The Mediterranean Diet is a diet that gained popularity in 1960’s. Its purpose is to eat the foods from the Mediterranean area, but mostly revolves around Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Croatia. A typical diet of those people would include fish as the main source of protein, eggs as a secondary source, and meat as a third. The diet also includes the use of a lot of olive oils, fruits, vegetables, and moderate consumption of dairy. The purpose of this diet is because early studies suggested that it prevented heart disease and provided longevity. Seeing how Mediterranean food is some of my favorite food, I thought it would not only be interesting to try going a week on this diet, but actually really fun and indulgent. To make it a little more challenging, I thought I would spend my week on this diet as if I were allergic to dairy.

A common breakfast for me this week was quite simple; a piece of fruit (usually a peach), and a cup of coffee, black because I’m ‘allergic’ to dairy.

For lunch I would often do a salad with a simple dressing and a hard boiled egg. Normally I would grate some parmesan on top, but the eggs with some salt on top added a nice salinity and texture to the salad.

I usually wouldn’t eat unless it was a meal time during this week, but my friends brought some canned sardines back from Portugal and enjoyed this typical Mediterranean snack- (‘enjoyed’ is a very big understatement).

For dinner, I would typically make a cream sauce pasta or fish topped with a cream sauce, but for this week I would usually enjoy a ‘primavera’ pasta (to get in my vegetables) with fish.

At the end of the week, I was a little overwhelmed with the lack of creativity. As a chef, I strive for creativity and found it hard to do so when my ingredients were limited. I found it hard to make different dishes everyday because of this and often ate leftovers. A couple more notes on my experience:

• The lack of dairy actually made me feel so much less bloated on a day to day basis and I will try to continue to eat without it- cow’s milk especially. No promises about cheese
• My hair seemed to be healthier. I am going to say that this is due to the high olive oil ingestion.
• I saved a lot of money during the week. When you’re following a specific diet, it’s easy not to ‘splurge’ when shopping.
• I did feel ‘healthier’ but it’s hard to say if this was actually from the diet. I think it was just the fact that I didn’t skip any meals.
• I didn’t like being restricted. I would not want to run my own restaurant based of this diet because of that. I would want to use whatever ingredients I want when I want to.
• I drank a lot of water. This is because ingested so much salt. Salt goes so well with everything I had. I would say that one of the biggest challenges about this diet is not putting salt on all your food.
• I do love Mediterranean food, but I will not continue this diet. Going along with any diet (for me) is a little claustrophobic. I don’t like having rules on what I can and can’t eat. We live in a time now where we have an idea of what’s healthy and what’s not. If we feel like we need to be more healthy, we have such a large variety of food to help us do so. It’s a bit ridiculous to restrict yourself to a certain region– (I would actually say to be more sustainable we should all eat local, but again- as a creative chef it’s a challenge to do so.)

This Sunday, I decided to go to the Liberty Square Farmer’s Market- there I found the Murray’s Farm vendor. Murray’s Farm primarily farms pigs and is actually the only farm in Canada that has British Saddleback, Tamworth, Berkshires, Gloucestershire Old Spot, and Hereford pigs. The pigs are completely free range and fed Non GMO feed with no soy or corn. They also eat whatever they can find themselves as well as any food that is also grown on the farm that can’t go to sale. They are treated like part of the ‘family’ There is very minimal waste at Murray’s Farm.

Murray’s Farm also raises chickens, eggs, grows tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and many other things depending on the season. I learned that the farm is all organic but unfortunately it is extremely hard to get the organic certification. If there is anyone in the surrounding area that sprays pesticides or herbicides, the wind could blow a little of the chemicals and land the property- which officially makes it not organic. So Murray’s Farm doesn’t use any sort of pesticides or herbicides, but can’t label any of their products as organic because of this.

The crew at Murray’s Farm believes in organic farming because that’s how food is supposed to be grown. Although pesticides and herbicides help food flourish in harsh conditions and help with the aesthetics of the products, the chemicals still get absorbed into the food and the soil which is bad for us and bad for the Earth. Not only do they believe in not spraying their food, they also farm in polycultures to help ensure the quality of the soil stays good. If you farm in monocultures, the soil loses its integrity and nutrients and eventually wouldn’t be able to grow anything. Monocultures are what created the massive ‘dust bowl’ in the United States during the great depression.

Since no pesticides or herbicides are used, a lot of their products come out with blemishes, obstructions, or imperfections. This is how all food looked before it was massed produced. Murray’s Farm educates people on this and ensures that we are still getting an excellent product- maybe even some of the best. I bought some heirloom tomatoes and potatoes and I can ensure you that these ‘ugly’ products are still delicious. Unfortunately some of the food doesn’t make it to people’s homes for this reason. This is okay because Murray’s Farm philosophy of ‘no waste’ is implemented and the pigs are given all the extra food that humans won’t eat! I also bought some pork sausages and can tell by the flavour that those pigs eat well.

The food prices are very reasonable considering the love and care that goes into all their products. For a pack of 4 pork sausages, 5 potatoes, and a crate of heirloom tomatoes- I only paid 15$. They provide their products to a variety of places in the GTA, including Langdon Hall- which is the 4th best restaurant in Canada. From what I learned about Murray’s Farm, it’s safe to say that I will go out of my way to buy their products to ensure that I get delicious, quality food.

This week I was challenged to choose an animal, a cut of meat from it, and to see how to get the most bang out of my buck for it. Initially, I was thinking that I would want to do something ‘obscure’- something like bison or rabbit or some sort of offal. But as I was browsing I thought to myself that a real challenge would be to make a common piece of meat become ‘wow’ worthy. In my opinion, the most common meat that we eat is chicken. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with chicken, because it’s delicious, but chicken is very boring. A lot restaurants don’t have much chicken on their menu for this reason.

Chickens used for meat production are called broiler chickens. ” The commercial broiler is white feathered, fast growing, vigorous and well fleshed. Chicken broilers are generally slaughtered when 35 days old, at a live weight of 2.1 kg. They require 1.8 kg of feed to produce 1 kg live weight. Currently, 2 international companies supply the large majority of the industrial market for both layer and broiler chickens. Chickens used for meat production are called broiler chickens. ” (Walker, 2013) Most chickens are farmed for their yield not flavor. Since most chicken that we come across everyday can be quite bland, a lot of things are needed to enhance the flavor. I chose to go to a butcher shop called The Meat Department which is known for their local, quality cuts of meat.

I decided to buy a full chicken leg (thigh & leg) because I thought at 6.99$/lb, there is a lot of potential to make money. An individual leg weighed at about half a pound. To get the most return on your ‘investment’ you have to get a little creative. For starters, I deboned the leg and saved the bone for chicken stock and soup in the future. Now I had a nice flat piece of meat. I decided I was going to add oyster mushrooms, chives, and goat cheese on top of it. Once I added the extra ingredients, I rolled the meat- forming a roulade and baked it in the oven. I then served it on top of Canadian quinoa that was cooked in mushroom broth. The estimated cost of this dish would cost around 5.00$ and it could easily sell for 30$ in most restaurants, giving a 500% increase. This is a pretty profitable dish. The legs contain a lot of muscle, but also have a lot of fat, making them quite tender when they’re cooked. They are quite versatile for this reason and can be cooked in a variety of other ways (boil, deep-fry, pan-fry.)

If you choose to make this dish yourself, here is the recipe:

• 1 Full Chicken Leg
• 1/2 Cup Quinoa
• 1 Cup Mushroom Broth
• 1 Medium Oyster Mushroom
• 2 Tbsp Goat Cheese
• 5 Chives
• Salt And Pepper To Taste

1. Debone your chicken leg and reserve the bone for later use (if desired.)
2. Cut oyster mushroom julienne. Cut chives widthwise.
3. Apply goat cheese to inside the chicken leg, then mushrooms and chives.
4. Tightly roll the chicken leg and tie with butcher’s twine.
5. Season chicken leg liberally with salt and pepper, put on lined baking tray and put in the oven at 350F for 20 minutes.
6. Add you 1/2 quinoa to 1 cup of mushroom broth. Bring to a boil then let simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Once chicken is cooked to 160F, remove twine and cut in half to expose the filling and serve on top of a bed of tender mushroom quinoa.

Summer is a perfect time for fresh fruit. Luckily in Canada there is a lot to choose from. I grew up eating all the standard fruits (strawberries, bananas, oranges, grapes, blueberries,etc.) Because those were the only fruits I (and a lot of other kids) was exposed to, I thought those were the only fruits in the world. It wasn’t until I was old enough to enjoy going to the grocery store that I was introduced to the fruits of the world- and there were still more fruits than those!

When I moved to Toronto in May of this year (2019), I was introduced to a variety of markets. Thanks to these markets I was able to have access to a much larger variety of foods and the idea of seasonality. The St.Lawrence Market was the first market I went to when I moved to Toronto on my culinary journey, so I tend to gravitate there whenever I have some shopping to do. Since we’re in the middle of Summer, I decided to go see what fruits were in season. I stumbled across something that I’ve never eaten, but was very familiar; red currants. I’ve seen them growing in peoples yards growing up, but as an overthinking kid, I assumed they were poisonous. Out of intrigue, I bought them and discovered that they were amazing. They’re the perfect mix of tart and sweet- like pink lemonade. After my first currant, I knew that I had to make a compote to compliment the blueberry pancakes I was itching to make with some blueberries I recently bought in my hometown of Sudbury.

Every Summer blueberries grow all around Sudbury. The blueberry pickers come out of hibernation and join the bears in a quest to find as many blueberries as possible. For a few weeks of the summer, the roads leading out of the town are filled with pickers selling their daily haul. It’s become tradition for many household to have a three litre container of blueberries on their counter in the Summer. Happy to be back home for a few days, my girlfriend and I bought a large basket. Since then, blueberry pancakes have been on my mind. Now with the perfect topping in my hands, I jumped into making the pancakes:

Blueberry Pancakes:

• 1.5 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Sugar
• 1.5 Cups Milk
• 1 Duck Egg (any egg will do)
• 3 Tablespoons of fat (preferably butter)
• 1 Cup Blueberries (or your prefered amount)
• NOTE— I did not add sugar as to not take away from the fruit in this recipe.

Red Currant Compote:

• 1.5 Cups Red Currants
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
• 1/4 cup Red Wine

Any type of preserving has always been extremely fascinating to me. I enjoy how you can use certain methods, like drying mushrooms, to make their shelf life substantially longer, but will still taste close to the same after rehydrating, or you can use a pickling method and transform a cucumber into a delicious, acidic pickle. There was one method in particular that really stood out to me though, curing with ash. I first discovered this from chef Magnus Nilsson of Faviken in Sweden who cured a quail yolk in the ash of sheep poop. Although this sounds far from appetizing, customers seem to enjoy it saying , “possess a burnt, grassy taste”. You can check out his menu at this link: https://willtravelforgoodfood.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/faviken-jamtland-sweden/

I thought about it and it makes sense. Ash not only has a unique flavour from whatever is was before it was scorched, but it’s high in Alkalinity. The alkalinity acts as a curing agent when applied to certain things, like yolks. I also knew that leek ash is applied to certain cheeses for not only flavour, but to help with the aging process. I decided to explore my curiosity and gathered ingredients from the St. Lawrence Market (Toronto) to make my own cured duck yolk.

Instead of just doing a cured egg yolk, I wanted to make a dish out of it. My idea was to have rice (wild and parboiled dyed red from beet water), garnished with sliced scallions and dried lobster mushrooms (adding another preserving method to the dish). I chose wild rice because it’s one of few ingredients that a majority of people would consider ‘Canadian’. The dyed parboiled rice is to give a more vibrant look to the dish. I also discovered that leeks are not in season in Ontario right now (mid July), so for the ash I decided to use scallions/green onions which are a common substitute when it comes to flavouring. I chose duck eggs for the yolk because the yolk tends to be much more vibrant than most and also has a very rich ‘yolky’ taste. The idea is to serve the yolk on top of the rice so when you cut into it it would leak down, adding texture and a unique sauce to the rice.

Here’s how it went:

After I was satisfied with the yolk, I made my wild rice (cook like pasta), and parboiled rice in beet water (to dye red). I then garnished with sliced scallions and sauteed lobster mushrooms. The presentation was beautiful. The ashened yolk looked very provocative. I was very happy with how it looked, but too much moisture was extracted, solidifying the yolk. The yolk was still very creamy, but it didn’t leak down as I suspected. The flavour was great- very umami, but a little too salty. Next time I would not add any salt to the ash as to get that extra yolky sauce element.

If you’re interested in what it looked like, click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USqcQuhczrs

Today I decided to cook something I’ve never cooked before. I wanted to stay true to myself and picked something I believe represents Canada- bannock, which is a form of bread. The exact origin is debatable, but more facts point towards it being of Scottish origin. It’s said that Scottish traders and settlers came to North America in the early 1800’s and shared the idea of bannock with many Native American tribes, but the Métis people seemed to have used it more and helped develop it into what many Canadians know bannock as now.

The recipe is quite simple and very versatile. It was usually cooked right on the coals of a fire or roasted on a stick over the fire. Modern methods include pan-frying, baking and deep-frying. When bannock was first introduced, the Native Americans would often use foraged foods in their cooking. More often than not, corn, acorn flour or even cattail pollen was would be used as a base. The cattail pollen really intrigued me and I wanted to touch upon that in my recipe. I didn’t have access to cattail pollen, but I did have some bee pollen from a farmers market. Lucky enough, I’ve never actually tried bee pollen, so making this was a very unique experience.

Of course before any chef or home cook uses something new, they should try it before potentially ruining their dish. All the pollen granules are a slightly different tinge of yellow and orange because bees pollinate all different types of flowers. The smell of bee pollen was of mild honey with a tinge of fruit, but ultimately had a unique smell. I sprinkled a few granules on my tongue and the fruitiness was the most predominant flavour. They tasted a lot like apricot, with a background of honey. Despite the flavours, it was only mildly sweet. The texture was firm but when chewed, turned into a loose paste and disintegrated fast. After my analysis of the pollen, it was time to attempt the bannock.

After some research online, I developed my own recipe using only Canadian ingredients and it is very simple:

This new cooking experience was fantastic. It made me realize how versatile bannock really is. You could add sugar to make it more of a dessert or you could add a variety of herbs and spices to make it more savory/umami. You could use a plethora of flours as a base and you could also use many different cooking methods. I want to explore bannock every way possible. Next time, I would like to use acorn flour and roast it on a stick over the fire to get a nice smokey flavour and the satisfaction of using ancestral methods to cook.

Today, I wanted to share a soup that has inspired me. When I was growing up, I didn’t care much for cream of mushroom soup. The fact that it held the shape of the can that it came out of and the overall taste was a huge turn off for me. It wasn’t until I was 17 and lived in British Columbia that it became one of my favorites.

I lived in the Kootenay Mountains, which is a beautiful mountain range that’s lush with forest. The climate during the spring to fall seasons was often a perfect time for hundreds of different wild mushrooms to grow and thrive. My step-dad/best friend was blown away with what the land had to offer and learned everything he could about the local mushrooms and more. It didn’t take long before he became one of the best mushroom hunters around. He passed on some of his knowledge to me, which made me realize that there is so much more beyond the standard taste of ‘mushroom’. Each mushroom is strangely unique and the ones that are safe to eat usually have a unique taste. After a day of mushroom hunting, he made the family a cream of mushroom soup that is still one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

He used a mushroom called ‘admiral bolete’, which is a large mushroom that has a sponge underneath its cap instead of gills. It provided a pleasant savory taste. Being in Toronto, bolete mushrooms are quite hard to come by, so I settled on a Morel mushroom for my soup. Morels provides a unique sweet, buttery and earthy taste. Morels are a hidden treasure where I’m from in B.C, but aren’t too hard to find in markets or wholesalers in Toronto (when in season) because of the demand from the many higher end restaurants. I also managed to find some dried lobster mushrooms, which happen to be abundant in the Kootenay’s. They actually start off as a different mushroom, but gain a parasite at a young stage that turn them into lobster mushrooms. This parasite turns them into a bright orange mushroom, coining the name ‘Lobster’.

My logic when using these two mushrooms was that the sweet, buttery morel will go perfect with the savory lobster mushroom. Butter and lobster. I re-hydrated the lobsters in hot vegetable stock, cut them into cubes and sauteed them in butter to add as a garnish later on. Now, I did run into a little trouble with how I wanted to stay true to only using Canadian ingredients. Being the late spring, I wasn’t able to find any Canadian celery or garlic; two staples into making a good soup. I was still able to find some great onions, carrots and thyme. Without being able to make a standard mirepoix for my stock, I substituted my celery for a little more carrot and onion. I also thought that by adding a little more onion and thyme could draw away from the fact that there was no garlic, and it did, which provided me with a sweeter and herbaceous stock. In my new adventures of being a ‘Canadian chef’, I found a beautiful cream from Harmony Organics and an amazing butter from Thornloe, both from Ontario. I would recommend anyone who can access these brands to give them a try to see how good they are.

For my first recipe I’ve posted, I can say with great excitement that these Canadian ingredients made some of the best mushroom soup I’ve ever had- inspired by British Columbia and one of my favorite people.

Here it is:

Despite the challenge of not finding the ingredients I initially thought I would use, I was able to create a soup that’s better than I would have hoped. Not only am I satisfied with the flavour, I’m satisfied with my ability to think of alternative ingredients that could taste just as good. This experience also taught me how important seasonality is when you want to use fresh and local ingredients. I’m very excited to see what I will come up with in the future and to gain some ideas I wouldn’t have normally thought of.

When I made this soup, I was lucky enough to share it with my girlfriend, Sara-Anne and two of my other close friends. It turned out my idea of using sweet and buttery flavours with a lobster flavour was a hit. The only thing they wished was different was to include more lobster mushrooms as it added a pleasantly mysterious aspect to the soup. “If we didn’t know that we were eating mushrooms, we would have thought that we could have been eating lobster”, they said.

To whomever uses this recipe; I hope you enjoyed making this soup as much as I did. If you want to take a look at some of the products I used I will provide links to them below.

Harmony Organics Whipping Cream: https://harmonyorganic.ca/organic-35–whipping-cream-500ml-glass-bottle/product/16/10#.XPXPOFJKjIU

Thornloe Butter: https://thehealthybutcher.com/75-Grassfed-Salted-Butter.html

Morels and Lobster Mushrooms: https://www.facebook.com/MarcsMushrooms/

I want to become a chef because I want to show the world that you can make something as simple as eating into an unforgettable experience. There are endless possibilities with what you can do with food. You can mix a plethora of ingredients to make something new and exciting and use a variety of techniques to show them off. I hope to create a restaurant that sources absolutely all of it’s ingredients from Canada. I want to give people an unforgettable eating experience solely from what Canada has to offer.

My restaurant will have a tasting menu that highlights our beautiful country. We’re lucky enough to have so much diversity, so why not take full advantage of that? I want people to realize that there is more to Canada than just poutine and maple syrup.

My philosophy when it comes to cooking is simple: waste not, want not. Canada has a great reputation of being ‘the good guys’ and I want to show my future staff that we can be the good guys by not letting any part of our food go to waste. We should be grateful with what we get to work with and utilize it to the best of our abilities. It’s our responsibility as chefs to treat food with respect.