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Creamy Jamaican Pumpkin & Carrot Soup

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BY: EARTHA LOWE

There’s a famous reggae song titled “Hot Sexy Punkie” by international artist Sean Paul. Should you know this “sweet” reggae song, raise your hand if each year at the beginning of harvest season, the lyrics start to loop in your head? Like many other people that I know, when this song was first released in 2002, we all thought Sean Paul was singing “Hot Sexy Pumpkin.” Harvest season means Thanksgiving, apple picking, an abundance of pumpkins (all types of pumpkins!), Jack-O-Lanterns, pumpkin patches, pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice recipes. You’ll love nothing more than cooking up recipes inspired by fall’s bounty but with that, and the sight of pumpkins everywhere comes the remix.

Soup-making: Soup-making may conjure up an image of huge pots containing hundreds of ingredients simmering all day long, but that need not be the case. A batch of soup can be made in the same amount of time it takes to make many other dinner dishes and is among the most satisfying of kitchen tasks. Making soup in many instances, is also not precise, which make the process easy and fun. There are, however, general rules and basic techniques to make soup better.

To make soup at its most basic, you start with water, add some means of making it taste better – usually meat, poultry, fish or aromatic vegetables, along with seasonings – and finish with more vegetables and/or grains. Is stock essential for every soup? No. Will it improve the taste of almost any soup? Yes. Even the simplest vegetable stock made with ingredients like onion, leek, carrot, celery and other scraps of vegetables, will make a difference in most soups.  The one rule to follow when making vegetable stock is to roast the vegetables before simmering them. Browning the vegetables add body and flavour.

Preparing Foods for Soup: It doesn’t matter much how you cut vegetables if you plan to puree them to thicken the soup. However, uniform cutting will allow the foods to cook evenly. Cut vegetables about the same size so they’ll finish cooking at the same time.

You’ll need

  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 3 cups pumpkins, diced
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 1 cup sweet potato, diced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 – 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk (optional)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato, onion and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the stock and ginger, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes, or until carrot is tender. Add in the coconut milk and green onion.
  3. Puree the soup using a blender.
  4. Ladle the soup into bowls.

Tips

Garnish with finely sliced green onion, fresh thyme leaves or chopped nuts (optional).

Substitute the pumpkin with any other type of squash.

Category: vegan, vegetarian

Prep and cook time: 60 minutes

Serves: 4

Difficulty: easy

With the use of a blender (including the handheld immersion blender), it is possible to puree almost any vegetable soup and many others as well. Soup’s on everyone!

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Food

Preserving Jerk Chicken: A Chef’s passion for authenticity

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BY MEGAN ROBERTS

As a child of Jamaican parents and a chef, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for traditional Jamaican cuisine. One dish that holds a special place in my heart, and in the hearts of many Jamaicans, is jerk chicken. Jerk chicken is more than just a meal; it’s a cultural icon that represents the flavours and traditions of Jamaica. That’s why it’s so important to me, and to many others, to preserve the authenticity of this beloved dish.

Chef Nicholas is one of those individuals who is dedicated to preserving traditional jerk chicken. He is passionate about bringing the true flavours of Jamaica to his community in Canada. Chef Nicholas is in the world of opening up a jerk centre in Brampton that will offer authentic jerk chicken using the method of cooking with pimento wood.

“So, if you know that you want the best jerk chicken, or jerk pork, you’re going to go to TricNic Jerk Center, because that’s where you’re going to get it.” Chef Nicholas emphasized. He firmly believes that using pimento wood is essential to achieving the distinct smokey flavours that sets traditional jerk chicken apart from its variations.

“For me right now, in terms of jerk chicken, the real way is with the pimento wood,” he continued. “It’s not easy to do it in the traditional way. He explained that while it’s not easy to source the pimento wood, it’s the only way to preserve the authentic flavour and essence of the dish. In Canada, where the weather is cold and laws restrict certain methods of cooking, many jerk chicken establishments use barrel grills which deviate from the traditional method of digging a pit to smoke.

However, Chef Nicholas is determined to adhere to the originality of jerk chicken and has plans of opening up a jerk centre in Brampton, where customers can experience the true flavours of traditional jerk chicken.

“So, we’re setting up our jerk centre where you can get the jerk chicken the real way, the authentic way, where you’re going to get it on the charcoal grill every day. It’s going to be baked in the oven,” he shared. His dedication to preserving traditional jerk chicken is inspiring and serves as a reminder of the cultural significance of the dish.

“The spices are going to be directly from Jamaica. We get our scotch bonnet and pimento seeds directly from Jamaica. We make our own jerk seasoning from scratch. We don’t get our spices premixed; we mix our own blend.” This attention to detail is what sets TricNic Jerk Center apart from other establishments that may rely on pre-packaged seasonings and shortcuts.

Chef Nicholas and I also spoke about the historical significance of this dish. We touched on the fact that the method of jerking chicken can be traced back to the Maroons, who were descendants of enslaved Africans that escaped to the mountains of Jamaica. They used a combination of spices and smoking techniques to preserve the meat, which evolved into what we know today as jerk chicken.

It’s clear that chef Nicholas’ passion for preservation extends beyond just the food itself, it’s a representation of his heritage and culture. As a food writer and chef, I appreciate the work he has done and continues to do advocating for the safeguarding of this popular dish. We must ensure that future generations can experience true flavours and understand both the historical and cultural importance of jerk chicken and we need to support the efforts of Chef Nicholas and others who are working to protect and educate others.

Chef was gracious enough to add a simple yet delicious recipe:

Authentic Jamaican Jerk Shrimp (shelled)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb. shrimp (peeled and deveined) Leaving the tail on

1/2 cup TricNic® Jerk Marinade

Step 1
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat or preheat the grill to medium heat. Put shrimp in a mixing bowl and rub in TricNic® jerk marinade. Mix to make sure the shrimp is well coated.

Step 2
Add shrimp to the grilled or a hot skillet and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, turning once midway until the shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove shrimp from the skillet. Enjoy!

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Food

When you have a dream, don’t be afraid to pursue it; The sensational Savoury’s Sweets

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BY MEGAN ROBERTS

Have you ever met someone who just radiates positivity and inspires you to chase your dreams? That’s exactly how I felt when I met Christine, the owner of Savoury’s Sweets

Our friendship began while at Centennial College. I needed a few sheets of parchment paper, so I timidly approached the bakers’ section of the kitchen, knowing full well how particular bakers can be about their workspace. I raised my white flag in the form of a greeting and said “Hi my baking friends,” to let them know I come in peace. That is where everything started.

Christine’s passion for baking began with her grandparents. Her grandfather was a pastry chef at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, but it was her grandmother, Odessa, who was the active baker at home. She would be excited to take the four-hour long trips with her dad to visit knowing that she would always be greeted with traditional Bajan cuisine and her favourite treats freshly baked by her grandmother. She remembers seeing her grandfather grating coconut and cassava into a big silver bowl in preparation for pastries, but one of her fondest food memories is that of Odessa’s cinnamon rolls. “It didn’t matter what day you dropped in on Grandma, there was bread, there were cinnamon rolls, cassava, there was something,” Christine recalls with emotion.

After graduating from the baking program, she started her business, Savoury’s Sweets. Starting a business is no easy feat, especially when you’re putting yourself out there so I asked her why she chose this path. “Well, it’s the fact that I have $15,000 in student debt,” she responded while laughing. “I am qualified for baking. I’m a graduate of Baking and Pastry Arts Management. I could manage a bakery, but I learned that wasn’t for me. I wanted to be self-reliant”

She continued to say that it was important for her to set an example for her children. “I want to create experiences for them. I want to create inspiration for them. I don’t want them to see that just because it got hard, or it was slow that it means that you give up or stop. I want them to see that I continue pushing despite any obstacles”

Since the start of Savoury’s Sweets, Christine has been making herself known at various popups around the city. Her most recent event was located in Kensington Market where she had the absolute pleasure of purchasing the infamous Dessa Roll, a most decadent cinnamon roll aptly named after her grandmother. “I just want to make people happy with my food,” she stated so humbly “And set an example for my children. I’m just doing the best that I can with what I have and I’ve done too much to give up at this point.”

Christine’s story is a true inspiration for anyone who has a dream and is afraid to pursue it. She took a risk on herself and her passion for baking and it’s paying off. I hope this serves as a reminder that no matter how daunting a task may seem if it’s your calling, nothing can stop you.

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Culinary Matters

Virtual trees: Cannabis presence in the online metaverse

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Photo Credit: Antonio Borriello

BY SEAN SEURATTAN

A few short years ago, thinking that cannabis would become a legal and booming industry seemed like sheer fantasy but here we are. So, thinking that cannabis can be a regular resident of the virtual space known as the metaverse does not have to be science fiction.

The cannabis industry being born near the pinnacle of the technological revolution has ensured that an online presence is part of its DNA. Currently to most this is simply constituted by having a website and some social media accounts. However this is only the smallest fraction of what is possible. Here we will discuss some important components of the Metaverse, and how these could be applied to the cannabis community.

The biggest thing to understand about WEB3 (the metaverse’s proper name) is that it is a place where things can exist indefinitely in a virtual form.  In some cases, these are things that exist purely virtually, or in other cases they are virtual representations of real-world things. The simple fact that there is an online space that entire communities can exist in is an incredible leap forward, but is also familiar territory for the cannabis enthusiasts. Being able to virtually share information, ask questions and engage with others in real time are time-honoured traditions practiced by the cannabis community. . This has led to the creation of online marketplaces and forums about cannabis, which are pushing towards the creation of apps and other resources. This makes the entire cannabis experience easier and more informed.

While NFTs have been a heavy tech buzzword surrounding the Metaverse for the last few years, they actually comprise a small aspect of it: ownership. A non-fungible token is used to designate a digital asset as undeniably official and impossible to recreate. The ridiculously superficial bubble market of selling juvenile cartoon animal images will give way to the true purpose for this technology.

NFTs can give real world value to digital items. This is beneficial to cannabis in a multitude of ways. Beyond using them just to create digital trading cards of cannabis imagery, they can be used to unite decentralized individuals towards a common goal. For instance, a company could offer NFTs as a way to crowdfund a new experimental strain and NFT holders would get free samples or early access to reward their initial purchase. Experience based NFTs gained by attending specific events are another way cannabis could find value in this technology. A person’s virtual avatar could easily display an NFT confirming their attendance to a special conference, convention or seminar validating them for specific tasks. For example, owning a special NFT could designate someone as certified to grow an exotic cannabis strain.

Crypto currency is a much more complicated concept for WEB3, but can ultimately be liberation for the entire cannabis market. In the most obscenely simple terms, crypto currency is digital money independent of any centralized banking construct. It is created online, stored online, and spent online without ever materializing in the physical world. Its strength is solely based on the amount of users willing to accept, and use it.

Cannabis still holds a negative stigma, and many banks that still refuse to accept funds from this previously illegal industry perpetuate this. Crypto is a way to bypass this and future gatekeeping. In essence, anyone with the knowledge could create a currency that could be used solely for cannabis. With enough confidence from the community, it would be safe, secure and infallible. It could also provide financial equity within this new industry while simultaneously keeping it free from the current stagnant group holding most of the world’s capital.

It is truly a wonder to witness a community originating from the most analog place ascend to unimaginable heights through the strength of technology. While it is always wise to be cautious in unfamiliar territory, the benefits possible far outweigh the fear of risks. Cannabis can use the metaverse as a way to cement itself into the foundation of the future.

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