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Taste of Toronto
See below for review on Ninutik Maple Sugar
This Friday July 25th, (lucky for him) I dragged my older brother with me to the Taste of Toronto Food Festival! Set inside Toronto's historic Fort York, built by Canadian militia in the late 18th century, Taste of Toronto featured stands for 13 local restaurants and booths of 59 local producers. The festival also offered cooking demonstrations and classes that were first-come-first-serve, option to read as "you're never getting into one of these".
Our first stop was Walter, the producer of an all-natural craft caesar mix made here in Canada. This alternative to the Mott's Clamato mix that contains MSG, colouring and high-fructose corn syrup, is made from vine-ripened tomatoes and is already prepared with grated horseradish, Worchestershire sauce, hot sauce, spices and real clam juice from the North Atlantic. The Walter booth happened to be conveniently located in the same booth as Dillon's Small Batch Distillers from the Niagara region. Naturally, our first stop was marked by a delicious, locally-sourced vodka caesar.
Hungry Hostess Rating: 4
Hungry Hostess Rating: 5
The highlight for my brother and I, as I'm sure it was for many people, were all the free samples. The next booth we visited was Madeleines where we got to try pastry chef Kyla Eaglesham's Coconut Rum Balls. As someone who typically doesn't favour the strong flavour of rum balls, I was surprisingly delighted to taste a soft, chocolatey ball whose flavour more resembled a nanaimo bar than rum! And we were sold. Our next purchase of the night - CHOCOLATE BOURBON PECAN PIE. Yum. Safe to say that didn't make it home. While this family run business no longer has it's Cherry Pie & Ice Cream cafe in downtown Toronto, we are all still welcome to order our baked goods by 10 am for next day pick up at (416) 537-3131! Check out their website for product listings.
Up next, hot sauce! These scotch bonnet sauces from Spicy Lips had quite the kick on the tastebuds, but my brother and I could eat a good hot sauce by the spoonful. So naturally, we tried all three of their amazing flavours. The best part about this family recipe from the West Indies and the Mediterranean was that throughout the Mild, Hot, and Suicide sauces, a bright, fresh flavour shone through the heat! Mild Lips Molly, though mild, delivered a kick that would definitely catch the attention of someone who is not a spice enthusiast. Hot Lips Hana took first prize from both my brother and I, with an immediate intensity of both spice and flavour. Lastly the heat of Suicide Lips Stella had a delay before it hit the taste buds, so be careful with this one! Although this is by no means the spiciest hot sauce I've tried, it will be a shock to the tongue once it kicks in.
Hungry Hostess Rating: 5
Famous for their all natural snap cookies, ShaSha Co. Organic Artisan Bakery brought us the most diverse array of grain products I have seen from one company. While I was lured in by their Spelt and Flax Lavash Flat Bread (which happened to be quite the delicious pairing with my Cilantro White Bean Dip), they offered products such as gluten free, raw, vegan granola snacks like Buckwheat Pineapple & Cocoa Nibs, sourdough breads such as Organic Ezekiel Chia and Sunflower Seed Bread, and of course their snap cookies like Organic Spelt Ginger Snaps!
Hungry Hostess Rating: 4
No taste-testing session is complete without tasting some olive oil, right? From Jesse Tree Importing Ltd. we not only got to try some olive oil, but the world's best! The Olivastro Extra Virgin Olive Oil was awarded World's Best Olive Oil in 2013. With a focus in Mediterranean cuisine, Jesse Tree seeks out artisanal food products and brings us collections of oils and vinegars, marinated vegetables, pastas, sauces, and deli items. Personally, I couldn't get enough of the Sweet Sicilian Olives, and took home their Mamma Nuccia Arrabiatta Sauce. We hope to have these products carried by my brothers' London, Ontario grocery delivery service, Grocery Checkout soon!
Hungry Hostess Rating: 4.5
Hungry Hostess Rating: 4.5
The next booth held a wonderful surprise... Sriracha Goat Cheese! Luckily, you can find this delicious cheese from Woolwich Dairy Inc. in most Canadian grocery stores, such as Fortinos, Loblaws, Whole Foods and Metro. While this locally sourced and locally produced Sriracha goat cheese was amazing, we also got to try another innovative goat cheese variation - Chocolate Goat Cheese! Safe to say we will be keeping an eye out for the inventive products from this happy goat, who, we found out, the people of Woolwich call Suzie!
My final review, will not be a review, it will simply be praise. Growing up in Ontario, you likely went on a school trip to Quebec to visit the sugar shacks. Even the name fills me with warm feelings of deliciousness. So when my brother and I stumbled upon a booth that was pouring fresh Ontario maple taffy into small troughs of snow, we were intrigued. But once we realized that they were rolling skewered cubes of salty gouda, pungent blue and old cheddar cheeses in the taffy, we stepped right into that long line. And was it ever worth the wait! (See photos at top of post) Ninutik, whose vision is to present Canada's cultural icon, maple syrup, through the lens of design, art and sugarmaking, was easily my brother and I's favourite stop of the night.
Hungry Hostess Rating: 5
In the spirit of the phrase "there's and app for that" there is now an app for picking the right dish at a restaurant! It's called HotSauce. For me being vegetarian, having too many options to choose from on a menu is usually not a problem, but for my brother who asked every vendor we visited, whether it was cold-pressed juice or hot sauce, "What's the best one?" I can see this app coming in very handy! The way it works is that based on customer reviews, the app displays menu items according to their ratings. It displays the prices for each dish, descriptions and has the option for you to upload a photo if it does not already have one. And just like Urban Spoon, restaurants are displayed according to their proximity to you and can also be browsed in map view. Soon, HotSauce will also be able to alert users of any dietary restrictions on the menu items.Click here for the download
Hungry Hostess Rating: 3.5
Overall, the Taste of Toronto Food Festival was an amazing experience and you'll see me there next year!
