Cinda Chavich’s TasteReport.com
taste the world
Cinda Chavich’s TasteReport.com
taste the world
2018
Cinda Chavich’s best-selling cook books:
The Guy Can’t Cook by Cinda Chavich (Whitecap), sequel to the popular The Girl Can’t Cook
Award-winning High Plains was also updated and reissued in 2011.
Follow the ongoing adventures of food and travel writer Cinda Chavich as she savours the world. Find her published food, drink and travel stories, and regular blog here at TasteReport.com.
Mexico: travels in ceviche-ville
Victoria; Brunch Capital of Canada
Peru: visit Machu Picchu in style
Getting away in the Gulf Islands
Star Chefs and traditions in Peru
Czech Pils in Prague and Pilsen
Agricultural utopia in Arizona
Scotland: Where the Royals Roam on holiday
First Nations art and Totem poles
Watching grizzly bears in B.C.
A scenic train trip to bike-friendly Whistler
Michelin releases Alberta guide
Go Slow: a food tour of Italy’s Piemonte
Crawdad season in Cajun country
Saving the blue iguana of Grand Cayman
The science of watching humpback whales
More food stories:
Fruitcake: breakfast (lunch and snack) of champions
Mole: the mother sauce of Mexico
Artisan bakers mill healthy flour
25 Best Things to Eat in Calgary - 2010
Team Canada at Bocuse d’Or in Lyon
Making Sauerkraut from scratch
Canada’s authentic buffalo mozzarella
Yellow Beet Borscht and Spring Beet Greens Pie
Fennel Risotto with Smoked Salmon
Cooking with sauerkraut
Cock-a-leekie soup
Mac and cheese (from scratch!)
Pickerel in lemon butter sauce
More Drink stories:
The Dolcettos of Dogliani
Cocktail Nation: Drink experts dish on latest
Orofino Riesling wins gold medal
More great hotels:
Pacific Sands Beach Resort, Tofino, B.C.
Three Ways House Hotel, Mickleton, UK
The Juniper, Banff National Park
The Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alberta
Opus Hotel, Vancouver, B.C.
Moraine Lake Lodge, Lake Louise, Alberta
G Hotel, Penang, Malaysia
Shangri-la Hotel, Vancouver, B.C.
Hotel Arts, Calgary, Alberta
Kensington Riverside Inn, Calgary, Alberta
Mission Ridge B&B, Courtenay, B.C.
It was almost a decade ago that I joined Canadian chef David Wong and his apprentice Grace Pineda, with their team of supporters, in Lyon, France for the 2009 Bocuse D’Or. It was an amazing story to cover then for the Globe and Mail, and this month, I wrote another story for EAT magazine, recalling all of the excitement of that iconic competition and its namesake, Paul Bocuse, the Lion of Lyon. I asked other Canadian chefs who competed at Bocuse for their memories, too, all in anticipation of the next competition in January 2019. Read it here.
The latest trend in the locovore movement is organic, heirloom and heritage grain - locally grown and freshly ground into natural, whole meal flour. It started with young bakers who wanted to create the best bread with the simplest ingredients, completely from scratch. Learning old skills — from milling grain to building traditional wood-fired ovens and slowly fermenting breads with wild yeasts — became the benchmark for this new breed of craft-driven bakers. They understand what’s removed from flour in industrial milling and how that affects the nutritional value and flavour of our daily bread.
Now Victoria is ground zero for artisan bakeries where local and organic grains are milled daily to create hearty, rustic loaves by innovative bakers like Erika Heyrman of Wild Fire Bakery, Cliff Leir of Fol Epi, and Byron Fry of Fry’s Bakery.
I take a look at the trend and the people behind some of the best bread in the city in this story for EAT Magazine. Read it here.
FAVOURITE FOOD BOOKS:
Blue Water Cafe Seafood Cookbook by Frank Pabst
A Return to Cooking by Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman
Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver
The New Best Recipe by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated (the the new Best International Recipe version)
Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
The Barbecue! Bible by Steven Raichlen
Greene on Grains by Bert Greene
French Cooking En Famille by Jacques Burdick
Simply in Season (MCC World Community Cookbook)
The New Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler-Herbst
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Deerholme Foraging Book by Bill Jones
The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook by Elizabeth Baird et al
GREAT FOOD AND TRAVEL SITES:
TASTE, n. & v. : flavor, morsel, relish, sip, savor, enjoy, learn, experience - the ability to discern the best quality.
Have you ever dreamed of owning a sexy, vintage #Airstream trailer? We had a chance to live the dream with a weekend at WOODS on Pender Island. It’s a curated camping experience for that gets you into the great outdoors, with all of your creature comforts intact. This boutique hotel-style camp offers high thread count linens, French press coffee, Apple TV and wifi, along with your own private deck, gas firepit and barbecue, a hammock for relaxing in the sunshine, and even a glamping tent alongside The repurposed resort has several vintage Airstreams and other retro-style trailers, comfortable cabins and a funky minimalist motel. There’s even a cafe serving wood-fired pizzas and morning lattes. It’s definitely one of my favourite spots to stay in the Gulf Islands!
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CINDA NOW?
I’ve been concentrating on Canada this year - to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday in 2017 and uncover all things west coast. I explore Canadian regional cuisine, from the Chinese traditions in Vancouver to Victoria’s 25 Best bites, the new age of upscale camping to wild foods from seaweed to sturgeon.
Got behind the scenes at the Calgary Stampede Ranch - a look at the life of the ornery bulls and wild bucking horses they raise for rodeos.
I returned to Quebec’s Eastern Townships for a look at the beautiful region of Charlevoix for Canadian Living magazine. Montreal’s 375th was a great time to see that great city, too.
Went to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and camped out in spectacular Grasslands National Park, with it’s starry skies and Canada’s last herd of wild prairie bison.
And I’ve travelled north to Whitehorse, Yukon, land of the midnight sun, in search of Canada’s most famous fruitcake. I was in New Brunswick and Halifax, and travelled around Cape Breton to enjoy the spectacular Canadian maples put on their #fallcolour show.
But I also Flew off to Puerto Rico to explore their cocina criolla (and famous rum cocktails), and kicked back at the Caribe Hilton where they claim the Pina Colada was invented. I explored Peru - from the high Andes and Machu Picchu to the Amazon - and met some of Lima’s top #michelinstarchefs.
All cool spots to explore, along with all of the wonderful places to see here in Beautiful British Columbia. Let me know if you have somewhere else you’d like me to see!
Cinda’s new book
Food waste is a major, global environmental problem. We waste 40% of the food we produce,1.3 billon tonnes globally. It’s the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, after China and the US, a huge contributor to global warming. Half of the wasted food is discarded from our own kitchens and this new book is designed to help you stop wasting food. Learn how to use up your fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meats before they go into the compost bin. Hundreds of recipes and practical tips.
Learn more......and follow me on Facebook
Check out this list of 2016 IACP nominees
I’ve been working hard to tell you more about the global issue of food waste, and its impact on the environment. It’s the topic of my new book, The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook (TouchWood Editions) and what I’ve been talking about a lot since it was published this spring.
I spoke on a food waste panel at the national Zero Waste Conference in Vancouver, I did several sessions with authors at LitFest, the annual non-fiction literature festival in Edmonton, offered ideas about how to reduce food waste at home on several CBC radio programs (including the new CBC radio food show The Fork), and was interviewed by other journalists writing about food waste in Canada and the U.S.
I’ve been writing about the topic for magazines and newspapers myself, too. So I’m happy to revisit this story for any publications, or speak on the topic of food waste, reducing waste at home, up-cycling leftovers into delicious dinners, and how it can all help stop global warming, at cooking schools, markets and other events.
Read about the latest food waste and sustainable eating news, recipes and inspiration on my Facebook page, The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook by Cinda Chavich.
Here’s a link to my feature story in Maclean’s magazine and some of the many other stories and reviews featuring my book:
FOLLOW ME ON Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/tastereporter/
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OR ON FACEBOOK
to find out more tasty news and keep abreast of the growing movement to reduce food waste, save money and save the planet.
If the Okanagan Valley is Canada’s Napa North, Vancouver Island’s wine region is our little slice of Sonoma, a bucolic area that invites exploration, weekend drives down pretty back roads to small, family wineries, carved into forested slopes with ocean views. Summers are short and dry, with hot days tempered by cooling breezes off the surrounding sea. Read my story about touring island wineries here - in the fall/winter edition of Vitis Magazine
Cinda Chavich photos
Cinda Chavich photos
Cinda Chavich photos