Lorette Luzajic on the Toronto Food Scene
I first discovered Lorette Luzajic while reading over a monthly newsletter from Gremolata, a local wine and food website. She had written an article on vegetarianism "I'm A Natural Born Killer" that caught my eye. Clicking through on her name revealed she's a self-proclaimed "resident spice girl" and pursues food writing in a refreshing way that challenges widely held dogmas.
Always seeking a fresh opinion on the Toronto food scene, I shot her a few questions to find out more of what she had to say. Our brief Q&A follows.
Where are some of the best places in Toronto to look for spices?
Kensington Market is the Spice King if I'm the Spice Girl. You can find twelve kinds of curry in one shop. Caribbean spices, Latin American spices. The Latin stores on Augusta sell whole dried chile peppers in about fifty varieties! This led to fifty weeks of chile or stew, to try out all the kinds I'd never heard of!
There are Middle Eastern stores, Indian stores, stores with voodoo candles and exotic spices. Don't ever be shy to try something new. Spices won't break the bankbook! Ask the proprietor what to eat it with, how to use it for best effect, how hot it might be, what complements it. People love to share their culinary history, their favourite stories. Sadly, I don't live near Kensington anymore, but I still head down once a month to restock my spice list.
I've come a long way, baby- I used to buy spices from the dollar store! Spices are actually cheaper than that dollar to buy in bulk at any ethnic market. In Kensington, you can go to six stores and buy fifty bags of spices, and the bill is something incredible like twelve bucks.
I tend to think we're extremely lucky to live in such a multicultural city with respect to the availability of hard core ethnic grocery shops. Does this enhance the prospects for the appreciation of real food and ingredients?
I live near Greektown and this is wonderful for me because I live gluten-free, and most of the menus are fine for me. If you're super low carb you can skip the rice and potato dinners and feast on succulent lamb or pork with a massive village salad (tomatoes, cukes, red onion, feta in real olive oil). This simple meal may be my favourite in the world.
I'm not far from Little India and can head toward Greenwood and Gerrard after lunch. It's not that hard to make some awesome Indian foods at home. Just talk to the people in the stores. What should you use that chunk of tamarind for? What's all that coconut milk for anyways? Is butter chicken sauce gluten-free? (Most is, if it's from India or Pakistan. Although it seems like it has flour, it's actually almond paste and cream. But always check, especially made for white people brands!)
I like to get my meat at Fresh From the Farm, a Mennonite place on Donlands. Mennonites refuse to use hormones and antibiotics, and animals are mostly free range.
Care to share any favourite take out low-carb favorites?
The most devastating thing about going gluten free for me, besides giving up beer, was giving up Kensington Market's Big Fat Burrito. Then I found they had 'burrito in a bowl' and all was well with my soul!
I'd have to say my favourite meal in the world is Mi Mi Vietnamese on Gerrard and Broadview. It's stunningly cheap, mostly gluten-free (all the noodle stuff is rice). I eat piles of the best BBQ pork in the world, with sprouts, basil, mint, carrots, and cucumbers. Simple, simple stuff, dressed in as much chile paste as I can hack. I dream of this meal when I'm not there.
Sushi is always a favourite takeout. Now I get mostly sashimi - the fish is the best part, anyhow, right? I will get a few pieces of roll and now obsess over a bit of white rice. But if you're gluten free, you have to skip the tempura and that kind of hurt me until I got used to it.
Also, soy sauce is out of the question for gluten-avoiders. It's filled with wheat. Pick up naturally fermented tamari and carry it around with you so you don't get caught off guard. Not only is it gluten free, but it tastes better, and the real fermenting arts originated to remove the poisons from soy. That's why Asian soy is not as toxic as North American soy un-foods.
There's not much fast food for me, but after awhile I stopped considering fast to be food. I can make amazing things at home and bring them along. I freeze up wonderful chillis or soups in portion sizes and bring them wherever I go, just in case. But that said, there is nothing wrong with ordering the burger without the bun, and using a knife and fork. It was weird at first, but now I don't miss it because I don't feel sick afterwards.
Forget gluten-free pizza. It's not very good. If anyone knows of one where the crust doesn't taste like cardboard, please let me know!
For more info on Lorette you can visit her website, The Girl Can Write. She does freelance writing, has written several books, and does a quite a bit of blogging. You can also check out her food articles on Gremolata.
Photo by Arieh Singer on Flickr
Comments (24)
Her wording makes it sound like going Gluten free is a choice. Is this some new trend I'm not aware of, or was it just poor wording for a medical condition related diet?
Hi Ryan,
I live gluten free for medical reasons and I'm just new to this way of life. The more I learn, the more I suspect that almost anyone could benefit from a gluten-free diet. More and more people are finding grain allergies a key in their mystery illnesses. I'm learning more all the time, and hopefully helping people who cannot or don't eat gluten grains to find their way around...as I find mine!
Cheers,
Lorette
Your article on vegetarianism is completely absurd. You just sound like you're trying to make yourself feel better for failing at vegetarianism.
Lorette, you seem to be pretty good at managing it and maping out the places you can go. It's definitely some good information to get out there. I find many people I know with problems that involve gluten have a much tougher time.
Their biggest complaint? Places tend to lump everything together. Gluten, Nut and Lactose free, Kosher, Halal and vegan all rolled into one bland piece of something they say is food. (Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but I've definitely seen several places with at least 4 of those covered in one menu item)
They try to cover all their bases and do a piss poor job as a result.
Places to avoid might be helpful for those also with similar medical requirements. Bob's Restaurant might have 'gluten-free' (and lactose free,nut free...), but is it any good? Maaaaybe not. Is cross contamination a problem? (That 'gluten-free' item still getting you mysteriously sick)
If you have any stories on places to avoid, while I don't have any dietary restrictions, I'd be glad to hear them so I can pass the info along to friends who would value the info.
I agree with Amy. The article on vegetarianism is completely wrong in a lot of places. For example, eating meat in North America is actually at an all time high. Further, it is completely possible to get all of your nutrients and vitamins from a plant based diet. Talk about misleading people...
@ Jess and Amy
I completely agree. It seemed to verge on hysterical at times. Vegetarians are always sick? News to me. Cancer rates started to rise at the same time as vegetarianism/veganism began its rise in popularity? Really. North Americans are in fact eating far more meat than is required right now and cancer rates are at an all time high. See, I can tenuously link facts together too.
Hi Ryan, you could suggest your friends visit my Gremolata blog time to time for updates on my gluten free life. I find it quite sad that some feel so restricted they don't eat out! Yes, there could be cross-contamination issues, but the more of us show up at restaurants discussing our needs, the more experienced kitchens and others will be at meeting them. Most locales are very open to my rules if I lay them down, happy to help out. I generally don't go in for boxes and posters that shout 'gluten free' because they're tasteless, chemical garbage. Meat, fish, eggs and fruits and vegetables are gluten free naturally, and there are plenty of ethnic options in Toronto to make a variety of flavours there.
To Amy and Jess- with all due respect to your compassionate choices in life, it is nonetheless a fact that even vegetarian cultures rely heavily on the gift on animal products for nourishment. Note Indian cooking is ghee-heavy, because butter helps us utilize the vitamins in vegetables. Food consumption in general in North America is at an all time high, especially plastic foods, soy un-foods, sugar, and refined grains. Reports showing we 'are eating more meat' can be examined in the context of this general abundance. Plus, North America is not very old. The diets of Native Americans centred around meat, fish, fat, non gm-corn, and vegetables. Since adding our un-foods,natives have been particularly hit with poor health. Google the Namgis First Nation of Alert Bay in B.C. SInce returning to their traditional diet, the health of this nation has improved exponentially.
Finally, I would like to say that unfortunately, it has not been human nature's heritage diet misleading people- it has been well-intentioned vegetarian advocates and new science of the past 50 years, telling us not to worry. But as my article pointed out, there are serious fallacies in that science and many nutrients cannot be obtained, or obtained easily, through plants. The fat soluble vitamins- A, D, K, etc- are very difficult to get anywhere else, DHA can be made in the body from flax and other oils, but at a one percent conversion rate- that's a lot of flax you have to eat! B12 comes only in animal foods.
To anyone who is really interested in learning more, I recommend Nina Planck's Real Food, a thorough and lively read that summarizes a return to nature's diet- Real Food- while fully advocating sustainable and compassionate farming.
Cheers,
Lorette
Lorette,
I was also a vegetarian for about 8 years, and now eat chicken and fish. I read your article hoping that it might provide a well-rounded take on vegetarianism and food fanaticism. What I read instead, was a writer trying to prove her point... which seems to be that vegetarianism is not healthy or natural. I don't believe this is true.
I agree with much of what you had to say about eating unprocessed, and even the controversial take on eating saturated fats instead of processed oils (but my choice of fats for cooking are butter/ghee/coconut oil). And, we all know now (right?) that eating food direct from the farmer and free of hormones, pesticides, etc. is the way to go. So, I'm not coming from a place of disbelief, in terms of the nutritional arguments. Although lumping in grains and legumes with refined flour, sugar, chemicals, etc. seems to be somewhat extreme. What's healthier than a bowl of oatmeal, or dal and rice?
Here's a few thoughts I had while reading the article:
1. All vegans are vegetarians, but not all vegetarians are vegans. Most, if not all, of your arguments against vegetarianism are based on a vegan diet.
2. Aside from a tiny mention in your post here, you have ignored the millions (billions?) of Indian Hindus that live as vegetarians their whole lives. How do you explain that children, who need the nutrients most, are growing up into healthy adults despite eating no meat? And, they've been doing this for a lot longer than North America has been in existence, so the "we are eating less meat and therefore are less healthy" argument is illogical.
3. The Weston Price folks take on food is just as fanatical and single-minded as some of the vegetarian food theories. When I was a vegetarian, the Macrobiotic food camp was in one corner (only eat cooked food!) and the Raw Foodists were in the other (only eat raw food!). Here we have the vegans (don't eat any animal products!) and the Weston Price camp (only eat animal products - ok, and a bit of veggies!). Why does the same diet have to be best for all of us? Ayurvedic, and similar traditional healing methods (such as Tibetan), espouse a different diet for different people. So, meat might not benefit my constitution, or condition, but it might help you.
And, finally, I have to comment on your use of the word "ethnic" (over an over again in the interview and now your post). The phrases "ethnic market", "ethnic food" or "ethnic music" (you didn't say this, but it is another common usage), may mean that there are a group of people selling or making that food or music that share common heritage. But, think about how you use it and look at what it infers. The word derives from "ethnikos" meaning "foreign". It's that nice, subtle, Canadian way of referring to the "other". There are, of course, proper uses for this word, but if you are going to use it, stop and think whether you would call a corner store, run by a white Canadian family, "ethnic". Would you refer to an English pub as ethnic? What makes one market or food ethnic and another not?
To add my two cents, there has been a lot of studies that have suggested that vegetarianism is linked to the growing separation we have to where our food comes from. You'll rarely find a vegetarian who had lived on a farm at one point, or even someone who lived near a rural area.
In fact, it can also be traced to the form the finished food comes to the table. Cultures that tend to eat things au natural, (such as ham with the bone still in it, whole, roasted chickens, etc) tend to have a -much- smaller vegetarian movement than cultures which consume large amounts of fish sticks and chicken nuggets.
And, shockingly, can often be traced back to individual homes. Kids that grow up on processed foods are more likely to join the vegetarian movement than others.
Not all hindus are vegetarian and their intention is not one of health. Her point didn't ignore these types, in fact it was a major sticking point in the article. Even most vegetarian Hindus still only abstain from beef, while chicken and seafood remain popular in the diet.
"Vegetarianism was a tool to curb..."
"Hindus advocate the practice of ahiṃsā (non-violence) and respect for all life because divinity is believed to permeate all beings, including plants and non-human animals.[113] The term ahiṃsā appears in the Upanishads,[114] the epic Mahabharata[115] and Ahiṃsā is the first of the five Yamas (vows of self-restraint) in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.[116]"
A conscious choice based on restraint is much different then being of the opinion that meat is evil and/or unhealthy.
Actually B-12 doesn't "come" from animal foods. It is a bacteria that is found growing on meat. It is extremely easy to take a supplement for B-12. I'm not even going to bother discussing this issue further, because your view is naive and actually quite ignorant.
I would recommend reading "The China Study," and "Becoming Vegan" and/or "Becoming Vegetarian" for anyone interested in actual scientifically proved information.
Gluten free is a choice.. a good one to make. No one should be eating that stuff..
And if you're a vegetarian the post was obviously lost on you so don't try too hard to rationalize things..
@Keven
Please don't lecture me about Hinduism. I am married to one and have enough first-hand experience to understand what it's all about. I was not writing in ignorance.
I never intended to imply that ALL Hindus are vegetarian. And, you are right - there are many that are not, but that doesn't eliminate the many that are, and I was using THEM as an example. My comments have to do with the argument the author was making that VEGETARIANISM IS UNHEALTHY. I did not say that Hindus are vegetarian for health reasons - or give any explanation for the reason's why one chooses to be vegetarian.
Maybe you should reread the article (and my previous post). I was waiting for her to write about Indian vegetarians, as I was reading, and the most that I got was the bit with the Buddhist monk (that was the most sane part of the article, IMO). There was no other mention of this large group of people living their entire healthy lives without meat, and doing this for thousands of years.
Hi Friends,
From here on in, I'll let you all debate amongst yourselves. As I already mentioned, religious groups of vegetarians can be extremely healthy, and they are never vegan, but rely on animal products, either eggs or dairy or both. Their motivation for avoiding flesh is spiritual, not health. This was not left out of my story.
As for The China Study, I read it with fascination and felt renewed guilt over "failing at vegetarianism"- something many one-time veg-only eaters do. (BTW, the aim of the story in the first place was not to contest those who are healthy, like Marie Crawford, and tell them what to do. It was to give voice to the fact that many are not, and get sick, and have nowhere to tell their story because it is not heard. Yet there are facts and reasons for their lack of glowing health.The vegetarians have more than had their say, and I was giving voice to ex-vegetarians like myself.) Anyhow, the China Study, and many books on veganism before it, (that are not scientific).
You may be curious to find out that most of the studies in the China Study DID NOT STUDY VEGANS, despite the grandiose claims and the shuffling of science jargon and statistics and the confidence of the author's agenda.
I am not a genius for sorting out the finer and duller points of statistic research. But not everyone has found the study infallible given some of the studies were done with isolated protein powders, not real food. That's another story, but isolating any nutrient can make it toxic.
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-8e.shtml#china%20proj
Finally, I do not believe the Weston Price Foundation to be extremist, and in fact, for all that they do to return to our traditional eating habits, they also ask a return to more sustainable and compassionate farming. They are adamantly against factory farms.
I wish you all many blessings in your journey.
Lorette
The China Study: More Vegan Nonsense
http://www.thegreatcholesterolcon.com/The_China_Study.html
(title was not my words, but an interesting debate between author of study and an independent proponent of heritage eating.)
Greg Davis 
on December 3, 2008 9:20 AM
The China Study has been thoroughly debunked elsewhere (ie. dr eades does a good job if u google for it)..
Bottom line is eating more in line with ancestral diets is bound to be more suitable to our digestive systems.. and Lorette's articles are a good contribution for those looking to do so.
>Maybe you should reread the article (and my previous post).
Maybe you need to chill out. I didn't lecture you about Hinduism. Sorry you're hyper-sensitive to this with your second-hand experience.
The point was, ahhh forget it, re-read the damn article yourself. Comprehension to the philosophy instead of hanging on what your offended by is key.
This idea of some sort of romanticized ancestral diet is hilarious. Do you guys go and hunt your own game? I guess you better get rid of all of those fruits and vegetables you're so used to eating, winter's coming! Better start looking for deer and pine needles! I don't understand how people can see this diet as somehow being any healthier than a whole foods, plant based diet.
Do people seriously believe that the ancestral diet was a healthy one? Sure, people survived on it, but not easily. They didn't exactly have that high of a life expectancy, either. Now that we live in the present day, we have tons of scientific research regarding proper healthy eating habits.
Greg Davis on December 4, 2008 9:18 AM
chronic disease was non-existent.. life expectancy was low but due to acute traumatic events not heart disease or diabetes.. its really not that complicated and the science is catching up.. eat real foods and watch your insulin levels..thats all.
Hey, just becuase someone writes an article it does not mean he/she is right. Case in point.
Nowadays anyone can have a blog, website or even self-publish a "real" paper book. It still doesn't mean anything.
@Greg... the reason chronic disease SEEMED non-existent is because the technology didn't exist to detect and monitor disease. At least that's the logic I follow.
Although I agree diet makes a huge difference in your body's performance, I think it's naive to think that there's a magic diet that will keep you from all ailment.
There are some fairly blatant factual misrepresentations in the Natural Born Killer article. A single small example: The author says vegetable oil is a new kid on the block. Olives have been cultivated for their oil since 5000 BC.
To cut through all the falsehoods and lapses in logic would require spending more time than an article of this calibre merits. It is just one more piece of food zealotry, which we can safely file away with the rantings of the raw food vegans and their ilk. What say we collectively leave these folks with their harebrained ideas and their gustatory baggage, and return to the straightforward business of simply eating food again?
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