Ketchup Chips

Canada does not really have cuisine. Canada mostly has fresh ingredients, the regional cooking of immigrants and back-of-the-box cookery. Canada does have, however, excellent snack foods that seem to have their roots stuck very deeply into the English traditions of crisps and chocolate. Ketchup chips have their detractors by people who detest a sweet-sour chip. I, however, love them and would eat them as often as I could get my hands on them. I hung around rinks most of my life and, to me, there is nothing like snapping open a crisp bag of Old Dutch ketchup chips after a few hours on the ice. I'd stop along the way to wish upon my wish chips, take a mouthful of cold Sprite, tip the bag up to catch the last few crumbs, and finish up by licking my thumb and middle finger. These would stay pink for the rest of the day. When I was stuck with a bag of plain or ruffled chips, I would try to approximate the experience by putting ketchup on my chips. It's just one of those acquired tastes, like eating yeast on toast. Also, stay away from Hostess chips. Old Dutch has a much higher ratio of ketchup powder to chip, ensuring a solid ketchup experience. It's a small culinary oddity, but a worthy one. Now if only Old Dutch would do a sharp English mustard chip...

Yuzu Honey

I was over at my friend's house, rummaging in her fridge for something nice to go along with our chamomile tea, when I happened upon a large, squeeze-type bottle with Japanese printed on it. "It's yuzu honey," she said. I obligingly squeezed a tiny drop onto my finger to taste and was instantly transported to a more fragrant, citrusy realm. Since my friend's sister has finished graduate school and left Japan, I was in agony, knowing that I would be hard pressed to locate a source of yuzu honey. I eventually trekked over to my local Japanese grocery and located a tiny bottle of yuzu juice. It was eight dollars, but it was worth it. It has a very tangerine-like flavor, but more perfumy and perhaps a little more salty. I tried mixing it with Eggman Farms honey labeled "Mountain Flora". The bees visit tiny mountain wildflowers to create a very mild honey, which at first tasted quite strong but after mixing with yuzu juice melded into a sweet-tart yuzu flavour. Try mixing one teaspoon yuzu juice with two tablespoons honey.

Northern Gold Granola

Granola is for hippies. This is what I used to think. Granola conjures up memories of my roommate stirring giant cookie trays full of oatmeal, honey, almonds, dried cranberries and my cinnamon. Everything was organic except the cinnamon. Then one day I began to think about whole grains. This was after I tried to stop eating white flour and sugar and subsequently my ravening appetite in the mornings went away. The wolf at the door was gone, sent away by granola. Most brands of granola paint themselves as healthy, but do not be fooled. The raisins are coated in coconut oil and there is twice as much honey as there needs to be. Northern Gold is a very satisfying kind of granola. You really do taste the grains, the honey, the almonds and the sesame. The list of ingredients is very short, which is a good sign for me. The cereal is roasted in such a way as to give it a caramelized flavor, which it then lends to the milk. I eat this granola every morning and sometimes for supper too with some fruit. My only problem is that my local grocery store ran out of the blueberry and raspberry flavor, which features freeze-dried bits of berry. These retain a very good berry flavor. I took this disappearance to be an ominous portent. Then the honey almond flavor went on sale and, gradually, it was gone. I am not sure what to do now, short of ordering an entire case from Northern Gold. Perhaps I will make my own. Or perhaps I will begin life as a granola lobbyist.