The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Life G L3 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... FROM PAGE 1 8 CURED Chefs teaching themselves how to cure meat 9 Becoming federally licensed (so you can sell products outside your province) can be extremely difficult and cost-prohibitive for most small producers. Jérôme Dudicourt, manager of Oyama Sausage Co. in British Columbia, says that when it is difficult to cross provincial borders with our own products, Canadians cannot properly support the national terroir or maintain and encourage traditional skills. “The government needs to get more flexible to ship within Canada,” he says.” Events such as the Aylmer Meat Packers scandal and the recent Maple Leaf Foods listeria outbreak put pressure on the government to standardize regulations across the board. As Dave Meli of the Healthy Butcher, a Toronto shop specializing in certified organic meat, explains: “The minute you’re curing, brining, smoking or using salt you’re considered a meat processor – no matter what your size.” Cowbell’s butcher, Ryan Donovan, says that “most large companies have no problem having a separate parking space for an inspector, or separate change rooms or offices, [which is] next to impossible for the artisan.” For the consumer, the restrictions make it harder to sample salami from another province than to buy sopprasetta from Italy. No one is arguing that health and safety standards should be loosened for smaller operations; only that the way a safe environment is evaluated could be more sensitive to size. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was unable to comment on short notice about the possibility of looking at different regulations for small and large producers. It Classier cold cuts It’s easier to stack a savoury platter with meats from Italy than from another province. KEVIN VAN PAASSEN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL would say only that its first priority is the safety of food products, and ensuring that regulatory requirements are met to verify that safety. Steve Alexander, owner of Cumbrae Meats in Toronto, agrees that safety is a delicate area. “Anything air-cured, dried from raw – you’re dealing with something that could be dangerous,” he says. “… The health department and retail food inspection agencies are really trying to define what you can and cannot do.” As for safety regulations that work for both large and small producers, Mr. Alexander has hope: “A lot of people think we’re over-policed on that stuff. You have to be pretty tough, but I think you can do it.” Even if the government could confidently loosen its grip on smaller producers so that charcuterie could thrive in Canada, a better system for proper training would be required. In Europe, becoming a good charcutier takes at least 10 years of apprenticeship, learning not only how to make fine products but also the science of curing raw meat. In Canada, you may find only one butchery course out of a whole curriculum in a cooking program. For Mario Pingue, whose name has become synonymous in Ontario with prosciutto that stacks up against Italian drycured ham, the issue is clearcut: “I have no pity for any one who gets into a market and isn’t properly trained.” Mr. Pingue had to educate himself. “I couldn’t find any information of anyone making these products without nitrates or nitrites,” he says, “so I had to go back to Italy to learn how to do it.” Mr. Cutrara at Cowbell also had to teach himself to make charcuterie. He says he has a 100-year-old Spanish charcuterie book from his grandfather that he consults. He also men- tions the food community: “Talking to other chefs – what to watch for, what to look for – there’s no school for this, which is the problem. Rather than fearing this stuff I think we need to embrace it.” And what can we hope for by keeping these Old World skills alive for a new generation of craftsmen? “In Toronto there are so many cultures and so many old-school guys around – we can learn to make phenomenal products,” Mr. Meli says. “It would be cool if we could say, ‘My favourite salami comes from here.’ ” Enjoying charcuterie is not limited to eating head cheese as an appetizer. The quality of meat in your cold cuts can elevate a sandwich to a gourmet treat. And our newly refined palates are even dictating change on the grocery list. Artisanal salamis and cured hams can provide healthier ingredients (organic, nitrate- and nitrite-free) and tastier alternatives for our lunchboxes. For only a few cents difference per serving, why settle for generic flavours? Steve Alexander, owner of Cumbrae Farms, says, “If you do a blind tasting of commodity pork and heritage-breed stuff you will see a huge flavour difference.” He cites Mario Pingue’s products as an example. Mr. Pingue says that with good husbandry, naturally raised pork can have many flavour nuances. An older pig will have more flavour in its higher-fat content, more meat intensity, darker colour and longer finish. It will also have more punch up front. He suggests a test: “If you go to any Loblaws, pick five salamis and in a blind tasting try and tell them apart, I don’t think you can discern them – unless on the basis of more or less spicy. You can taste the pigginess – but can you taste the pork?” 66 Sue Riedl 66 Special to The Globe and Mail POWER CHOW 8 STATE DINNERS The Naked Chef’s G20 challenge: No pork, no foie gras, no ‘fantasy dessert’ BY JULIA BELLUZ LONDON J amie Oliver has assumed many incarnations: laddish cook, local-food champion, pig-farm investigator, nutrition crusader and bestselling author. In his latest role, the chef will play the part of political darling, hand-picked by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to cook for G20 leaders in London today at 10 Downing St. The choice of the budgetconscious Mr. Oliver in the current economic climate – London police expected violent protests today, dubbed “Financial Fools’ Day” by anti-capitalist groups – is “a PR masterstroke on the part of the government,” says Rodney Barker, a political scientist and commentator at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “When the powerful of the world meet together,” he says, “they normally treat themselves with unimaginative luxury: plenty of staff, cars, expenditure, and very expensive food.” Indeed, at last year’s G8 meeting in Japan, world leaders including Mr. Brown indulged in a lavish eight-course dinner before discussing the growing global food crisis. The meal, which featured 18 dishes including caviar, champagne and a “fantasy dessert” was widely criticized in the press. Mr. Oliver’s G20 menu is ex- pected to be much more downto-earth, showcasing British ingredients. And the 33-year-old chef seems aware of the optics he must navigate. Mr. Oliver told The Observer that when Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Family phoned him with the offer, he replied by saying, “It’ll be my honour. … But I know me; you know the British press … a cook’s really political.” So the dinner, he said, would be, “What I choose. How I cook it. I’ve got to be clever. I’m not going to rattle out a foie gras and noisettes of whatever. Actually, I like the idea of stew and dumplings.” Assisting Mr. Oliver prepare the dishes will be graduates and apprentice chefs from Fifteen in London, the restaurant he created in 2002 to give disadvantaged young people a chance at a fresh start in the kitchen. “I’m hoping that the menu … will show that British food and produce is some of the best of the world but also show that we have pioneered a high quality apprentice scheme at Fifteen,” he told the British press. The official menu will only be released later today, giving critics no time to find fault with the dishes before leaders such as Barack Obama taste a forkful. But The Telegraph is reporting that Mr. Oliver will serve a suitably simple meal: Chef Jamie Oliver hopes that his G20 menu will showcase both British food and the apprenticeship scheme at his London-based restaurant, Fifteen. NEVILLE ELDER FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL Welsh lamb, English asparagus and flat bread seasoned with wild garlic. By several accounts he has spent the last week sourcing ingredients from his suppliers all over Britain. The only thing that a spokesperson has confirmed is that pork will not be featured so as not to offend Muslim diners. Taking such dietary requirements into consideration is crucial when planning such a dinner, says Chris Barber, who cooked hundreds of meals for numerous dignitaries during his time as chef to the Queen and personal chef to Prince Charles at St. James’s Palace. “If you were cooking for a world leader or a group of world leaders, you would look at who is coming and try to make a menu that wouldn’t of- fend anyone,” he says. The other secret to a successful state dinner is “manpower,” says Yann Barraud, head chef at Le Cordon Bleu London. Mr. Oliver’s team from Fifteen will be busy. “You have to be able to deliver the freshest of ingredients, cooked on the spot. For that, a chef will need a team big enough – and perfectly trained – to be able to prepare every- thing at the last minute, for all the ingredients to be as fresh as possible.” Cooking for world leaders gives Mr. Oliver “an opportunity to sell Britain, to come across as professional, inventive, creative, and to market British food to them,” Mr. Barber says. “My view is that when G20 leaders leave the U.K., you want them to say ‘That was quite good.’ ” He adds, “You want to make sure what you’ve got on the plate would be a true reflection of modern Britain.” Spring lamb would be a good choice, Mr. Barber says. However, he warns that Mr. Oliver faces a challenge if he chooses to cook mainly with regional foods. “It’s the worst possible season to have anything local because we’re just coming out of winter. Things aren’t growing at the moment – only cabbage and rhubarb.” But Jamie Oliver’s greatest challenge tonight might have nothing to do with ingredients or picky politicians. His wife, Jools, is due to give birth to the couple’s third child on Friday – and security rules require Mr. Oliver to hand over his cellphone when he enters the residence of the Prime Minister. If she goes into labour a day early, Mr. Oliver will have to be alerted by Downing Street officials. 66 Special to The Globe and Mail FROM PAGE 1 8 PHONE Students argue it’s their right to use a cellphone 9 After doing some online research, the students discovered the device is outlawed under Sections 4 and 9 of Canada’s Radiocommunication Act. The school had banned electronic devices from its classrooms since September, 2007, but iPods and cellphones kept streaming in, the principal told The Globe and Mail. The students’ defence? It’s their right to use a cellphone at school. “I just think it’s our right to be able to have [our] own personal stuff,” says boycott organizer Destiny Herman, a Grade 12 student. She says that if teachers are allowed to have cellphones with them, students should too. The rights issue was first raised during a controversial effort in 2007 to ban cellphone use in Toronto high schools. Even parents were outraged that the school board would “take away their right” to phone their kids at school. “The bottom line is being able to use your cellphone in class is not in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Free- doms,” says Josh Matlow, the Toronto District School Board trustee who successfully saw through the ban in April, 2007. While he admits there are challenges to enforcing the ban, he doesn’t think teachers should try to up the ante on students who defy it. In Toronto classrooms, students can bring a cellphone but it must be turned off. Other schools and boards across the country have also forbidden cellphones, including the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board in Southern Ontario, the Halifax Regional School Board and Northern Ontario’s Algoma District School Board as well as individual schools in Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal and the Niagara region. The rules can vary from school to school, and enforcement also varies from teacher to teacher, students say. Some only have a problem if it’s distracting others. Hanna Blakeley, a Grade 9 student at Toronto’s Jarvis Collegiate, says her English teacher completely ignores one female classmate who chats Cellphone jammer A Cellphone communicates with its service network via a cell tower. Cell towers divide the landscape into small areas, or cells. Cell tower A phone jammer simply transmits on the same radio frequency as the cellphone, disrupting the communication between it and the cell tower. NINIAN CARTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL 66 SOURCE: HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM away during class on her Bluetooth headset. It’s rare for a teacher to do anything more than reprimand a student for using a cellphone in class, or confiscate it, both educators and students say. A clear and proper procedure, such as the one written out on a poster and tacked on classroom walls in North Toronto Collegiate Institute, lessens the chance of a teacher upping the ante, says principal Joel Gorenkoff. Teachers are required to first give a warning to the student, then confiscate the phone. It’s taken to the principal’s office, where parents must pick it up. “I’ve asked teachers not to get into arguing with the student in the hall or taking the phone themselves,” Mr. Gorenkoff says. So far, the system is a pretty good deterrent. And what does he think of his students using adult-resistant ring tones? “Well, it makes me feel bad to be older.” he says. “But it’s a visibility thing. Even if it goes off, if it becomes visible then the teachers are dealing with it.” Culinary Arts in Italy This summer award winning teacher and celebrity chef Paul Finkelstein will be leading a high school accredited culinary arts program in Italy for students aged 14 to 18. Exploring Italy from Puglia to Tuscany while staying in historic villas, our mornings will be ﬁlled with farms, markets and butchers before soaking up Italy’s cafes, beaches and art galleries in the afternoons. In the evenings we will head into the kitchen to prepare a nightly feast with all of our new found ingredients and knowledge. Visits to Bari, Rome, Siena and Florence will balance our country stays and allow our students to savour several regional cuisines and their adjoining cultures. June 29th to July 25th – $5,995 Airfare included. Limited availability. 416 960 3552 or toll-free 1 866 960 3552 info@blytheducation.com • www.BlythEducation.com