Rhubarb Shrub (Drink/ Cordial) Recipe
I’ve just recently learned about a type of beverage called a shrub. Traditionally a shrub was a fruit and vinegar-based beverage that often included large amounts of alcohol as a preservative.
If the idea of a vinegar-based beverage has you scratching your head, think of lemonade; it’s very acidic yet somehow refreshing and thirst-quenching. Since lemons aren’t anywhere near local to us, the idea of being able to create a similar experience with all local ingredients was an exciting prospect to me.
Our New Ingredient Index is Revealed!
There are more than 300 recipes on Wellpreserved; we’re thrilled to share our new ingredient recipe which will help you find any of them sorted by ingredient.
We previewed this function to our FaceBook followers last week and asked for their feedback and we consistently heard that there was too much scrolling and people wanted a preview of each post so they could skim for what they wanted to find. We’ve updated every single recipe post to do just that and we hope you’ll find it useful!
You can find the index here (note that you can also find it in its permanent home in the menu under FIND STUFF – INGREDIENT INDEX in the menu above).
A Common Problem with Ovens
Spring Frittata Recipe (Asparagus and Mushrooms)
It’s asparagus season and that means we’re officially into Spring eating – the most exciting tome of the year for us! Here’s a simple recipe that can be assembled in minutes and features the simple flavors of Spring.
Pinning Is back!
If you’re a Pinterest user, you may have noticed that you haven’t been able to Pin our content since we moved to the new format.
We’ve been fighting to determine why it hasn’t been working – and finally solved it late last night. Apologies for the inconvenience; it should be working now!
Food Day and The Revolution
When Lilia Smelkova approached the microphone she exuded a quiet confidence that could have easily been mistaken for intimidation. She was standing in front of 450 passionate Chefs, Food Writers, Advocates and other Peers at Terroir 6. I had no idea what to expect and wasn’t bracing for much.
Within seconds of speaking, I knew I had better be taking notes. Originally from Belarus, she had worked in Italy for 10 years with Slow Food before launching it into Canada, Eastern and Central Europe. Her resume (you can see more of her bio here) reads like that of a modern day food warrior – and she is. Read more
Home Ec #5: Bring a Friend (May 28, Toronto)
Arugula Salad with Lobster, Asparagus and Hazelnuts
We had this fantastic Spring salad with leftovers from Mothers Day. It was a bit of a modern spinoff of the mayo-soaked lobster salads I had as a kid (and still enjoy):
Tips for Foraging in A City (in our case, Toronto)
We aren’t experts when it comes to foraging but are starting to broaden our horizons and having considerable success in our foraging missions (thanks in part to this awesome trick). I’m not sure that we’re qualified to give the best advice but am comfortable sharing the best advice I know, based on several years of reading and experimentation.
There are a few things to be wary of when foraging in a city:
- Pesticide use (present and past)
- Soil conditions/ toxicity
- Water/ run off conditions/ toxicity
- Pet contamination
- Human contamination
It’s difficult to ensure that any specific place has the ideal elements but some quick research will help out. Toronto, as an example, bans all spraying in public parks and has for a number of years (though that was only in 2009 and most prefer waiting 10-15 years of pesticide-free use before eating product from treated soil). Soil toxicity is much more difficult to determine (though, in theory, you could take some samples for testing) and knowing some history of the area can help. I’m not an expert in this field and I take an educated guess though you may decide otherwise.
Those first two observations are essentially common sense. After that, I pretty much invert every logical rule you could have:
- I look for a park/ large public space near a dog park. The bigger the dog park, the better.
- I look for a park that has lots of foot traffic – though a park with many paths is best (as opposed to one giant one that pushes people on the same course).
People avoid foraging close to dog parks – I think the spaces near them are ideal. Watch people as they arrive at a dog park – they walk an almost straight-line to the park to let their dog go for a run. Watch the paths they take – the park acts like a giant dog magnet which keeps them away from the rest of the space. Don’t forage in the immediate area as many dogs won’t relieve themselves in the place they play but will wait until the moment they leave the space.
Also avoid the fringes – where fields meet forest. Dogs also enjoy these areas to ‘mark’ – far more than in the middle of the field itself.
I’ve found that areas with lots of diverging paths also create a funny dynamic – most people stick to the main path either out of concern for being lost, being on autopilot or just for the ease of walking. Divergent paths allow you to find pristine areas while not destroying the forest floor. Paths also take you deeper into the woods where it’s improbable that pesticides were ever sprayed (this was generally kept to the fields).
If you are fortunate enough to find areas which the forest is higher in elevation than the fields that may have been sprayed, all the better. I avoid the lowest bits (where still water and runoff can gather over time) altogether.
The ideal park has giant open spaces (like baseball fields, picnic parks and more) as well as heavily wooded areas that have lots of walking trails.
What would you add to this list?