Park-ing it in Nova Scotia

This week’s episodes of Assis Toi and Have A Seat wouldn’t have happened without the help of social media. 

I was at the CBC working on an episode of Assis Toi, when I checked my Twitter feed. And this is what I saw:

I was a little confused... what was one of the biggest names in Canada's culinary world doing in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia?  So I tweeted at him, asking what he was doing in the province.

Turns out he has family in that area of southwestern Nova Scotia, and was paying a visit. He was really impressed by what he saw in the area and wanted to share things with people on his social media accounts. Things like this video of sword fishing that he posted to his Instagram account. 

Clockwise from top left: Park and Neil Patrick Harris, a selection from Park's restaurant, Park and his fellow judges on Chopped Canada, down at the wharf in Yarmouth, NS. All images from Antonio Park's Instagram feed, which you should check out.

For those of you who don't know Antonio Park, here is the Coles Notes version: 

- He is the brains behind Park Resto and Lavanderia, two very successful restaurants in Montreal.

- He is of Korean heritage, raised in South America, came to Canada as a teen, and trained as a chef in Japan.

- He is a judge on Chopped Canada. 

- People go ape for his sushi. Especially celebrities.

- He brings in fish from Japan. But not just any fish. Fish that is, in layman's terms, acupunctured. 

I sent Park a message and asked him if I could interview him about his time here in Nova Scotia, and he happily agreed. You can listen to that interview in its Assis Toi version, by streaming or downloading it. Or check out Have A Seat for an extended interview with Antonio, where he tells me how his time with the men and women who work the waters in this region have changed the way he looks at fishing.

"Have A Seat" is a collection of previously unaired audio from interviews that air on CBC Radio's "Assis Toi". The series looks at people's relationships with food. A few weeks ago, Antonio Park tweeted that he was visiting Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Intrigued, I asked if i could chat with him while he was here in the province. The talented chef sat down with me for an extended chat, which has been condensed here. Have a listen. For more on Antonio Park, check out the website for Park Restaurant, http://parkresto.com For more on Simon Thibault, check out: simonthibault.com twitter.com/simonathibault (Image via Antonio Park's Twitter feed - http://twitter.com/chefantoniopark)

Cabbage Rolls and Za'atar

Even though I never met her, Alexandra Mansour taught me how to cook the food of Lebanon. In fact, when I first found a copy of her book, Alexandra's Lebanese Cooking, I barely knew how to cook, let alone Lebanese food.

I found my copy at a Salvation Army store in the south end of Halifax in 1999. It was just sitting there in a bin full of random books. It wasn't the title itself which caught my eye, but rather the subtitle of the book: Authentic Recipes from a Nova Scotian Home. 

As you can see, my copy is well-used...

Lebanese food was the first food I ever cooked with someone. His name was Andrew, and his family was from outside Beirut. He came over to my house and we made fattoush, and he made fun of me for making hummus with a mortar and pestle, rather than a food processor.  By making and eating this food with him, and the rest of our friends, I learned about Lebanon, the people, the culture, the habits, the music.  I wouldn't have even met Andrew if we hadn't started talking about food.

Years later, I met Valerie Mansour, a Halifax-based writer who has been the food critic for the now defunct Halifax Daily News. We started talking about food, and I mentioned Alexandra's Lebanese Cooking. Her face lit up. "That's my mom," she beamed.

(You can read a piece that Valerie wrote about her mother, here in The Globe and Mail. )

In 1948, a woman named Alexandra left Lebanon for Amherst, a small town in Nova Scotia. Armed with wit and culinary know-how, this wife and mother helped changed the palates of many of the local residents, as well as the rest of the Maritimes, with her cookbook, "Alexandra's Lebanese Cooking." On this week's edition of "Assis Toi", I sit down with Valerie Mansour, Alexandra's daughter, to talk about the impact her mother had on so many people. Assis Toi" is a radio series that airs on Information Morning and Island Morning on CBC Radio in the Maritimes. It tells stories about the kinds of relationships that people have with food. For more info on "Assis Toi" and its producer, Simon Thibault, check out: http://simonthibault.com http://twitter.com/simonathibault

Valerie would later tell me stories about her mom, about what it was like growing up in Amherst, and how her mom's cabbage rolls became famous in the small town. It was a story that stuck with me, and reminded me of The Kitchen Sisters and their Hidden Kitchens.  (Check out their podcast, Fugitive Waves. Go.  I'll be right here.) And so I'd like to dedicate this episode of Assis Toi - as well as Have A Seat, which you can listen to below - to the Kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelson, and Nikki Silva, for helping me understand the significance of hidden kitchens, no matter what is being cooked in them.  And thanks to Alexandra, who showed me how to eat, not only what to eat.

You can stream the latest episode here, or you can download the podcast here. 

"Have A Seat" is a collection of previously unaired audio from interviews that air on CBC Radio's "Assis Toi". The series looks at people's relationships with food. In this episode, I speak with Valerie Mansour, a Halifax-based writer, former food critic, and the daughter of Alexandra Mansour, author of "Alexandra's Lebanese Cooking: Authentic Recipes from a Nova Scotia Home." For more on Simon Thibault, check out: http://simonthibault.com http://twitter.com/simonathibault

Through the aisles and into the kitchen

I'm always fascinated by the books that line people's shelves. But the ones I find the most interesting are their cookbooks.  I keep my cookbooks in plain view in my kitchen, so if I am standing at the counter, or looking into the refrigerator, I only have to cast my eyes slightly to the left for a little inspiration.

I learned to cook through cookbooks. Correction: I learned to cook through cookbooks I borrowed from my local library.  For the latest episode of Assis Toi, I tracked down the person responsible for many of the current selections that line many a shelf in the various libraries of Halifax, Kristina Parlee from Halifax Public Libraries.  Kristina is a food lover, and she and I have often suggested places to eat - and books to read - to each other. I also met up with Lindsay Cameron Wilson, a Halifax-based cookbook author, TV show host, recipe developper, mother, and much more. Lindsay also used to live in London, and for a time worked at the famous Books For Cooks store in Notting Hill.

Although searching for recipes online can be easy and fun, the act of opening a cookbook, or perusing the cookbook section of a library is far more satisfying for a hungry reader. In the latest episode of "Assis Toi", I meet with three people who use the public library, and the cookbooks contained therein, as their own personal search engine. And they find more than just recipes and information. Assis Toi" is a radio series that airs on Information Morning and Island Morning on CBC Radio in the Maritimes. It tells stories about the kinds of relationships that people have with food. For more info on "Assis Toi" and its producer, Simon Thibault, check out: Http://simonthibault.com

In case you missed it when it was on the air this morning on your local CBC Radio station here in the Maritimes, you can stream it here, or download the podcast here. And don't forget to check out this week's episode of Have A Seat - where Kristina, Lindsay, and I continue our chat about all things culinary AND literary.

"Have A Seat" is a collection of previously unaired audio from interviews that air on CBC Radio's "Assis Toi". The series looks at people's relationships with food. In this episode, we go looking at the impact that cookbooks have had in the lives of food lovers. I speak with Lindsay Cameron Wilson - host of "Love Food", cookbook author, and recipe developper - on how books about food have changed her life. I also have a chat with Kristina Parlee, who is the person who selects all of the cookbooks which line the shelves of the various libraries throughout Halifax's public library system. To find out more about Lindsay Cameron Wilson, check out her website at: http://lindsaycameronwilson.ca For more on Simon Thibault, check out: http://simonthibault.com http://twitter.com/simonathibault

For those of you who were wondering about those titles mentioned in this week's episodes of Assis Toi and Have A Seat, here are some of the cookbooks - and their authors -  mentioned by Kristina, Lindsay, and myself. 

Hot Sour Salty Sweet, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. This is THE book that started it all for me as a writer, as a home cook, and as a lover of food writing. 

In Have A Seat, Kristina and I talked a little bit about japanese cookery, and she mentioned Japanese Farm Food, which looks wonderful. I mentioned that she should check out Kansha and Washoku, by Elizabeth Andoh. I even did a piece for Assis Toi last year about Washoku, with the help of Ami Goto. 

Kristina mentioned that she came to understand indian cooking techniques thanks to Madhur Jaffrey. Jeffrey is essentially THE person to talk to if you want to learn about the intricacies of indian cookery.  She also suggests checking out some of the titles put out by America's Test Kitchen, and is also a big fan of The Flavour Bible. As for restaurant cookbooks, she was also instrumental in making sure that there are copies of Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook. And for those of you who can't afford to buy a copy, you can always borrow the Noma cookbook. 

As for Lindsay Cameron Wilson, you can check out her cookbooks on her website. Wilson is also a fan of Skye Gingell's A Year In My Kitchen (a book that I also enjoy), but most importantly, she talks about Family Life by Elisabeth Luard.

Happy listening, reading, and cooking. 

Mas Tacos, Por Favor

Sometimes you experience something and you want to share that with as many as possible. That's how David Parks felt about the taco stands and cantinas that dot the streets in in Mexico City.  

La Catrina greets you over at La Cantina.

That's why David Parks started La Cantina, a small taco stand that operates on the patio of Pat's Kitchen on Kaye Street in Halifax's Hydrostone district. The menu is small, but mighty, with two specials served every Tuesday and Thursday, weather permitting. 

Sometimes it's best to just follow your nose. That's exactly what led me to La Cantina, a taco stand in Halifax. In the latest episode of "Assis Toi", David Parks brings a little bit of Mexico City to Halifax by cooking up tacos in the city's Hydrostone area. Assis Toi" is a radio series that airs on Information Morning and Island Morning on CBC Radio in the Maritimes. It tells stories about the kinds of relationships that people have with food. For more info on "Assis Toi" and its producer, Simon Thibault, check out: Http://simonthibault.com

In the latest episode of Assis Toi, David explains the nature of taco stands and cantina culture in Mexico City, all while doling out tasty tacos to his customers. You can stream the item here, or you can download the podcast here.

In the meantime,  have a listen to David explain the necessity of hand chopping your salsas, and the ubiquitousness of flor de jamaica/sorrel/hibiscus as a drink in Mexico and beyond in Have A Seat.

Have A Seat is a collection of previously unaired audio from interviews that air on CBC Radio's "Assis Toi". The series looks at people's relationships with food. On this episode, David Parks - owner and chef behind La Cantina, a taco stand in Halifax's North End - shares secrets about his salsas and that most wonderful of drink flavours, Flor de Jamaica. To find out more about La Cantina, check out: https://twitter.com/cantinahfx http://twitter.com/simonathibault http://simonthibault.com

Designing a better beer

With summer comes a desire to drink cool things.  Hoppy, malty, cool things. And beer often fits the bill.

When it comes to making beer, it's a process that requires finesse, dedication, and an ability to solve all sorts of problems.  And who loves to solve problems more than engineers? Engineers who like to make beer.

In the latest episode of Assis Toi, I speak with Emily Tipton from Boxing Rock Brewing, and Josh Counsil from Good Robot Brewing.  You can stream it here, or you can download the podcast from iTunes. 

In the meantime, check out Have A Seat, the sister series to Assis Toi, which includes little bits of audio and anecdotes which didn't make it to air. 

Have A Seat is a collection of previously unaired audio from interviews that air on CBC Radio's "Assis Toi". The series looks at people's relationships with food. In this episode, find out exactly how beneficial it is to have an engineer on hand while brewing, as well as how Tom Waits inspired a little bit of brew. http://simonthibault.com Http://twitter.com/simonathibault

Update, July 20th, 2015: CBC New Brunswick created a web story based on this piece, and included a New Brunswick based brewery amongst all the other engineer-owned breweries. 

Also, I never did post that Tom Waits track that Josh from Good Robot mentioned in Have A Seat. Take a listen and Step Right Up...