Occupation: Chef, Educator and Food Writer
What did you eat today?
It’s Saturday and I love sleeping in and going to Credo for an American Misto and one of their fabulous raisin bran muffins. Also had some homemade granola with Greek yogurt (Liberté is one of my standby yogurts) topped with homemade stewed rhubarb. An early dinner of Battista Calzones (pesto chicken and Italian meat and shared with my husband) and accompanied with a homemade Caesar salads. The salad is one of my favourites and uses a dressing that I’ve been making for over 30 years!
What do you never eat?
Head cheese!
What is your personal specialty?
This is a difficult question to answer as I love cooking and baking anything. But I guess my specialty would be developing recipes from dishes I’ve discovered when hosting my International culinary tours to ones back home using local ingredients!
Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:
Lots of condiments (mustards, hot sauces, chutneys, marmalades), local cheeses, local organic eggs, goat milk, organic juices, fresh fruit and vegetables.
What is your weekday meal standby?
An omelette or homemade soup.
What is your favourite kitchen item?
My Haruyuiki Tsuchime knife from Knifewear.
World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.
Oh goodness…it’s going to be a combo of foods I remember from childhood and remarkable dishes discovered on my culinary tours. Here goes:
Crostini using Baguette from Saigon topped with Rocamadour goats cheese from les Causses France (you could twist my arm here and I’d be happy to use Fairwinds goat cheese or The Cheesiry’s Fresco!) with a glass of Prosecco
Arancini stuffed with spinach or ragu and a side of Eleonora Consoli’s Caponata from Sicily with a glass of Pinot Grigio
My mom’s beef knishes
Cassoulet from Carcassonne with a black wine from the Cahors
Dessert would have to be my mom’s chocolate marble cake – it was always the mainstay at our birthdays growing up and it always makes me smile when I think of it (especially when I could lick the icing off the beaters!)
An Americano Misto from Credo
Where do you eat out most frequently?
We don’t eat out a lot, but if I did, it would be Corso 32, Tres Carnales and Sofra.
Where’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?
Ah….for me that would be Corso 32! Check back with me in a few months and I’m sure there will be more added to the list as great local restaurants are popping up everywhere in Edmonton!
If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?
Italy will always be my favourite country to travel to and it not just about the food – the people are so genuine, kind and so proud of their food. Definitely lots of antipasti like the arancini and caponata mentioned above, prosciutto di Parma with cheeses from the area…some fresh pasta topped with anything you’d find on pasta in Italy…fresh fruit and gelati and a shot of Lemoncello for dessert.
You can find Gail’s cooking class and food tour information on Seasoned Solutions.
Only Here for the Food 