Legends of Canadian Pastry: The Butter Tart

The Sweet Canada: Domestic stamps series

As we can now interact with more people as vaccination numbers increase, be the hit of your backyard barbeque with some buttery goodness. Butter tarts have been a favourite ever since France send women to help colonize their Quebec territory 350 years ago, and they adapted the recipes they brought with them with what was available in their new home. Today, most butter tart recipes are a variation of a recipe from 1900 submitted by Mary Ethel MacLeod to The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. Whether you like them firm or slightly run, or with (or without) raisins or pecans, the recipe below will satisfy your cravings.

Ingredients

12 pre-made tart shells
(If you have a favourite homemade pie crust recipe, feel free to use it; if you need one, here's a good recipe.)
50 g butter, melted and cooled
90 g brown sugar, lightly packed
170 mL corn syrup
2.5 mL vanilla
1 egg
salt
120 grams raisins (optional)
40 grams coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. If you are making a pie crust from scratch, prepare the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 204°C, and grease and flour the muffin tin you plan to use.
2. Remove the pie pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a 3mm thickness and cut out pieces with a round cookie cutter or a glass. Gently form the dough into the muffin tin.
3. If you want raisins in your butter tarts, place them in a medium bowl, cover them with boiling water, and let them sit for 5 minutes. Remove the raisins from the water and immediately stir them in the butter, then add the egg, vanilla, brown sugar, corn syrup, and a pinch of salt and combine well. If you want nuts in your tarts, this is where you can add them into the mix.
4. Pour the filling into the prepared tart shells and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 177°C and continue baking for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until they start to brown.  Let cool before serving. Store the tarts in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days, or keep them at room temperature; keep in mind they will only keep for up to two days.

The Need to Know Classic That Is The: Shrimp Po'Boy

The last time I went out for a meal on a patio, I ordered a sandwich New Orleans made famous. It was a warm autumn day in 2020, a perfect day for a lunch date. Because of its patio and proximity to our home my wife and I decided to go to Taproom 260. After scanning the menu, instead of the chicken wings or tacos I usually order when at a bar, I went with a shrimp po'boy. During a streetcar strike in 1929 in New Orleans, Benny and Clovis Martin of the Martin Brothers’ French Market Restaurant and Coffee stand gave free sandwiches to the working-class members of Division 194 - the po'boys. Served between a style of French bread with a crispier crust and fluffier centre than a baguette, these sandwiches usually consisted of roast beef or fried seafood. I wasn't expecting much from a sandwich made so far from Louisana but I was pleasantly surprised when my order arrived. The shrimp were cooked well, the toppings were fresh and their in-house remoulade (a mayonnaise-based sauce) had a nice kick to it. It may still be a while before we can eat on a restaurant patio again, so in the meantime, here's a recipe for this superior seafood sandwich for you to make and bring with you whenever you can eat outdoors.

Ingredients for two sandwiches

10-12 medium peeled and deveined shrimp
240 mL buttermilk
240 g all-purpose flour
150 g yellow cornmeal
75 g shredded iceberg lettuce
60 mL hot sauce, divided into two equal portions
50 g mayonnaise
15 g kosher salt, divided into three equal portions, plus more to taste
3 g cayenne pepper
3 g dried oregano
3 g dried thyme
3 g freshly ground black pepper
3 g garlic powder
2 10-inch po'boy rolls or French hero rolls, halved lengthwise
1 beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced
vegetable oil, for frying

1.  In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp in the buttermilk, one portion of the hot sauce and one portion of the salt. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Whisk another portion of the salt with the flour, cornmeal, cayenne, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and pepper in another medium bowl, and set it aside. In another bowl, mix the remaining hot sauce with the mayonnaise until it's a smooth consistency, and set it aside.
3. Heat 5 cm of oil to 177°C in a medium Dutch oven, then line a plate with paper towels. Get the shrimp from the fridge, remove them from the marinade, and toss and coat them well in the flour mixture. Working in batches, fry the shrimp until they are golden brown and cooked through, about 1 minute. Carefully take the shrimp from the oil and put them on the prepared plate to drain, immediately seasoning them with the remaining salt. Let the oil return to temperature between batches.
4. Spread the mayonnaise mixture on both halves of the rolls. On the bottom halves, divide the fried shrimp, then top with the sliced tomatoes, and the shredded lettuce. Place the top halves on the sandwiches, then slice them in half and serve.

The New Automats - Vending Machine Food Options

People of a certain age remember when you could get a hot meal from a vending machine as long as you had a pocket full of nickels. These restaurants were called automats, and they consisted of coin-operated vending machines that contained food and drinks behind a glass window. Behind the scenes, workers prepared and replenished the meals, with the only visible employee being the person who made change for hungry customers.  While popular at the start of the 20th century, automats soon fell to the wayside in the 60s with the rise of fast-food restaurants. However, with the need to limit human interaction as much as possible during COVID times, the idea behind these eateries is making a comeback of sorts. Cake lovers and fans of  Buddy Valastro's Carlo's Bakery from the show "Cake Boss" have had access to Carlo's Bake Shop Express in Ottawa since November 2020. For $9.99 you can get a slice of either carrot, chocolate fudge, red velvet, or vanilla rainbow from a cake baked at Carlo's Bakery and shipped to the Cake ATMs at St. Laurent Shopping Centre, Rideau Centre, and Bayshore Shopping Centre. They say the cakes are restocked fresh daily, but Guest Services at the mall I called said due to the reduced foot traffic at the mall during the province's latest Stay-at-Home order, they haven't been restocked since April 8 - for the time being, people will still have to go into a bakery for a piece of cake. If it's pizza that you crave, the two locations of the Senate Tavern now have the ability to satisfy your hunger 24/7. The restaurants each have PizzaForno vending machines, stocked daily by the staff at the Senate Tavern, and they can make a pizza in about three minutes. The prices range from $9 to $13, with BBQ chicken pizza, Hawaiian, meat lovers, and vegetarian pizza being available; you can even take your pizza home cold and cook it yourself if you want. All you need is a debit or credit card with the tap feature. We may not have the variety of food vending machines that Japan has, but who knows what the future will hold if the cake and pizza ATMs catch on.

Smell What the WWE is Cooking - Wrestlemania 37

If "Games of Thrones" and the superheroes of the Marvel Comics Universe are worthy of their own cookbooks, it shouldn't be that surprising that World Wrestling Entertainment has published some recipes featuring their superstars as well. With the latest installment of Wrestlemania happening this weekend, I thought I would go through this year's card and pick the winners of the matches based on how much I like the recipes attributed to them in the latest version of the WWE official cookbook. While all the recipes in this book look like something someone with a reasonable amount of cooking skills can turn into edible meals, I understand that there will be those who will look down on anything involving something as fake as professional wrestling. Their loss - it's still real to me, dammit.

NIGHT 1 (I'm not sure why they spread Wrestlemania over two days this year, but I suspect it is for COVID or money-gauging reasons)

• RAW Tag-Team Championship - The New Day (c) vs AJ Styles & Omos
  The Princes of the Power of Positivity have "Booty O's Snack Mix" (made with WWE Booty O's breakfast cereal!) while the Phenomenal One gets lumped in with his old running buddies with the (Bullet) "Club Sandwich with Au Jus Styles".  I'm going with the sandwich over the sugary treat, even though I have no idea what this Omos guy brings to the ring other than being very tall.
  WINNER: AJ Styles & Omos
  
  
• Cesaro vs Seth Rollins
  Not seeing a recipe for Rollins with something flaming or flame-broiled seems like a missed opportunity for a sports entertainer with the catchphrase "Burn It Down". His entry is the one with his boys from the Shield, "Shield-Cut Oats".  The Swiss Superman gets to share a recipe with his former tag-team partner, Sheamus, from their days teaming as The Bar, with a "Sheamus & Cesaro Salad" - this is less surprising because WWE has never known what to do with Cesaro. As I'm more likely to eat a salad than oatmeal while watching wrestling, this was an easy choice.
  WINNER: Cesaro
  
  
• Cage Match - Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon
  "Braun Stroganoff" seems an appropriately hearty dish for a man called the Monster Among Men. Knowing how much the owner of the WWE and his family love self-promotion, I'm stunned that there aren't any entries representing any of the McMahon family in this edition of the cookbook. Braun wins by default, though I look forward to watching Shane do his customary unnecessary fall from a high object spot at some point during their match.
  WINNER: Braun Strowman
  
  
• The Miz and John Morrison vs Bad Bunny and Damian Priest
  Why are two wrestlers fighting with a recent Grammy winner and some guy from NXT? The reasons are too stupid to get into, and since none of these people have recipes attributed to them, I'm moving on.
  WINNER: Who cares
  
  
• Smackdown Women's Championship - Sasha Banks (c) vs Bianca Belair
  The champion gets "Salsa Banks", which I assume is a recipe spicy enough for the women's division's Legit Boss. The cookbook was released before the challenger debuted; because of that long thick braid of hair she sometimes uses as a whip, a recipe for a braided challah bread would be a good fit for Belair. Salsa always has a spot on my fridge just like Sasha always has a spot in my heart, but I won't be surprised if Smackdown has a new champion after Saturday night.
  WINNER: Sasha Banks
  
  
• Tag Team Turmoil - Naomi & Lana vs. Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke vs. The Riott Squad vs. Natalya & Tamina
  This match was added to the card recently with the winners earning the right to challenge WWE Women's tag team champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler the following night. As this match was just thrown together to give everyone involved a Wrestlemania payday, I'll pick the team of Natalya & Tamina because of the segment that went viral involving the two women complaining about not having a Wrestlemania moment, and because Natalya was the only wrestler to get her own recipe in the cookbook, a "Natali-an Wedding Soup".
  WINNER: Natalya & Tamina  


• WWE Championship - Bobby Lashley (c) vs Drew McIntyre
  Neither the current nor the former WWE Champion have recipes assigned to them. Because wrestling has always used race and ethnicity to create characters, I'm sure there will be a recipe for  Bobby Lashley's All Mighty Ribs and Claymore Kick Haggis in a future update. I prefer meat over sheep offal, so I'm going with Lashley retaining.
  WINNER: Bobby Lashley

NIGHT 2

• Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
  Both of these guys have been under WWE contract for years; there's no excuse for not putting them in a WWE cookbook, especially if someone can create "Michael Coleslaw" for annoying commentator Michael Cole. They should have taken advantage of both of their Quebec roots and attached a recipe for poutine or something with smoked meat in it to one of them. As these two wrestlers have fought one another multiple times over the years, there's a good chance that their match will be one of this year's highlights, even with the unnecessary inclusion of Logan Paul.
  WINNER: The fans 
   
• The Fiend vs Randy Orton
  They played it safe with the Viper, giving him a maize-based side dish named "Randy Cornton" instead of something with snake meat in it. Bray Wyatt's alter ego, the Fiend, didn't get a recipe, but his new sidekick, the possessed Harley Quinn knockoff that is Alexa Bliss, got an entry called the "Green Goddess of WWE Salad". I hate anything involving Wyatt's low-budget Undertaker ripoff, so hopefully, Orton gets the win to end their stupid feud.
  WINNER: Randy Orton
  
  
• Intercontinental Championship - Big E (c) vs Apollo Crews
  As part of the New Day, Big E gets stuck with the "Booty O's Snack Mix" recipe. Apollo Crews doesn't get a recipe, but he does get a new gimmick as an African militant to go with his new heel turn. I'm giving the "W" to Crews, though, because I'm annoyed that they didn't give the New Day's resident flapjack fanatic a recipe for pancakes; putting Xavier Woods on the cover, mixing up some pancake batter, was a tease. Cue sad trombone.
  WINNER: Apollo Crews
  
  
• US Championship - Riddle (c) vs Sheamus
  I don't know what Matt Riddle's recipe would be if they had one for the cookbook, but I'm sure it would be something bro-tastic like a bro-logna sandwich or mac-a-broni with cheese - what else would you expect from WWE's resident bro? Sheamus naturally has a "Sheamus Shamrock Shake" recipe under his kilt made with Guinness, but the chocolate chips and mint ice cream in it ruin the drink for me, so I'm giving the win to the former UFC fighter with the stoner gimmick.
  WINNER: Riddle 
  
  
• Raw Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs Rhea Ripley
  It's going to be interesting to see where in the women's title hierarchy Asuka's original Wrestlemania opponent, Charlotte Flair, will be once she returns to action. Even if they gave Rhea Ripley some sort of kickass punk rock bangers and mash or fish and chips recipe, it wouldn't measure up to her opponent's "Filet Mignon with Crab Asuka". Kudos to the recipe chooser for not going with sushi or ramen. 
  WINNER: Asuka
   
• Women's Tag Team Championship - Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. TBD
  Assuming the champs will face Natalya & Tamina (how come tag-teams no longer have names anymore?) for the belts, this will be the Wrestlemania moment they wanted. It's time for Jax and Baszler to move on to bigger and better things.
  WINNER: Natalya & Tamina
  
  
• Universal Championship - Roman Reigns (c) vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan
  Roman Reigns was still the Big Dog and not the Tribal Chief when the cookbook was released, so his recipe is "Roman Onion Rings" instead of something closer to his Samoan roots. Daniel Bryan doesn't get a vegan recipe despite actually living a vegan lifestyle for health reasons, instead getting an entry with his wife Brie Bella, "Baked Brie with Craniel Bryan Sauce". The unretired Edge doesn't have a recipe in the latest cookbook, so I'm basing my decision on his recipe for "Edge's Cocktail Party Meatballs" from the "Can You Take the Heat? The WWF Is Cooking!" cookbook. As good as it looks in the picture, cranberry-sauced Brie with crackers seems more suited for a wrestling book club than at Wrestlemania. They didn't bring Adam Copeland out of retirement for nothing, so even though I love a good onion ring, and Reigns' excellent run as champion, I'm going with the Rated R superstar's party balls. Let's see if they can squeeze one more title run out of him.
  WINNER: Edge
  

Magic Molecule: Turning Science Into Ice Cream

The first warm spring weekend of the year sent the Franklins out in search of ice cream. With the lines at downtown ice cream parlours out the door, a lot of other people had the same idea as well. It looked like we were going to have to enjoy the sunshine with freezer-burned frozen treats from a convenience store until I remembered Magic Molecule. Part of a chain based in Hong Kong, it's a place I've been wanting to visit ever since I heard they use liquid nitrogen to make ice cream. Nitrogen is odourless and non-toxic, and at a temperature of -196℃ in liquid form, it can rapidly freeze fresh milk, cream, and flavorings into ice cream. Watching the man nonchalantly fill his pressurized canister with LN₂ as misty vapour surrounded him didn't diminish how exciting it was to wait for our orders to be made. My wife Dawn went with a scoop of hazelnut while our son decided on two scoops of their mango ice cream. Both of them enjoyed their choices, saying their ice cream was smooth, light, and refreshing. I considered ordering a cone of some sort for myself until I saw the sign for their Dragon's Breathe dessert. Intrigued by food that comes with a warning and specific eating instructions, the plastic cup of liquid nitrogen enhanced cheese puffs I received was the most fun food I've eaten in decades - it's as much fun as slurping up spaghetti was for the first time. This unique establishment is worth a visit if you ever liked watching Bill Nye do science experiments on television or if you're looking for a different take on your next sorbet, bubble tea, or waffle cone.
   

Q & A with Josh Hayter, President of Spearhead Enterprises

Recently I got a chance to try Akwa, a new hop-infused botanical beverage. While it's a refreshing sparkling water with a crisp, citrusy taste, what I found the most intriguing was that it's made by Spearhead, a brewery known for its top-notch craft beers. I reached out to the president of the company, Josh Hayter, for more about their latest product -  here's what he had to say:

FRANKLIN ON FOOD: Why is Spearhead getting into the water business?

JOSH HAYTER: Don’t get us wrong, we love beer but we wanted to make a refreshing nonalcoholic product that can be enjoyed by anyone, anytime, anywhere.   Our Head Brewer Jacob Schmidt came to us with the idea of making water infused with hops.  The first few attempts were a very bitter disaster, but we kept at it until we had a product that we were proud to put on the shelves.

FoF: Is Akwa made with the same water and hops used in the beer-making process?
JH: Akwa has the exact same water that we use in all of our beer.    Each beer has its own unique blend of hops, the hops that we use in Akwa can also be found in our NEIPA (New England India Pale Ale).

FoF: Who is Akwa's target market?
JH: When it comes down to it everyone really.  We have found through taste testing that people from all walks of life enjoy Akwa.  Given that it has zero calories, zero alcohol, zero sugars, it’s gluten-free, and has antioxidant properties from hops Akwa is a good fit into anyone's rotation.  My kids love it. 

FoF: How has COVID-19 affected your operations over the past year?
JH: 2020 and the beginning of 2021 has not been the easiest time for us.  A very large portion of our business comes from our partners in the hospitality sector.  That sector has been devastated by the lockdowns and restrictions needed to help connotation the Covid-19 virus.   We have worked very hard to establish and grow new retail opportunities as well as our online channel to help get through this pandemic.  We are encouraged and looking forward to working with our licensee partners as things open up.

FoF: What else can we expect to see from Spearhead this year?
JH: We have a lot of exciting new products coming out over the next year.    We will be adding 2 new core brands, continuing our GlobeTrotter Series, adding in a new Series, and we are planning on adding a couple new flavours of Akwa.  If I know more about when this will be published I’ll be able to give more specifics. 

FoF: Where can people buy AKWA?
JH: Akwa is available in over 90 locations (mix of retail and licensees) as well as online at www.spearheadbeer.com and www.akwawater.com.

Rasta Pasta Memories

A pasta dish that has recently caught people's attention is a Jamaican take on Italian cuisine. When it was first created, people associated the colours of this meal with the colours of Rastafarianism, and the shapes of the noodles with dreadlocks, earning the dish the name rasta pasta. I will always associate anything calling itself rasta pasta with a conversation I had in the 90s back when 8-ball and Starter jackets were fashionable and you could still smoke in malls. I was on a 95 heading back to Orleans from the Woodroffe campus of Algonquin with my friend who was instrumental in my creating an hors d'oeuvre. She had noticed that pasta was one of the specialties featured in neon on the sign that wrapped around the Dancing Mermaid restaurant near the Kent St bus stop, and said: "Does that say rasta on that sign?". As her boyfriend at the time was a friend of mine of Jamaican persuasion, I laughed and wisecracked "What, you're seeing a Jamaican guy and you're seeing rastas everywhere now?" Her look of shocked embarrassment egged me on to follow up with "Maybe you guys should go there, have some rasta pasta or something." The look soon turned to angry annoyance when another passenger on the bus joined in the fun saying she'd love a bowl of rasta pasta as well. My friend got back at me by telling our circle of friends that it was I who misread the sign and that she and the woman were the ones having a laugh at my expense. At least now with the recipe below they can have all the rasta pasta they want.

Ingredients

500 g boneless chicken breasts or shredded rotisserie chicken (if you have 2 cups of jerk ckicken, even better)
454 g pasta (fettuccine, penne, or rigatoni can be used)
25 g jerk seasoning (you can use a premade version if you want, or the following recipe)

15 g onion powder
15 g garlic powder
10 g teaspoons cayenne pepper
10 g teaspoons salt
10 g teaspoons ground black pepper
10 g teaspoons dried thyme (or use 5g ground thyme)
10 g teaspoons sugar (or use brown sugar)
5 g teaspoon ground allspice
5 g teaspoon dried parsley
5 g teaspoon paprika
2.5 g teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2.5 g teaspoon ground cinnamon
2.5 g teaspoon ground nutmeg
2.5 g teaspoon ground clove
1 g teaspoon ground cumin
Mix everything in a bowl until it is well combined. Store in an air-tight containter afterwards.

120 g green onions, sliced
120 mL coconut milk or heavy cream
80 g parmesan cheese, grated
60 mL chicken or vegetable stock
30 mL tablespoons vegetable oil, split into two equal portions
3 bell peppers preferably red yellow and green, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, take it out when it is “al dente”, and set it aside.
2. If you are using cooked chicken, chop it into pieces, toss it with the jerk season, and set everything aside. If you are using raw chicken breast, chop it into pieces, toss it with the jerk seasoning, and cook the chicken in a heavy-bottomed pot with one of the portions of vegetable oil until it's golden and cooked through. Remove the meat from the pot, and set it aside.
3. Pour the remaining vegetable oil into the pot, and saute the bell peppers with the green onions, and the minced garlic and cook until it’s fragrant. Add the coconut milk, the chicken, and the stock in the pot, and let everything simmer for a few minutes or until the sauce thickens. 
4. Taste to see if more jerk seasoning is required, then mix in the parmesan in the sauce and then mix in the pasta. Garnish with chopped chives, green onions, or parsley and serve.