Keep your food close to home

‘You are what you eat." I first heard this phrase from my grade nine home economics teacher, Brenda Nelson. At the time — as a teenager — the meaning struck me as a gentle admonishment to avoid full-fat indulgences. Today, I interpret it more as an invitation to seek out wholesome, earthy food that is rich and comforting in flavour and true to my roots.

Authentic flavours begin with fresh ingredients. Make it your mission in 2017 to foster a culinary relationship with your local farmer as well as to discover the vibrant network of artisanal makers in Manitoba.

Let’s begin at Adagio Acres near Lundar, Man., where Donald and Amy Nikkel are serving up naked oats.

Adagio is an Italian word used to describe music or dance that is performed at a slow tempo. At the Nikkel’s organic family farm where oats are grown on 40 acres, the philosophy is to slow down, relax and find your personal tempo.

Finding a better tempo may start with a warm bowl of oats in the morning or a plate of waffles topped with fresh, whipped cream and berries, say the Nikkels, who mill their oats fresh every week and distribute them to more than 30 retail outlets in the province.

What are naked oats? Unlike their highly processed cousins (such as conventional instant oatmeal), naked oats are hulless.

Raw and unprocessed, these types of oats have higher nutrient levels of fibre, protein and iron. The Nikkels’ product is organically certified and also gluten-free.

They have been milling oats for three years with output doubling every year. Today, they have as many as eight different types of milling machines in a 185 square-metre facility.

About those waffles: Amy Nikkel recommends mixing up the batter the night before.

"You’ll be rewarded for your patience and foresight," she says, "because the extra soaking time creates the fluffy-on-the-inside but crisp-on-the-outside texture that gluten-free recipes often lack."

To view the recipe and others, visit adagioacres.com.

Heralded as the newest super berry, aronia, or chokeberry, is being grown at Riverbend Orchards in Portage la Prairie by Dr. Philip Ronald, a renowned plant breeder who manages the research programs at Jeffries Nurseries.

Aronia fruit has a unique flavour profile, Ronald says. A good example of an edible ornamental with significant esthetic value — flowers and fall colour — aronia is not often eaten out of hand because of its somewhat dry, slightly bitter outer skin. It can, however, be easily processed into jams or juices. Last summer, I finished a jar of aronia jam that I enjoyed to the last, exquisitely delicious drop.

Incredibly high in vitamins and antioxidants — more so than other highly touted super fruits according to research by scientists — the aronia berry is the right berry at the right time.

Expect to see aronia products at local farmers markets. You can also buy your berries in bulk directly from Riverbend Orchards during the growing season. The black-blue, marble-shaped berries freeze easily. Another option is to grow your own aronia melanocarpa viking shrubs (mature height is two metres).

Developed in Eastern Europe, aronia is hardy to zone 3.

Today’s young farmers and millennial makers are well-educated, well-connected and confident in their ability to market their original, quality products to a loyal, enthusiastic following. Savvy artisans can be found at popular spring and fall market venues, such as last November’s hugely successful Third + Bird event and pop-up shops that keep popping up everywhere.

More recently, on a bitterly cold day the Saturday before Christmas, over 2,000 shoppers descended on the Luckygirl Pop-Up Shop event held at Hut K on Ross Avenue for the chance to pick up local and regional foods — including breads and artisanal cheeses — and unique gifts — such as un-plastic reusable food wrap.

Andrea Gorda, owner of PipCreek Farm, travelled four hours into Winnipeg from her home in Inglis to display her wares. Gorda was a stay-at-home mom who began her thriving business by looking for an alternative to plastic wrap.

Tired of wrestling with clingy plastic wrap, which is made with low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Gorda began experimenting with cotton fabric that she dipped into a beeswax-based wax resin mixture.

It takes a certain amount of fortitude to create DIY reusable and compostable food wrap, which involves grating beeswax onto fabric that is then placed into an oven. Nevertheless, Gorda persisted, took her food wrap to a craft show and promptly sold out. Today, Gorda’s un-plastic food wrap (which is washable in cold water and gentle dish soap and can be reused for up to a year) comes in three different sizes. All that is needed is the warmth of your hands for the wrap to shape itself to a bowl or a piece of leftover cheese or homemade pancetta, Gorda says.

An added touch: each set of beeswax wraps, packaged in onion-skin paper, are individually block-printed or hand-drawn with nature-themed images ranging from owls to feathers and fronds.

Gorda sources her beeswax from the Manitoba Honey Co-operative. In the past, she has tried her hand at beekeeping, something she plans to start anew this year.

At no other time have beekeepers, bees and their liquid gold — honey — received so much interest.

James Campbell, a Stonewall-area hobby beekeeper and former secretary of the Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association, has recently been awarded the Willy Baumgartner Memorial Award by the Canadian Honey Council for his contributions to the bee industry in Canada.

Currently there is a global glut of honey affecting our Manitoba producers, Campbell says. Ensure you are buying wholly Manitoba honey. Campbell also emphasizes the need to practise integrated pest management and minimize the need for pesticides that adversely impact pollinators.

What about the availability and demand for fresh greens in the dead of a Manitoba winter? God’s Acres is a family-run community supported agriculture (CSA) farm near Steinbach.

Owner Hans Steinmann can be found every Wednesday year round at the food market located on the second floor of the Health Sciences Centre. Currently, he is harvesting fresh lettuce, kale, Swiss chard and a few varieties of herbs that he is growing in his greenhouse. He also supplies stored potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Ultimately his goal is to also grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants year-round. Steinmann delivers his fresh produce weekly to myfarmersmarket.com, an online courier business that offers products from 70 different local producers.

Bruce Berry, operator of Almost Urban Vegetables and a local CSA farmer, says that as people turn more toward local food, the small-farm sector takes on growing importance. "Knowing your farmer and buying their food," Berry says, "is a win-win relationship that helps your family eat healthier food with the best nutrition." Berry adds it’s worth remembering that small farms feed the world.

colleenizacharias@gmail.com