Random Thoughts about the 'à la carte' Food Literacy Project

"À la carte" is a series of food literacy events the Ottawa Public Library hosts as part of an effort to increase awareness about the food we eat. Recent events featured a demonstration of the popular InstantPot multicooker, and how-to-make seminar about kombucha, a drink loved by health-conscious hipsters. I recently went to these presentations, here's how things went down.

Instant Pot

• As soon as I mentioned I was considering getting an InstantPot, people were jumping out of the woodwork raving about how much they love theirs; it's like the vibrator of kitchen appliances.
• I tried to sign up for a similar demo at the Main branch in the summer, but it filled up quickly. The one I went to the one held at the Orleans branch; it makes sense to have a live kitchen appliance demo in the suburbs.
• It wasn't a packed house, I'd say about 30 people in total. I was easily the youngest man in the room by 15 years; it was an audience of mostly older women. I couldn't help notice that I was also the only minority in the audience; are non-whites just not into Instant Pot cooking? 
• The live demo was hosted by Daniel Shumski, author of the book "How To InstantPot". Copies of the book were available for sale, with Shumski adding to his book's value by describing it as an InstantPot manual with better recipes.
• I may have been the only person in the audience that didn't already own an InstantPot.
• During the demo, he mentioned how his book teaches people to use their InstantPot more like the pressure cooker it is, and not as something you throw ingredients into, press a button on the front of it, and wait to start eating. Most of those cooking settings are just set to cook at high pressure for varies lengths of time.
• From the stories I heard from the audience, those old stove top pressure cookers sent a lot of peoples' dinner airborne.
• The Instant Pot isn't as "instant" as you'd think.  If you add the time the device builds up pressure on top of the cooking time for whatever you put in it, you're looking at anywhere from 15-30 minutes.
• I was hoping one of the uses for the Instant Pot would be as a pressure fryer, so I asked about as substituting oil for water and frying up a batch of chicken like Colonel Sanders did. I was told that would NOT be a good idea, and to use only small amounts of oil in the Instant Pot on the "sauté" setting as directed in the instructions.
• Shumski cooked some butternut squash from a recipe from his cookbook, but no one sampled it because no one brought any plates or utensils. For what it's worth, it looked and smelled pretty good.

Kombucha Workshop

• For those unaware, kombucha is a fermented, slightly alcoholic, lightly sweetened tea drink. Contrary to what I thought, it's something people have been drinking since 221 BC for centuries and not something that became popular this decade.
• This demo was held at the Rosemount library. Hintonburg has changed a lot since the days I used to tag along with my dad when he went for a haircut in the area, seems only the library and the Giant Tiger down the street are still around from back in the day. Gentrification, you got to love it.
• The owner/brewer at Culture Kombucha, Wentsi Yeung, was the host. While I wasn't the only minority in the audience of 15, I was the only man present.  Single men, take note - ladies love kombucha.
• Hearing that they used beets grown by the kids at a local Parkdale school was both commendable and adorable.
• Holding the workshop in the same room the book return slot empties into was a mistake, the presentation was interrupted every couple of minutes by the flap of the slot, and the thud of books falling in a bin.
• Looking at the ease Yeung mixed a quick batch of kombucha, I was looking forward to seeing how she would incorporate the scoby, it was a bit of a letdown to see it was as simple as dropping it into a Mason jar; I expected more from a symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria.
• I'm guessing the probiotics, enzymes, and nutrients that kombucha is known for are lost in the cocktail recipes I saw in edible Ottawa, but I can see how kombucha would be a better mixer than soda.
• Biggest takeaway from the evening: if you think your batch of kombucha has mold, assume it is mold, and throw it away. Why take the chance...
• The DIY kit we received at the end of the demonstration is resting in my fridge while I gather up my ingredients. I'll let you know how that experiment turns out in a future entry - stay tuned. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION: If you want to get out of your house and learn about food from a source other than Netflix, check out what's being offered at the Ottawa Public Library. You'll be surprised at what's being offered, and if worse comes to worst, you might find something more to your liking on the bookshelves.