A Letter From the Editor
Our Favourite Ingredients—is this month’s assignment. We asked our correspondents to take a good look in their pantries, fridges and cupboards; and tell us about an ingredient they just cannot live without.
Jennifer McLagan aka “Lady Fat” boldly states that her favourite new product is salt, not just any salt but the beautifully pink-hued and mineral-rich crystals collected from the Murray River Bed in Australia. “Murray River salt has very irregular sized crystals that are soft enough to crush between your fingers giving the salt its unique texture and making it a perfect finishing salt. Its beautiful pink color is simply a bonus.”
Rushina M. Ghildiyal, “Bombay Spice” tells how chillies, though they were only relatively recently entered into the annals of Indian cuisines, have become indispensable to the country’s diet. “Could there be an ingredient more Indian than the chili pepper? And yet, prior to the arrival of the Portuguese at the beginning of the 15th century, Indians had never seen or tasted a chilli…”
In her article, The Herb, Stephanie Dickison, “The Dinner Guest” with her typical tongue-in-cheek fashion explains that even though a baggy full of her favourite Greek oregano might be mistaken for an illegal substance, she is still keen to share it with her friends. “I wanted everyone to have the chance to try it, as it is quite different than the Italian variety we're all used to, so the night before our dinner, I made sure to nestle the branches carefully next to my notes and tucked a box of sandwich bags into my purse.”
We invite you to delight in these and all the delicious articles this month. Join us on twitter and share your favourite ingredients or any other food tweets that come to mind...
Rony Zibara
Editor-In-Chief and the gourmand-gourmet behind Poetry of Food; a food memoir which has been in preparation since he was a child. His earliest memories are in the kitchen with his mother cooking French and Lebanese dishes, and with his South American grandmother making Spanish dishes as the cook prepared a repertoire of salsas and sauces. Having grown up in Beirut and lived between Paris, Toronto and now New York, Rony’s food and travel experiences have always been part of his personal cuisine. An avid storyteller, he believes it’s not about the size of the catch, but about the day. It’s the experience, the setting, the people, and most importantly, the ingredients that turn the meal and the flavors into a memory. While not a professionally trained chef, Rony is a cook by all counts; his life revolves around the culinary joys of food, searching out new ingredients, new recipes, and new cultures. And while he loves the restaurant scene, he is not an obsessed follower. Rony’s food passions lie in the poetry of the everyday meal and not in the pursuit of the absolute ‘best’ or perfect meal. His extensive career in innovating and branding new products and experiences has been a great support and backdrop for his passions in food culture and is evident in the overall design and presentation of this food memoir.