Fruits and Vegetables
1) Fingerling potatoes Despite its best efforts, the purple potato remains a flavourless, starchy tuber. The fingerling potato, however, has risen above its humble stature to surpass even the mighty Yukon Gold. Fingerlings hang with duck confit and a Granny Smith apple purée at Kitchen Galerie (Montreal) and appear in a warm fingerling potato, asparagus and tarragon salad alongside B.C. salmon at Benitz Bistro (Ottawa). Finger food at its finest.
(2) Kiwis Remember kiwis? Well, they’re back and they’re not so bad. The kiwi caipirissima (like a caipirinha, except with white rum in place of cachaça) at Cabana Bar and Grille (Kelowna) is light, not too sweet and refreshing. Although it may sound weird, the pairing of kiwi jalapeño sauce with lemongrass pannacotta at Alloy (Calgary) works by keeping the chili heat at a minimum.
(3) Carrots Our root vegetable of the year, especially whole baby carrots with a little bit of top attached, like the savage and delicious roasted heirloom carrots at One (Toronto). The vegetable salad at Cowbell (Toronto) pairs sheep milk with tiny carrots too, while the organic carrot salad at BLVD (Calgary), marinated in a lemon-sugar vinaigrette, puts the grated version to shame.
(4) Onion rings Although we generally prefer our onion rings a little on the greasy ghetto side (A&W’s spring to mind), we admit that the upscale tempura versions at Cut Steakhouse (Halifax), served with a smoked paprika and saffron mayonnaise, and at One (Toronto), with scallion chili dip, are now among our favourites. And let’s not forget the great French-style shaved rings at Nota Bene (Toronto).
(5) Mâche (also known as lamb’s lettuce) Soft as velvet and delicate in flavour, this year’s answer to arugula was spotted at C5 (Toronto) in a simple salad and at Fraîche (Vancouver), where it was deliciously paired with roasted beets, toasted almonds and dressed with a Gorgonzola apple-cider vinaigrette.
Classic Throwbacks
We’re happy to report that chefs are dusting off the Larousse Gastronomique and reviving old-school classics. Cut Steakhouse (Halifax) serves jumbo shrimp amandine (a fancy way of saying “with almonds”) and Pied-à-Terre (Vancouver) offers trout with green beans amandine. The Vault (St. John’s) is dishing up cassoulet, the slow-cooked bean dish from Southwest France, albeit with black-eyed peas, while at Metro (Vancouver), they’re slow-cooking a merguez version.
Starch and Carbs
(1) Strozzapreti This is our favourite pasta to pronounce and eat. It means “priest choker” in Italian, and we choose to believe the long rolled pasta gets its name from the fact that when it was first created, the priests liked it so much and ate it so fast that they choked to death. Don’t make the same mistake when trying versions like strozzapreti with savoury, succulent rabbit stew at Graziella (Montreal) or with pan-seared scallops and the chef’s signature tomato sauce at the Vault (St. John’s).
(2) Gnocchi If spaetzle was last year’s gnocchi, then the new spaetzle is, well, gnocchi. If that logic throws you for a loop, then you’ll be stumped by the gnocchi poutine served at Kitchen Galerie (Montreal). Yes, gnocchi poutine with foie gras, because this is Quebec after all.
(3) Pizza Even though they call it flatbread, we know it’s really pizza they’re serving at Nyood (Toronto). We especially like the one with San Marzano tomatoes, basil and Reggiano, though the lamb version with curry oil is worth trying. Cabana Bar and Grille (Kelowna) makes excellent use of its forno, turning out whole-wheat-crust pies with things like peach barbecue sauce and Carmelis goat cheese. Even the aggressively modern Duel (Montreal) was riffing on pizza this year, with Laurent Godbout offering shortbread pizza with mozzarella foam and salami oil.
Sleeper Dishes
Watch out for casual, seemingly throwaway dishes that gild certain menus and seem designed for in-the-know regulars. We could easily devour the pressed Cubano sandwich with cider-cured pork shoulder at Delux (Toronto) once a week, and we’d be more than happy to make a meal of a simple house salad followed by the exquisite and meaty side of cassoulet beans served in a little cocotte and topped with gremolata at Pied-à-Terre (Vancouver).
