#rcshow19

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The show was a non-stop event filled with speakers, panel discussions, cooking demonstrations, and booths to sample foods and learn about the products that restaurants need to operate. The theme of the show was sustainability and we were given inspiration by learning how to use parts of plants we would normally discard, such as using carrot tops and peels.

The show provides opportunities for those in the hospitality business to gain new insights and ways to operate. Needless to say the business world is challenging.

From high and rising rents, labour shortages, and rising costs of just about everything the hospitality industry is also coping with the rapid changes in consumer trends. These trends are not only about what consumers are eating but are influenced more and more by what consumers are not eating.

A customer may not eat gluten, meat, fish, dairy products, carbohydrates, sugar, processed foods, salt, sugar, fat. Or to give it a different spin you may follow any or several of the following diets: vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, meatarian, low carb, Keto, Paleo, fruitarian, Whole 30, Fodmap, alkaline, Weight Watchers, diabetic, Intermittent Fasting, Carb Cycling and Oops – I forgot Mediterranean and clean eating. Plus there are specific foods which can’t be eaten due to allergies. Apologies to those who follow diets I neglected to mention.

Plus there are those who prefer to eat locally grown and organic foods while following any of the above diets.

The restaurant and hospitality industry has to cope with all these trends and keep customers happy at the same time. Delivery services are playing a larger role in the hospitality world and changing how we eat and helping boost restaurant sales. 

Sol’s Vegan Burgers

There were vegan hamburgers which mimic hamburgers made from meat. These hamburgers are so important to the market now that they are having trademarked names, such as A&W’s Beyond Meat Burger.

One interesting “hybrid” version was being shown by Sysco, the large food company. Called the Flexburger, the hamburger contains beef, but also mushrooms and quinoa, a product designed for those who eat beef but want to cut down on the amounts eaten. I tried it and it was good.

The new Canada Food Guide wants us to eat mostly vegetables and very little meat. Canadian beef producers were out in force at the show, proud of their products.

I had an interesting chat with Anita Stewart and Cory Van Groningen of VG Meats. I met Anita several years ago at an event promoting Canadian lentils.

Anita is one of Canada’ s top experts on Canadian agricultural and food production, and Canada’s first Food Laureate at the University of Guelph. 

Anita introduced me to Cory, who is one of the four brothers who run VG Meats, informing me that VG Meats is one of the top meat producers in Ontario. They have small farms and as Cory says, are responsible for the entire production of the beef. They don’t feed antibiotics to the cattle, and their product is fully traceable. They also farm pork and poultry.

I asked about their reaction to the new revised Canada Food Guide, which has significantly reduced the amount of beef and dairy recommended in the daily diet.

Anita didn’t go into the details of the dietary guidelines but instead suggested that the Guide should be supporting Canadian farmers, if Canadians don’t support their farmers then production will end. Bovine growth hormones are not allowed to be used in the raising of Canadian beef, unlike in the United States where it is permitted.

While sampling Quebec cheese paired with candied ginger, (an interesting combination!) I learned that some cheese producers in Canada are importing whey from the United States to make their cheese. It was recommended that we look for the Dairy Farmers of Canada logo because the cheese has to be made with milk solely from Canada. Again, to avoid milk from American cattle that are raised with growth hormones.

I met Dan O’Connor, Founder of Beer You Can Eat, maker of a beer dough, a pizza dough that contains beer to enhance its flavour. Dan has spent years developing the dough and he explained that it is easy for a restaurant to work with and of has a unique taste, the beer adding something extra to plain dough. This is perfect pub food. You can have beer dough pizza with your beer!

And I got to try the best cheese curds ever from La Fromagerie Champetre in Quebec which had a strong cheddar flavour, unlike other bland ones I have tried.

Cheese curds are a vital component in Canada’s national dish, poutine -  french fries, covered in gravy with cheese curds on top that melt slowly into the dish. 

There were display items of all different types at the show.

Sushi for your display case.

Coffee heaven - cappuccino made with Balzac Coffee on a top notch professional machine being operated by a barista.

A perfectly pulled cappuccino revived me. I opted for old school cow’s milk  and the barista told me that cow’s milk still provides the most stable foam, a bit different than the vegan soy milk and the up and coming popular oat milk.

Maybe a wee piece of The Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake would go well with the cappuccino?

This is a bit too large for home use.

Callebaut Chocolate tastes as good as it looks.

.Canola Oil had a booth. Canola is one of the major crops grown in Canada, 90% of it is exported. 

I managed to see the last few minutes of a talk by Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette, owner of Nishdish Marketeria & Catering. Indigenous chefs are opening up restaurants across the country and his is located in Toronto. He spoke spiritually of Indigenous connections to the land and unfortunately I missed tasting the wild rice pudding he had made.

Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette