The Waffle

Wafflers, rejoice!

The ScienceDaily reports that, according to a new study from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, beer is good for the bones.

Why? Because beer, on top of being refreshing, tasty and a power-enhancing beverage, is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density.

Details of this study are available in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

“We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer,” said Charles Bamforth, lead author of the study.

The study tested 100 commercial beers for silicon content and categorized the data according to beer style and source.

The Waffle as always known that beer was good for our bodies.

They could have saved money by asking me.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Glen McGregor is reporting today that there are some problems in Ottawa’s Chinatown. Apparently, Cockroaches and mice are rampant!!!

The Waffle has never witnessed anything, but somehow trusts the City of Ottawa Inspectors and their reports.

The piece is the third of a series, entitled Food for Thoughts, about the enforcement of Ontario’s food safety rules in Ottawa. In the first one, we learned that one-in-four Ottawa restaurants had ‘critical deficiencies’ over the year. The second one shows that you should think twice about having another Shawarma.

Problems listed in Inspection reports include pest infestations, undercooked meat, problems with food storage, internal temperature after cooking or reheating, and other deficiencies, such as cleanliness and flawed designs.

Do you want to know more? Do you want to check out your favorite joint?

You can do it yourself by going on Eat Safe Ottawa, the pilot web site from the City of Ottawa, a search engine of Food Premises Inspections reports by the City’s inspectors.

Enjoy.

The people on and around Parliament Hill are not often in the habit of overcoming partisan differences when the moment compels them. Last night however was such a moment.

A reception to help the people of Haiti was organised by Summa, hosted by Global’s Kevin Newman, CTV’s Bob Fife and CBC’s Kathleen Petty and sponsored by MPs from all parties: the NDP’s Paul Dewar, the Liberal’s Justin Trudeau, the Bloc’s Richard Nadeau and the Conservatives’ Royal Galipeau.

It cost 20$ to get in, raffle tickets were sold throughout the evening for fantastic prizes, such as a Blackberrys, hockey tickets, a Reiki session, U2 tickets, restaurant vouchers, bottles of Scotch and Whiskey, an autographed Mike Fisher jersey, and two return tickets from Air Canada, to anywhere they fly in the world.

Even the tip jars’ proceeds were donated to the Canadian Red Cross and the Humanitarian Coalition.

Spirits Canada was there to quench everyone’s thirst, with a selection of fancy drinks : The Classic Martini, The Grove Martini, The Creamsicle, The Polar Breeze, The Melon Ball, and The Skyy High Cosmopolitan. Spirits Canada was happy to remind us to enjoy them drinks responsibly. The Brewers Association was also present, happy to offer a selection of beers - I focussed on the
Grasshopper.

As we were being entertained by Staff 613, a local Haitian band, I began sampling some of the food served to the guests by the good people of Tulips and Maple, who prepared Haitian and Creole delicacies.

As a starter, I went for the Cream of Squash with Shrimp and Coconut Purée.

It was a little too thick to easily drink out of the tiny shot glass, but it was quite good - if you like coconut, that is.

I quite enjoyed the combination of coconut and squash - the different sweet flavours complemented each other nicely.

However, the shrimp was perhaps superfluous? It is hard to drink a shrimp, obviously.

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Here are some Tasso Ham mini-Quiche.

The Tasso Ham (quite typical in Créole cuisine. It is usually made from the shoulder butt) was spicy, sugary and peppery, as it should be.

Although these bites were delicious, you couldn’t really get any of the usual quiche texture coming from the egg custard, nor the eggy flavour as the meat was overpowering it.

Perhaps the name was slightly misleading.

The food highlight of the night, in my opinion, was the Haitian Meatballs.

Ground beef, with lots of spices, giving it a smoky flavour.

They were meaty, they were saucy, they were going very fast - you had to keep an eye out for them.

I love meatballs, and these were quite well done. I will try to replicate soon, that’s for sure.

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The middle spread, nicely lit in Haiti’s colours, featured fresh vegetables and a variety of tasty dips. Some cheese, some fruits, corn chips were also available.

Over 500 people showed up, including NDP Leader Jack Layton, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, Conservative Ministers Lisa Raitt, Gail Shea and Peter Van Loan. If you missed it, you can watch the CBC’s Hannah Thibedau reporting on the event.

Now, I’ve got to admit it was a bit strange to eat and drink for Haiti, considering what is going on there, so I felt I had to tip generously. I suppose that was part of the plan.
Final total raised was $32,485.00. Now, imagine how much more would have been raised for Haiti if Parliament had been sitting as originally scheduled? I’m just saying… Anyway.

To make donations:

The Humanitarian Coalition
1-800-464-9154

Red Cross
1-800-418-1111

UNICEF
1-800-567-4483

“Two games are better than one.
In lieu of Super Bowl, come welcome my new Sony flat screen to the family with…

NFC-AFC championships viewing party
Sunday January 24
3:00 pm until whenever the Colts are eliminated.

There will be beer, wings and wagering.
Jets v. Colts starts at 3:00, Saints - Vikings at 7:20 p.m.

Weather permitting, we’ll toss the football around during the intermezzo.

Scarlet and Cleo will be waitressing for tips for Haiti so bring spare change.

Also, let’s do a pool. Closest aggregate absolute difference between predicted and actual point totals for all four teams. Lowest wins. $5 to play. Winner takes all.

RSVP so I know how many kilos of dead chicken to buy.”

And so, here we were, at Glen’s place, ready for some football, our picks being made, our beers cracked open.

Cleo had created a great atmosphere by hand-drawing the logos of the four contenders and displaying them around the room.

Scarlet was ready and eager to raise money for Haïti - even my wife doesn’t bring me beer so soon after I am done the previous one.

And as promised, there was plenty of dead chicken available.

Glen bought a bunch of frozen wings, No Name®, Medium and Hot.  And, also, Salt and Pepper - which I have decided to feature for you, dear Wafflers.

(First, let me lament the return of the very yellow packaging.  It’s Back to the Future with No Name ®. Sad. Yet, there is no shame in no name.)

Out of the 2 pound package (22 to 28 per bag), these frozen wings were of a greyish tint, not orange like the usual frozen chicken wings on the market, they had a nice mix of “wings” and “drummys”.  Black pepper was easy to spot, the salt not so much.   But then again, most times, sodium is not what is lacking in prepared food - I was not worried.

Glen brought them out 30 minutes later - they were steaming hot, we could see the fumes as we were eyeing them cooling down slowly in the dining room while the Vikings were fumbling the ball for the 79th time.

I do not buy frozen wings very often, I prefer to make them fresh, usually on the grill. Frozen, they are not always good. It is also very difficult to duplicate the fresh deep-fried versions offered at your favourite joint, and they never come anywhere close to the never frozen, double deep fried critters you can get at Wild Wing. (My review here, my Top 25 flavors here.)

That said, these No Name wings weren’t bad.  Texture was ok - not quite cripsy enough, which is often the case with frozen wings.  An unusual flavor, the pepper was nicely present.  The salt was not visible, but obviously there, too.  In fact, as I chewed on them, it dawned on me - this tasted like Colonel Sanders‘ recipe.  Well, not quite, but fairly close.  Perhaps No Name found the recipe online.  Nevertheless, they tasted pretty good - good enough for football, that’s for sure!

And, eeer…  We didn’t get to toss the football around between the two games.  But I blame that on the freezing rain hitting Ottawa, not the wings and the cold beverages that accompanied them.

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As I was walking to work on Sparks this morning, I was contemplating the possibility of grabbing breakfast, and somehow the thought popped into my head that perhaps I should try Jazz’oo, which is right next door.

I had walked by their breakfast advertisement many times, but never stopped.  But today, I was quite hungry.

As I approached the location, I saw that their copy of the Ottawa Citizen was still on the ground.  The place was dark. And the notice was noticeable.

The notice to terminate the lease had been served on January 12th.

The locks have been changed.

Jazz’oo had 5 days to remove all assets - but the aquarium was still in there.
(I wonder if anyone is feeding the fishies?)

All that to say that it is unfortunate. The place opened in the fall of 2007 but it never found it’s rythm, despite the regular live jazz performance, at night or at lunch.  They sometimes had pretty good musicians.  Their menu was trying to be Mediteranean-trendy but was minimalist and rotating: A salad, which you could make into a meal with the addition of a dead animal; their antipasto plater, with bread, cheese and grilled veggies; a couple of sandwiches; and a few pasta dishes.  For dinner, they would add a few more robust entrées.  In December, there was an obvisouly failed attempt to move towards a tapas style.  Prices were a little high for some of the items, the service was a little slow and undertrained, but somehow you felt like this could be.  It could be.

Alas, Jazz’oo never reached it’s full potential and was not able to build a large clientèle - but a few politicians were regulars - mostly because you were sure it would be quiet.  And quiet cannot be good with a lease on Sparks street.