Balance of Food

Temptation of the Week: Poutine soda

Mon dieu. Soda with the taste of poutine.

You probably would believe the number of my friends who have sent me the notice of Jones Soda's newest flavor: poutine. People remember when you publicly admit you like poutine.

So will I be Jones-ing for some poutine soda?

Let's start by noting that Jones poutine soda is only available in Canada. Not everywhere in Canada, the Seattle-based company is aiming its new novelty soda at Quebec (maison du poutine), Ontario, and British Columbia.

But if I were there, or the poutine soda came to where I was, would I try poutine soda?

For the blog, oui. For myself, je ne sais pas.

Poutine is salty x3: French fries, squeaky white Quebec cheese curds, and brown gravy. Soda is sweet, even with Jones use of cane sugar. For some, this is bliss. Combining the two flavors is heaven for some.

As much as we can make things taste like something, what you will likely get in poutine soda is gravy soda since gravy predominates the dish. The idea of getting potatoes and cheese into the taste is likely an after-thought. This isn't really fair because I can't try the product, but this is based on other attempts to make x taste like y.

Bacon-flavored products don't really have bacon flavor, but more like a smoky flavor to make you think you are consuming something bacon-flavored.

Gravy-flavored soda has some appeal. A salty soda is novel, even among Jones' extensive novel soda collection.

But the idea of drinking poutine flavor leaves a bit

On my last trip to Montreal about a year ago, I sampled the poutine at Paul Patates. It's a small diner off the Charlevoix Metro stop. This is a very residential neighborhood; Regular tourists wouldn't be anywhere nearby, unless they were on a hunt for poutine.

The poutine is quite excellent; one of the best plates of poutine I have ever had. But the lure of going off the beaten path is the home-brewed spruce beer. The spruce beer is non-alcoholic, and one of the best soft drinks I have ever had. I described the soft drink as "7UP mixed with trees."

The taste of the spruce beer was refreshing and a nice contrast to the salty taste of a virtually perfect poutine. The two flavors went back and forth as I finished the poutine plate.

photo credit: Jones Soda

Temptation of the Week: Vachon 'Twinkies' made with sugar

You might think that not seeing the Jos. Louis snack cakes on my spring food run to Meijer's would leave me very sad. Well, a little sad, but there was enough joy elsewhere to make things right.

Vachon, the company that makes Jos. Louis snack cakes, was not missing from the store shelves. The company had its version of Twinkies, Cup Cakes, and Ding Dongs.

You know what's coming next. Yes, they have sugar, but not high-fructose corn syrup.

They compare favorably to what used to be the Canadian products (no longer available anywhere) and are way better than the Hostess products (currently available in Canada, not the United States).

I hadn't noticed the Vachon Hostess castoffs before in Canada, but may not have paid much attention. So I don't know if the Canadian version has glucose-fructose (high-fructose corn syrup) or sugar. The U.S. version of the Jos. Louis snack cakes had sugar while the Canadian version had glucose-fructose.

As much as I have wrote about the Jos. Louis snack cakes, and they are better than most of what you find on U.S. shelves, I like these snack cakes better.

But like all snack cakes — to be enjoyed in moderation. Truthfully, I froze the Jos. Louis snack cakes from last fall, and they still taste good. They're even better a little cold. Might have to see if the Vachon cakes freeze just as well. After all, I can only eat so much sugar at a time, even if they are sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup. They wil tide me past the temptation to buy the new American Twinkies (unless they change back to sugar) sometime this summer.

If you see the Jos. Louis snack cakes somewhere else in the States, let us know. Same goes for the Vachon "Twinkies," "Cup Cakes," and "Ding Dongs."

Taste of Spring 2013 Canadian food ads via NHL Center Ice

We normally expect a bunch of Tim Horton commercials when we get a peek into the world of Canadian food ads.

But we didn't see any new Tim Horton ads in this latest stretch.

We only got the preview that paralleled the beginning of the MLB season, and not the end of the NHL season this week.

The coolest ad involved beer, which isn't technically food. (For more, check out the full version from our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com.)

There was fast food news in the mix. Let's check in with the column from CanadianCrossing.com with more:

 

In fast food news, Harvey's was pushing a 4-cheese burger with Monterey Jack, cheddar, gouda, and swiss.

Americans like the idea of 4 cheeses on a burger, but might make "safer" choices. I'd be curious to see if gouda would make a top 10 list.

KFC is adapting its Big Crunch sandwich to be a Big Crunch Tower. The regular sandwich is a extra crispy breast with lettuce and mayonnaise sauce.

Mayonnaise sauce sounds even less healthy than mayo.

The Big Crunch Tower adds ketchup, cheese, and a hash brown patty. In case you weren't getting even carbohydrates.

Ketchup, even if Canadian ketchup is usually better, should never go on a chicken sandwich. And mayonnaise sauce sounds depressing. Not sure that cheese even belongs on that sandwich, though some cheeses go well with chicken.

Crunchy hash browns on a crunchy chicken sandwich is overdoing it on carbs, but we've heard worse. Not sure I'll make a road trip for that sandwich.

photo credit: KFC Canada

Temptation of the Week: Sex Cereal

Sex.

We were taught as kids that whatever sugary cereal was on the television that the sugary cereal was part of a balanced breakfast.

As adults, we want more from our cereal.

Sex Cereal was created by a Canadian businessman to help people improve their sexual performance through a specially designed breakfast cereal.

Cereal primarily goes with breakfast, but eating food to improve things in the bedroom is more about after-dinner activities. But you have to start somewhere. Now you know why breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

His Ingredients

Rolled oats, wheat germ, water, chia seeds, black sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, blueberries (sweetened with apple juice), cacao nibs, goji berries, bee pollen, maca powder, camu camu, coconut sugar

Her Ingredients

Rolled oats, oat bran, sunflower seeds, water, flax seeds, chia seeds, soy protein, cranberries (sweetened with apple juice), goji berries, cacao nibs, almonds, ginger ground, maca powder, coconut sugar

There are two problems to consider before you jump at the chance to eat Sex Cereal. The cereal is $12/bag and is only available in Canada. First Twinkies, now Sex Cereal. Damn Canadians. :)

And couples can't share a bag, unless they're same gender couples. Of course, gays and lesbians can get married throughout Canada.

Both genders get rolled oats, water, chia seeds, cacao nibs, goji berries, maca powder, and coconut sugar. Men get blueberries while women get cranberries, but both are sweetened with apple juice.

Wheat germ is for men, oat bran for women. Seeds help produce good seeds, as men drift toward black sesame and pumpkin, while women go for sunflower and flax.

Wild cards? Men get bee pollen and camu camu while women get soy protein, almonds, and ginger ground.

Having breakfast does make your day go better. If somehow Sex Cereal gets people "up" to eat breakfasts they otherwise might skip, the cereal will have done its job regardless of any other benefits.

They say "sex sells." If sex can't sell people on the concept of having breakfast, nothing else can.

photo credit: Sex Cereal

If you are going to eat poutine, eat the real thing

The Balance of Food philosophy is to embrace food, whether that food is good or bad for you. If you are going to eat less than ideal, have a good time.

So some readers may have cringed about a story about a festival that celebrates poutine. Those same readers might cringe about this story about a different poutine festival. The difference is that spotlighting these two festivals shows us that if you are going to go that way, do it well.

I took a few shots at the hipster poser poutine fest that generated a lot of buzz and press in Chicago. Some Canadian expats and wannabes took exception to the limited numbers for the "poutine fest" (reportedly 50 per session) and decided to have their own poutine celebration.

The Canadian group picked a place that is devoted to poutine — the Bad Happy Poutine Shop. The restaurant pulled out of the more popular poutine fest. The space is limited since the restaurant is small, so the place couldn't hold 50 people.

This made the event more exclusionary, though the price for the Canadian event was $20 versus the $50 for the poutine fest ($65 for VIP status). The Canadian fest money went to the restaurant while the proceeds from the poutine fest went to charity.

The Canadian event had poutines that you could get on the regular menu every day. Some of the poutines offered in the poutine fest were one-time events.

The Canadian event drew on the 6 variations of poutines that the restaurant normally serves, including a dessert poutine, and a milkshake. The poutine fest offered 9 restaurants and their interpretations of poutine.

The portion sizes of the Canadian event were larger and you might find yourself with an extra cup of poutine. The Canadian event started with a classic poutine: fries, cheese curds, and gravy. No single poutine at the poutine fest offered a basic version. The variations kept the same theme as the original poutine: fries, cheese curds, and gravy.

avec (with) smoked meat, bell peppers, onions, mushroom, sauce au poivre

chicken, garden peas, Canadian bacon

hot dog sauce, steak hache, sausage, bacon, onions

pork belly, truffle mayo, foie gras mousse, and sunny egg

grilled gyro meat, feta cheese, onions, tomatoes, tzatziki sauce, kalamata olive tapanade, curry gravy

a special dessert poutine with French toast sticks, toasted marshmallow, vanilla ice cream & chocolate sauce

These poutines were more satisfying because poutine is what I wanted. Some of the poutine fest items were interesting, and I certainly walked away full from the event. But I felt hungry for poutine.

Despite having had poutine or sorta poutine twice within 6 days, this isn't a typical happening. I now live in a city with a poutine shop. But I only go once in a while. Living in Montréal, poutine would be a lot more tempting, mostly because Montréal has way better poutine (at cheaper prices) than even the poutine shop in Chicago.

If I would do poutine, or any other yummy calorie-plus dish, I want to do it right. Or as close to right as I can get, short of getting on an airplane.

'Daily Show' has fun with Quebec maple syrup heist

Even though the story was pretty old by the time "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" got to the Quebec maple syrup heist, the show still found plenty of laughs.

The heist reportedly contained 18 million pounds of maple syrup. Tim Shufelt of Canadian Business magazine said the value of a barrel of maple syrup is worth almost 20x the cost a barrel of crude oil.

Really expensive pancakes.

Jason Jones, a proud Canadian, treated maple syrup as if it were part of a "Canadian drug war."

You should watch the segment just for Jones' trip to Montréal's Le Gros Jambon diner. I was surprised that Jones specifically showed this place, though the restaurant is on my list for my next Montréal trip.

One older guy in the diner told Jones he puts maple syrup on his ice cream. Too much sugar, but that does sound good.

Maple syrup, like honey, can serve as a nice alternative to sugar, especially when using less of it (3 parts instead of 4 parts) gives you more flavor with fewer calories. Next time, someone tries to push maple syrup on you, proceed with caution but go for it.

Simon Trepanier, head of the Quebec maple syrup producers, recommends a bit of maple syrup in your coffee or tea before you go to bed.

For more on this sticky topic, check out this story from our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com.

 

2013 Chicago Poutine Fest: Not the real thing

What poutine is supposed to look like: poutine de Montréal.

Editor's note: This column is simulcast on our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com, given the shared commonality of food and Canada that is poutine.

The idea of celebrating one of Canada's better-known foods in the 3rd largest city in the United States sounded magical to me when I first heard about the event. In the end, the experience left me pining for a road trip to Montréal.

Previous coverage: Poutine in Montreal: Sampling through the city's finest

In a room full of "poutines," only one came close to be remotely similar to what you might find in Quebec. And that version isn't something the restaurant is offering.

In some circles, poutine has become the whim of high and mighty variations to the classic fries, cheese, and gravy combination. This approach to poutine was on display on Sunday.

The most authentic was from El Ideas with the basic ingredients topped with a smoked duck sausage and foie gras gravy. You could easily see that on a menu in Montréal. (Sorry I didn't get a picture.)

This is a place with a constantly changing menu, and the Web site doesn't show any poutine has been served at the restaurant. Too bad.

Some of the places offered up a poutine that either wasn't on their current menu or had never been on its menu.

The least authentic was from the Pleasantry. The place went with smoked onion, blue cheese, and thyme gravy with duck confit, crispy onions, and scallions. Most of that subtlety was lost in the blue cheese sauce, and I love blue cheese. I couldn't pick out any other taste.

The Publican, a renown place in Chicago, offered up fried chickentail, fried cheese curds (really?), hot sauce, and Dunbarton blue cheese. The actual taste was not as good as the ingredients would suggest. This didn't even belong at a poutine competition.

Haymarket, the host of the event, submitted its own approach with smoked ham hock gravy that was topped with in-house andouille sausage and lemon soaked apples. A nice dish, but poutine was the furthest thing when eating this.

The Boarding House had a lobster poutine. I told the guy I couldn't possibly compare it to the other lobster poutine I had — Chuck Hughes' Garde Manger lobster poutine. Hughes' version was a lot better. The guy went through a long description of what goes into the lobster presentation, but the dish was more about lobster pieces on top of French fries. I don't even remember either the cheese or if there was a sauce in this dish.

Scofflaw had a bacon, eggs, and clam topping. This could have been a carbonara poutine, which doesn't sound that bad. This dish was okay, but admittedly I only had one bite.

Little Market went with braised short ribs, a nice choice if you going in that direction, and red wine gravy, but with fried cheese curds. Sigh.

Leopold went with a lamb marquez gravy and pickled peppers on top of fries and cheese curds. A lot of strong flavors, but nothing resembling poutine.

The judges went with the Gage, a place that knowingly offers different versions of the dish that changes as the menu changes. The Gage version had wild boar on top with smoked celery, carrots, and onions. Wild boar is good, but the cheese was barely noticeable. I'll admit this is the only poutine in the room I had before the fest, so I knew it pretty well.

I didn't get to try two of them. Red Door had a duck confit with chorizo verde and pickled jalapeno. And the Pleasant House served what it called deluxe gravy chips. British chips (square fried potatoes) topped with hangar steak, red wine gravy, and shredded cheddar. Both sounded good, but not authentic. And kudos to the Pleasant House for not calling it poutine.

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I met Canadians, people who like Canada, and others who just wanted to eat. One guy had a Habs jersey, another had an old school Expos hat. I might have broken out my Montréal gear if I weren't on duty. One woman had a Jonathan Toews shirt; I asked her if she wore the shirt on purpose. She had no idea what I was talking about. I explained to her that Toews was Canadian (from Manitoba).

I met a young woman from Canada had been in the States for 10 years; she had lived in Toronto and Vancouver. She explained to me that poutine was continuing the stereotype about Canada about eating fatty foods, even if it was true but not what we should think about when we think of Canada.

I wanted to find people who had never had poutine. One described her impresion before as poutine being gravy fries. After having had poutine, she thought it was a vehicle for gravy and cheese. Another person thought it was better than she thought it would be, and had heard about poutine when the Bad Happy Poutine Shop opened up about a couple of years ago.

Yes, Chicago has a place devoted to poutine. The place tries hard to be truly authentic, but I and several other "experts" feel the place comes up a little short. But you can get fries, cheese curds, and gravy there along with other variations.

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Poutine is a food of the masses: simple food for cheap prices and eaten to keep warm in the cold Quebec winters. The poutine I've seen in Chicago is mostly about hoity-toity variations for expensive prices: the exact opposite of what poutine is in Montréal.

I've had paid about $6 for a wonderful plate of poutine that fills my stomach and fulfills my taste buds in Montréal. I have paid almost double that for plates that didn't fill or fulfill.

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The money went to charity, about $8000 to Common Threads, which does a number of cool things, including teaching about cultural diversity through cooking. I'd like to think poutine, real poutine, can play a part in cultural diversity.

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All pictures taken by me with all the proper copyrights.

Knowing what is in your food should be the norm

When you can look an animal in its face, raise it, treat it well, and then slaughter it, you know what you are getting on your plate. In 2013, this knowledge of your food is easier on the local level and much more difficult on a world scale.

Countries that don't like to eat horse meat have the right to not get horse meat if they choose to do so. Those buying fish should get what they pay for. And clearly, this isn't happening.

In the United States, we could laugh at the saga going on in Europe, but with the mix of meat that passes for "beef" in our country, we literally don't know what we are eating.

Even for those who resolve to eat only local and only animals that they know, they and everybody else should be alarmed that we don't know what we are eating.

I voluntarily choose to not eat veal. If I choose to change my mind about veal, that is my choice. I have the freedom to eat veal or not eat veal. If someone came along to put veal into what is supposed to be beef, I would consider that a violation.

Even if you aren't a vegetarian, you should feel for Indians who were horrified to discover that McDonald's French fries were cooked in beef tallow.

Some countries in Europe eat horse. On the North American continent, you can find horse meat in Quebec in Canada. So the issue isn't eating horse; this is about wanting beef and getting something else. If you can find horse in your beef, you might find beef in your horse.

Even Reese's peanut butter cups acknowledge that they contain peanut butter and chocolate.

Companies list potential allergens because certain foods can trigger allergies even if there is a possible connection. In these troubling times, we could extend the concept: "This beef product may have come in contact with horse, and by come in contact, we mean some horse might be in your beef."

These cases involved suppliers; it's not like Burger King grows its own cows. The more hands that get on food, the more likely something such as this can happen. Local has the advantage of involving fewer hands.

In this post-regulation world, the trick is making food as cheap as possible, regardless of quality, ingredients, and basic decent common sense. While those who try and keep their food pure are often chastised for their extreme attitude, they know what they are eating. That shouldn't be extreme; knowing what is in your food should be the norm.

Temptation of the Week: The Priestley

Famous Canadians during the 1996 Grey Cup
Celebrity	Location	Donut
Steven Page	Wawa, ON	blueberry fritter
Geddy Lee	Halifax, NS	walnut crunch
Luc Robitaille	Victoriaville, QC	sour cream plain
Alex Trebek	Sudbury, ON	honey dipped
k.d. lang	Red Deer, AB	chocolate glaze
Jason Priestley	Priestley*	Squamish, BC
* "crammed a Timbit into a strawberry vanilla"

"Crammed a Timbit into a strawberry vanilla, and invented the Priestley. Should have been the best day of my life." — Jason Priestley, "How I Met Your Mother" February 4, 2013

The creation of the Priestley came out of a running joke about Canadian celebrities and where they were and what they were eating at Tim Hortons during the 1996 Grey Cup. And so the donut within the donut was born.

As you can see, the donut within a donut isn't any worse for you than a regular donut. The Priestley allows for dual tastes, along the lines of Neapolitan ice cream.

Okay, so this isn't as bad for you as a Luther, another celebrity-related, donut-related treat.

.@Jason_Priestley, we loved the idea of 'The Priestley' so much, we made a batch. A Timbit IN a donut? Genius. #HIMYM http://t.co/G0imeqhe

The Tim Hortons in Squamish, BC started offering the treat after the initial publicity. The program airs on City in Canada, even though it's an American show from CBS in the United States. Sadly, for now, the treat is only available at the Squamish Tim Hortons (just north of Vancouver, in case you live in northwest Washington and are hankering for an international food-dominated road trip).

If you have nearby access to a Tim Hortons, you could take a chocolate glaze Timbit (similar to Dunkin' Donuts Munchkins), scoop out some of the strawberry vanilla donut, and place the Timbit inside the strawberry vanilla donut.

After all, theoretically, Jason Priestley crammed a Timbit into a strawberry vanilla and invented an Internet culinary creation.

The old Reese's commercials had a person carrying chocolate get bumped by someone carrying peanut butter. The chocolate lands in the peanut butter, and while the people are initially upset, they soon discover that the two flavors go together well.

Many classic foods were late-night inspirations or accidents. Someone actually invented Buffalo wings. Someone else came up with the idea of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy to invent poutine (also Canadian).

We don't have to limit ourselves to the known food combinations in the universe. We can take inspiration from the food around us, and the celebrities around us, and make something new out of what is in front of us.

Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla — all inside one donut. The Priestley was born. Don't worry; you can come up with something all your own. And even if you aren't a cool Canadian celebrity, your food combination can be just as cool. You're only limited by your imagination.

Photo credit: Tim Hortons

Canadian food ads from 2013 NHL Center Ice free preview

Thanks to CanadianCrossing.com for its semi-annual look at Canadian ads during the NHL Center Ice free preview, we get a glimpse into some cool and crazy Canadian food ads.

The preview came about 3½ months late thanks to the NHL lockout (CanadianCrossing.com told us to say "Fire Gary Bettman").

Though there was only 12 days (instead of 25 days) for the 2013 NHL Center Ice free preview, there were some fun ads.

"Starting things off with Tim Horton's in its Welcome to Canada spot. During the promotion, you could get a 49¢ donut with purchase of a hot drink. Sounds like "Welcome to Canada" to me."

"We don't hear much from Molson in the United States. Can't remember the last time I saw Molson in a U.S. bar. But Molson lives in Canada. I enjoyed the Molson Canadian 67 ad for "Guyet," a diet as seen through the eyes of a guy in a beer commercial. He runs so he can eat juicy burgers with fried onion strings on top. Molson Canadian 67 is the company's lighter beer.

Boston Pizza has clever commercials though I've never eaten at one before. I love the pompous guy who does "finger cooking," going online to order food from Boston Pizza. The newest one was where a guy changes into a foodie.

The dish the guy is eating is pulled pork penne, though it looks like he's eating spaghetti. There is a significant difference between penne and spaghetti. An odd juxtaposition.

McDonald's had what seemed to be an innocent commercial about value that ends with a muffin and coffee special. The spot talks about searching for a bargain and then we see "Bridge to USA." This reflects the exodus of Canadian bargain hunters to cross into the United States thanks to the exchange rate and how much more expensive some items are in Canada.

A&W promoted its "Burger Buddies," an inexpensive burger with grilled onions. The customer keeps coming through the drive-thru to wonder why A&W was charging such a low price for such a burger."

KFC in Canada had two separate campaigns. The $4 meal featured chicken, fries, and a customer choice of popcorn chicken, a snacker, or a toasted wrap. The creepy stalker ad was the theme for an ad for KFC Favourites Bucket that featured chicken, popcorn chicken, and fries. Unlike the fries we see here in the States (thick wedges), these were shoestring fries. And they looked good.

The Rogers Sportsnet Pacific feed (Vancouver Canucks) had an ad for Triple O's White Spot fish burger. Most fast food fish sandwiches aren't that appetizing, but this one looked pretty good.