The night before the 2012 Canadian Food Summit (listen to the debate here), the amazing Nick Saul from The Stop Community Food Centre invited a group of food activists out for a lively pre-Summit rap session about national food policy.
We were honoured to share a table with local hero Wayne Roberts, Mark Bittman, the Stop’s Kathryn Scharf, and the Toronto Star’s Saucy Lady. What a treat before gearing up to defend stronger policies for local, nutritious, and wholesome food at the 2012 Canadian Food Summit!
New York food writer Mark Bittman is in town this week to talk food — and eat it.
He joined me and four food activists Monday night at Enoteca Sociale, where Grant van Gameren of Black Hoof fame is now executive chef.
Bittman is in Toronto to speak today at the Canadian Food Summit at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. He’s giving the keynote luncheon speech “Cooking Solves Everything — How Food Can Change Your World” and then taking part in an evening debate on whether the local food movement is good for us and the world.
Over a casual three-hour dinner hosted by Nick Saul, executive director of The Stop Community Food Centre, Van Gameren sent out nine courses “family style” on platters for sharing.
He fed Bittman, Saul, The Stop’s program director Kathryn Scharf, Real Food for Real Kids’“founding mom” Lulu Cohen-Farnell and food policy analyst/writer Wayne Roberts two salumi boards, tuna crudo, smoked sweetbreads, grilled octopus, cauliflower, rutabaga mezzaluna (stuffed pasta), gnocchi, mackerel and grass-fed striploin paired with roasted bone marrow.
Bittman’s favourite dish?
“The mackerel was astonishing. So fatty. There’s nothing better.”
The prolific cookbook author says the “largely despised fish is unknown or feared. People either hate it or they don’t know what it is.”
Van Gameren uses Norwegian mackerel, which is a little fattier and smaller than Spanish mackerel. He filets and debones it, leaving it intact, then seasons it simply with salt and pepper and pan-sears it.
Bittman says Toronto reminds him of Queens, the “super polyglot” borough of New York City that’s known as the most diverse place in the world.
It may surprise people to learn what Bittman really wants to do during the 36-odd hours that he’s here.
“Go to the Art Gallery of Ontario and see the Group of Seven,” he says. “I’ve been here five times and I’ve never been and I’ve never done anything cultural. It’s stupid to go to a major city and not go to a major art gallery.”
To read this article on the Toronto Star’s website, click here.