The Ontario Table

Have Your Cake & Eat It Too

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Take a look at wedding cakes on the web and you’ll see just how far we’ve come from traditional slabs of iced fruitcake. That’s not to say the evolution of wedding cakes has always gone in the right direction. I found a wedding cake made into a full-sized (5-foot!), likeness of the bride; another was a 36-inch in diameter hamburger wedding cake complete with fondant replicated lettuce, onion, pickles and special sauce. I found a cake where the bride figurine on top is holding a fishing rod and the hook is caught in the pants of the groom and […]

Is That An Espresso Cup in Your Pants?

Blog, cuisine, food, local food, lynn ogryzloLeave a comment

When I started writing this story I asked almost everyone I met if they’d ever taken anything from a restaurant. You know, a napkin, a glass, or packets of soy sauce. Almost unanimously the answers began with, “yea, I took…”. Restaurant thievery as it turns out, comes with a lifetime of boasting and bragging rights which were not that difficult to pry out of the thieves I spoke to. Take David Dunbar for example. His life of crime began a few decades ago when he began taking spoons from restaurants. All over the world, wherever he dined, he pocketed […]

Charcuterie, more than just meat

Blog, culinary tourism, farm fresh food, food, local food, lynn ogryzlo, The Ontario TableLeave a comment

Throughout Toronto down the Golden Horseshoe and into Niagara, the mere mention of Pingue Prosciutto inspires mouths to water in anticipation of the best-tasting cured meats around. Curing meats, whether European-style or North American, is not new, but the trade of artisanal charcuterie-making in Ontario is. Niagara Food Specialties or Pingue Proscuitto as the locals call it, is Ontario’s largest producer of cured meats, but it wasn’t always that way. Mario Pingue Sr. made prosciutto and various sausages in his cantina, a small room carved out of the Niagara escarpment in the little village of Queenston. This natural stone […]

Bring On The Cold, I’m Roasting Inside

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We are all connected to the seasons. That’s why we crave light salads and chilled watermelon in the summer and root vegetables and roasts in the winter. As I pull the collar tighter around my neck on this frigid winters day, I can feel my body craving savoury foods. Isn’t it wonderful that when we begin to crave certain things, Mother Nature is right there to provide them for us? Winter is the time for root vegetables; farmers have long ago picked the last of the potatoes, carrots, squash and onions from the fields. They all go together in […]

The Travelling Apron

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It was my first Christmas in Toronto. I had a few new friends, acquaintances and colleagues. I had no idea what to expect. There was the occasional bottle of wine gifted my way, cards left at my doorstep and the one totally unexpected gift from Solveiga, my new Toronto friend with a wonderful sense of humour that I am learning very quickly, has no boundaries. Her gift was a usual holiday themed bag with tissue paper reaching out from the top. I tucked it next to our little 2-foot Christmas tree. What was inside was anything but usual. On […]

What’s Hot in 2015

Blog, culinary tourism, local food, lynn ogryzloLeave a comment

In the culinary world there are no big surprises to predict for 2015. So I decided to make my own. Artisan toast will be big, chocolate covered bacon is out. Lake fish is in, sweet potato fries are out. Unfortunately hybrid desserts (or Frankenpastries as I call them) haven’t offended our sweet sensibilities enough so they’re staying but you’ll probably see the simpler pie cakes replace the three-tiered cake of pies. Pancakes will be made with cinnamon roll dough, Oreo cookie will morph into macaroons and croissant will now be crossed with pretzels. My two favourite categories will lead […]

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