UrbnSpice

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Traditional Foods

Irish Treacle Brown Bread

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As much as I enjoy Irish Soda bread (a quick bread method) with a big pot of Lamb and Barley Soup, my favourite Irish bread is actually a traditional yeast-risen bread called Treacle Brown Bread.  Black treacle (molasses) is used to create a dense, dark and slightly sweet bread. It has a satisfying crunch when you take that first bite. A dark brown crisp crust is characteristic of this bread, which is the result of a unique double bake process.   

Irish Treacle Brown Bread | urbnspice.com
Irish Treacle Brown Bread

The Treacle Brown Bread tastes at its absolute best when served simply with a generous application of fresh salty butter.  To elevate the flavour combinations even further, serve it thinly sliced and buttered along with chunks of Old Cheddar and slathered with Brown Pickle relish. You will love this bread!

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My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière

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CHC CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE SERIES

Prelude:  I am a proud Canadian. When the Culinary Historians of Canada invited food bloggers to participate in the “CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge”, I knew that I wanted in! What a great way to celebrate and honour Canada’s 150th birthday by featuring a different Canadian dish or discussing a topic which reflects on what it means to be Canadian.  For the month of May, in honour of Mother’s Day (May 14), CHC invited food bloggers to share recipes relating to mothers, recipes and techniques passed on by our mothers or grandmothers, or from our mother’s culture. I am honoured and proud to share a historical and famous recipe for My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière.

Food has been such a significant part of my French Canadian heritage and some of my clearest childhood recollections are about food.   It is not only the memories of the food that are so clear but the smells, the tastes and the surroundings that are so vivid.  Holidays would not be the same without Mom’s tourtiere.  In our family, the Christmas Eve menu always included a large tourtiere to enjoy before midnight mass.

Skip to Tourtière Recipe

There are a number of food traditions that are very important to my family, but my Mom’s famous tourtière is the most requested.  I have had many versions of tourtière – from chefs colleagues, relatives and friends, but none can compare to my “Little Mom’s” French Canadian Tourtière. (More on “Little Mom”).

French Canadian Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s version of tourtière is more savoury than traditionally prepared tourtière due to the use of sage and poultry seasoning as opposed to the warm spices typically used (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice).  Mom always insisted on a mixture of ground meat: beef, veal and pork. This combination makes a huge difference in the overall taste and texture of the tourtière filling. The aromatic fragrance of the tourtière mixture simmering is magical.  Writing about it makes me nostalgic.  Although I have adapted the process somewhat, I follow her recipe method and always make enough to share with family and friends, which was her tradition.

Baked Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtiere

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière became quite famous in a small village in Ontario.  Everyone loved it when she made her tourtière pies for church or village social events.  As a matter of fact, the ladies of the village church approached her many years ago for her tourtière recipe to make and sell the pies for the parish fundraising efforts.  She not only generously shared her tourtière recipe – she also taught them how to make it….

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Maple – A Timeless Canadian Tradition

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CHC CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE

Prelude:  I am a proud Canadian. When the Culinary Historians of Canada invited food bloggers to participate in the “CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge”, I knew that I wanted in! What a great way to celebrate and honour Canada’s 150th birthday by featuring a different Canadian dish or discussing a topic which reflects on what it means to be Canadian.  For March, the topic is maple.  For that reason, I am pleased to present:  Maple – A Timeless Canadian Tradition.

I was excited to learn that this month’s challenge is maple, a favourite in both sweet and savoury recipes. Even before I began my research for this article, I was very much aware that maple has evolved from its humble beginnings as a natural sweetener. Maple syrup is one of Canada’s quintessential food products.

Skip to Maple Butter Tart Recipe

I sometimes think that we, as Canadians, take maple syrup for granted – it is not just for pancakes and waffles. We have what the rest of the world wishes they could access as easily as we can. Many of my international colleagues have Canadian maple syrup on the top of their shopping list whenever they come to Canada.

Maple Butter Tartlet with Pecans | urbnspice.com

The Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tart

Maple Syrup is uniquely Canadian with 80% of the world’s production coming from Canada and 91% of our domestic production originating in Quebec.  My research indicates that in 2015, Canada had an annual maple syrup production of 8,908,000 gallons, generating revenue of $358 million CDN.

Canada’s maple syrup has health benefits that far exceed any other natural sweetener. It has over 60 anti-oxidants and minerals including calcium, copper, manganese, potassium, zinc and sodium, which offer a number of health-related benefits.

Why is maple syrup so timeless in its uses and its benefits? As a chef who works in recipe development on a daily basis, I have noted that the use of maple syrup has evolved into an important lifestyle and culinary movement – essentially the elimination of white and brown sugar and the reintroduction of natural unprocessed sugars such as honey and maple syrup. These ingredients are being substituted for granulated sugar in home kitchens as well as commercial kitchens. Canada’s Maple syrup has specific health benefits, which makes it a superior alternative to sugar. (See the topic Maple Syrup Substitution in Recipes below).

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Bannock – Have you tried it lately?

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Kids in the Kitchen Series

Have you made Bannock lately? Do you know what you are missing?  Bannock is a variety of fry bread.  It originated in Scotland and was passed on to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada by the Scottish fur traders.  Historically, bannock was cooked over an open fire in a cast iron pan or in front of a campfire on a stick.  When I was first shown how to make this traditional bread, I was taught to wrap the dough around a stick.  The stick was then placed in the ground near the fire, and the heat from the fire would bake the bannock in just a few minutes.  It is one of my favourite childhood memories that I enjoy sharing with children.Bannock | urbnspice.com

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