Canada 
Alberta 
British Columbia 
Manitoba
New Brunswick 
Newfoundland Labrador 
Nova Scotia 
Ontario 
Prince Edward Island 
Quebec 
Saskatchewan 
United States 
Belgium
France 
Italy 
Switzerland 
Elsewhere
Category: Our Columns
Groundcherry, a Small Fruit in a Husk
From mid-August up to the first frost, small, beige-coloured ‘Chinese lanterns’ that contain orangish-yellow berries become available in our markets: These small fruits are called ‘groundcherries’, although they are neither cherries nor gooseberries. They belong in fact to the tomato family and also go by such names as cape gooseberry, alkekengi, love-in-a-cage, etc.
A soft-hearted flower named artichoke
Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on September 10, 2011. The artichoke is a thistle-like plant with an edible floral bud that is picked before its flowers develop. Three parts of this bud are normally consumed: the fleshy portion of the leaves or bracts, the very delicate inner leaves and the heart, which forms […]
Radio Blackout
I will not be chatting with Kim Fraser on CJAD 800 this week, nor anytime soon. Indeed, Kim’s show has been moved to the week-ends, so after two and a half years of weekly conversations each Thursday, I am now putting my “radio career” on hold for a while. It has been great fun to […]
Watermelon, the lycopene champion
Lycopene is an antioxidant in the carotene family that we’ve all been hearing about in recent years, because of its protective effect against certain types of cancer, such as prostate cancer for example. More lycopene is contained in watermelon than in tomatoes, even though this antioxidant gets its name from the Latin word for tomato […]
Drinking Green Tea for Good Health
Although green tea has been part of traditional Chinese medicine for over 4,000 years, it is only in the past two decades that this thirst-quenching and invigorating beverage has become a fad in the West.
A non-alcoholic beer called spruce beer
Contrary to what its name suggests, spruce beer is a fir-flavoured, non-alcoholic fizzy drink. Native Americans were already brewing a coniferous decoction that they thought had medicinal properties, when Jacques Cartier borrowed the recipe from them in 1536 to treat his sailors who were suffering from a mysterious disease. This was, in all likelihood, scurvy, […]
Kick start your day with a cappuccino
Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on August 13, 2011. Cappuccino is made from espresso, hot milk and a topping of steamed-milk foam. It gets its name from the Capuchin monks, known as Cappuccino in Italian, because of the colour of their habit and also because of its hood of foamed milk.
‘Tis an aromatic herbal tea!
In the days of yore, plants were used to strengthen, heal and cure people long before medicines appeared on the scene. The word tisane originates from the Greek ptisanĕ, which was a brew made from ground barley. It includes any drink obtained from soaking or brewing or infusing flowers, leaves, stalks or roots in hot […]
Cider, Proud Competitor of Beer and Wine
Cider obtained from fermented apple juice is one of the oldest known alcoholic beverages in the world. Hippocrates, the Greek physician was already extolling its benefits in the 4th century BC. But cider really only took off after the cider press made its appearance in the Middle Ages. Thanks to its affordability – due to […]
Three cheers for beer!
Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on July 16, 2011. Beer was probably first brewed around 6000 BC in Mesopotamia (current-day Iraq), and it soon became a part of the daily diet for centuries. It was made by cooking cakes of spelt and barley that were soaked in water to trigger the fermentation process […]
Tea 1 – Coffee 0
The most popular non-alcoholic drink in the world today after water and way ahead of coffee, tea originated in China around 2737 B.C. It’s a Portuguese Jesuit who introduced it in Europe in 1560.
Petrol and coffee
Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on July 2, 2011. Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world, after petrol. The coffee plant is cultivated in over 100 countries and more than 7 million tons of green coffee beans are produced annually. Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta are the two main […]
