As predicted in an earlier blog this long continuing Covid-19 pandemic is hitting the hospitality industry particularly hard. Restaurants are closed but many are trying to continue some business with orders for take-out and delivery. Some have been most innovative with their practical food menus and offering some real bargains too on deeply discounted wines. Please check out and support them in your own community. In Vancouver Chef David Hawksworth of Nightingale restaurant has organized that every order results in support for meal deliveries to front line staff at St. Paul’s Hospital fighting this Covid-19 virus. Well done indeed. The Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia (@ChefsTableBC) has worked like a Trojan during these difficult times to show culinary leadership and help in searching for possible solutions. An interesting successful monthly Director’s meeting at the end of March was held virtually on Zoom with a good exploration of possible helpful ideas. They also held April 7 on line for members a Virtual CTS Social-Cooks, Books, & Beverages “nourishing for the soul and the mind”. This was a wonderful shot of much needed inspiration and confidence with many chefs reflecting on the cookbooks that had influenced them the most from the good old early days. Lots of nostalgic memories and thanks given for the valuable input from Barbara-jo McIntosh and her long closed outstanding Books to Cooks store for both cook book selections offered and visiting chef food demos. It has inspired a new initiative of establishing a CTS Culinary Library now in the works. Many highlights in the discussions including these references:
1. Chef Angus An: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
2. Chef Robert Belcham: The Professional Charcuterie by Marcel Cottenceau, Jean-Francosi Deport and Jean-Pierre Odeau
3. Chef Johnny Bridge: Cod by Mark Kurlansky
4. Chef Darren Clay: Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg
5. Chef Scott Jaeger: White Heat by Marco Pierre White
6. Chef Alex Tung: Tetsuya: Recipes from Australia’s Most Acclaimed Chef by Tetsuya Wakuda.
My wife Joan Cross co-editor of Vancouver Cooks I & II for CTS chimes in with her choice of Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 (1961) & 2 a continuation on seven selected subjects (1970) by Julia Child. Joan advises that she has gained so many valuable things from these books which were a really fabulous way to learn the cooking basics. Even today all these years later she makes our still favourite Navarin Printanier (Lamb Stew with Spring vegetables) on page 345 of Volume 1. However we use less salt and less butter in many of her recipes, to our own taste. Amazing.
Exciting to have on the upcoming agenda a Let’s Eat Together from coast to coast in Canada the first “National Take-Out Day” (#TakeoutDay) plus support from The Great Kitchen Party with an hour long variety show on April 15 at 8 pm EST on the Facebook Live platform. Tune in with your ordered take-out dinner matched with your favourite Canadian beverage. Plans are in the works for a 2nd and 3rd edition on April 22 & 29. Join in.
What is happening in your culinary community? Please provide us with a short update.
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