Chinese Dumplings in Canada?

O Canada!
Our home and native land...

-Now in French!-
Ton front est cient de fleurons glorieux

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée...

-Now for our Inuit friends!-
Sanggijulutillu
Nangiqpugu, Uu Kanata

Canada, like its neighbor and ally to the south, US (catch the clever wordplay here?), is a polyglot nation of transplantees (except for the Inuit and othe native peoples), comprised historically of English, Irish, Scottish and French folk. As a result it suffers from a crisis of identity not unlike the one suffered by... well, us. Actually, Canada is a relatively well-adjusted and contented country, and the only identity crisis that I know of involves the conflict between mainstream, English-speaking Canada and some radical, French speaking(and, I think, only by tradition) Quebecois secessionists.

I, and countless other wiseasses, like to mock Canada, but let's face it, Canada has a lot of things going for it. Things like universal health care, a much lower crime rate than the U.S. and civil rights that we can only dream of. The first, and only, time I saw the Northern Lights was outside of Calgary. It was truly awesome, not in a mid-90s surf punk kind of way, but in a "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio" kind of way. It was about two or three in the morning and I had to pull off to the side of the road and just watch until it was over. Let's not forget, either, that alot of bootleg liquor from across the Saint Lawrence River kept us smiling during prohibition. And, yes, the Canadian falls are better.

American Falls

Canadian Falls

See what I mean? But we're here to talk about food , and talk we shall. So then , you may ask, what do they eat in Canada? Wikipedia lists Butter tarts (essentially little pecan pies), pancakes and syrup, and Kraft Dinner (known as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the lower forty-eight) as some of the national dishes of Canada. True foodies are probably getting very nervous right about now.

Fear not intrepid reader, because Canada actually has a rich and varied cuisine that draws from all its native and immigrant culinary traditions. Wild blueberries, seafood, wild game fowl, fiddlehead ferns, chantrelles, morels all find their way into the cooking of the great white north. Possibly the best seafood chowder I ever had was in Nova Scotia, in a little fishing village known as Peggy's Cove, in a little restaurant called The Sou'Wester Restaurant and Giftshop, and one of my favorite dumpling shops is Toronto's Chinatown (more about that in a moment).

I spent this past weekend in the province of Ontario, Toronto specifically. Sitting on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto is a pastiche of cultures from all across the globe. English, French, Caribbean, Indian, Chinese, African, Ukranian and Afghani are just a few of the nationalities that call this city home. A drive down Eglinton Avenue from Etobicoke to central Toronto is like a twenty minute world tour. An Indian restaurant sits catty-cornered to a falafel shop, which is just up the block from an Italian bistro. Want some Jamaican oxtail stew instead? Drive a little further. The city has its strictly ethnic neighborhoods too. Aside from Chinatown and Little Italy (which every major city seems to have), you'll find Koreatown, Little Portugal, Little India and Greektown. There are also places like the bohemian Kensington Market that have a little bit of everything, from vintage clothing shops to fresh produce and international cheese shops. Click here for a photo tour of Kensington Market.

You may remember me saying that one of my favorite dumpling shops is in Toronto. It's called Dumpling House Restaurant, and it's located on Spadina Avenue, right in the heart of Toronto's Chinatown.


Only four years old, this little eatery has acquired a loyal following, and for good reason.They take pan fried dumplings, a Chinese favorite, and give them a unique twist.Their dumplings have a lacy, crispy crust that lends a textural counterpoint to the soft, savory dumplings laying beneath. Here are a few pictures of the process.


Jing Wang, who works there, told me that dumplings are not made this way in China and that the owner, Hong Xian Zhang, invented the crust to make their's stand out from Toronto's only other dumpling house. Their strategy has obviously worked. If you're ever in Toronto, make it a point to visit. If not, I'm working on recreating their recipe. The dough and filling are pretty close, but the lace crust is giving me a bit of a hard time. I know that the batter contains water, rice vinegar and wheat flower. The proper proportions are still eluding me, though. I'll report back and provide the recipe once I get it right. Until then, it's back to the kitchen.

The Perils of Pine Nuts

This morning I was warming up some beef broth for a recipe. When I tasted it for salt, I noticed that it had a bitter, almost metalic flavor. I threw it out, even though it was homemade and I had in the freezer for less than a month. For some reason it had obviously gone bad. When I ate the dish I had cooked (without the beef broth), it too had that same bitter taste, which lasted for some time after I had finished eating.

This afternoon, I made a ham and swiss sandwich out of cold cuts I had just purchased from the market. Bitter, metalic taste again. I removed the cheese and tried again. Same result.

I took to the internet to investigate the causes for a bitter, metalic taste in the mouth. All the usual suspects popped up: negative reaction to medication, gingivitis, liver disease, brain cancer... none of these seemed right. I came upon one forum, however, that seemed to deal with this very phenomenon. Dozens of people around the world had, and continue to, experience the same symptoms as me. And all the signs pointed to pine nuts. Yes, pine nuts. Those little white seeds that figure prominantly in so many recipes around the world, from italian pesto to middle-eastern kibbeh. I remembered that, while talking to a friend last night, I was munching on some pine nuts that I had purchased from Wegman's earlier in the week.

Pine nuts are harvested from the seed cones of several different conifers that grow in various parts of the world. In the souwest U.S., in countries around the Mediterranian, and in parts of Asia. The culprits in this case seem to be ones imported from Asia, most specifically China, although Russian, Korean and Vietnamese imports may also cause the same effect.

This "pine nut effect" has been noted in a number of places. Wikipedia's article on pine nuts includes a section titled RISKS OF EATING PINE NUTS. The European Journal of Emergency Medicine also describes the phenomenon, noting that "Examination of the pine nuts revealed they were oxidized and not fit for consumption."

The good news is that this nasty tast in the mouth is not a real health concern and will go away. The bad news is that it can take up to a couple of weeks to do so. To avoid suffering the same fate as me, avoid Chinese pine nuts and only use those that are grown in either the U.S. or Italy, and make sure they are from a place that has a lot of turnover in their pine nut supply.

If you are interested in reading more about this, here are some blogs and forums that may be of interest:

Pine nuts, origin and the bitter taste...

Bitter taste after eating for days - caused by pine nuts?

Bitter taste in mouth after eating

In the meantime, I am hoping that my taste buds return to normal in time for my trip to Toronto on Friday. After all, I have things to eat.

Turkish Delights

Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, the heart of ancient Byzantium, and headquarters of the Ottoman Empire. I had the opportunity to spend a delightful two days there back in early 2002, not nearly enough time to experience the myriad sights and sounds. But it's better than not going there at all.

Some of the memorable things? Topkapi Palace (the official residence of Ottoman Sultans), The Hagia Sofia, my visit to a real Turkish hammam, and of course, the food. All of these are located in the neighborhood known as Sultanahmet, a promontory that separates the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. While my visit to Topkapi and the Hagia Sofia were memorable experiences, the hour I spent at the Cemberlitas Hammam left the most lasting impression on me. Click here to visit their website.

The Cemberlitas Hammam is located within walking distance of most of the attractions of the district, and guide books will tell you that after (or before, depending on your disposition) a grueling day of sightseeing, there is nothing better than a nice shvitz and massage at a traditional Turkish bath.

Here's what happened when I went there. After undressing and wrapping myself in a towel, sarong style, I was led into the "warm room," which is heated by hot, dry air, not unlike the familiar Scandinavian sauna. It's here that you work up a good sweat, rinse off, then move on to the main event. I was brought in to a huge domed room, in the center of which is a large stone slab, heated by wood fires underneath. It is really humid in here. After relaxing on the slab for a while, a bath attendant came and scrubbed me from head to toe, lathering me with soapsuds so thich and dense that I've heard of people actually going missing for several days in these huge, billowy clouds. If you're looking for a good exfoliation, look no further. The attendant then rinsed me off with buckets of warm water, using a technique that may well have been the original inspiration for waterboarding.

Next, the massage. I quickly came to realize that that the hammam experience is really just a beating that you receive in a large, insanely hot and humid room. A beating administered by a large, insanely strong Turkish man. First, the deep muscle massage. When I say deep, I mean that while massaging my back muscles, my masseur was able to simultaneously massage both my left and right ventricles. He then proceeded to bend me into shapes that I never thought the human body could be bent into. I vaguely recall contemplating the details of the soles of my feet and silently praying for the sweet release of death. CIA take note; I would have confessed to anything at that point.

Lest you start snickering about hot, sweaty, half-naked men together in one room (women have their own facilities), conjuring up images of New York's infamous turkish baths, let me assure you that there is no funny stuff going on in these places. Although that wasn't always the case.

According to our old friend Wikipedia, "Traditionally, the masseurs in the baths, tellak in Turkish, who were young boys who helped wash clients by soaping and scrubbing their bodies. They also worked as sex workers. We know today, by texts left by Ottoman authors, who they were, their prices, how many times they could bring their customers to orgasm, and the details of their sexual practices... After the defeat and dismemberment of the Ottoman empire, in the quickly westernizing Turkish republic the tellak boys lost their sexual aspect, and now the tellak's role is filled by adult attendants who specialize in more prosaic forms of scrubbing and massage."

After my relaxing massage, I was led into the cold room to drink some tea, cool down and try to regain some of the feeling in my extremities. All this for about 28,000,000 Turkish liras (about $20.00). After all was said and done, I actualy did feel relaxed, and when I was dressed and back out on the street, I was ready to find a restaurant for some good Turkish fare.

And find it I did. Here are a couple of dishes I had that are easy to make and very easy to enjoy. The first is called pilaki, a stewed bean dish that is traditionally made with a bean called barbunya, difficult to obtain here in the U.S. I've substitued white beans for this recipe. Most turkish restaurants over here do the same. The second dish is called coban salatsi, shepherd's salad, which contains cucumber, tomatoes, and (hence the name) feta cheese. Pease try and enjoy.

WHITE BEAN PILAKI

INGREDIENTS
1 can small white beans, drained and rinsed
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 celery stalk, diced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
2/3 cup olive oil
water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

COOKING

1. Heat the oil and add garlic and onion. Sautee for 2 - 3 minutes
2. Add carrots and continue to sautee for 2 minutes
3. Add celery and potato and sautee and additional 2 minutes
4. Add beans and tomato, and enough water to just submerge all the vegetables.
5. Add salt and sugar, and simmer on low heat for 1 hour.
6. Cool to room temperature and serve with elmek (turkish bread) or greek style pita. For a recipe for elmek, click here. I have not tried this recipe yet, but I'll reports the results when I do.

COBAN SALATSI - SHEPHERD'S SALAD

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup cucumber, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cubanelle pepper
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint
2 tsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
20 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS

Place all the vegetables in a medium size salad bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the feta, lemon juice and olive oil and toss together. Serve along with pilaki for a light summer lunch.

Russian Pelmeni

In January of 2002, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Turkmenistan. At the time, the country was ruled by Saparmyrat Niyazov, a.k.a. the Turkmenbashy (which roughly translates as “the father of all Turkmen”). He was widely criticized as being one of the most totalitarian, repressive and egotistic dictators in the world, imposing his personal eccentricities upon his people. But he was also one of the funniest. Some examples of his wackier side: he renamed the months of the year after members of his family, declared a public holiday for melons, and had the Neutrality Arch built in honor of his pledge to keep Turkmenistan out of any “international arguments.” What a nice guy. It’s a 75 meter tall, three-legged monument which symbolizes, in addition to the implied cowardice of his neutrality pledge, the traditional trivet on which a Turkmen cooking pot sits. I guess that’s why there’s also a restaurant inside. Oh, and glass elevators.

The cherry on top of this crazy cupcake is a twelve foot, gold-plated statue of him with outstretched arms, which rotates so that the president always faces the sun. According to some people I spoke to about this, it was meant to show that the very heavens shone down upon his reign… sorry, presidency. This little conceit only cost the county around 12 million dollars in 1998. A mere bag of shells for one the poorest and least developed of the former soviet republics. I’m not even going to write about the preponderance of fountains in Ashgabat, the capital of one the driest counties in the world.

The great Turkmenbashy was also the alleged author of a tome called The Ruhnama (required reading for all students), a cavalier rewriting of Turkmen history and social philosophy, containing, among other things, the word of God transmitted by divine inspiration to the Turkmenbashy himself. According to some (probably the Turkmenbashy), he even persuaded God to ensure that any student who read the book three times would automatically get into paradise. Talk about E-Zpass.

Like I said, the Turkmenbashy was a funny guy, unless you happened to be a citizen of Turkmenistan.

Anyway, you may be wondering why I’m writing about Turkmenistan when this entry is about Russian food. Well, although traditional Turkmen food is closely related to the food of other central Asian countries and has links to the Middle East as well as India, Turkmenistan was a part of the former Soviet Union. Because of this, good deal of traditional Russian dishes can be found there (mostly served in restaurants). Also, I haven’t been to Russia proper. Yet.

One of the most famous Russian foods is pelmeni, a kind of Eurasian tortellini. They most likely originated in Mongolia and made their way through Central Asia and into Europe because they were easily preserved (especially in Siberia, where frozen food wasn’t a convenience, it was a fact of life), traveled well and taste pretty darn good.

If you live near a Russian deli or supermarket, you can buy them frozen. They are a filling meal that cooks quickly and easily (you just boil them in water or broth), but most Russians still prefer the tradition of making them by hand, and no self-respecting Russian housewife would consider serving her family the pre-made variety. They’re strictly for single men, hence the nickname, “bachelor food.”

Pelmeni are fairly easy to make, if a little time consuming, but if you have a couple of hours to spend, try making a batch and freezing them. You’ll have plenty of these little rib stickers on hand to get you through those long, cold Siberian nights. You might even want to curl up with a copy of The Ruhnama, just for laughs.

INGREDIENTS
2½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ to 1 cup milk or water
½ pound ground beef
½ pound ground pork
1 onion, finely diced
Salt
Pepper

MAKE THE DOUGH

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times to mix. Beat the three eggs with the oil.



2. With the food processor running, add the eggs and oil.



3. Slowly add enough milk until a soft, but not sticky, ball forms.



4. Remove dough and knead on a floured board for a few minutes, until the dough feels silky.



5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.

MAKE THE FILLING
I really recommend using a meat grinder for making the filling, because you will get the best texture by passing the beef and pork twice through the smallest plate. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to work the mixture a little more by hand. If you like cooking, though, consider getting one (more about meat grinders in another installment).

1. Combine ground beef, pork and diced onion in a bowl.



2. Work the mixture by hand until it is almost like a smooth paste.



3. Season with salt and pepper. Add a little more salt than you would normally add to a meat mixture. Some of the salt will leach out when they are cooked. Test by frying up a little piece.

Note: You can also make a vegetarian filling by finely dicing onions and mushrooms and sautéing them, adding salt and pepper to taste. Remember, add a little more salt than you would normally add if you were eating them as is. Some of the salt will leach out when they are cooked.

ASSEMBLE THE PELMENI

TRADITIONAL METHOD

1. Cut the dough into three equally sized pieces and roll each one into a cylinder the diameter of a finger.



2. Cut each cylinder into pieces the size of a walnut, then roll each piece into a very thin flat cake (about 1/16 of an inch) with a diameter of about 2 inches.



3. Put some of the ground meat mixture in the center of each flat cake (quite a lot, but not so much that you can't then seal up the dough).



4. Lightly wet the edge of the dough, then fold the dough in half and join up the edges to seal them.Bring the corners of the pelmeni together and pinch them to seal them.

EASIER METHOD
I use a pasta machine for this step. It just makes my life easier in this regard. Get one if you can, you’ll be putting it to good use.

1. Cut the dough into two or three pieces, and flatten out each piece to less than ½ inch thick.



2. Pass the dough through successive settings on the pasta machine until you have sheets about 1/16 of an inch thick.



3. Cut out circles of dough using a 2 inch cookie cutter, or, in my case, a 10 ounce tomato sauce can with the lid removed.



4. Put some of the ground meat mixture in the center of each flat cake (quite a lot, but not so much that you can't then seal up the dough).



5. Lightly wet the edge of the dough, then fold the dough in half and join up the edges to seal them.



6. Bring the corners of the pelmeni together and pinch them to seal them.

Don’t throw away the dough trimmings. Work them together into another ball and pass through the pasta machine again. You’ll be surprised at how many more dough circles you’ll get. Do this until your dough (or filling) is used up.

COOKING PELMENI
Boil fresh pelmeni about five minutes in either broth or water. Frozen pelmeni take about seven to eight minutes.

Serve pelmeni with one of the following: butter and salt, sour cream and dill, sour cream and vinegar, or as a soup with meat broth. You can also serve them with a traditional Russian salad of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes with mayonnaise or sour cream.

Welcome

Welcome and thanks for visiting EthnoFoodie. This being my first post, let me tell you a little about myself and why I’m doing this. I have worked in the television industry for close to twenty years and I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to five of the seven continents in that time. I’ve been to war zones and resorts, seen poverty as well as opulence. And in all of those places I have done what everybody, everywhere, does. I have eaten. I’ve eaten everything from beluga caviar in New York City to skewered lamb’s liver in Afghanistan. I’ve experienced hospitality in the most unlikely of places and broken bread where bread was considered a precious commodity. As a result of my travels (and love of food) I’ve come to realize that one of the best reflections of a culture is what, and how, they eat.

When Marshall McLuhan first posed the idea of the global village, the communications boom was still in its infancy. Now, more than thirty years later, we have almost fully realized the impact of McLuhan's prediction. Satellite-based communications and the internet place far flung lands at our fingertips. In less than twenty four hours you can touch down on the opposite side of the earth.

Fortunately, the staggering monotony that might exist in a world made smaller in this way has been kept to a minimum. There are still places that remain uncorrupted by McDonald's, places that are not drowning in sea of Coke and Budweiser, washed clean of tradition and any indigenous flavor.

There are still places where English isn't spoken, and the sound of it is as alien to the people who live there as ancient Sanskrit would be to us. There are still places where one's mere presence will turn heads and start hushed conversations about who the oddly dressed stranger is that's strolling through the local market.

Now, there's nothing wrong with McDonald's, Coke, Budweiser, Levi's jeans, or any of a hundred other products that seem to symbolize "American" culture around the world. They do symbolize American culture (at least in part.) But that's just it. They're a part of American culture. I knew someone who had the opportunity to go to Japan. When he got back to the states I asked him how the food was, especially the sushi. He told me that he and his family ate at a McDonald’s in Tokyo for every meal. What a shame! He had an opportunity and he wasted it.

When I’m stuck stateside between travels, ethnic dining is a fantastic way to travel to another land, whether it’s to a place you’ve been before or a place you’ve never been. I have yet to go to Ethiopia, but a serving of Doro Wat can transport me to the east coast of Africa, if only for a little while. A good bowl of seafood chowder can take me back to Nova Scotia and a little place called Peggy’s Cove.

The world is an interesting place. It's not always pretty. It's not always safe. But it's definitely interesting. I welcome you to EthnoFoodie, and invite you to join me on a journey of adventure and discovery. Oh yeah, and some really good food.