rgruby

I don't know what the law is on this, but it's likely federal, not provincial. I suspect there's a blanket ban on bringing in non-processed foodstuffs (fruit, cheese, salami, seeds, breads, etc.) on or with your person. Must be rules around bringing stuff in as an importer for sale or resale as well, which may touch on federal and provincial jurisdiction - but the rule on the end seller of unpasteurized cheeses to the public in Ontario would seem to be s. 18(2) of the Health Promotion etc Act, and the exceptions listed above. They don't distinguish between Ontario and non-Ontario cheeses, whether they be imported from outside the province, or outside the country. Ah, the constitutional division of powers. But, that didn't really answer your question, did it? Time permitting, I'll do a quick search of the federal law, but I have a hunch the answer will be really easy to find, or ridiculously complex. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

I know you can buy unpasturized cheeses but from what i understand they all would have to be aged a minimum of 60 days. however Goat, sheeps and Ewe milk all seem to be pretty much unregulated. I was just trying to find out exactly what the wording is as we are putting a big push on our cheeses right now and i want to make sure I am giving out the correct information. ← Oh, just looked up the definition of milk. (Doncha luv the law?) Under the Milk Act, it is (currently) cow and goat milk only. So, my comments below on s. 18(2) would apply only to cow and goat cheeses - sheeps' milk would not come under that section. Unpasteurized sheep's milk cheeses are apparently ok - no matter the storage period. So it's only cow and goat milk cheeses that need be pasteurized under 18(2) of the Health Promotion etc Act but can be sold if stored properly for greater than 60 days and/or meeting one of the s. 43 tests under the Food premises reg. (BTW, check out what restaurants are required by law to do to the fish they serve - if cooked. Can't remember the section, but it's appalling and I suspect seldom observed). Ok, must sleep. Will try and revisit this tomorrow with a clearer head. But I think I've got it right now.

Here's the answer. The Food Premises reg under the Health Promotion Act stipulates: Milk and Milk Products 42. (1) Milk products shall be pasteurized or made from milk that has been pasteurized by heating the milk product to a temperature of at least, (a) 63° Celsius and holding it at that temperature for not less than thirty minutes; (b) 72° Celsius and holding it at that temperature for not less than sixteen seconds; or © such temperature other than a temperature referred to in clause (a) or (b) for such period of time that will result in the equivalent destruction of pathogenic organisms and phosphatase. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 42 (1). (2) A milk product shall be sterilized by heating the milk product to a temperature of 135° Celsius and holding it at that temperature for not less than two seconds, or to such other temperature for such period of time that will result in sterilization. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 42 (2). 43. (1) Milk products other than butter and goat milk shall be deemed to have been pasteurized if the product is negative when tested for the presence of alkaline phosphatase as determined by the official method. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 43 (1). (2) A milk product shall be deemed to have been sterilized if a sample of the product is free of living organisms as determined by an official method. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 43 (2). 44. Despite subsection 43 (1), (a) butter shall be deemed to have been made from pasteurized milk or cream if it is negative when tested for the presence of peroxidase as determined by an official method; and (b) goat milk shall be deemed to have been pasteurized if the recording thermometer chart indicates the milk was heated as required in section 42. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 44. 45. Subsection 18 (2) of the Act does not apply to cheese made from unpasteurized milk if the cheese has been stored at a temperature not lower than 2° Celsius for a period of not less than sixty days following the time of manufacture. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 45. 46. (1) Milk products shall be cooled immediately after pasteurization to a temperature of at least 5° Celsius or less. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 46 (1). (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a milk product that, (a) is to be further processed prior to packaging, then cooled to 5° Celsius, or less; (b) has been sterilized and is to be or is aseptically packaged; or © is processed by drying. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 562, s. 46 (2). So, s. 45 gives you the storage for more than sixty days exemption. (Interesting that it gives a lower temperature for storage but no limit for the upper temperature.) S. 43 also provides for the possibility of an exemption provided the cheese passes certain tests. I have no idea if unpasteurized cheeses would be able to pass either of those tests. Anybody? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Section 18 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (R.S.O.1990, c. H 7, for those scoring along at home), says: 18. (1) No person shall sell, offer for sale, deliver or distribute milk or cream that has not been pasteurized or sterilized in a plant that is licensed under the Milk Act or in a plant outside Ontario that meets the standards for plants licensed under the Milk Act. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7, s. 18 (1). Milk products (2) No person shall sell, offer for sale, deliver or distribute a milk product processed or derived from milk that has not been pasteurized or sterilized in a plant that is licensed under the Milk Act or in a plant outside Ontario that meets the standards for plants licensed under the Milk Act. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7, s. 18 (2). So, seems like no unpasteurized cheese for us - at least if there are no exceptions to that section. However, there's also a Milk act, and a Milk and Milk products reg that I haven't had a chance to give a good look at yet (I merely did a quick search for cheese in Ont statutes and regs). But, a quick search didn't turn up any exceptions to s. 18(2), although it does say the milk product (er, cheese in our case) does not have to be pasteurized as long as it is sterilized. Which isn't defined under the Act. Or the Milk Act. Or the Milk and Milk Products reg. But, that doesn't seem to offer much leeway. I haven't looked at any of the federal stuff - they have some jurisdiction over food safety and agriculture - but the provinces likely have jurisdiction over this, and I'm not sure from a quick search that selling unpasteurized cheese is legal. S. 18(2) above doesn't speak to making the stuff though - although there may have been something in the Milk Act or regs about that (I'm sure there was, actually - but off the top of my head I can only recall the reg specifying the times and temperatures at which milk for cheese making must be pasteurized.). When I get time, I'll try and dig a bit deeper into pasteurization and what foods require it. I suspect much will be clearer after that. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

We're back. A quick rundown of the food-related stuff we did. Had pizza at Il Mercato our first night in town. Not bad, but a bit frenzied/busy for bringing along a little dude (or dudette) in a stroller. Also, they ignored us for at least 10 minutes after we were seated. Almost bolted, but, in the end, turned out ok. Next day - Bud the Spud's for, uh, late breakfast (hey - I'm on holiday), Opa for lunch (quite good - I had the meat pie, and the missus the lamb burger, on the patio. The little dude slept through the whole thing.) North 44 (in the Marriot) for dinner with family. Many lobsters were sacrificied - I'm told they were good. I had a bacon-wrapped scalloped app that was pretty good, actually. Oh, and ice cream on the waterfront in the afternoon- the place was still open. A high calorie day. The next day we had lunch at the Turkish place off Spring Garden. Again, pretty good (although some minor service issues) and made me wish for more (any?) decent Turkish places in the TO core. Then off down the south shore for a couple of days and some home cooked meals in Bridgeport, and a couple of meals not worth noting in Lockeport. And White's point, or something like that - there were bunnies everywhere (well, not on the menu). My wife had a salmon club that she proclaimed "amazing" - it was gigantic at least. I had fish and chips - fish ok, chips, less so. I will mention that Pete's Frootique has a location on Dresden Row just off Spring Garden, and it was our friend. The produce section, in particular, was spectacular, and the prices were competetive with, to say the least, what I see here in Toronto grocery stores. Quite impressive, especially for the size of the city and its geographic remoteness from other large centres. And Courtney, our favourite cashier, is remarkably perky in the morning, especially before you've had your initial caffeine fix. But not annoyingly so. Can anyone comment on how this location compares to the other one mentioned? Regardless, it rocks. In a polite kind of way with a guy in a top hat playing the piano. To those who mentioned Woozles - my wallet doesn't thank you, but my kid and a few others as well, will benefit. Great store. Our last couple of days, lunch at an Irish pub on Barrington (as one might expect - fish and chips pretty good actually), and dinner at an Indian place (Curry something?) near South Park and Spring Garden. Pretty good - just ackward to get the kid and stroller up the 5 or 6 steps at the door. no biggie. Never did get out to Quinpool to eat (except I did grab a Wendy's burger there on the way out of town) although it was our route from the hotel to the relative's place. Had planned to try the Ethiopean place, but got into town too late. What else? I quite like Halifax - except the driving part. Confusing, wretched, horrible, abysmal signage is an understatement. I like the pubs, and the plethora of them, even though I only visited a couple (Maxwell's Plum and the one in the Lord Nelson). Frosh week stopped me from doing much exploring on that front. I'm way too old. Did the Granite move recently - like in the last 5 years? We tried to go for lunch, but they wouldn't allow us because we had the boy (and it's a smoking bar, whatever that means). As we had our wedding reception at the Granite in Toronto, that annoyed me (and I was looking forward to sampling their dry-hopped best bitter, which I haven't had the opportunity to sample in ages). I thought it'd actually be more convenient to travel several thousand kilometers to sample some of their beers in Halifax within walking distance of where I was staying than to travel the few clicks at home to a part of town I rarely get to, but they didn't seem impressed by my plight. So, no Granite brewery for us. Last time we were there we had lunch - 2001, I think, but I don't think it's the same place on Barrington that we tried this time? Not sure how kid-friendly Chives or Fid are, but the menus at both looked very tempting. (Bish too. Last time we were in town, Paul Martin was eating there, when his political career was still in its ascendency (sp?), so you know that was a long time ago.) Maybe next time. And, I'd forgotten about the donairs. Again, maybe next time. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

One more question. Is there anything food-related that is particularly Nova Scotian that I should be on the lookout for (other than lobster) and that I might not be able to find back home (Toronto)? Thanks again, Geoff Ruby PS - are there any local cookbooks that are worth picking up? I guess that makes two questions.

Thanks for the input. On the hotel front, Cambridge Suites was full, the Marriott was likewise booked, and the Prince George was $500 a night - a wee bit out of our ideal budget. Apparently every parent of first year students at Dal are escorting their offspring and taking up all the rooms at the time we are visiting. (Just as an aside, hotel rooms in Halifax are surprisingly pricey for a smaller centre). We've booked the Lord Nelson. Looks ok on the web. Ok, on to food. We're going down the south shore on Fri night and Sat, so we're out of town on market day at the brewery. Which sounds like we're missing something pretty good. Is there an existing thread on that market? If not - I'd like to hear more about it! Where is the place that the guy who had a show on the food network (not the tall chef guy, but the tropical produce guy) located. Is it worth checking out? (We're renting a car after all) Cheers, Geoff Ruby

They're near the cemetary with the Titanic victims. (Bayers Rd maybe?) I remember it being a bit of a hike from the center, but a short car ride. Last time we were in town we stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was a bit outside the city center (the other side of Citadel Hill if I remember correctly) and had a vehicle. Thanks for the suggestions so far. Geoff Ruby Edited to correct something really stupid.

Hi, Heading to Halifax to show off our one year old to his great aunties. Looking for recommendations on restaurants that would be good for taking a small child (in stroller) into. Hoping to avoid the chains and fast food. We're probably staying in the center of town (any recommendations on a hotel would also be welcome) and would prefer stuff within walking distance (not sure whether we're renting a car or not). But we're walkers - a half hour walk is fine with us (or even more if the weather is decent). Thanks, Geoff Ruby

How about a wander in Little India (Gerrard and Coxwell) and having some corn on the cob from a street vendor, and then some paan. Or pupusas from Emporio Latino in Kensington market (or empanadas next door, or La Palette for the quack and track(duck and horse, not on the menu)). Or St. Lawrence market for a peameal sandwich. Or a Korean place with a tabletop grill. At 3 in the morning - Chinatown. Addis Ababa in Parkdale for fantastic ethiopian eats and the coffee ceremony. A beer in Grafitti's on a Sun afternoon when the band is playing. Same thing at the Cameron house. Brunch on the patio at Musa. (Allen's on the Danforth would be another good choice). Terroni's for Italian-style pizza. I agree with the oyster suggestions. Dim sum too. On the splurge end of the scale, and also fun, I'd opt for Susur - especially if Col. Sanders is on display. (Haven't seen him lately though) Amuse Bouche also has a lovely little patio, but you never know if the stinky pigs from down the street will be joining you (actual pigs - there's a processing plant maybe 500 m away). For a small area with a diverse range of restaurants, Baldwin street's worth a look - Chinese, French, Italian, Malaysian, Mexican, Indian, possibly more, all jammed together on one short block between McCaul (they tore down the Taj McCaul!) and St. George (or is it Beverly there?). Cheers, Geoff Ruby

I was asking about key limes upthread somewhere. Saw them last week in the Dominion in Liberty Village, of all places. They also had heirloom tomatoes. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Are there any extras on the DVD? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

I ate at Lee's last night (first time). Have eaten at Susur's three or four times, but it's been a couple of years now. Susur was in the house last night and I asked him about the Flay battle. He said he would go back for a rematch if they asked him. (Ties are unusual - you'd have thunk they would have asked him almost immediately, wouldn't you?) I also remarked that he seemed disappointed when the verdict was read out. (It was pretty obvious to me that he thought he kicked Flay's ...) He said for him, it was a loss. (Susur's words). He looked pretty angry about it still. I mentioned something along the lines of being in a strange kitchen and that the challengers rarely win, and he simply said he went there to win. (Pretty sure I have that accurate, but could be paraphrasing. Hey, I wasn't taking notes. In any event, I got the distinct impression that he'd like to go back and perhaps with different judges (Susur did not mention the judges - that's me echoing some of the above comments) have another go.) Oh, the food at Lee's is excellent, although not what you'd get next door. But that is another thread. Cheers (in brackets - what's with my bracket fixation?), Geoff Ruby

I don't really dig the Slurpee flavours. (Can I still post on this thread?) But I did get a frozen slushy-type drink at a truck at the Toronto Maple Leaf's game last weekend. (That'd be the baseball team at Christie Pits). And, brainfreeze did shortly follow. I did read somewhere in the last couple of days that brain freeze (is it one word or two - I've played it both ways here) can be alleviated by pressing your tongue as hard as you can into the roof of your mouth. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

I guess I'll add another question: are any of these offerings even remotely palatable? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Hi, I've noticed ads for coke Zero (I think) - Coke with zero calories, allegedly - and a NYC chef (David Burke??) saying he was coming out with a line of flavour sprays that also had zero calories. First, do these things really have zero calories, or is it a case of having "zero" (ie less than one) calories in some very small serving size? Regardless, they would be very low in calories, even if not technically zero. Or maybe they really are zero calories. Please educate me! Second, what do these things have in them that give flavour, but not calories? Not fats, proteins or carbs. So, what's left? And are these substances good for us? Are many (most?) diet foods and drink stuffed full of these things? I could use to lose a few pounds. Should I be imbibing more of these? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

I'd just like to see them shield the beer from fluorescent lighting. They're apparently aware of the issue but don't give a damn. I've stopped complaining at my local store, but mostly I have simply stopped buying beer from the LCBO. If you have that little respect for your product, why should I buy from you? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Yesterday I did a quick tour around Little Italy in Toronto searching for 00 flour (and the Cook's Illustrated mentioned above) and couldn't find either. So a quick question: is Italian 00 flour readily available in your area? So I made a couple of pizzas tonight with regular Canadian AP flour. But I made a couple of changes. First, I used a very wet dough. I hadn't intended to, but I added a bit too much water and I thought, well, why not try it and see what happens. Second, I cooked it on my gas barbeque (using my pizza stone). Coincidentally the Cook's Illustrated on the shelves that I saw yesterday had an article on grilling pizzas. I don't think it is the article referred to earlier regarding recreating Naples-style thin crust pizzas, however. By far my best results yet. And I don't think my bbq is particularly hot, although I suspect a bit hotter than my electric oven. I guess I'll have to try a wet dough in the regular oven some time to see what effect that has, but for the summer at least I think I'll be using the bbq as my pizza oven. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Most restaurant cookbooks. Especially ones for restaurants I've never been to. I've vowed not to buy another one, but I'm pretty sure I'll fail to keep that vow. There are exceptions. I think the French Laundry is actually a usable book if taken in small doses, for example - but then I've only made a couple of things from it. I've made a few things from JGV's first book with Bittman - most turned out well, and some of the recipes are actually quite simple. (I recall a steak with a carrot and wine sauce. Other than S & P, I think those were the only three ingredients). The Young Thailand cookbook (from a resto in Toronto) has been a fave and one of the few, maybe only, cookbooks that I've cooked (nearly) everything from. Some authentic ethnic cookbooks I also don't often cook a lot of things from. I suppose it depends on the cuisine - I'm thinking Paula Wolfert's Moroccan, a lot of Mexican stuff. It's just too time consuming for everyday cooking. I also find that with cuisines I'm not as familiar with cooking, I tend to more closely follow the recipes as written and am less apt to take shortcuts or improvise. So meals have to be planned more - and as a result I cook them less. But in the end it's not usually an ingredient procurement issue that limits my cooking with them, but simply a time issue. On the other hand I have maybe a dozen cookbooks on Indian cooking, and I've cooked extensively from most of them, and some of the recipes can get fairly labour intensive. Part of it is simply that my wife loves Indian and isn't wild about Mexican. (I love 'em both). I have a few books on Chinese cookery, but the only one I regularly return to is Fuschia Dunlop's Sichuan one. So, I don't know if it's something about the other books, whether it's me - but for whatever reason sometimes a cookbook in a certain category will catch your attention, and the others in that category suddenly become almost superfluous. I also tend to go through phases - this month's mostly Asian. Next month might be largely Italian. So sometimes I'll see a cookbook referred to pretty often for a couple of weeks, and then it won't get looked at again for a year or two even. Does anybody else do this? (Well I've seen the cooking Italian for a full year thread - I guess that's an example of this). By the next time I get the urge to cook a particular cuisine I might have a new cookbook that takes over - this is pretty much what happened with the Fuschia Dunlop book. And, I simply have a lot of cookbooks. And most of the time I don't cook from a cookbook. So, the amount of usage any of them gets is limited by that factor alone. There are also cookbooks that just don't seem to work very well. If the first couple of recipes I try from a cookbook don't work, then I'm not likely to return to that book again (unless it has good historical info about the cuisine, in which case I'll read it for that, but not likely cook from it again). And, this may seem silly, but I store my cookbooks by cuisine or topic (so Vietnamese and Vegetarian are near the end). OK, that's not the silly part. This is: I wouldn't be surprised if I referred to the ones at eye level more often. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

That's funny - I was going to mention that this would be a good topic for Cook's Illustrated (or Alton Brown) to look into. I'll have to have a look at the Cook's Illustrated. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

This is a problem with baking pizza in regular home ovens. Unless you have a very thick pizza stone on the floor of a gas oven that you preheat for a long time on the highest heat setting, the pizza cooks too slowly and by the time the pizza is cooked all the moisture has cooked out of the thin dough, any initial oven spring has collapsed and you are left with a hard, cracker-like crust. This is especially problematic if the pizza is burdened with too much topping. ← First, thanks to everyone for the great info. Perhaps concentrating on protein content is not the way to go here. At the very least, there are a few more variables in play. And the description "hard, cracker-like crust" pretty much nails my experience when adding more than a touch (say more than 10%-ish) of pastry flour. Perhaps my description of "shatteringly hard" was a tad overblown. Nevertheless, pretty damn crispy right through, and not what I was aiming for. I do find that settling for a slightly thicker crust turns out quite nicely with an AP/ pastry flour mixture. Again, just not the thin-crust style I would like. And yeah, I overburden my pies. Pretty much every time. I'm working on it. Thanks again, Geoff Ruby

Hi, I know there has been much discussion on pizza dough, and some of it concerning Italian flour, here on egullet. I have read a good many of them, although not all. If there has been a thread on trying to match Italian flour, and particularly "OO" using N American brands, I have not been able to find it. So, here goes. It is my understanding that Italian (I'm referring to the thin-crust Naples-style) pizza is generally made in Italy with what is called OO flour. I believe that it is "softer" than N American AP flour - ie that it has a lower protein content. I also understand that it has a lower ash content. Do I have this correct? (I'm also in Canada, where the AP flour has a bit more protein content than the American). So, I tried mixing in some cake flour with my AP to lower the protein level to try and approximate the Italian flour. (No idea how ash levels are affected, or how they compare to the Italian flour, or what this matters to making a Napoli-style dough at home). As I increased the per cent of cake flour, not surprisingly, I found the dough to tear more easily (less gluten) and be harder to stretch as thin as I wanted. But, when I did get it thin, my crusts came out shatteringly hard. This I was not expecting. (I'm using a plain old home electric oven - max temp 500 or so, although I haven't tried measuring the actual temp - and the thickest pizza stone I could buy). Relatively thicker crusts - say about a third an inch or so - came out nice and chewy, more "North American" in style, but not the Naples thin crust I was looking for. I've been thinking that maybe I should try and go the other direction - add some bread flour - even though this takes me away from the lower protein of the Italian flour. Or, should I back off the temp a bit with the AP and cake flour mixture? This also seem counterintuitive to me - those wood burning pizza ovens are freaking hot! Has anyone else nailed a combination of N American flours that replicates Italian OO for making Naples-style thin crust pizzas (particularly for the home cook)? Thanks, Geoff Ruby

I'm ok with both Smith and Rainford - they both cook stuff that you or I might on any given day, and most of the time it looks pretty decent. And Smith, I think, is doing a decent job teaching to the FN audience - ie those interested in food and wanting to explore some more but maybe not having a great deal of confidence to do so. It's not restaurant food, but it looks to me like (mostly) good cooking that people might actually try to do themselves - unlike most of what Emeril, for example, is doing. (I'd put Nigella in that category too. I mean with Michael, not Emeril). I'm not sure why Smith grates less for me than Rachel R, who is doing a similar thing, albeit on an obvious set, but, er, did I mention I'm a Canuck? (Go Oilers!) Anywho, that last sentence had a lot of commas. Oh, back to the CaH set - do you think Smith has a vent hood at his actual home? Makes sense to have the cooktop out in the open with no hood for a show set, but always struck me as odd. Now that I know it's not his actual house, makes a lot more sense. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

well, you're right; I can name 1 good Chinese restaurant in the downtown Chinatown area. I guess I was remembering the dim sum thread where I said that there are no good options in the downtown Chinatown (which I stand by, although Lai Wah Heen is downtown if not in Chinatown). But downtown still pales in comparison to Richmond Hill, enough so that I wouldn't recommend a special trip at all. ←

Geoff - For whatever reason we ate at two of your suggestions. I thought the Korean Village was the best Korean I've ever had anywhere, including in Seoul while Tutti Matti was OK but not orbital level Tuscan. Thanks to all for helping out here (my other meals were largely at the Royal York and what one expects - although the catered one on the top floor clearly outclassed the other ones farther down.) ← John, Glad you enjoyed Korean Village. Do you remember what you had? And glad you found Tutti Matti ok - I haven't been in a while, but most Italian places in town are pan-Italian. I like the places that concentrate on a region (although I do think it's ok to salt your bread, even in a Tuscan place). Hopefully you can help me out next time I'm in Paris (which, given the new addition to the fam isn't likely for a while. Sigh). Cheers, Geoff Ruby