newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MARY ANN CASTRONOVO FUSCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

“Winter is our reality. It’s the most Canadian of seasons,” says Anita Stewart of Elora, Ontario, where there’s still a foot of snow outside her home.

Founder of Cuisine Canada, an organization to promote her nation’s culinary culture, Stewart has been dubbed the “patron saint of Canadian food.” So with local temperatures stubbornly hovering around the freezing mark, who better to chat up at the end of this harsh winter than a neighbor to the north for insight on how to warm our bellies until spring?

Not surprisingly, Stewart calls for hearty comfort foods like stews and “clean out the refrigerator” soups at this time of year. But seafood is also a practical option in a land bordered by three oceans, and she maintains that the seas yield the meatiest oysters and sweetest lobsters in winter. As a blizzard raged outside the Niagara Food and Wine Institute at Niagara College last February 2, Stewart hosted a “virtual tasting” webcast for food writers during which Jesse Vergen, executive chef at Saint John Ale House in New Brunswick (Canada—not Middlesex County), prepared winter oysters three ways: topped with a mignonette sauce made with Canadian ice wine; broiled with aged Canadian cheddar; and tea-smoked and sprinkled with organic maple syrup flakes.

Like the United States, Canada is a magnet for immigrants, and the recipes in Stewart’s most recent cookbook, Anita Stewart’s Canada (HarperCollins, 2008), reflect a panoply of cultures. “Canada, because of its youth and immensity, is less of a melting pot than it is one long smorgasbord of global tradition. Here, we can taste the world,” she wrote. Ethic foods in Canada “are not so much a derivative of the original cuisine, but a strict translation,” says Roberto Bellissimo, a Toronto native and executive chef of the W Hoboken and its Zylo Restaurant. But that doesn’t keep creativity out of the Canadian kitchen.

Stateside, the inclination among contemporary chefs is to fuse disparate cuisines, such as Asian and Cuban, says Kevin Harry, executive chef of Legends Hospitality at Yankee Stadium, who hails from Niagara-on-the Lake. Back home, he adds, chefs are more likely to try adding a “Canadian twist” to a foreign dish—for example, by finishing off an Asian stir-fry with a drizzle of maple syrup instead of hoisin sauce. (The province of Quebec is the world’s leading producer of maple syrup.) At the W Hoboken, Bellissimo has given eggs Benedict a sweeter Canadian accent by replacing American smoked bacon with Canadian peameal bacon, which is pickle-cured and rolled in cornmeal.

Canadians tend to be more open to game dishes than Americans, favor wild rice, and like to use fruits to balance meat dishes and boost the appeal of salads, says Harry. Facing the challenge of designing a new menu each day for the Yankees’ 81 home games at the Stadium’s private club restaurants, he’s planning to reach into his homeland’s repertoire and “use game-type items like duck and maple-glazed quail.” With the shift from snowfalls to baseball, can spring be far behind?

Caraquet Oysters with Ice Wine/Shallot Mignonette

From Anita Stewart

Caraquets are harvested off New Brunswick. Yielding about half a cup, enough for a dozen oysters, this Canadian take on mignonette sauce, a very simple, classic preparation, uses Niagara ice wine vinegar. To prepare the peppercorns, toast whole peppercorns in a dry skillet until fragrant; cool and crush. Store remainder in a tightly covered glass jar.

12 winter oysters, shucked and loosened from their shells

1 small shallot, finely minced

1/3 cup ice wine vinegar

½ teaspoon crushed toasted peppercorns

1. Arrange the oysters on a bed of coarse salt.

2. Stir together the shallot, ice wine vinegar, and crushed pepper. (Refrigerate for up to two weeks if not using immediately.)

3. Pass the mignonette sauce with the oysters to drizzle on top.

Basque Boeuf Bourguignon

Adapted from Anita Stewart’s Canada (HarperCollins, 2008)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1 ½ pounds lean stewing beef (preferably meat from beef shanks)

1 or 2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large onion, diced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 bottle (750 ml.) dry red wine

1. Cut the stewing beef into serving-size chunks and place in a glass or stainless steel bowl. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, onion, thyme, and pepper.

2. Pour half of the wine over the top, reserving the remainder for the stew. Stir the mixture well; cover and refrigerate for at least 48 hours or preferably for 3 days.

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup canola oil

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon dried tarragon

1 ½ cups canned diced tomatoes

1 cup beef stock

1 to 1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

¼ pound lean bacon, chopped

1 to 1 ½ pounds cremini or Portobello mushrooms

1. Chop the parsley and garlic together until fine; set aside.

2. Remove the meat from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Heat the oil in a large heavy pan (cast iron is perfect) over medium-high heat.

3. Dredge the meat in the flour, shaking off the excess. Sear it in batches until dark brown, transferring each batch to a plate.

4. When it is all richly colored, return the meat and any juices to the same pan and stir in half of the parsley mixture. Cook briefly and pour in the reserved marinade and vegetables, tarragon tomatoes, beef stock, salt, cayenne, and chocolate.

5. In a separate pot with a sturdy handle, bring the reserved wine to a boil. Remove from heat and pour into the stew.

6. Stir well and bring the stew to a boil, uncovered. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until meat is tender. Add water, as needed, if the stew becomes too thick.

7. About 30 minutes before the stew is finished, sauté the bacon in a skillet until beginning to brown. Drain any excess fat from the pan and add mushrooms along with the remaining parsley mixture; cook until the mixture begins to brown. Stir the mushroom mixture into the stew, and serve.