that the normal state of affairs is just not having enough information to make practical decisions on where my food comes from, especially when I'm eating out as much as I am in the run up to this midterm.

Monday through Wednesday was generally a blur of Super Sandwiches, pizza, tofu pad thai, and Midnight Kitchen (the campus collective that serves free-ish vegan meals every weekday), leaving the only noteworthy (I know, I know, I've already noted those other ones) meal of the week the basmati rice and dill peanut sauce I had for dinner last night. If you want this... creative recipe, feel free to ask. Local food involved this week: the dill was produced in my sister's garden, the garlic was bought directly from the farmer at the McGill Farmer's Market, the apples I've been munching on all week are Québec-produced from Marché Jean Talon and the juice I bought contain pears and apples could only marginally be claimed as remotely local.

But all is not lost, dear friends, as I've stocked up on all the potatoes, eggs, apples, squash and buckwheat I can eat, and I'm looking for more.

On a more political note, it seems to me that one of the biggest obstacle to making proper choices about your food these days is the complete lack of labeling of food in our market society. If I know my capitalism, I know that free markets are based on the exchange of products based on full information of what one is buying. Now I'm no free market fundamentalist, but I would say this is one of the basic failures of our system, and not least of which if you're trying to go local. Don't even get me started on organic!

Before I go on, I must confess to you a secret fantasy I've been harbouring ever since I agreed to this whole project. Somehow, someway I'm going to make pizza from exclusively local ingredients. It will happen, folks, and when it does, you're invited! Leave your local pizza recipes in the comment section.

Tim

Great band name I heard recently: Adam Smith and the Invisible Hands

Monday, November 3, 2008

Locavore 101

So I must say, this new term being a locavore has got me pretty excited! My dietary trends have gone from eating Mountain Dew and popcorn pretty much exclusively as a young teenager, to my wrestling days where I was on a diet consisting of lettuce and water (maybe a bit of protein on the weekends). A few years back I began to take the food I ate and its impacts on the environment seriously; first as a vegetarian, then becoming vegan last year, and now of course taking on this newest challenge, the 100 mile diet. My first thoughts were, "this is going to be easy." After all, I left the United States along with its broken agricultural system, right? I had imagined Montreal would still apreciate qualitiy as a result of its French influence. We'll see I guess...
Anyhow, with a week before the official challenge begins it is time to start thinking critically about what's for dinner. I've learned over the years from all my failed attempts at wacky diets that shocking your system almost never works. So in preparation for when olive oil will be no more, and when I have to kiss avacado behind, it's time to say hello to lots and lots of potatoes, apples, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and cabbage. Soup recipes anyone?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

The Vegetarian's Dilemma

As the three of us sat around the two pushed together two-person tables in the conservatory of Santropol Ian asked me if I would be continuing my vegetarianism through this challenge.

First thought: 'Pssht',
Followed by: 'Why wouldn't I?'
And perhaps: 'Am I still capable of digesting meat?'

Why give it up?
- No beans (However I think I may have seen some a few weeks ago at Marche Jean Talon (MJT) fingers crossed they may have some next visit)
- No tofu (Though I'm not big on over processed soy-stuff anyway)
- No supplements
- No cereal (Usually fortified with vitamins)
- No nutritional yeast? (I assume this is true)
- Local meat is available and easy to find

Why not
- Local eggs (easily found and great source of protein)
- Local dairy (also easy source)
- The slight possibility of beans

Conclusion: I won't be slapping a steak on the grill any time soon.



My name is Tim, and I have a local food problem.

So this is the beginning of our local food adventure, and I have to say, I'm rather excited. Aynsley, Ian and I met today over at Santropol (Duluth at St. Urbain; their meat isn't organic...) to organize our thoughts on how we could actually do two weeks of locavoring in the middle of November in Montreal. Noteworthy discussion:

-Rumours of mountains of (*Tim looks both ways sketchily* ...sometimes free) locally-produced food up at Marche Jean-Talon elicited an early pact between the participants to make a voyage up to Little Italy on or around the 8th of November.
-I was rather pleasantly reminded of the customary one-vanity-item-I-can-exempt rule, though I haven't quite decided which it will be. Salt seems like to safe of a bet, though suggestions are welcome.
-Organic Campus, McGill's weekly organic connection also sources from within 100 miles. This promises to be a staple in my diet.

So this week, we'll be documenting our "normal" eating habits, which, I daresay, will be biased significantly by the midterm I have on Thursday, and start doing research on what and where we can procure that scrumptious local food. Keep your eye on the blog for my utter failures.

Tim