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Foraging Through Canada
Food food food food food food food food food food food food food food!
I'm gonna be big as a house. Although this is another installment of Foraging on the Highway, I don't even know the names of these places. No time to take notes when you're eating a swath through Canada. I will say this--the market in downtown Ottawa reminds me of Paris. They have it all. This is berry time in Canada. Fresh raspberries, strawberries, wild blueberries, gooseberries, and currants are everywhere. Traveling the back roads to Toronto, we had to stop at one of the many roadside erry-and-fresh-baked-pie stands. In Canada, pesticides are not allowed on berry crops, and at this latitude, the berries are sweet and flavorful.

Not only that, the ethnic restaurants abound. Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Indian, Greek, African, Vietnamese, you name it. Of course the local fresh salmon is waaaaay happening. The best spanikopita I ever tasted was in Greektown, Toronto (The largest Greek population in North America). Toronto is so cool. It's extremely hip, and also laid back. It's like New York without the glitz. Traffic is slow, and it's really no big deal. Plus… sushi in the Seven Eleven?! *^#%!!?!(: And to top it all off, we caught em with their guilders down! (That's an expression I "coined" in Amsterdam a few years back) What I mean is the exchange rate is grrrrrrreat. How bout 2 fer 1 lobsters in Chinatown for $15.95 (Canadian). Makes it under six bucks a lobster (US). So needless to say, we're havin' fun.

After doing three shows at the Ottawa Blues Fest, we were the talk of the town. It's amazing. We're killin' em wherever we go. We sold more CDs than anyone else at the fest. We out-sold Little Richard, Smokey Robinson, John Hiatt, and the list goes on. The Ottawa Blues Fest is one of the coolest events I have ever been to. It started five years ago as a street dance to benefit meals for the homeless population, and this year with a budget of a million dollars, they are using the proceeds to buy an apartment building for people who can't afford housing. My chef hat is off to Mark Monahan and friends for not only a good time, but also a good feeling in my heart for being involved with this cause.

And then there's the Fireside Cafe. (519-357-4484) On Highway 4 in southwest Ontario, there's a tiny little town called Wingham. It's the kind of place they make "blink and you'll miss it" jokes about. This is the town that a couple of city dwellers (David and Linda Phillips) decided to settle down in. Having had enough of the hustle and bustle, they fell in love with the pastoral setting of farmlands, forests, and beaches of Lake Huron. So, they bought a little truck stop, and made a few renovations. After a few years of learning the ropes and settling into the local scene, they have turned a dreary greasy spoon into a sterling family restaurant. This bright, cheery place would be intimidating to the casual diner, if you didn't know the proprietors. Extremely clean, with a sparkling ambience, attentive waiters, and a "takin' care of business" kitchen staff makes you think you might be in the big city. But the thing that makes it work, the thing that makes it a really enjoyable meal (in addition to great food) is how nice, how warm, how totally unpretentious these people are. So the day after the show at the Fireside Cafe, we're having lunch with David and Linda, and this beautiful couple (I would call them elderly--they're 75 years old--but they were acting like teenagers), Adrian and Margaret Beckman, and the conversation was lively. Come to find out, Adrian designed the CN Tower in Toronto- you know the Needle- the tallest building in the world? The night before these kids parked themselves at a table right down front, directly in front of the main speakers and proceeded to boogie till the cows came home--all night long! So we're sitting there at lunch, swapping stories from Amsterdam, and quizzing Adrian about the eighty-foot bedrock foundation of the CN Tower. Way out in the middle of nowhere! What a gas! From "somewhere" in Canada, this is the Sauce Boss, signing off.

Thank you for your support, Eat good, love your life, and I'll see ya next time, B