Alberta craft beer lore; Japanese alberta collab Sunday’s Whisky launches; Food is love in the Nonna Said… cookbook; chef Kelsey Johnson signs on to the Trinity Youth Project with TYPTOP Bakery; we say so long and thanks for the memories to the Prairie Noodle |Mary Bailey
Check out Edmonton author Scott Messenger’s new book Tapping the West about the who, how and why of Alberta’s craft beer boom. Messenger uses personal experience and the history of a few key breweries to illustrate the idea that the business of brewing in Alberta is all about its politics and the boom and bust economy. He explores how small malting and hop-growing operations are all part of the wonderful ripple effect caused by the rise of high-quality local brewing. If you love craft beer, you’ll love this book. Tapping the West, TouchWood Editions, $23.
Alberta-raised Hong Kong hospitality mavens Lindsay Jang and Matt Abergel, along with Calgarians Elliot Faber and Alex Staniloff, worked with spirit company Sasanokawa Shuzo on a new Alberta-inspired Japanese whisky. Sunday’s Whisky is barrel-aged malt and grain spirits blended with the soft water of Koriyama, aged in ex-Bourbon casks. Complex, clean flavours, a round and full-bodied texture, ideal on the rocks, in an Old Fashioned or The Highball: frozen whisky, near-frozen soda and lemon peel garnish, squeezed to release the oils for additional flavour. Find at Color de Vino, Sherbrooke and other fine shops, $85.
tasty baking equals youth empowerment
Chef and baker Kelsey Johnson (Duchess Bake Shop and Café Linnea) joined the Trinity Youth Project in mid-summer. “I was looking for something different, but I still loved cooking. I am always interested in community.”
Program director Clark Hardy had been teaching youth to bake using his grandmother’s bun dough recipe. Kelsey is now teaching various doughs and techniques and expanding the offerings to scones, muffins, dense chocolatey brownies, foccacia, banana bread, palmiers and cookies along with the dinner and cinnamon buns and custom cakes such as pumpkin cheesecake and apple walnut bundt cake.
Through the program, now called TypTop Bakery, youth learn valuable skills which will help them find employment. “It feels right,” says Kelsey. “It’s all the things that I love. It’s funny how things work out—a year ago I had a restaurant with 38 employees. Now I’m in a church basement. Exactly where I should be.” Find TypTop baking at Grizzlar Coffee & Records, Lui-Chi’s Coffee, or order online at https://typtopbakery.square.site/. Monthly subscriptions are available too.
Sisters Nadia Carinelli and Sara Marghella wanted to make a cookbook they could give to their kids to celebrate their beloved nonna Rosaria Franco (pictured on the cover). “We always loved going there,” says Sara. “There were no toys at nonna’s house. Instead we would make biscotti and taralli as if the dough was playdoh, using the pizza cutter to make different shapes. We know now that was her way to keep us busy.
“Her greatest skill was putting a whole meal together with three ingredients,” says Sara. “She taught us to think, ‘what do I have in my fridge?’ and to make dinner from that. She taught us that Italian cooking is using your local ingredients. That’s what nonna did and that’s what tasted good.”
Nonna Said celebrates strong women, adept in the kitchen and firm in the understanding that food is love. “She inspired us through her stories, her faith and her love of life and food. The recipe that reminds me the most of nonna is the ricotta gnocchi,” says Nadia. “It was more to appease my dad, who thought potato was too heavy.” Find at the Italian Centre Shops. Nonna Said, ATavolaYYC, $20.
good bye and thank you prairie noodle
Arden Tse made the difficult decision to close five-year-old noodle shop Prairie Noodle. ““It wasn’t one big thing, it was many things. We were too small to reopen for sit-down dining,” says Arden. “Employee morale, losing Liam took the wind out of our sails. There was too much stress operating with a skeleton crew and the mental fatigue of wondering what’s next. We didn’t qualify for the rent subsidy and our lease was up for renewal, so we thought it best to shut down permanently,” he says.”
“Making the decision was the hard part,” says Eric Hansen, exec chef. “The anticipation of having to tell the staff we had since the beginning. We were hanging on to keep people employed. Now I’m helping everybody get other jobs. I’ve never shut down a restaurant before. Opened many, so this is something new,” he says.
“I wanted to open a resto to bring people together, but we can’t do that anymore. Delivery is not why we got in the biz. These past few days we’ve had a real validation that we created something that mattered, that we made a difference.” says Arden.
Prairie Noodle was a cheerful spot with a great vibe and really delicious food. It’s tough to say goodbye and knowing that we will be saying so long to many more independents over the next while doesn’t make it any easier. Thank you, Arden and Eric and all the Prairie Noodle folks, for what you gave us.