Go to the Hot House Café For the Love of Garlic

roasted garlic

The Bard said it himself: “I’d rather live with cheese and garlic in a windmill, than feed on cakes…”

When Shakespeare wrote that line, was he tapping into an age-old alchemy wisdom or was he just being ornery about the habits of the aristocracy? Either way, I must agree with him. Which is why I was at the Hot House Café on Church and Front Streets in Toronto a few days ago. They are celebrating the Garlic Festival there until the end of the month and if you are a garlic lover or a Romanian like my friend Nina (which is the same thing), then you will wish to mosey over there for a real treat!

Just don’t play a game of squash right after—unless you intend to win by default, that is, you stinker! (meow)…

The café features a varied menu of exotic dishes enriched with garlic. Dishes include, among others:

·       Fusilli Salsicce: tender fusilli, tossed with Italian garlic sausage, leek, rapini, roasted garlic, sundried tomato and roasted garlic tomato basil sauce.

·       Roasted Garlic Penne: fresh cremini mushrooms, green peas, and prosciutto simmered with roasted garlic and rich Alfredo suase then tossed with penne and topped with parmesan.

·       Grilled Garlic Sirloin “Rubio”: 8 oz New York, char-grilled to order, marinated in garlic and pepper, topped with a sauce of sliced garlic, butter, fresh oregano and basil, and served with a medley of steamed vegetables and your choice of HotHouse fries, baked potato, rice pilaf or leek and chive mashed.

·       Barramundi: lightly floured and pan seared barramundi filet topped with a roasted garlic Bernaise butter, served with steamed vegetables and choice of HotHouse fries, baked potato, rice pilaf or leek and chive mashed.

·       Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic: supreme of chicken baked with garlic and finished on the grill. Topped with  a roasted garlic, tarragon, white wine and cream reduction. Served with steamed vegetables and your choice of HotHouse fries, baked potato, rice pilaf or leek and chive mashed.

Each dish comes with a whole bulb of roasted garlic cloves. These are exquisite! And simple to make: the tops of the cloves are exposed by cutting their tops, then lathered with olive oil and baked under tin foil for half an hour in a 400 degree oven. Voila! You then simply pop the cloves out of their little skins with a gentle squeeze of the paw and enjoy a truly sensual delight!

So, what is it about garlic that impels poets, philosophers and artists alike to extol its virtues? Gustave Coquiot wrote of garlic: “Garlic all powerful, marvelous seasoning, you impel, you cheer, you are the only condiment, you are the glorious one!” Those are strong sentiments, indeed!

Along with leeks and shallots, garlic (Allium sativum) is a member of the onion family and one of the world's most ancient cultivated plants. It was known in China over 6,000 years ago. The ancient Egyptians used it for pregnancy tests and to cure headaches. The builders of the ancient pyramids ate garlic daily for enhanced endurance and strength. The Romans considered garlic an antidote to poisons, which were very popular in certain circles of the time.  Garlic was used by some as a love potion and by others as the opposite. The god Mercury gave Ulysses wild garlic to keep his men safe from the feminine charms and wiles of Circe. Garlic was used for centuries as protection against evil and was hung in doorways to ward off the demons and the dead. It figures centrally in ghost and vampire mythology. It’s name in Sanskrit means “Slayer of Monsters”.

roasted garlic in olive oil

Fantastic history aside, this powerful herb is now proven as a natural antibiotic. It promotes the well-being of the heart and immune systems with antioxidant properties and helps maintain healthy blood circulation by lowering blood pressure. Garlic can also enhance the body's immune cell activity. It reduces cholesterol and helps regulate blood sugar levels. And it's packed with vitamins and nutrients.

Garlic is one of the ten superstars for cancer-prevention, sharing this distinguished position with berries and citrus fruits, cruciferous vegetables, onions, green tea, omega 3 essential fatty acids, olive oil, tomatoes, soy products, red wine and dark chocolate. Meow! I like that list! 

For some cool and surprising garlic home remedies go to this site: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/garlic-benefit.shtml

Oh by the way … if you are a cat NOT of the stuffed variety, don’t partake: garlic and onions are toxic to cats and dogs. I'm the cool travel cat... :-3

Toronto Adventures: The McMichael Art Gallery and the Group of Seven in Kleinburg

Jack Pine by Tom Thompson

Are these new Canadian painters crazy?—Augustus Bridle, Canadian Courier 1920

I was looking for adventure off the typical tourist route and borrowed a ride north on Islington Avenue all the way to the village of Kleinburg, about 50 km northwest of Toronto. This charming tourist destination forms a pleasant lacework of outdoor cafés, bistros, and ice cream parlors guaranteed to taunt, titillate and treat. I decided to taste my way along Main Street, ambling from café to gift shop and café again.

The village nestles amid rolling hills between two branches of the Humber River and is surrounded by agricultural land. John Kline, a German/Canadian settler, founded Kleinburg, which translates to "small town." In truth, Kleinburg could equally be named after its landscape (in which case it would have to be spelled "Kleinberg" for “small mountain"). Kleinburg’s annual fall festival called Binder Twine has its roots in the town’s agricultural history and draws 25,000 people each year. The village has attracted many affluent visitors and residents, including Canadian author Pierre Burton and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Kleinburg is also the home of Toronto International Film Studios and a popular location for shooting films and TV shows.

On the south end of town I steered off Main Street along a winding road through lush forest to the cloistered McMichael Art Gallery. The gallery is devoted to Canadian art and is the spiritual home of the Group of Seven. It was founded by Robert and Signe McMichael, who began collecting paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries in 1955.

Mountain by Lawren Harris

I entered the high-ceilinged lobby where master native carver Don Yeomans had created an eclectic totem pole entitled “Where Cultures Meet”. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that he’d carved a laptop as the “foundation” of the totem.

Whiskers tingling, I passed the glass doors into the Group of Seven exhibit and stilled my breaths: I was in the presence of magnificence. There they were: the sweeping, bold strokes of Lawren S. Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson. 

Red Maple by Lawren Harris

The Group of Seven contributed significantly to the identity of “Canadian Art” during the early 20^th Century. They clearly helped define the Canadian “persona” and its rugged landscape when their “exotic” art exploded to equal applause and condemnation in a May 1920 exhibit in Toronto—not unlike the reception received by the French Impressionists in the late 19^th Century when their art first appeared in Paris. The Group was initially drawn together by a common sense of frustration with the conservative and imitative quality of most Canadian art at the time. 

As with the European fin de siècle symbolists and post-impressionists, the Group rebelled against the constraints of 19th-century naturalism in Canada.  Just as with the Impressionists before them, The Group shifted their emphasis from the conservative imitation of the natural towards the expression of their feelings for the natural.

Sunset by Frank Johnston

The Group of Seven blended the palettes of Art Nouveau, Neo-Impressionism, and Fauvism into a genuine celebration of the unique Canadian wilderness. It was a kind of “primitive” style that matched the equally primitive landscape they had chosen to capture. 

They used broad brush strokes with liberal application of paint to portray the wild beauty and vibrant color of the Ontario landscape. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the art of Tom Thomson, who died in 1917 (before the inaugural Group of Seven exhibit) but who has remained synonymous with the Group of Seven. An avid outdoorsman, Thompson incited A.Y. Jackson, Frederick Varley and Arthur Lismer, to paint the unkempt and unruly part of Canada with bold displays of feeling.

With time, Harris, MacDonald, Carmichael and even Varley simplified their colors and layouts, using thin pigment and stylized designs. By the mid-1920s Harris had simplified his paintings into monochromatic forms and ventured into abstraction soon after.

I celebrated my tour of the Group of Seven with a fine lunch on the patio of the Gallery Café, where

Toulouse discusses good food with Sayima

waiter Sayima Kaya served me a tender and flavorful maple-pommery glazed Atlantic salmon, served on buttery mashed potatoes and garnished with roasted green beans.

I selected a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, whose intense aroma and sparkling taste of Golden Delicious apples danced a wonderful tango with the wild salmon dish.

From the gallery, I strolled along Main Street and something made me stop at Desserts of Distinction. Well!... Of course, my superior nose and whiskers had steered me right. Maria Montinaro, the owner of the café, served me a decent Americano and a raspberry and chocolate mousse tart with cassis (blackberry) nappage gélatine. 

The Black currant topping was drizzled with white chocolate drops and fresh berries. I sipped my Americano and savoured the cassis tart, which had my whiskers stand on end. The tart was not overly sweet, which allowed the vivacious notes of black currant and fresh raspberry to emerge through the creamy chocolate. 

Kleinburg in the summer

The chocolate mousse tart was only one of many delectable pastries, tarts and pies offered at Desserts of Distinction.

All in all, a fine day was had in Kleinburg! Come for yourself and see. And tell them Toulouse sent you!

Toulouse beside himself...