We continue our exploration of Toronto’s Green Barn Market. We speak with Bob Proracki from www.OntarioSweetPotato.com, who shows us his huge range of sweet potato products. He also talks to us about the difference between sweet potatoes and yams (hint: You’re only seeing one of them in your store).

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

We continue our exploration of Toronto’s Green Barn Market. Chef Mark speaks with Mathieu McFadden from Chocosol Chocolate, a “Pedal powered & Horizontal-trade” chocolate company, which sources all their chocolate direct from growers in Mexico and Central America, and processes it by hand in Ontario.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

Jennifer and Chef Mark explore the Wychwood Barns Green Market in Toronto. with Mark Trealout, a farmer and organizer of Kawartha Ecological Growers, a coooperative of farms from the area northwest of Toronto. We learn about some of the great farm-grown produce, dairy, and baked goods at the Green Barn.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

Jennifer Iannolo and Chef Mark Tafoya head to Ontario to taste the culinary delights of Toronto. From the St. Lawrence Market to Chinatown, Greek Town, the Green Barns Market, and a slew of local restaurants, Toronto shows off its love of locally-grown produce and artisanal ingredients.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

Jennifer and Chef Mark explore Toronto’s “Greek Town” on Danforth Avenue with The Greek Gourmand, Sam Sotiropoulos. From an array of Greek cheeses & olives to sweets, pastries, and even some flaming saganaki, we see just how much this little area is packed with great delights from the Grecian Isles!

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

CMN Video: Prince Edward Island Seafood with Chef Michael Smith

Chef Michael Smith joins Chef Mark for a discussion of the bountiful foods of Prince Edward Island, Canada, and shares 2 quick and easy recipes using the amazing fresh seafood of the province: Beer steamed mussels and Creamy dilled pasta with smoked salmon.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Prince Edward Island Smoked Salmon with Pasta and Simple Lemon Dill Cream Cheese Sauce

This is one of the most popular dishes on my table. Our friends love its bright, familiar flavours and we love how easy it is to make. You can toss steaming, wet, just cooked pasta with melting cream cheese to form an incredibly smooth luxurious sauce. The smoked salmon adds extravagance balanced by other familiar flavours: dill, lemon, onion, mustard and capers. A five star dish for sharing!

Serves 4

1 lb penne or your favourite shaped pasta like bowties, long pastas like spaghetti don’t work as well
1 cup room temperature cream cheese
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
4 green onions, sliced
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 heaping spoonful of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup capers
8 ounces smoked salmon, or more
sprinkled sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Season it liberally with salt until tastes like a day at the beach on Prince Edward Island. As the pasta cooks it will absorb the salted water and become properly seasoned. Cook al dente, until the pasta is cooked through but still pleasantly chewy.

Scoop out some of the starchy cooking water. Drain the pasta but not quite all the way. Leave it a bit wet. Toss the pasta back into the pot along with a splash or two of the reserved water, perhaps a half-cup or so in total then immediately add the rest of the ingredients. While the pasta is still steaming hot it will easily melt the cream cheese and form a rich creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Simply Steamed Island Blue Mussels with Three Different Flavours

Mussels are super simple to cook and travel with their own built-in sauce base. They’re easy to steam and when you do, they release a flavourful broth that many connoisseurs swear is the best part. That broth can be flavoured any way you care too so mussels are also a great ingredient to free style with.

Serves 4

Five to six pounds of mussels, rinsed well with lots of cold running water
Choose 1 of the following three flavouring groups:

A 12 ounce bottle of your favourite local beer, a sliced onion, a tablespoon of butter

1 cup of orange juice, 1 tablespoon of curry powder

1 cup of whatever wine you’re drinking, 1 tablespoon of mustard, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1 tablespoon of butter

Wash the mussels very well and discard any that are open and wont close with a bit of gentle finger pressure.

Pour the liquid and other aromatic ingredients of your choice into a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the mussels and cover with the lid. Shake the pot occasionally and cook until all the mussels have opened, ten minutes or so.

Spoon out the mussels into a serving bowl. Strain the remaining liquid to remove any broken shell or lingering sand in it. Serve with the mussels and lots of bread for soaking up the flavourful juice!

Recipes courtesy of Chef Michael Smith.
www.chefmichaelsmith.ca

CMN Video: Chef Eric Lee’s Salmon Potato Canapés

Chef Eric Lee from Onyx Restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia shows us how he prepares Salmon Potato Canapes for the Savour Food & Wine Festival.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

CMN Video: Chef Trevor Simms Shellfish Bowl

Chef Trevor Simms of the 44 North Restaurant at the Marriott Harbourfront Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia shows us his signature 44 North Shellfish Bowl, which showcases the local lobster and Digby Scallops.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Chef Dennis Johnston of Fid Restaurant takes Jennifer on an o’dark-hundred tour of the Halifax Farmers Market, introducing her to some of his favorite artisanal purveyors. He was also very patient with her morning need for gallons of caffeine.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

On Friday night our lovely hosts treated us to a real taste of Toronto — in the form of a 9-hour marathon of fine dining. I suppose this is somewhat like the Bordeaux marathon, only with less exercise. We had the opportunity to sample the finest in local cuisine from five of Toronto’s best restaurants, and each one delivered a different, memorable experience to our tastebuds.

We began the afternoon at Vertical with Chef Tawfik Shehata, who also gave us our tour of Chinatown and Kensington Market the day before. Chef Shehata has a unique story in that he has gone beyond using local, sustainable cuisine: He’s actually the farmer who grows most of the produce for his kitchen. When he isn’t in the kitchen he’s digging in the dirt, trying to perfect his growing techniques to deliver the finest in baby vegetables and herbs. Even better, his staff helps to harvest the vegetables, so they all have a personal investment in sharing their knowledge with patrons, as well as giving them a heads-up on what’s coming from the farm in upcoming weeks.

Chef Shehata’s menu features southern Italian and Mediterranean flavors, and he started us off with a pickled octopus salad with fennel, arugula and green olives served on grilled organic basil sourdough. Part two of our appetizer was a Digby scallop served on Tuscan kale, chorizo and piquillo pepper with a drizzle of a first cold pressing of grapeseed oil. What I love is that his dishes appear benignly delicious at first glance, but deliver an orchestral zing of flavor when you least expect it. Both the chorizo and arugula in these combinations gave the seafood a nice kick of pizzicante.

Our next stop on the tour of tastiness found us at Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner Museum. Renowned for pushing local, sustainable cuisine to the forefront in Canada, Kennedy and his team treated us to some comfort foods taken to a whole new level.

Sliders and fries are good on any day — on this particular rainy day they were mouthwateringly good. Our “sliders” were open-faced sandwiches of braised short ribs with a dollop of apple butter served on a bed of celeriac cole slaw, and the fries were made from Agria potatoes, which delivered a crunch that essentially drove us to annihilate the entire plate without blinking.

To add one more taste of local, Chef de Cuisine Scott Vivian crafted a mayonnaise using local cider vinegar. We do like eating our fries Belgian-style (with mayo), so I believe the table was very quiet during this particular interval.

Chef Scott spent a good amount of time with us talking about his efforts as the head of Slow Food in Toronto. There seems to be a real sense of community among the chefs of this city, where each is invested in using ingredients that are not only the finest in quality, but that also come from local purveyors. The areas surrounding Toronto are rich in agriculture, from vegetables and Icewines to seafood and cattle, so thankfully the chefs have much to choose from in crafting their menus.

Our next stop on the tour found us at sen5es with Chef Patrick Lin, who is quite playful with his flavors. He rather impishly told us of his desire to tempt our taste memories and buds with aromas and flavors that evoked moments in food time for us (he sat down with me for an interview, so look for that video in the coming weeks). Instead of one or two dishes, we soon found our table covered with an array of color, flavor and texture, from Hamachi to crab cakes and pork belly meatballs.

What stopped me dead in my tracks, however, was a taste that is still lingering in my mind (I’ll address this more in another post, as it deserves a space of its own).

Chef Patrick came out with a little ceramic “egg carton” that had little egg shells filled with some type of delicious looking custard. It turned out to be a savory foie gras creme brulee. Yes. I’m going to let you sit with that one for a bit.

We then moved on to Epic, where Chef Ryan Gustafson gave us yet another twist on local featuring flavors from the Ocean Wise initiative, Canada’s leading sustainable seafood restaurant program, launched by the Vancouver Aquarium.

Epic, which is housed at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, is unique in that it hosts one of only three rooftop apiaries in the world. The honey is harvested and used in the restaurant, as well as sold locally (I brought home a jar that is torturing me as I write this).

Chef Ryan started us off with a little flavor explosion featuring Niagara prosciutto wrapped around a fig stuffed with blue cheese, accompanied by greens coated with truffle vinaigrette and a slice of orange. Hello, lover. The combination was sweet, tangy, zingy and decadent, all of which make my soul happy under any circumstances.

My main course was a little tower of Arctic Char graced with celeriac puree (a favorite), baby beets and green beans, all drizzled with — wait for it — a truffle port foam. Hello, other lover.

Interestingly, Chef Mark savored a dish of local salmon, which arrived sans the typical orange salmon color. As these particular salmon feasted on herring instead of the typical diet of krill and seafood, their flesh was white.

Though we questioned whether there was any room left in our tummies for dessert, we were committed to finishing the marathon, and forged ahead. Our final stop was at Scaramouche, where Chef Joanne Yolles prepared a taste of her famous coconut cream pie recipe.

And though I’m not normally a dessert person, this one knocked my socks off. I’ve never had a coconut cream pie quite like this, and I can understand why it’s famous throughout Canada. The cream is light as a cloud, and the fresh whipped cream on top only enhances that sense. The dessert was served with a 15-year-old rum, which served as not only a great accompaniment to the coconut, but also as a perfect digestive for all we had consumed that day.

I must say, Toronto, you certainly know how to host a dedicated gourmand. Chef Mark and I thank you for showing us your broad array of flavors, your well-informed and passionate chefs, and a town we intend to return to as often as possible.

Many thanks as well to all of the chefs and their staff, who delivered an evening to remember, resplendent with excellent service and tastes that will linger on in our mental mouths for a long time to come.

If you want to design your own tour of the city, take a look at the Tourism Toronto web site, which has a collection of offerings to suit any type of palate. To reinforce that, we will have other posts from our time in the city featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, Greek food and more. For us (and for you, we hope), it isn’t about the trendiest, the most expensive or the most controversial. It’s all about the flavor and quality!

Man, Toronto sure is a great place to have a bite to eat! This city is full of great restaurants, eateries, and wonderful people who are eager to share it with the world. We’re here for a few days courtesy of the great folks at Tourism Toronto (Thanks to Michelle Revuelta and Justine Palinska for putting this trip together).

We’re just 2 days into the tour and already we’ve done alot. We’ve had a great dinner at the Chef’s table at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, where we’re staying. Chef Duff Lampard and the rest of the team walked us through a multi course menu of Ontario delights.

Then we met in the hotel bar with a group of great local twitter friends. It’s always nice to meet people in person whom you’ve known for awhile online, sharing recipes and tweets. It’s also really cool to be the conduit for great local people to meet each other and to be helpful in creating some great friendships. In addtion to Jennifer and I (@chefmark @foodphilosophy) we were joined by our friends Sam Sotiropoulos (@greekfood), Jen Melo (@homemakerssite), Carrie Oliver (@oliverranch), Saronn Pov (@cookwithsaronn) and her boyfriend Pawel, Scott McDougal (@editorscott), as well as my friend and fellow personal chef Mia Andrews and Professor Hersch Jacobs, who teaches a class on the Geography of Food.

Today we went with Chef Tawfik Shehata of Vertical Restaurant on a walking tour of Chinatown and the Kensington Market. We tasted tropical fruits, steamed pork buns, great European and artisanal Ontario cheeses at Global Cheese, and we watched them break down hundreds of chickens at St Andrews Poultry. Next we paid a visit to Cecelia Espinoza, an amazingly sweet woman from El Salvador who runs the Latin America Emporium. She introduced us to Pupusas, which are amazingly delicious corn meal cakes filled with various fillings like queso, frijoles, ground meat and chicacharrones. These tasty toasty corn cakes can be likened to arepas from Venezuela or gorditas from Mexico, but they are uniquely Salvadorian. great stuff, and we got a wonderful video with Cecelia showing us how to make them.

We then moved on to lunch and a tasting of the wines of Ontario at Vineyards Estate Wines. We thought it would be a wine tasting with a few local cheeses, but it turned out to be an amazing multi course tasting menu which paired wonderfully with and showed off the wines of this province. I always knew that Ontario and Niagara produced some wonderful white wines and Icewines, but I was surprised to find that Ontario is producing some really good Bordeaux-style blend, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. These were paired with a rich braised beef short rib finished with a wonderfully rich chocolate demi glace.

As if we weren’t already stuffed to the gills, the afternoon continued with a trip to Mengrai Thai to have a cooking class with Chef Sasi, who’s quite Sassy! She’s a tiny little lady, but she’s one of Canada’s highest rated Asian chefs. She’s doing very interesting re-interpretations of what you THOUGHT Thai food is. Her hand is light, and she layers flavors in a way which reveals the true taste of the ingredients, and she showed us how to make a REAL Pad Thai. I managed to get video of Jennifer behind the stove, and she turned out a decent Pad Thai! We’ll have that and more on video coming soon.

We still have a few days to go, so stay tuned for photos, reports and videos as we tempt our tummies!

Here’s links to a bunch of our photos on facebook:

Jennifer’s Toronto Album Part 1

Jennifer’s Photo Album Part 2

Jennifer’s Photo Album Part 3

Chef Mark’s Toronto Album

Chef Mark’s Vineyard Estates Photos

Chef Mark’s Mengrai Thai Photos

ReMARKable Palate #185: Savoring Savour

I savor some of the great food on offer at Halifax, Nova Scotia’s annual Savour Food & Wine Festival. I chat with Chef Michael Howell from Tempest Restaurant, taste some wine from Blomidon Estate, and then hang out with Alicia Whalen from A Couple of Chicks Marketing and learn about Chef Live and the Canadian drink called Caesar!

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

We were fortunate to have sunny weather for our trip to Nova Scotia last week, where we attended the Savour Food & Wine festival featuring some of Nova Scotia’s best chefs, winemakers and brewers.

This is the event’s 7th year, and takes place throughout the month of February with tasting dinners, wine tastings and cooking classes throughout the region. (Now, dear readers, if you’ve been following closely — and we know you have — you saw that our first tasting dinner was at The Five Fisherman.)

Presented by the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, Savour has built up a great deal of momentum, showcasing the finest Nova Scotia has to offer. During our time in the region, we’ve learned that said offering is a bounty of culinary riches, from succulent scallops (or SKAH-lops, as we have learned to say when in town) to candy cane beets and nutty ales.

And in case it hasn’t been obvious in some of our recent videos, we love Nova Scotia. The food and wine is as delicious as the people are friendly, and we’re always sad to leave. It was heartening to see so many familiar faces upon our return, and to revisit the wines we can’t get outside of the region (we’re not happy about that either). In addition to Jost, Domaine de Grand Pre and Gaspereau wines, we also discovered Blomindon Estate Winery with its memorable Baco Noir and port wines.

The grand finale of Savour was a grand tasting event at Halifax’s Marriott Harbourfront, seemingly filled to capacity with tasting booths and an eager, sell-out crowd. Chef Mark and I had a wonderful time sampling our way through the event, and even managed to find ourselves being interviewed for Canadian Public Television. (OK, which of you reading this in Nova Scotia has TiVo so we can get a recording? We are prepared to offer a bribe.)

I’m always amused at the way tasting events tend to unfold with a subtle theme or two, as if the chefs were comparing notes behind the scenes. This year Digby scallops took center stage — as well they should — along with sliders made with everything from lamb to Kobe beef. There was also an entire table devoted to sushi, resplendent with colorful platters and bright flavors.

We’ll have more videos coming soon with our adventures in Halifax, including a trip to the farmers market at o’dark-hundred with Chef Dennis Johnston from fid. I believe my final caffeine tally for the morning comprised three double espressos and two cups of coffee, but I forgive Dennis because he made me breakfast. We’ll also recap our meal at fid, along with videos of some behind-the-scenes action with chefs Eric Lee from Onyx and Trevor Simms from 44 North.

Many thanks to Emily Kimber from Destination Halifax, Christine White from the Winery Association of Nova Scotia, Pam Wamback from Nova Scotia Tourism, Jeff Ransome and his staff at the Marriott Harbourfront, and the whole gang who helped to make this trip (and our last one) a magnificent adventure. Next time we’re bringing a gaggle of people with us — and you might not get rid of us. Sociable!

We kicked off our tour of the Savour Food & Wine Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia last night with a tasting dinner at The Five Fisherman, situated in one of the city’s oldest buildings. Chef Dafydd Williams-Jones and restaurant manager Gary MacDonald treated us to a tasting of Nova Scotia specialties, which were wonderfully enhanced by the presence of sommelier Avery Gavel and Gary Ramey of Blomidon Estate Winery, who guided us through each course with a selection from his and other local vineyards.

Here is a little sampling of what we tasted last night. We wish you could have joined us at the table — it was a meal to remember! We also had the pleasure of dining with friends old and new here in Halifax, including freelance writer Lola Augustine Brown, Christine White from the Winery Association of Nova Scotia, and Emily Kimber from Destination Halifax.

With dinner and wine also came some ideas for a very special project we’re putting together, but you’ll have to wait for that. For now, feast with your eyes.

Amuse Bouche: Digby scallop on pork belly with pea puree
paired with ’07 Nova 7, Benjamin Bridge Winery

Scallops and pork belly are a sublime combination — this dish was a little bit sweet, a little bit rich, and a whole lot of loveliness. Our first bite was served with a local (and very hard to find!) favorite, Nova ’07, made with a hint of ice wine grapes and a hint of sparkle that made it a great match for the scallops.

Barbequed Duck Breast Salad
paired with ’07 Red Eft Pinot Rose, Bear River Vineyards

The duck breast was treated to a spicy dry rub and served perfectly rare with goat cheese, apples and micro greens. The pinot rose wine was new to us, and we were pleasantly surprised by its light fruitiness. We could envision serving this type of rose with a number of different dishes, and are glad to see roses returning to the table.

Pan Seared Atlantic Haddock
paired with ’06 Chardonnay, Blomidon Estate Winery, Annapolis Valley

One thing is certain in Nova Scotia — if you order haddock, it was probably caught within the past 24 hours, and once you’ve tasted the freshest of catches, fish will never be the same for you. This haddock was served with a south shore lobster succotash and asparagus, and Chef Mark was in the kitchen to get some video of it being prepared a la minute. Until then you’ll have to suffice with my little photo, but patience is a virtue.

Blomindon’s Chardonnay was wonderful with the lobster, as it had a smooth vanilla finish perfectly paired with lobster (we are huge fans of that combination).

Jost Prost

We do love a nice palate cleanse, so we refreshed ourselves with a glass of Jost, one of my very favorite sparkling wines from Nova Scotia. This twist on a Kir Royale was crafted with a Nova Scotia wild blueberry juice and served with a little knot of lemon rind. I could have danced with this one all night.

Oven Roasted “Oulton’s Farms” Beef Tenderloin
paired with ’07 Baco Noir, Blomidon Estate Winery, Annapolis Valley

Mmm…beef. And beef served with beef cheeks? Color me happy. This sumptuous dish was served with a wintry combination of sweet mama squash, yams and parsnips, as well as Brussels sprouts.

Baco noir has become a new favorite red for me. Lighter than a pinot noir, it has a complexity that holds up to meats without overpowering them. The grape is originally from France, but apparently they don’t like to talk about it. Better for us, methinks.

Farmers Market Artisan Cheeses & Jellies
paired with Barrel Aged Port, Acadianna Reserve, Sainte-Famille, Annapolis Valley

I loves me some port — any time, anywhere. Coupled with garlic and blue cheeses, along with a dash of pepper jelly, we could feel the afterglow setting in as we awaited the final course.

Poached Valley Pear Tart
paired with ’07 New York Muscat, Gaspereau Vineyards, Gaspereau Valley

We were delighted to see this bottle arrive tableside, as we had a wonderful time at Gaspereau Vineyards when we visited in October. This dessert wine was served on my own Thanksgiving table, and it is a sublime dessert wine. A bit lighter than an ice wine, it has just the right level of sweetness to pair with your favorite bite of dessert.

Today we’re off to the kitchens to get a peak behind the scenes as local chefs prepare for tonight’s Savour Food & Wine Festival grand tasting. Look for more updates from this event as well as our other food and wine adventures this week, and we’ll do our best to keep up with it all. I may need to limit my wine intake or the blog posts could get…interesting.

Wish you were here!

All month long, the food and wine folk in Nova Scotia are celebrating the Savour Food & Wine Festival, which culminates on February 26th, with the Savour Food & Wine Show at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, with tastings from some of the top restaurants and wine producers in the province of Nova Scotia. CMN will be there to capture some of the excitement, and we’ll get a chance to catch up with some of the Nova Scotia chefs we’ve already profiled in the past, as well as meet some new ones!

Tickets are still available, so if you’re in Halifax, or will be there on February 26th, act quickly!

Restaurants

44 North, Armview Restaurant, Blomidon Inn, Brussels Restaurant & Brasserie, Chives Canadian Bistro, Cocoa Pesto, Crown Bistrot, CUT Steakhouse & Urban Grill, DaMaurizio, Des Barres Manor Inn, Durty Nellys, FID, Hamachi House, Hamachi Steakhouse, Il Mercato Spring Garden, Il Mercato Bedford, The Italian Gourmet-Casual Dining, Le Caveau, Mosiac Social Dining, Onyx, Rogi Orazio, Ryan Duffy’s, Scanway Catering, Seage Bistro, Seasons Bistro & Wine Bar, Seven Wine Bar, Scanway Catering, Stone Street Cafe, Stories at The Haliburton, Taj Mahal, Tempest Restaurant, Thai Chin, The Kilted Grillhouse, The Port Gastropub, The Press Gang

Wine, Spirits & Beverages

AMCA, Andrew Peller Ltd, Atlantic Wine & Spirits, Bishops Cellar, Blomidon Estate Winery, Charlton Hobbs, Churchill Dauphinee, Domaine de Grand Pre, E&J Gallo Winery, Evian, Franklin Imports Inc, Garrison Brewing Company, Grand Pre Wines Ltd., Innovative Beverages, Jost Vineyards, Kriscott Distributors Diamond Estates, Mainbrace International Ltd., Maxxium, Premier Wines and Spirits, Sainte Famille Wines Ltd., Select Wine Merchants, Tideview Vintage Cider, Vincor, Wine Visions Inc.

CMN Video: Shucking Scallops

We’re back on the dock at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, as we learn all about Scallops from Norman Kaizer and Wallace Skinner, 2 seasoned Nova Scotia Fishermen. Jennifer learns how to Shuck Scallops, or as the locals say, “Shock Scollops”.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

CMN Video: Lunenburg Sausage & Mussels

Chef Rick Ogilvie from the Tin Fish Restaurant in the Lunenburg Arms Hotel and “What’s Cookin’ with Chef Rick” shows us how to make a Nova Scotia regional specialty: Lunenburg Sausage & Mussels.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

A Taste of Nova Scotia

Jennifer and Chef Mark discover the many delights of Nova Scotia, from the fine restaurants of Halifax to the wines of the Gaspereau Valley and the seafood of Lunenburg Harbour. Along the way, we meet some great folks, including some of the best chefs of Nova Scotia.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

CMN Video: Vines and Grinds

We have some fun playing around among the vines at Gaspereau Vineyards, then enjoy lunch at Le Caveau Restaurant at Domaine de Grand Pre Vineyards. That’s SOME pepper!

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Jennifer discovers Tantric Chocolates at Sugah! in Halifax, Nova Scotia. What’s better than Sex and Chocolate?

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com