I’m one of those people who will look for any excuse to celebrate. It snowed today? Break out the fine china. The courier dropped off a package? Pop the Champagne! While these events don’t necessarily warrant raising a glass to, I can think of one that certainly does—our fifth anniversary. As of this Holiday Issue, we have been bringing you the very best of Western Canadian food and drink for the past five years and are looking forward to many more. How special is such an achievement? Let’s just say that if we were raising a toast to all the other magazines that have made it this far, our glass of bubbly wouldn’t be in the air for very long.

We at Flavours are extremely honoured and flattered that you have chosen us as a publication that’s worthy of such a milestone. If it wasn’t for you, we’d be nothing at all.

In short, thank you for all your support over the years.

To commemorate such an occasion, we’ve been working on a little something that will be revealed in our Spring issue. Don’t worry, all of your favourite food columnists will return, but their articles may look a little different the next time you see them. We hope this change better reflects our commitment to the culinary creativity that flourishes across these four provinces and provides you with a better reading experience.

Now, back to the reason you picked this magazine up in the first place—the food!

This issue is always my favourite, as the recipes contained within pair so beautifully with the season. Take for example our Put a Lid On It feature. You’ll find all the information you could possibly want on braising plus five recipes that will not only fill your house with an intoxicating aroma, but your dinner table too with a feast worthy of royalty.

Our chef columnist Alex Svenne has had a love affair with a certain dish for years and now his object of adoration gets the VIP treatment. Look for his trio of recipes for inspired slow-cooked cassoulets that are sure to become family favourites.

Some would say you can’t celebrate such a special anniversary without a toast of bubbly and who am I to argue? While I may not, I do know someone who sees it differently. While bubbles may still be in his glass, our beer columnist Stephen Beaumont, feels there are brews as good as, if not better, than French Champagne to sip on such an occasion.

From there we move into very special territory. How special? So much so that it’s stamped right on the bottle. We’re talking about Cognac. Be it V.S. (Very Special), VSOP or XO, we’ve got a perfect primer to this delicious spirit as well as a few cocktails that make the most of it.

As you can see, we’ve got quite a delicious issue for you this holiday season, so please sit back and enjoy what five years of experience has put together.

I wish you, your friends and family a safe and joyful holiday.

As always, please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions you may have.

All the best,

Brandon Boone

Julia Child was right – a good cook does learn something new every day. For longer than I can recall, food preparation fascinated me. Even as a teenager, I would scour food magazines and cookbooks for recipes that would pique my interest and challenge me to try something new, be it an ingredient or cooking style. Since then, my desire to continually uncover new combinations or flavours has been a driving force in not only my home kitchen, but in this magazine too.

Each fall issue, we choose a type of cuisine to focus on and explore. If you’ve made it this far into the magazine, you probably know we’ve set our sights on the food and flavours of Mexico. And here’s where that Julia Child quote makes such an impact. I’ve made many a Latino dish in the past but as we cooked and tasted our way through this issue, I realized I had barely scratched the surface of this savoury south of the border culinary style.

Sure, I’ve made fajitas, enchiladas and even salsa, but have I tasted what true Mexican food is? Not until now. Most people are surprised to learn that while certainly having an affinity towards chiles, freshness is the cornerstone of this cooking style. Fresh seafood, smooth and silky avocados, and impossibly ripe mangoes are must-haves, as well as a variety of chile peppers, toasted nuts and tomatillos. These are just a few of the essential items you’d find in a Latino pantry.

We’ve done our best this issue to put together a trove of delicious recipes that celebrate all that is Mexican cuisine.

To start off, you can find a pepper primer in the Cantina Cooking feature. This is a very good place to begin, as a wide variety of peppers and chiles are used in many of these recipes and knowing how to select and prepare them is key.

From there, we explore the how and why of Mexican cookery, from the very beginning to the present day. You’ll also find some authentic recipes, that once made will be extremely difficult to keep out of your weekly rotation.

Our chef columnist stirs things up with his piece on Mexican soups. Yes, that’s right, soups. While internationally known for tacos, a big pot of hot broth mixed with other ingredients is about as common south of the border as Coronas in Canada are during the summer.

Speaking of cerveza, you should check out our beer columnist’s story on the history of that beloved brew. If you’ve ever wanted to know how that popular lager got started or why it seems synonymous with sunshine, this is the place to find out.

There are a ton of other great recipes in this issue, from freshly made corn tortillas (that will forever change your life) to cocktails that use indigenous ingredients from Mexico.

So sit back and get ready to enjoy these tropical flavours—no passport required.

As always, please feel free to share any comments or questions you have with us.

Until next time,

Brandon Boone

Baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and grilled steaks—now that’s a perfect summer menu. Add some sunshine, a few friends and perhaps a patio—could life get any better? Aside from adding a frosty beverage or two, I seriously doubt it. Truth be told, the biggest adjustment I face when summer arrives, aside from trading in my Sorels for sandals, is the way I cook. Throughout the winter and spring, I’ve been preoccupied with combining multiple ingredients in order to make a meal. With the arrival of peak of the season vegetables and fruits, suddenly one item is all that I need. Tomatoes, ripe and warm from the sun, homegrown zucchini and juicy strawberries; each one of these are more than capable of being the marquee player at mealtime.

For the last few months, we’ve settled for what we could manage to get our hands on at the supermarket. If you’re a regular Flavours reader, you’ll know that in our Spring issue we fired a salvo at all those trucked-in ingredients that whet our appetites for new food, but failed to deliver when they hit our taste buds. It’s no secret that ingredients we can grow locally will always trump those that need to cross the border before landing on your dinner table. So while our suggestion to try new styles of cooking or exotic fruits may have helped bridge the gap until the really fresh produce arrived, the wait is finally over.

And that’s what this issue is all about. It’s time to forget the elaborate and complicated—let’s focus on the simple and sublime. It’s about a blender filled with ice, some spirits and rimmed margarita glasses. It’s about rediscovering (or finally being introduced to) the aroma and flavour that only a charcoal grill can provide.

To get things started, let’s talk about the sweet and summery indulgence that makes many a person weak in the knees—homemade ice cream. Sure, picking up a quart of the creamy goodness at the supermarket is easier, but when it comes to flavour, nothing compares to the freshly made varieties. You’ll find everything you need to know for making this luscious creation at home in dee Hobsbawn-Smith’s feature What A Scoop!

Beer seems to be the unofficial adult refreshment during hot weather, but this brown bottle elixir yearns to escape the confines of its beverage classification. It wants to be eaten. Yes, that’s right, eaten. Your favourite lager or pilsner is dying to be the star in a chocolate sauce or the principle player in a savoury marinade. Our beer columnist, Stephen Beaumont, cracks open the cap on how to transform these beloved suds into much more than just a drink.

Most of us are going to be spending an inordinate amount of time in front of the grill (hopefully charcoal, after reading this issue) preparing dinner this summer. If that’s the case, why not whip up dessert on the barbecue too? Alex Svenne, our chef columnist who loves all things cooked over fire, especially sweet stuff, gives us the needed words of wisdom to pull off such a feat.

So, I encourage you to grab a lawn chair and something to sip on while you flip through this issue, which is chock full of culinary ideas that are sure to spark a great meal under the sunshine.

As always, if you have any suggestions, comments or feedback, I’d love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Brandon Boone

When March and April finally arrive, some kind of switch inside me flips and all I can think about is green produce and fresh ingredients. I guess I’m always searching for the latter, but it’s that overwhelming desire to make something lighter, something without the hearty root vegetables that have been complimenting so many of my winter dishes. In a nutshell, I want a salad. I want to taste ripe, sun-kissed, garden-grown vegetables. If that’s what I really want in March while living in Manitoba, I need to get my head examined. Yet, why is it that so many of us begin to yearn for these things, even though we still have snow shovels by the back door instead of garden spades? For one, as the old adage goes, variety is the spice of life. And two, while I have to admit that we’ve done the same, all the food magazines out there seem to be sporting pictures of leafy, dew-spotted lettuce, bathed in sunshine or set amongst rolling fields of green grass. Just seeing these images gets me drooling like Pavlov’s dog.

Some of you might be thinking that I can get assorted lettuces, green beans and heck, even cherries at the supermarkets right now, and you’d be right. But most of them have been trucked in from the United States and half of those taste about as fresh as a piece of cardboard. So what are we supposed to do? Well, it took a whack to the head, figuratively speaking, from a chef friend of mine to finally awaken me from this daydream and back into reality. The solution is really quite simple. Fresh and bright doesn’t have to be synonymous with spring vegetables and produce. Instead, it should be about cooking in new ways, fresh cooking if you please, and bright flavours such as those found in tangy and sour citrus fruits, ranging from blood oranges to grapefruits.

And this, my friends, is what our spring issue is all about. First off, we look at an ingredient many of us have eaten in the past, but have never grown before. We’re talking about deliciously crunchy sprouts that add oodles of flavour to everything from soups, salads and even pizzas. All you’ll need is a pickle jar, some seeds and a sunny window to begin enjoying your very own sprout garden. And what would be the perfect compliment to a meal of sprouts? How about cocktails that use a variety of flowers as a base? From roses to herbal tea, these spirits will put a little spring in your step. For those of you looking for something a little more rich and complex, Stephen Beaumont delves into the wonderful world of bock beers, dispelling rumours and setting the facts straight. Our chef columnist, Alex Svenne, creates three stunning recipes that put the whole notion of fresh and bright in perfect perspective for those of us living on the Prairies.So please, take a moment and savour all this issue has to offer.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback on this or any issue, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Sincerely,

Brandon Boone

I’d like to introduce you to my new boss. Not from my day job mind you, but the person who now calls all the shots at home. My wife and I were recently blessed with the arrival of our first child, Ella Sage, back in September. Since her arrival, and much to the chagrin of all my friends with kids, my constant cooking and experimentation in the kitchen has not been curtailed. Truth be told, and this is no embellishment, the day after we brought her home I made two soups from scratch; one was a baby pear and gouda and the second was a wild rice and cranberry creation. In my defense, I couldn’t help myself. My wife and I had been at the hospital for a couple of days, so no ‘real’ food was available and also, I wanted to thank our intrepid midwife for all of her support. Personally, I can’t think of a better way to show someone I care than with food, which might explain why I make dinner for my wife each night.

Food connects people in a way words can’t. Since Ella and I can’t have a conversation (yet), I like to put her in a baby sling and wrap her around me while I cook. People have already joked that she’ll know recipes before nursery rhymes.

During the holidays, food, friends and family become even more important as the hustle and bustle of the season tends to wear us down and we need that familiar and comfortable place to recharge.

This issue is full of ways to help you do just that. We’ve got a bunch of easy to put together recipes that look simply stunning in our feature on appetizers. We also look at what’s coming out of kitchens from around the world during this time of year. Aside from the turkey and trimmings that normally adorn dinner tables across Western Canada, we find that Glögg, Mexican Soup and British Trifle are also time-honoured favourites in some households.

While traditions are important, sometimes they can use a bit of updating. Laura Panter, our expert mixologist, takes a look at some classic cocktails and modernizes them, just in time for all of those holiday gatherings. Our beer columnist, Stephen Beaumont, suggests some new brews to try, as even your palate looks forward to new flavours in the New Year. Our guru of gourmet grub, chef Alex Svenne, sets up a delicious, if not restorative, January 1st menu that might just set the bar for the rest of the meals you’ll make in the New Year.

Lastly and certainly not least, we need your help. We’re looking at doing some changes to the magazine to better reflect the passion and creativity brimming in kitchens across Western Canada. If you could take a moment and fill out our survey at www.flavoursmagazine.ca, your input would
be greatly appreciated. By doing so, you’ll automatically be entered to win one of the $100 gift cards for The Keg restaurant we’re giving away. Check out page 54 for more information. It will take you less than five minutes to complete, but the changes you suggest may last forever.

As always, the best to you and yours from all of us at Flavours.

Sincerely,

Brandon Boone

I often get teased about my passion for food. During the photo shoots we do for the magazine, my food stylist and I will often get into fervent discussions about a variety of ingredients we love. I often reflect afterwards and imagine having similar conversations with the guys I see at our regular poker game, in which I gush about a beautiful specimen of mint I recently used in a recipe. I can just picture their stunned faces.

My wife and I spent a couple of days at a friend’s cabin this summer and when it came time to plan the menu for dinner, we all went into the nearest town to forage. Once again, my enthusiasm got the best of me. As my friend and I wandered down the aisles of the small convenience store, I was busy pulling ingredients from the shelves to make a killer stuffed chicken. When I was nearly done I asked him if he had a preference for what type of nuts to use in the stuffing (pistachios or sunflowers seeds)—he simply looked at me and said the only thing he was pondering was which kind of barbecue sauce to buy.

Again, I can’t hide my love for this stuff, and it doesn’t bother me one bit.

This leads me to our current issue and its French theme. Each fall, we like to put together an issue devoted to one particular culinary style or influence. The food of France was a no-brainer to say the least. The French have perfected a multitude of sauces, mastered many cooking techniques and have shown that wine consumption doesn’t have to be just on celebratory occasions. To wit, we have packed our pages full of all things français.

For starters, we explore the many regions that make up the country and the variety of ingredients you’ll find within them. Depending on where you visit, or in this case read about, you’ll be exposed to just how different the menus can be from one side of the country to the other.

We’ve also done a spotlight on some of the best French sauces and the key to making them. This is a passionate subject among French chefs, who regard sauces as the true backbone to a multitude of classic recipes. We’ll help you figure out how to make them as good, if not better, than the professionals. Our chef columnist, Alex Svenne looks at assembling an outstanding cheese board with of course, a nod to Québec and France, while Laura Panter, our Sexy Sipper columnist, will tantalize you with liquid ingredients, some classic and others more modern, in delectable and easy-to-make cocktails.

Of course, one couldn’t do homage to French food without talking about their love of bottled grapes. Mireille Sauvé delves into the correlation between their wine quaffing and the low incidence of some health problems, while also recommending some juicy libations originating from France so you can experience their flavours first hand.

This issue is just bursting with recipes, so I encourage you to take a moment and relax as we give you a figurative taste of France’s joie de vivre.

As always, please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns.

Take care and we’ll see you in December.

I love to cook.

Gee, there’s a shocker. The fact that my wife and I have been together for almost 11 years and she’s only made dinner twice (in my defense, I was out of town) gives some strong evidence to that statement. But even though I spend a great deal of my time in the kitchen, I am always surprised by how much there is that I haven’t experienced (culinary speaking of course). A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to have travelling Australian chef and television personality Jason Roberts and Phillip Casella of [yellow tail] wines come by my house for lunch. They were touring Canada to promote the wealth of fabulous food and drink from Down Under that’s beginning to take over store shelves across the nation. Chef Roberts made a dish for us that included smashed spring peas and lamb flavoured with ground tomato powder. A couple of the techniques and ingredients he used in its preparation were fairly foreign to me and once again reaffirmed that no matter how much you know about a subject, there’s always so much more to learn. That is the reason, dear friends that Flavours exists. It’s been close to four years since our first issue arrived in stores and from the premiere issue to now, our goal remains the same—to celebrate the culinary creativity brewing in Western Canada.

In this issue, we squeeze out a story on what some people call ‘sunshine in a bottle’—I’m of course referring to limoncello, that silky smooth burst of lemony liqueur goodness produced in the south of Italy. And while it makes a nice after-dinner drink, we’ve gone and infused it into a few delicious dishes that could make a cloudy day brighter. In every summer issue, I try to include at least one rib recipe and I’m proud to say that we’ve done so again and it’s spectacular! You can find it in the feature on Berkshire pork, which is a heritage breed of pig whose meat is prized for its richness and depth of flavour. It’s beginning to hit markets across Western Canada and if you can find some locally, give it a shot—even I was surprised at just how good it tasted. While the recipes accompanying that feature have been developed specifically for Berkshire pork, using what you can find readily available at the supermarket will work too.

When I was young adult, one of my favourite things to do was to cut out a small plug from a watermelon and fill it with various spirits. I would let it seep for a day or so and reveal my creation at various outdoor festivities. Now that I’m a little older and my palate has been refined, I’m no longer filling watermelons, but I am still interested in the infusion of fresh fruit and alcohol. As such, I have tasked Laura Panter, our Sexy Sippers columnist to come up with some refined drinks using this premise. And boy, has she ever! Take a peek at her recipes on page 33 for what I can only assume will become essential cocktails on patios for years to come.

As always, we’ve done our best to provide you with a variety of recipes and ideas, some old and some new, that should make your summer entertaining a breeze.

As always, please feel free to drop me an e-mail to let us know how we’re doing or just to say hello.

I can’t help it—really.

While there are certain aspects of winter that I do enjoy, the glimmer of getting outside without a parka or tuque thrills me to no end. A lot of people who move away to warmer areas of the world often say they miss the four distinct seasons that most Canadians enjoy. Still, I think we might have five seasons in Manitoba: spring, summer, fall, winter and meat locker. The latter season is obviously one of my creations but there are definitely days when even the hottest bowl of soup barely makes a dent in the chill. That being said, a bowl of braised meats and vegetables on a cold day is a magical dish indeed, which is why we’ve got some sizzling soups in this issue. From purées to chunky variations, we talk about the techniques and ingredients needed to create delightful dishes to warm your body and soul.

The other part of spring I relish are the ingredients that begin to make their way to store shelves. From spring lamb to fresh baby greens, the mere thought of getting my hands on these morsels gets me salivating. I’m a firm believer in the fact that our palates need, nay, demand change from season to season. While stews and root vegetables might be de rigeur during snowy months, it’s time to try something new.

And in this issue, do we ever have that covered!

Cooking with fruit has been popular for a long time but has often been relegated to the dessert category. We’re going to change that. While using whole fruit has its place, we’re going straight to the source, more specifically, to the nectar that lies within.
After scanning a variety of supermarket shelves, I’ve found that while there may be ample supplies of orange, apple and grape juice varieties, I couldn’t find others such as apricot, watermelon or plum. To wit, I’ve freshly squeezed some and headed into the kitchen to play.

We also take a foray into the ever-oval egg in our Mise en Place department. Chef Alex Svenne whips up a few new recipes using one of the world’s most versatile ingredients. If that doesn’t get you cracking, perhaps the thought of a brew and some chocolate might light up your eyes. Our beer columnist, Stephen Beaumont, looks at the epiphany that pairing beer with this decadent ingredient can produce. While not all of us prefer to indulge in a mug of brew, our resident oenophile and sommelier offers some excellent advice on how to look past the label in order to find a bottle of great wine.

We at Flavours strive to bring you the best and newest culinary creations to emerge from Western Canada all in one mouth-watering package. It takes a lot of people to put each issue together and one person in particular who has played a big role over the years is leaving our kitchen. Our contributing editor, Rachel Naud and her family are leaving behind the mosquitoes of Manitoba for the politicians of Ottawa. All of us here wish them luck and continued success.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or just general feedback, please feel free to contact me anytime.

When you feel this passionate about food, you can’t help but want to write about it. Every issue of Flavours is an opportunity to share as much as I can with you about the hottest culinary trends and trendsetters, as well as some pretty amazing recipes. The one thing in particular I really value in this magazine is we get to talk to people from across Western Canada and not just one province. While there is immense talent and no shortage of great stories locally, the ability to bring perspective and ideas from our neighbours to the West gives us the opportunity to look at the way we cook in a whole new light.

For instance, the folks in British Columbia have abundant access to fresh fish relative to those of us living in the Prairies. This allows them to work with seafood more often and as a result they’re developing some new and exciting recipes. The same thing goes for those in the other provinces who are exploring new combinations with their local ingredients. By sharing these regionally inspired ideas, we all benefit—because a good cook should learn something new everyday.

Flavours is available quarterly and in each issue we try to pack in as much as possible. Even so, there are many things I’d like to fit in, but can’t. To explore some of these topics on a more regular basis, you can check out my blog (http://booneappetit.blogspot.com), where I’ve posted my musings and ramblings on all things culinary.

Moving on, we have a fantastic issue for you. Each fall, we try to put together a theme issue and this time we’re exploring the wide world of Italian cuisine.

We’ve assembled some fantastic features on everything from making a world-class pizza at home, to the ins and outs of preparing fresh pasta in your own kitchen. After surviving the difficult task of sampling all of the recipes in those two features, I can honestly say that once you try some of them, you’ll never be able to go back to home delivery or dried pasta. We also explore the spirits and wines of Italy in this issue. In our Sexy Sippers column, we take a look at using Limoncello, Amaretto and Galiano in some amazing cocktails.

Perhaps it’s the vino of the region that has you intrigued. In the Wine Not? column, our sommelier examines the flavours and food pairings of some of the area’s best wines.

One could hardly say we’ve touched on the gamut of Italian cuisine without talking about their desserts. In our Min & Max column, we tackle the preparation of a truly phenomenal Tiramisù and Chilled Amaretto Zabaglione, both of which will impress the eyes as well as the taste buds.

To sum it up, if you’ve ever wondered how to make pizza or are looking for a new pasta recipe, you’ve come to the right place.

So pour yourself a nice glass of wine and put your feet up, as you’re in for a real treat with this Italian issue.

This summer I’ve completely embraced gardening.
I’ve looked through many seed catalogues and online suppliers. I’ve also made many trips out to nursery beds with my wife in tow.
Actually, her presence at these establishments was more as a mechanism to keep my kid-in-a-candy-store excitement in check (honey, do you really need six kinds of basil?).
What really pulled me in was the thought of having some truly tasty, homegrown goodies to work with.
Sure, I’ve got a full-fledged herb garden that would make many chefs envious, but other than that, tomatoes and the occasional cucumber plant were the mainstays.
This year, purple carrots, Chioggia beets and red garlic are planned and I’m already giddy with the progress they’re making.
But, this isn’t a gardening magazine; this is a publication about food.
I mention it because even I’ve forgotten about where food truly originates. We have been lulled into complacency with the advent of big-box supermarkets offering us produce from around the world almost every day of the week.
Growing vegetables from seed is a way to regain that respect for the food we eat that many of us have lost.
A garden takes care and attention, just like when preparing a meal for the people you love. A frozen pizza you heat in the oven doesn’t require any real thought or skills—doesn’t your family deserves something a little more personal? The tomatoes used in its sauce probably taste closer to the cardboard packaging then anything else. I’m not insisting you start growing everything yourself, but to look at what’s on the dinner table in a new way because it’s so much more than just sustenance.
This issue, we’ve got some great articles for you. With the sunshine bright and the days long, barbecuing becomes almost a daily necessity. While grilling food is in itself an art, what you put on it is also. In the A Little Saucy feature, you’ll find some truly outstanding sauces to use on a wide variety of foods. Also, we’ve given bamboo skewers the heave-ho and looked at some other options for shish kebobs such as vanilla beans, ginger and cinnamon sticks. Our resident beer columnist looks at proper beer serving temperatures while dispelling the ice-cold rule many of us are guilty of us. The Sexy Sippers columnists check out a tasty spirit that has become a lot more sophisticated as of late in their Give Tequila a Shot article. Lastly, our Mise En Place chef pens a piece on the beauty of brines and sauces to match.
No matter where you live, the hot sunny season tends to disappear fast so make sure you get outside and enjoy as much of the wonderful weather and food as you can.
I welcome your comments and feedback.
Sincerely,

Brandon Boone
Editor-in-Chief

The hot weather during summer makes it quite easy to look for relief in the form of a cold beverage. It doesn’t matter if you find refreshment in a glass of Chardonnay or in a pint of cold beer, drinking in moderation and arranging a safe ride is always worth toasting.