I love this quote:

“ … the mere existence of a legal right is no more protection to individual liberty than the parchment on which it is written … mutual love, respect and understanding of one another are stronger bonds than constitutions.” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark, 1973

These words were superimposed on the screen at the end of the documentary The First Battle: The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii. I watched the show on PBS over the weekend. It was an interesting look into how Japanese Americans were treated on war time Hawaii vs. the west coast.

Further reading:

• While a conservative, Justice Tom Campbell Clark‘s key court decisions often advocated for individual rights.
• The 442nd Infantry, a mainly Japanese American regiment that fought with distinction in Europe during WW2. The families of many of the soldiers were subject to internment in the US. It is the the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the United States Armed Forces.

Here’s a delicious (adult) beverage we discovered when we were down in Peru sourcing innovative and unique ingredients for our clients – the pisco sour. The main ingredient is pisco, a South American brandy widely available in Peru and Chile.

Pisco is a Peruvian liquor distilled from grapes. You can think of the pisco sour as the South American whiskey sour, and in fact, it shares the pairing of liquor with a sour citrus. The similarities end there. Recipes abound, however we tried to make it in the true Peruvian fashion.

For the ingredients, we used:

• Pisco (2 oz)
• Lime juice (of about one whole lime)
• Simple syrup (about a tablespoon)
• 1 egg white
• A dash of cinnamon

The reality is that the proportions of ingredients is probably best done to taste, so consider the above a guideline to get you started. Adjust however you see fit, and don’t be afriad to experiment a little. Also, by rights you want to finish the cocktail off with a dash of angostura bitters. We didn’t have any around, so we substituted cinnamon, which we thought turned out rather well.

To make the drink, put some ice in a cocktail shaker, add the pisco, lime juice, syrup and egg white. Seal the shaker and shake vigorously for twenty seconds or so. Strain the contents into a glass and top with a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!

Here’s a video of the whole process!

Thai One On opened a new location in Pickering this week and we decided to try it out. They also have a few other locations in the Toronto area.

Even though it had only been open for a week, they had a decent amount of people coming in for lunch. While there seems to be a plethora of Thai restaurants in the greater Toronto area, there is only a couple other Thai places that we know of in Pickering, so it’s probably a good location for them. We ordered a shrimp seafood fried rice and a coconut chicken with mango dish. The fried rice was truly cooked in the Thai style and was excellent. The chicken was tasty. Each dish was in the $10 territory which seems typical for most Thai restaurants. For the next little while they are offering 20% off for dine in as part of their grand opening promotion for this location. Overall, a pleasant experience and we’re looking forward to going back again to try some of the other dishes.

Of course, we know a lot about Thai food at Ingredient Hotline: we offer a full line of authentic Thai spices, dehydrated herbs and vegetables for food manufacturers sourced directly from Thailand.

It appears that the T&T Supermarket acquisition is partly responsible for the 26% increase in Loblaws profits. What jumped out at me was the quotes attributed to typical Canadian customers: they like the access to non-traditional, unique ingredients that they often characterize as healthy – all available in a single supermarket environment that also carries typical Canadian fare.

We’ve said this before: modern Canadian consumers are better informed and more demanding than ever. Globalization has provided access to, and knowledge of, a greater number of foods and a wider variety of products, resulting in very discerning palates. Canadians are becoming relentless in their pursuit of quality and functionality, while at the same time expecting reasonable prices. Besides Canadians yearning for variety and more “exotic” foods, my own theory is that they want these in an environment that doesn’t seem so “foreign”. T&T looks and feels like a typical Canadian supermarket. The acquisition seems to be a winner for Loblaws.

Photo credit: Roland