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The warmth of July always brings forth memories of 1996, when I had my first experience with canning. While many who have grown up in North America are familiar with the yearly tradition of preserving fruits and vegetables in Mason jars, it was new to me. I was excited at the prospect of eating Ontario strawberries and stone fruit the following winter. But then the whole experiment ended in failure.
It wasn't until seven years later that I learned why.
I have to give credit to one person in particular for my canning success since then. Charmaine Baan came to work for me as the pastry chef at Splendido in 2003, from Huron County in southwestern Ontario. Using produce that came mostly from her parents' farm or aunt's orchards, she learned to preserve at her mother, Dianne's, knee, and would often spend summer days with her aunts and cousins preparing large batches of jam, relish and pickles.
When I was a child in Mauritius, my experience with preserving involved drying and salting everything from Chinese sausages to the chili pastes my mother and aunts would make. Every culture has its own traditions of preserving, and by working with Charmaine I had the good fortune to absorb one of the customs of my adopted country.
Home canning is tricky, but it's the gift that keeps giving. (Sami Siva/The Globe and Mail)
All this brings us to today, when I've recently spent some time pickling in my new kitchen. With my partners, Yannick Bigourdan and Franco Prevedello, I am embarking on a new project called Nota Bene (Latin for "take note" or "pay attention"), opening within the next couple of weeks on Toronto's Queen Street West.
I wanted to create a visual representation of the four seasons of food in Canada with jars of pickled vegetables displayed in the kitchen, in order to educate and inspire my young cooks and to encourage a respect for the ingredients they will use every day.
I had saved some of Ontario's bounty from this spring by preserving some white and green asparagus, and I pickled some local beets and pearl onions, fine accompaniments for our charcuterie platter. From the most recent crop of Ontario berries we made infused vinegars.
As I learned all those years ago, canning isn't as easy as it seems, but it is certainly a seasonal gift that keeps on giving.
If you wish to try it, I would recommend you start at the low end of the difficulty scale, with some infused vinegars.
INFUSED VINEGARS (RASPBERRY WITH CHILI, STRAWBERRY WITH VANILLA, WILD GINGER)
Before beginning, I recommend you get a book on home canning to help you along. As I learned the hard way, home canning can be a tricky task.
WHAT YOU NEED
Brine:
41/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup white sugar
Flavourings:
1 pint of raspberries and 1 Anaheim chili
or
1 pint of strawberries and 1 vanilla bean
or
1 cup peeled wild ginger
WHAT YOU DO
Following the manufacturer's instructions, sterilize two pint-sized Mason jars and lids in hot water.
Bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil.
Add flavourings to the Mason jars and pour the brine over them.
Seal, taking care not to twist the lids too tightly, and boil for five minutes.
Remove from the water, let sit at room temperature until the seals pop, tighten lids and store.
These vinegars can be mixed with olive oil and Dijon mustard to make a dressing for summer salads, or combined with just olive oil and served with salmon sashimi. The raspberry and chili vinegar is great with crab salad.
