THE

STRAND

magazine

our masthead
Editors-in-ChiEf Fiona Buchanan Pauline Holdsworth Patrick Mujunen Allie Chenoweth Leila Kent Brandon Martin-Gray Blaire Townshend Nathan Watson Johanna Lewis Jen Roberton David Wang Bahar Banaei Liam Coo Leila Kent Nick Koutoulas Annie Narae Lee Johanna Lewis Thomas Lu Noor Shaikh Nathan Watson Caleb Mitchell Leila Kent Allie Chenoweth Mathew Casaca Allie Chenoweth Rachel Chepesiuk Ethan Chiel Sarah Crawley Sabina Freiman Monica Georgieff Ariel Leutheusser Brandon Martin-Gray Patrick Mujunen Shiraz Noor Will Pettigrew Jen Roberton Jamie Shilton Mackenzie Urquhart Managing Editor dEsign Editors

letter from the editor

pauline holdsworth

dEsign staff

PhotograPhErs

art

CoPy Editor CoPy staff Contributors

couldnt cook before I came to university. I was infamous for having set my family stove on fire three times (once trying to make scrambled eggs, twice trying to boil water to make tea). Food is one of those things which is easy to take for granted but takes up a significant amount of space in our lives. Its inherently political, and based in power structures of production and consumption, as Shiraz Noor discusses in his investigation into working conditions in campus cafeterias. Its essential to what we think of as home, and how we feel about our city. Walking to and from the grocery store, calculating the relative distance between cheap Thai places on Yonge Street, and picking the best cafes in which to study all help shrink Toronto down to a personal size that turns it from a place to study to a place to live. On pages 14 & 15, Ariel Leutheusser offers a love letter to Spadina, and tells us about the Chinese bakeries and dumpling restaurants she calls her own. In putting together this magazine issue, we wanted to provide more than reviews and best-of lists; we tried to get at what makes food so personal and so loaded with meaning. Though we like to imagine food as a comfort, its another arena which were pressured to eat right, lose weight, and cultivate the right image. On page 11, Jen Roberton uses an epipen to poke holes in the assumption that vegan and gluten-free restaurants are inclusive spaces.

In three years, Ive graduated from making nothing but sub-par scrambled eggs to spending too much time on websites like tastespotting.com looking up increasingly impractical things like zucchini noodles, and Ive found that cooking is one of the few times I relax. Theres nothing like UofT-induced stress to make it clear that taking the time eat - and think about eating - real food is essential to both physical and mental health. This is the first magazine issue The Strand has published, and as such its been a labour of love (and a masochistic exercise in sleep-deprivation) for everyone involved. By experimenting with an entirely new format, weve been pushed to start from scratch with our design. Its been an opportunity for us to think hard about whether design decisions we make by force of habit are really effective. Were looking forward to taking the redesign momentum from this issue and holding our regular issues to a higher standard of quality. Like what you see here? Not into it? Send us an e-mail at editor@thestrand.ca and let us know how you think we could do better. In this magazine, youll read about everything from the finer points of the food channel to the long-standing rivalry between cheap pizza institutions Papa Ceos and Coras. We hope it intrigues you, and pushes you to take a critical look at the implications - whether political, banal, or heartening - of what you eat and why.

Table of
Cables Last Meal Recipe Book Pie vs. Pie Cafeteria Inequity

Contents
3

Lost in the Supermarkert & Six Cups of Coffee a Day My Cookie, and Everyone Elses

4 5

The Strand is published 14 times a year and has a circulation of 2500. It is distributed in Victoria University residences and across the University of Torontos St. George campus. The Strand gleefully enjoys its editorial autonomy. Please direct inquiries by email to editor@thestrand.ca. For advertising information, email advertising@thestrand.ca. Our office is located at 63 Charles St. West., Toronto, ON, M5S 1K9. Follow us on Twitter for news and updates: @strandpaper

A Bitter Pill to Swallow The Wrath of Grapes & A Graceful Hangover

10 11 12 13
14

My Life with Kraft Dinner Spadina Ave.

Speakeasy
2

highball 2012::a 1920s aFFaiR MaRCh 2 aT ONE KiNg WEST hOTEl TiCKETS 40/50 DOllaRS aT ThE VUSaC OFFiCE

Cable's last meal

brandon martin-gray

he proliferation of specialty cable channels in the 1990s promised to inaugurate a golden age of viewership. The TV viewing audience, once divided among a few large networks, would be atomized into smaller specialty audiences; everyone would slot neatly into a niche and lo, what freedom the modern man would have in choosing how to passively entertain himself. Of course, that cable-based golden age didnt exactly come to pass. Seinfeld was on NBC and Monday Night Football was on ABC and now you can watch videos of cats that sound like dogs and just about anything else that has ever happened or been broadcast or filmed on your smartphone. With high-speed internet, the promise of cable TV has been fulfilled. You can pretty much watch whatever you want, whenever you want, and for free if youre willing to break the lawwhich is basically everyone. All you have to do is type watch 30 rock into Google, close some pop-ups, and boom. So at this point, I think it is uncontroversial to say, specialty channels are largely irrelevant. The exception: Food Network. The Food Network I and everyone else I know who watches it include the definite article when referring to what is officially known as Food Network is the only TV I love that I never watch online. It is a dish best served on TV because its just so darn TV-like. I want to avoid making grand essayistic proclamations like The Food Network is a microcosm of TV at large, containing everything that is wonderful and everything that is hideous about the medium, but Im afraid those are pretty much the facts. The Food Network is a candy miniature of the TV landscape. It is both Dancing with the Stars slathered with store brand BBQ sauce, and Mad Men slathered (or drizzled, say) with some classier sauce, something with an accent aigu that requires roux and stock and probably wine. This is part of what makes the Food Network great. Theres something for everyone, or everyone in the relatively small set of people who like to watch other people cook on TVincluding discerning people and people with less than good taste. Its like how sports channels broadcast hockey and tennis but also celebrity poker and pro wrestling. But the good thing is that the Food Networks terrible programming is not quite bad enough to be repellent in the way that something like Dancing with the Stars is utterly, incontrovertibly repellent, because it is always coated in a sweet/spicy/tangy sauce. It is still a candy miniature. Guy Fieri is probably the best example of this phenomenon. Despite fitting squarely into the hid-

eous side of the wonderful/hideous pegboardhe is probably the most important tool on therehe somehow manages to make for fun, compelling TV. He is the type of fully-grown man who owns more than one bowling shirt with a dragon on it; the hair that frames his big sunburned face is spiked and bleached, and he has a goatee the central tuft of which is also bleached. He always wears a sweatband on his right wrist, a chain around his neck, mirrored sunglasses, and usually bracelets or a big shiny watch. He drives bright vintage hot rods, and you get the sense that he owns a dune buggy, too. Point is, the man is ridiculous. And Fieris improbable wardrobe and obnoxious taste in cars are outdone by his bizarre unself-aware swagger and ravenous maw. He digs things that are kewl and off da hook (see his Twitter page for the accuracy of these spellings). Watching him eat a cheeseburger is like watching a front-end loader eat a cheeseburger. And yet somehow hes charming. There is magnetism in him that is tough to articulate. For all his weird overgrown frat boy cum surfing white rapper affectations, the dude is fun to watch. He puts people at ease. On his show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, he lavishes well-deserved praise on small town mom-and-pop operations across the USA and talks to the locals about their favourite dishes, sampling the food and saying things like Dude, Ive been stricken by chicken! and Holy moley stromboli, then playfully extending a sneaker to be filled with extra sauce. It all comes off as warm and good-humoured. On first glance hes revolting for sure, but once you get to know him, hes not halfbad. Is watching and enjoying DDD partly a way to flex your ironic detachment muscles? Of course, but theres something else there, too. Compare Fieri and Triple D (DDD and Triple D are his terms, by the way) to Alton Brown and his magnum opus, Good Eats, and the candy miniature metaphor gets its marzipan filling. Brown is a quick, slightly wacky, bespectacled typethink Bill Nye meets early Woody Allen meets delicious food whose show tackles everything from the origins of the modern Thanksgiving dinner to the chemistry behind that rich browned meat taste (its called the Maillard reaction). When it comes to food programming, Good Eats is in a class of its own. The documentary/renovation shows usually suck:

see brawny weirdo Robert Irvines Restaurant: Impossible or, God forbid, Restaurant Makeover. The garden variety instructional shows, in which a chef teaches you, the viewer, how to make certain dishes range from bad to okay to good depending on the host (for good, see mascarpone-filled sex bomb Giada DeLaurentiiss Giada at Home, or Chef at Home, hosted by the most steadfastly dad-like man alive, Michael Smith). The competition/reality shows rarely disappoint (see the always exciting Iron Chef, featuring live commentary from Alton, or Chopped, which usually features what feels like genuine human emotion amid the secret ingredients). And then theres Good Eats. Its tightly scripted, educational, funny, and a fount of great recipes and techniques. Wanna learn how to cook the best steak youll ever cook? To appreciate the unjustly execrated brussels sprout? Alton Browns got you. But again, most of the weaker Food Network stuff is not not good. Its perfect for bored, nothing else to do, late-night TV watching. Youd never stream The Best Thing I Ever Ate onlineI wouldnt, at leastbut that doesnt mean its not a perfectly watchable show. Which is not to say there arent some serious clunkers. Recently, the Food Network Canada has started airing a Canadian knock-off of Fieris DDD called You Gotta Eat Here. It fails for the same basic reason all knock-offs fail: its very similar to the source material yet somehow all wrong. Its the same reason Lobstermen failed to reel in the audience that Deadliest Catch did. Theres the same basic apparatus, the same canned rockabilly soundtrack, but its hosted by a charmless dweeb who wears plaid shirts instead of bowling shirts, and glasses instead of sunglasses, whose bites are careful, and whose jokes either come off as meanspirited or just fall completely flat. Even when hes doing his best Fieri impressionBC hash? Its like a mountain of flavour!he falls short. Fieris precise blend of hideousness and charisma cannot be replicated. The point, if there is one, is that food makes everything better, or at least it does with TV. Guy Fieris non-prandial NBC game show Minute to Win It is just awfulwhat sort of maniac thought this was a good idea? If you bar Guy from the kitchen and take the gigantic sandwich out of his mouth, he is just an insufferable churl with a silly haircut. And I suspect that if you pried the cast iron dutch oven from Alton Browns stock-simmered hands, he would lack a certain something too. The Food Network is in a special position that some channels like the History Channel or TLC are not. Even its crummy shows capture our attention, because the crumbs are homemade Italian breadcrumbs.

lost in the supermarket

ta i ya k i , k i m C h i a n d o t h e r w o n d e r s at pat C e n t r a l
jen roberton

supermarket. Aisles upon aisles of boxed goodies and freezers are always beside bins of produce. Grumpy uniformed cashiers stand at the end of the miniature rolling walkway waiting for your purchases to edge towards them. The florescent lighting disorients customers and employees alike. However, PAT Central supermarket (675 Bloor St. W.) offers a Korean take, with a Japanese twist, differing it from the conventional North American grocery shopping experience. Nestled in the heart of Koreatown, PAT has all the essentials. Unfortunately for those of us who do not speak Korean, much of the labelling is in Hangeul. More common items are categorized bilingually. Tomatoes are marked, but good luck finding the kimchi. Instead of employing pimply teenagers as disgruntled staff, PAT employs older Korean women as cashiers and middle-aged Korean men working the floor. It is not uncommon to find yourself in line behind an elderly woman having an extended conversation with a cashier in Korean while being slipped extra bags on the side. Restocking the shelves of the small grocery store is quite the feat, which I can attest to as some-

here is an element of universality to the

one who has both biked between delivery trucks and oncoming traffic outside, and squeezed my cart past giant crates of instant noodles inside the store. PAT is more than just a supermarket. Upstairs Charmzone Cosmetics and Silk Art Flower Lingerie & Accessory offer the latest in Korean fashion. Theres a bakery and a butcher on site. A counter full of pre-made food is nestled at the back for the lazy shopper. Two months ago, PAT also added a taiyaki stand near the front entrance. Taiyaki is a delicious Japanese treat consisting of either red or black bean paste covered in batter, shaped as little fish. Taiyaki can be literally translated to baked sea bream. Despite its name, no fish were harmed in the making of taiyaki, making it vegetarian-friendly. In the summer months, I always buy excessive amounts of Korean ice cream. Nothing cools you down on a hot day like an air-conditioned supermarket and a Melona creamsicle. PAT is also conveniently located next to the historic Metro theatre. This fine cinema has been a part of the community for over 75 years. It is currently Torontos only 35mm twinplex theatre. This obviously means that it is on the brink of closing down.

Notably, it considers itself to be Torontos only remaining porn theatre, with over 200 titles in its library. It has a storefront in what one can only presume to have formerly been its ticket booth. It once contained a Cash for Gold store, and but is currently vacant. There has been some speculation that PAT may buy the space to expand its store if the theatre closes down for good. If this description hasnt charmed you enough, the prices are ridiculously low at PAT. Perhaps this is nothing special to the Chinatown-savvy consumer, but the prices are still always at least marginally cheaper than No Frills. PAT also offers a membership card, and points can be traded in for groceries. The card gives the bearer a discount on both their birthday and wedding anniversary. If you spend over $30, $50 or $100, youre offered special discounts on other items listed at the cash register for both members and non-members. One dollar ice cream? Custard pies? Disposable gloves? Maybe even a case of instant noodles? Regardless of what youre looking for, PAT has you covered.

six Cups of Coffee a day

k e e p s t h e d o C t o r away
raChel Chepesiuk

ver the past couple of months, Ive come across study after study about coffee and how it may have certain health benefits. At first, as an avid coffee drinker myself (up to 6-10 cups a day, if Im lucky), I was relieved to see that maybe all that dark gold Ive been consuming has actually been helping out my body against a variety of diseases. Take that, breast cancer! And that, Alzheimers! But after seeing the dosage amount that was deemed to be beneficial, I started to wonder what other people would think of these studies and how it would affect their coffee consumption. One thing about reading the findings of studies in brief news articles is that some articles dont go over the study in depth, and instead merely report the results. Which I guess could be fine, as not everyone wishes to be made aware of all the different factors that go in to producing a study and how results are found and blah blah blah they (or the media thinks) just want to know the results so they can adjust their behaviour accordingly. But in an effort to preserve their good health, or perhaps to compensate for their negative behaviours, what some people do is simply read the results of a study and run with whatever was found to be beneficial.

This can be problematic because depending on the disease be it cancer Parkinsons, Alzheimers, gout, and so on, it could be any one of the various compounds present in coffee thats actually responsible for the beneficial effects. So, if youre someone whos sensitive to the effects of caffeine, going out to drink several cups of caffeinated coffee just for the health benefits is probably not the best idea; perhaps its just the antioxidants in coffee thats helping out your body. Some studies have determined that its one compound or another; some havent. Coffee is something that each individual needs to monitor. If a study finds that beneficial effects come from drinking five cups of coffee a day, but you experience adverse effects after your second, then stick with what you can handle. If you cant handle caffeine, then dont despair if you can only handle decaf because those antioxidants may be whats helping out your body. If youre interested in reading a number of study results that explain how coffee has been found to be beneficial, my best advice is to read results from an academic source. Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter has a number of good articles for your consideration, and is easily accessible through a UofT Libraries system.

my cookie, and everyone else's

ethan chiel

his much, at least, can be gleaned from a box: Mallomars are nearly a hundred years old, first sold to a grocer in West Hoboken, New Jersey in 1913; the New York metropolitan area is mostly responsible for their continued consumption, making up seventy percent of sales; and they are Pure Chocolate. Its hard to find much more information about them than this, though. A little more research will reveal that they have a rabid fan base and that theyre only available between the months of October and April. This limited availability began from necessity: when Mallomars debuted it was difficult to keep them from melting in the summer months. The seasonal sales window is now maintained as a tradition, according to a representative of Kraft Foods (of which Nabisco, which produces Mallomars, is a subsidiary). Also, West Hoboken no longer exists; it merged with the town of Union Hill in 1925, forming Union City. Mallomars look a lot like Dream Puffs or Viva Puffs or Whippets or any others in a long string of nearly identical marshmallow confections. They have a graham cracker base topped with marshmallow and enrobed in dark chocolate. (Enrobed because the chocolate is poured over the cracker and marshmallow.) They show up in the press every so often, in articles sometimes desperately fleeing an event horizon of corniness and sometimes diving wholeheartedly towards it. But the information is generally the same: New Jersey origin, limited sales time, big New York following. Throw in a testimonial or family story. Print. My initial plan was for this article to be different. I was going to get the serious lowdown on Mallomars. How? Every Mallomar that I or anyone else has eaten for almost ten years now was produced in a Kraft Canada facility in Scarborough. Since I learnt this a year or two ago Ive entertained a Wonka-esque fantasy about visiting the place. This was my chance! But was not to be, something I probably shouldve known given that the Toronto Star had been turned down for a tour of a couple of years ago, and I got no further. As a representative of a student paper, I was initially told that it wasnt

certain whether or not I would get a response with a bit of prodding, I got an email with some familiar information. New Jersey origin, limited sales time, big New York following. The email also told me that I could check out Mallomars on Facebook, where you can find a page with the same information Id kept finding, as well as chain letters of the repost this 15 times or I will show up and murder/disembowel/tickle you in your sleep variety, people asking where they could get Mallomars near them, or just leaving praise. In early December one particularly passionate fan declared DEAR LORD TAKE MY HOUSE AND FAMILY AND GIVE ME MALLOMARS. So, I turned to my own corny family story. Mallomars are my favorite cookies, and thoughI rarely get a hold of them these days, I can and have eaten a box, eighteen cookies, in one embarrassingly short sitting. I first really got into them when my family moved from the Philippines back to the US in 2003. Id had them before, on the occasional wintertime trip to the States, but not regularly. In seventh grade, though, I found myself hooked. It wasnt the sort of thing you question much. You like these cookies? So you like these cookies. Whatever. If anything, I had started thinking of my love for them as an inheritance. My mom was (and remains) a big fan, so too my maternal grandparents. My mom remembered having them sometimes as a kid, but didnt like them at that point. She thought they were hard and dry. It wasnt until when she was in her twenties that she came to like them. It was having them with a hot drink (something some consider a faux-pas) that did it. She thought the melting chocolate made the flavors and textures blend better. When she was living abroad they came to mean more to her. They were a reminder of home, something to look forward to when she visited. When my grandma was young her father died and, my great-grandmother left my grandma and her two siblings. They eventually ended up living with my great-grandmothers sister and brother-inlaw, who also had children of their own. This was during the Great Depression, and the family was far from well off. Cookies were a treat, and one of the

varieties my grandma fondly remembers is the Mallomar. Her love of them has persisted, a love which she then passed on to her brother-in-law, my late great-uncle, who would beg her to bring them to the desolate, too-warm-to-sell-Mallomars wasteland where he lived: Florida. Getting a chance to visit the factory where Mallomars are made wouldve been interesting in its own right (who doesnt want to see cookies enrobed in real time?) Whats more interesting, though, is why people get so worked up over what are, ultimately, mass produced cookies. It seemed odd, at first, that there was so little information available about Mallomars; but the information is there, it just is the corny stuff. The family stories and the minor obsessions people have are the story of the cookie. Kraft knows that well. The email I got noted that the seasonality of Mallomars created a wonderful ritual for many consumers. And we feel that has made Mallamors [sic] such a special, memorable treat for people with a rich heritage. Are they capitalizing on peoples memories? Maybe, but who would be surprised? Either way, its a fool who publicly talks smack about his dealer. This may sound like a truism, but I dont think so. There are foods out there with stories that are long and intricate and universally captivating (if anyone has doubts about this, read up on the history of the banana.) There are foods that have those stories, as well as small stories, the stories that people and families come up with. Then there are foods that have (almost) all small stories. Mallomars are like that, the small stories are what matter: someone rediscovering them when they encounter a box in a store in L.A. or Portland, or remembering eating them after school, or as a rare treat. There will always be an element of corniness to the tales about them, but thats what lets people feel like Mallomars belong exclusively to them, even though they were invented and are sold by a giant multinational corporation. Should you somehow find yourself face-to-face with a bright yellow box of Mallomars, bear that in mind. Try them you may find something youll remember. At the very least, tell me where you found them.

cafeteria inequity
inspeCting working Conditions of Campus food serviCes
shiraz noor
sabina freiman & sarah Crawley

his is a single mother, three kids. From her paycheque, we noted that she worked 22.5 hours during the week at a rate of $11.40 per hour. Also listed on the slip was a week of winter holiday pay, which consisted only of 2.22 hours at the same rate for Christmas Day. According to the government, workers should be getting eight hours of pay on statutory holidays. This is the story of food service workers at UofT who work under Aramark. During the three-weeklong winter break, they dont get paid. Such is their livelihood. As part time employees punching in 34 hours of work a week or less, many employees receive no benefits: no health plan, no pension, no paid time off. Additionally, workers are not being paid on days when theyre too sick to come to work. According to Aramarks policy on sick leave, employees are entitled to up to two days off in cases of illness: Normally, an employee will not be required to produce a medical certificate for absences due to illness of less than three consecutive days. But they are receiving no pay for these days, even though their short-term sick pay is supposed to be accrued at a rate of one day per month after probation. During the summer, many of the workers are laid off until fall. Workers that can get by with other sources of income in their domestic set up sometimes use the annual layoff as an opportunity to explore other areas of work in the hopes of one day leaving. The rest are not so lucky. They keep only two or three people and make more work [for them], said Russell, a food service worker, at Scarborough Campus. To protect the identities of the food service workers, all the names in this article have been changed. The whole time you are laid off, you have no benefits and no pay. Many of those laid off are single mothers, and for them the annual layoff means four months without a secure income. Hours have been reduced over the last few years, in part because more food is already made and brought in from outside, such as packaged sandwiches. Workers are sometimes told to leave early if its not busy and if business picks up afterwards, then the few who are left are pushed to work harder. Sometimes when I leave work at 5:00 Ill see a line [...] that goes out the door because there are only two, three, four people working, Russell added. Another employee, Karen, who has been around since before management switched to Aramark on the St. George campus, pointed out that her current income is in fact lower than it was before because her reduced hours have overridden her small, incremental wage increases. In this context, Aramarks recent collective bargaining offer of a one percent increase in pay is laughable. Workers also informed us of a lack of stability in their hours. Sometimes after the schedule for the week is posted, midway through the week the schedule is changed and workers will have reduced hours. The resulting difficulty of planning ones time is espe-

cially hard on those with children. Russell believes that management uses the flexibility in shift scheduling and task assignment as a weapon against workers to prevent them from speaking openly about their concerns: If they see [us talking] the next day they will cut our hours...You will lose something, he said. They treat us like animals, said Charlene, anAramark employee at New College during her 15-minute break. Aramark is the 19th largest employer in the world. Its contract with UofT began in 2002 at the Scarborough campus and 2006 at St. George, and the company also supplies for campuses at Oshawa and York. The treatment is the same everywhere, in every university, Russell mentionned. At Sids Cafe, though, the working environment is particularly hostile, and a growing acceptance of gender-based harassment, including physical violence, has begun to fester. Two months ago, for instance, a female cashier was kicked behind the counter by another employee, and to date the perpetrator has not been disciplined. According to her co-worker, her complaint is being hidden by Aramark, which deemed the matter to be closed after moving the man to another location and telling him to avoid his former area. This disturbing case highlights a larger point about the business culture within Aramark. There appears to be a pattern of favouritism and discrimination affecting the companys employees. Inequitable treatment of food service employees has created a toxic working environment for many. Workers informed us they are often blamed for mistakes that others make. For instance, if a workers task is passed on to a superior after their shift is finished and something goes wrong under the superiors watch, the worker will be held responsible and punished. Adherence to food handling policies at service locations on campus were drawn into question by concerned employees. At Tim Hortons locations run by Aramark, employees indicated knowledge of a number of unskilled workers that make mistakes at the till, with the next customer being overcharged to make up for the loss. At another location, workers raised concerns that donuts and bagels are being kept out longer than they should be and then shoved back into the freezer. Meat reportedly refrigerated for as long as one month is being served to customers, and workers that refuse to sell it are subject to discipline. At Sids Cafe, the grill opens late and closes early, while Spring Rolls Go opens early and closes late. As items at Spring Rolls Go cost less to prepare than those at the grill, more money can be made from selling these items to students items, giving them less value for their money. Cost-cutting measures such as these, weve been told, are in place so that the boss figure either a chief chef for the kitchen, or a general managercan receive a bonus. The result, said Russell, is reduced

hours and poor food quality,. The quality of the meat, is most often compromised, but vegetable quality is sometimes affected as well. Alex, a food service worker at St. George, had to serve stale buns the very day of our interview. Alex also complained about having to partake in an unsanitary environment. Some of the problems mentioned were refrigerators leaking, sinks and garbage cans left uncleaned, and floors unswept. Alex informed us that eco-trays, which are reusable and are offered to students as a substitute for disposable containers, are washed in the sink rather than a dishwasher, which does not adhere to standard sanitation procedures. Rat holes have also reportedly been found in plastic containers carrying pizzas. When workers are prevented from performing basic maintenance, they say it is because their time is wholly occupied fulfilling their other responsibilities. They are not prevented from staying past their scheduled time to fulfil maintenance duties because the management refuses to pay them for overtime. The pressure placed on the workers by these management practices has impacted workers attitudes towards their jobs. I think basically, if you look at the whole thing, what do we want? asked a cook, Frank. Honest pay for honest work. If we work a day, we want an honest pay for what we do. And second, we want a little more dignity. We cook let us serve something that we can be proud of and be happy with. We are the ambassadors of the university, said Alex. They are the most familiar faces, the first people that new students, staff, and visitors are most likely to meet. It is the university that must be held accountable for their poor working conditions because it is not taking their complaints seriously. The workers, for instance, are frustrated by the fact that they have to change their clothes in the hallway washrooms which everyone uses, even though many have to cook right after. They have no locker rooms of their own; it is up to the university to provide such facilities. But as workers are being silenced, there is also an increasing lack of opportunity for students to participate. Comment boxes are being thrown out and even in colleges where students are involved on a committee level in food services, there is generally no interaction with food service workers. The corporatization of campus food services is not inevitable. It depends on students perceiving their own issues and labour issues as being mutually exclusive. On behalf of the students, we would like to issue the following warning: if UofTs administrators do not stop contracting out their responsibilities towards its workers and start looking into the current state of food service conditions, they will lose their clientele.

Jamie Shilton

Jamies Tortilla Soup

3 plum tomatoes 6 peeled garlic cloves 2 dried guajillo or 10 motilla pepper s 3 dried ancho pepper s 4 cups unsalted tortilla chips 4 cups chicken stock salt and pepper to taste lb Mexican chorizo (optional)

1. In an oven-proof pan, evenly space tomatoes and garlic. Place pan in pre-heated oven at 500F to broil. Turn tomatoes every few minutes until skins are slightly charred and garlic is soft. 2. Meanwhile, remove stems, seeds, and ribs from dried pepper s. Wear rubber gloves to prevent the pepper s capsaicin oil from getting on your skin and ruining the next 30 min.1 hour of your life. 3. Heat a dry skillet to medium heat on stovetop. Toast pepper s, one or two at a time, until they soften. Transfer them to a bowl and cover the bowl with warm water; let stand for about 20 min. 4. For optional chorizo: in a dry skillet at medium heat, cook the chorizo until skin is slightly charred. Transfer to oven-proof pan and roast at 350F for 25 min. or until cooked through. 5. Drain the pepper s and transfer to a food processor or blender. Add tomatoes and garlic; pure until smooth. 6. In a large pot, bring the pure and the chicken stock to a low boil. 7. Put half of the tortilla chips in a sealable plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin. Stir crushed chips into soup. Allow soup to boil for 20 min. or until chips are soft and soup is thickened. Optional: add chorizo, sliced into small chunks. 8. Garnish bowls of soup with remaining tortilla chips. 9. Best enjoyed with an inordinate amount of Tecate.

Allies Whiskey Cheesecake

Cheesecake can be an intimidating dessert to attempt, but all you need to approach this cake with confidence is a little bit of liquid courage. Whisky Cheesecake combines the texture and simplicity of New York style cheesecake with the subtle, smooth flavour of whiskey. For best results, youll need one extra ingredient: self-restraint. This cheesecake needs plenty of time to chill, so pour yourself a drink and chill out yourself! I usually opt for Ke$has toothpaste of choice, but Jameson would make this cake a hit on St. Patricks Day.
1 cups graham cracker crumbs 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 stick butter, melted 3 pkgs cream cheese, room temp 1 cup white sugar cup flour cup sour cream 2 eggs cup whiskey or rye Splash of vanilla

P at r un Muj ick en

The crust: in a medium bowl, combine graham crackers and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter and combine until consistently crumbly. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of a greased 8 or 9-inch spring form pan. The cake: in a large bowl or mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. G r a d u a l l y mix in the sugar and flour. Mix in the sour cream. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until well combined. Mix in whiskey, and vanilla to taste. Bake at

350F for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Allie Chenoweth

Brandon Martin-Gray

THE ONLY RIGHT WAY TO MAKE SCRAMBLED EGGS

Scrambled eggs are very tasty and very easy to make, but for some reason most people make them wrong. Heres how not to make them wrong. What youll need: Eggs Salt Pepper Butter Bowl Whisk or Fork Stove Non-stick Frying Pan Wooden Spoon

1. Open the fridge and take out however many eggs you want. Three is good if youre one hungry, regular-sized person and youre having them with toast or something. Dont even think about taking out milk. Scrambled eggs dont need milk, and while were at it, neither do omelettes. You are not making god-damned custard. Believe me, these eggs will be plenty creamy/fluffy/moist.

2. Okay, so you have your eggs. Crack them into a bowl, add salt and pepper, and whisk them with a whisk or a fork. Whisk them up really good. Youre looking to incorporate some air here, so if you see bubbles, thats good. Theyre supposed to be frothy and evenly coloured; a nice pale yellow. Your whisking should have a sort of slight vertical motion to it to really get the air in there. Dont just stir the eggs around quickly.

3. Turn the stove to medium (if you havent already). When its hot, add butter. Dont be afraid to add a lot, maybe a tablespoon. Butter tastes good and its really not so bad for you if you eat a balanced diet and lead a healthy lifestyle, etc. Let it melt completely. If the butter turns brown, the pan is way too hot. What, are you trying to start a fire? 4. Add the eggs to the pan. Cook without touching them for about 20-30 seconds until they just begin to slightly set (i.e. turn from liquid to solid), then start stirring with a wooden spoon. Stir slowly. Basically, just keep stirring until theyre done (i.e. not runny anymore). What youre doing is moving the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan so that the uncooked bits can cook. The cooking process should only take two minutes or so. 5. Your scrambled eggs are done. They are soft and fluffy. Put them on a plate and eat them. Thank me later.

Rookie mistakes: Cracking the eggs into the pan: Are you fucking kidding me? That is not how to make scrambled eggs. Your eggs will be dry and crumbly and gross. Using a fat other than butter: Unless youre allergic to casein, dont use anything but butter. If you are, use bacon fat. If you dont collect the fat from bacon and keep a jar of it in your fridge, start. Its great for stews and stuff. Dont use olive oil or regular vegetable oil; it will taste weird. Dont use margarine for anything, ever. Not seasoning: Salt goes in everything. It goes in desserts. Never forget salt. You can leave out pepper if you want, but who doesnt like pepper? Adding milk: Theres no point. Drink a glass of milk on the side if you must.

Ch mon i ia is not ju ke st fibre, r super foo for you r no o popu l mega-3s, d; a f ter a l velt y pot te d a r it y, l v t houg it a m i ns a , it is a com pla nt a ny m nd m i h it s o pl e t e or e ! cu lt iv r ig i ns dat nera ls. It protei n, g Ch ia dese It i s b is now lut e n e back r ves t ated i e st k n t as a h f o popu l crop i to a ncient ex per ienc ree, a nd r i e a r p o t w n a s t he i ng a c n c en t i mes come se e d w ted pl su rg e h i n t ra l M , w he back a nt f r h ich s i n t he ex ico as o A z tec n . agent t he base fo m t he m id prout s t he s s i n sm - 8 0 s. r br e a g r e en No Home k l o ot h i made es, a n fast cerea l wadays t h eaves of C c er e a h s d in b e l.C ch ia ce a k i ng , toppi ngs seeds a re ia Pet s, t he in se e d s h i a h a s a r e a l i s a n e m as a n s u b t le egg-r sa lads, t h a k i ng a a r e so asy a n creat i eplac ng a u a ked i n l t aste, a l m d cost-ef emen icken i ng t. a nd is n ique a nd iqu id , t hey ost flavou fect ive a lte r le de ex rn becom i ng m l icious tex pa nd a nd pss when on at ive to g r a tu or e w He r e idely re. It is of roduce a g it s ow n. W i n-based i s my elat i n ava i la t en so he n t h ow n t ou ld ble i n e op -se major i n hea lt h s coat i ng c r et r food s g r oc e e c ip e t or e s r y st o , com M ac k res. pl i me e n z ie 1 t bsp nt s of s Sec Ch ia s The S r et C h 1 t bsp t r an d i a C er Hu l le eeds D a sh ! ea l C i n n a d he m p s e e 4 t bsp ds mon Milk o Add-i n f else yo s Dr ied f choice (soy ,a ru u r he a a nd sl r t desi it , coconut l mond , hem iced a l mond res ! My fa , nut s /seed p, r ice, co vo s, w s w it h Me a s u soy m u r ite comb chocolate, s) ilk. r e t he o o is d r bowl. ied cr r a ny t h i ng Add m ch ia, hemp a nb e r i l k , st , a ny a r ies i r, a n dd - i n Give it d wa it five m s, a nd ci n n a one m i ore st i nutes for m mon i nto a c r, a nd i enjoy x t u re to t h icerea l ken.

Ch-ch -chia! The N ew

Super food

THOMAS LU

Ma ckenzi e Urqu ha r

a bitter pill to swallow

jen roberton

t starts with a sandwich. Maybe a nice wrap or pasta. Everything goes well at first. You are perhaps dining with friends, alone before class or even on a date. A couple of bites in it hits you. Several seconds later it is seeping throughout your body. Empathy with those creatures who must cope with hairballs ensues as you attempt to swallow. Hives form everywhere on your body. Its ubiquity is without exaggeration. Bumpy, itchy skin layers your body. This particular stage is not limited to sections of your scalp, fingers, and armpits. By this point personal coping mechanisms takes hold for the particular allergy sufferer. I opt for the grovellingon-the-bed-while-clutching-my-stomach approach. It always ends in a long vomiting session. Every allergic reaction is different. Those who suffer from Celiac disease, for example, have a very different reaction. It is very possible to live with certain food intolerances for decades without knowing theyre there. It may not be until adulthood that eating Gluten-free becomes an expensive health choice instead of a misguided attempt to be hip. Celiac disease is particularly harmful, as it damages a persons intestines, which induces malnourishment and other gastrointestinal issues. The same can be said for lactose intolerance, which is symptomatic of Celiac disease. Fortunately for those with Celiac, once gluten is cut out of the diet, lactose intolerance usually goes away. However, humans are naturally inclined to reject dairy since we are the only species to drink anothers milk. For the lucky people who have never suffered from food related reactions, think of it as having a hangover but without the warning of ordering that extra pitcher when you have the spins. Maybe youve had a brush with a flu or food poisoning that can be used as a point of reference. It is difficult to pinpoint the rapidity with which allergies can cause a body to shut down. In the case of anaphylactic reactions to peanuts, contact can lead to death. Many of those with Celiac do not experience the rapid reaction that sufferers of allergies to lactose and other foods cope with. This differentiation denotes the complexity of the umbrella term allergy. That is, if someone attempts to create an allergy inclusive space by cooking vegan and glutenfree exclusively, their food will most likely contain nuts and chickpeas as protein substitutes to meat and cheese. This phenomena means that for someone like me, who is allergic to all nuts as well as chickpeas, attempts at socalled inclusive spaces are a failure. This is particularly irritating when vegan and gluten-free labels are (mis)used

as a political statement. My personal politics regarding my own choice to eat animal products aside, the argument that vegan and gluten-free are fundamentally inclusive is false. Any dietary regulation used as an ideological tool disregards those who are limited in what their body can consume. The ability to decide what you want to put in your body itself demonstrates a privilege, even if it is well-intentioned. Said privilege may not be shared by many who cannot consume your organic local glutenfree peanut butter cookie without dying. The same can be said for the lactose intolerant and those with Celiac disease when I pull out my doughy cheese pizza. Being conscious of allergies is admittedly often difficult on a wider scale. Health Canada estimates that a mere 5-6% of Western children suffer from allergies. The number goes down for adults, ranging from 3-4% of the population. That being said, should a marginal section of society dictate what the majority can or cannot eat in certain spaces? For years, the answer was no. This was particularly damaging for children in public schools before the peanutfree cafeteria became widespread. Before peanuts were banned in schools, anaphylactic children had to eat their lunches segregated in a classroom under adult supervision. This was detrimental to the social development of children at the elementary level. Imagine being that weird peanut kid who eats their lunch away from their friends? Sounds kind of shitty, huh? Many parents have pointed to ensuing schoolyard bullying as a reason to

scientists disagree, stating that yearly rate of peanut allergies, ranging from mild to deadly, has remained relatively stable in the past decade. The fact that peanut allergies are more likely to develop in Western countries is, however, indisputable. There are individuals who believe in the mind-othermatter approach to allergies. Ive heard of some who have trained their body into thinking that the smell of cats or the taste of shellfish is nothing threatening. Such wilful battles with allergens have produced results for a select few. My own intrepid adventures in the realm of nuts have unfortunately only led to vomit. I am not enough of a risk-taker to experiment in the realm of peanuts. I carry an epipen and I repeatedly list my allergies to friends so that they dont poison me. Admittedly, I often forget to ask, which is often how I end up spending what could have been a

classify allergies as a disability. This segrega- tion is no longer a problem for children in most schools today, as peanuts have been mostly banned. This has a lot to do with a sharp increase in deadly peanut allergies. Western countries have far higher rates of peanut allergies than elsewhere in the world. Some studies estimate that the diagnosis of peanut allergies has risen to 11 people a day in England alone. Although, other British

lovely evening vomiting in a bucket. Whats disturbing about food-related allergies is the lack of knowledge surrounding them. The cause of lactose intolerance has been directly linked to a deficiency of lactace, the enzyme that digests lactose. The cause of Celiac disease, anaphylactic reactions to peanuts and other food intolerances are unknown. This complicates the search for the so-called vaccine for peanut allergies currently under development. Speculation relating everything from soy products to breastfeeding to peanut allergies has been largely disproven. The amount of genetic engineering done to food begs the question of whether the allergy is a bodily malfunction or symptomatic rejection of modified Frankenstein food.

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the wrath of grapes

the hangover and you
patriCk mujunen

o you have a hangover (or, as it was known at various times in the past: crapulence, morning fog, jim-jams, or busthead, which all amount to the same thing): congratulations. Your condition may be slightly improved by knowing that youre in good company, however, as humans have been dealing with this nasty affliction since the first caveman happened to find out just what fermented fruits could do, and the pain that follows all that pleasure. Still, given that a good number of artists and writers have been keen fans of the sauce, one cant help being a little disappointed that the hangover is such a neglected topic in literature. About as good a depiction as we get can be found in Kafkas Metamorphosis, which starts with the hero waking up and finding that hes turned into a man-sized cockroach: the image is perfect, and theres even a telling touch in the nasty way that everybody goes after the poor guy. Having said that, what does one do in this unfortunate state? Im quite convinced that no real hangover cure exists for the simple reason that if it did, its inventor would be richer than Warren Buffett and spoken of in the same reverential tones as people like Albert Schweitzer or MLK. Disgusting home remedies aside, what most people recommend is to take preventa-

tive measures while drinking, like alternating alcoholic drinks and water (or my personal favourite, the little holier-than-thou The best prevention is abstinence). These can be effective, but they tend to get in the way of having a good time and/or getting drunk, which, as far as I know, is basically the main point of drinking enough to register a hangover in the first place. The physical symptoms of a hangover suck, but theyre straightforward enough to deal with. If you have the luxury, stay in bed as long as you possibly can, drinking water as you go. Fatigue and dehydration are the two devils that most often conspire to do you in. For those that absolutely have to be awake and presentable in the morning, the best bet is to stay in bed as long as you dare, then take a shower followed by coffee, Advil, and a grapefruit. A little hair of the dog at lunchtime wouldnt go amiss either, especially in the form of a Caesar or something similar. The more insidious part of a hangover is what Kingsley Amis (the noted author and notorious tippler) has called the metaphysical hangover: the guilt and regret about drinking and the scandalous behaviour and heavy spending that sometimes go with it. This is more difficult to deal with since it seems to pervade every fibre of your being, and its effects linger far beyond the

physical ones. Begin by telling yourself that what you have is only a hangover; you arent ill, you arent that bad at life, and that your friends arent engaged in a conspiracy of barely maintained silence about what a shit you are. Hangovers are extremely conditional and subjective, and if you feel guilty about what you did last night, the hangover gathers strength and tightens like a vice. There are a couple of things to remember that will buoy you up when the metaphysical hangover is dragging you down. First, you didnt just throw all that money away it went to support a vital industry that lets people pay their rent and feed their kids. What a good person you are for helping them out! Second, experiences are important. So you had a good time, maybe you got a little wild, but as Nabokov put it, life is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness, and with this in mind you shouldnt feel too bad about getting in as many kicks at the can as possible while you have the chance. Taken this way, although the hangover is a malicious thing, it can also be an instructive exercise in character building. All of the spiritual, psychological, physical, and emotional aspects coming together in that vast, vague, awful, shimmering superstructure make the hangover a (fortunately) unique route to self-knowledge and self-realization.

the graCeful hangover

allie Chenoweth

t took an incredible amount of will power to get out of bed and appear somewhat presentable. My co-ordination was even worse than usual (which is saying something), and doors proved to be surprisingly challenging opponents. At first I applauded myself for having taken out my contact lenses and removed the pavement of mascara f rom my eyes at who-knows-when AM, but slowly as more memories of the night came back to me, I quickly dismissed any self-congratulation. During the few hours I was asleep, the rain had morphed into monstrous globules of snow, attacking my poor, defenceless, pounding head as I headed towards the streetcar down sidewalks that I was convinced must be at a 45 angle. Earlier this year, an over-the-counter hangover cure became available in Manhattan which is basically a tablet that contains caffeine and ibuprofen and dissolves in water. The people of Manhattan must be abominably lazy if they

cant bring themselves to down a glass of water, a cup of coffee, and an ant-acid. But theres one thing that a patented hangover cure cant provide: the profound satisfaction and appreciation of food, eliciting a response something along the lines of: Sweet Jesus, this food is divine! One thing and one thing alone kept me trekking through the flurries that morning: the promised land, Brunch. I was headed to Saving Grace (907 Dundas St. W ), and much like the answering of prayers, the key to getting a table at Saving Grace is patience. While waiting for a table in the corner by the kitchen, I watched waves of food being brought out every 20 minutes, inhaling all their glorious smells but being denied their consumption. It was pure and utter torture. All I could think to myself was: Can people eat any goddamned slower? Theres really only one strategy for avoiding long waits at popular brunch restaurants: the early-bird gets

to be that asshole sitting at a table for over an hour and a half. Finally, when I got to knock back a strawberry-banana smoothie and devour my chvre, roasted red pepper, and avocado sandwich, I felt like I had been resurrected, floating among heavenly goats cheese clouds. Being hungover comes in varying degrees of severity, but it doesnt have to be an entirely unpleasant experience. As long as youre in the condition to keep food down, the sheer gratitude for and enjoyment of food when youre hungover is worth the unfortunate side effects. Maybe its just masking the bitter taste of last nights shame, but whether youre at a popular brunch joint or youve just picked up some McDonalds on your walk of shame, somehow inexplicably, possibly divinelyfood just tastes better when hungover. And until they patent a hangover cure that tastes like bacon, Ill find a way to haul my ass out of bed every morningafter to savour its only enjoyable side-effect.

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more than just dinner:

my life with maCaroni and Cheese
will pettigrew

have eaten many things in my life, as I am sure you have as well. Of these things, some I have chosen to consume more frequently than others. Perhaps this is due to simple preference of taste; the soothing kiss of ones most cherished comfort food. Perhaps it is due to economic reasons (I would eat more vegetables, but theyre so expensive). Perhaps it is due to time and/or energy constraints: between exams, essays, sleeping, and/or drinking, who has time to prepare a delicious, well-balanced meal? As with most things in life, there are a plethora of factors that create the subtle and complex realities we experience. I thus attempt now, with these humble words accumulated through 21 years of existence and over 16 years of formal education, to dissect one of the most Odyssean phenomena in my diet, nay, my very being! Come, let us go a-roving through the labyrinthine abysses of enriched wheat flour, bacterial cultures and enough salt to sate a whale, for soon I believe we will reach our destination, which will be both an enlightening and a delicious arrival. This destination, and the carnal knowledge it contains, is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything: why is macaroni and cheese the greatest thing ever? I would first like to make a few things clear before we continue: when I say macaroni and cheese, I mean Kraft Dinner. But this is not a circle-jerk praise-fest of the corporate giant Kraft and their products; this is a circle jerk praise-fest of foods that come in a box containing a) dry pasta and b) some kind of devil-magic cheese-sauce potion, and require at minimum the addition of milk and butter or margarine. These foods shall henceforth be referenced as macaroni and cheese. There is one pitfall of this nomenclature I have decided on, and it is one of regional linguistic variation: macaroni and cheese is Kraft Dinner in Canada. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is the name Kraft Dinner goes by in the United States. Apparently its called Kraft Cheesey Pasta in the United Kingdom, but whatever Marmite redeems any offense to the KD name. Also, Kraft Dinner is the original name from its inception in 1937. So it just goes to show Canadians respect the true name of their demon-lord creator. It should go without saying that I worship Kraft Dinner as one worships Cthulhu (whom I also worship: Phnglui mglwnafh Cthulhu Rlyeh wgahnagl fhtagn). So lets get Kraft Dinner out of the way before we continue on to the greater question of macaroni and cheese. Kraft Dinner is one of the stranger Canadian fixations: behind mounties, moose, hockey, and whatever else the rest of the world thinks Canada is full of, Kraft Dinner holds a special place in Cana-

dian culture and cuisine. Now, Canadian cuisine is just about as easy to define as Canadian culture; the short answer is usually poutine or if youre like me, poutine and Kraft Dinner. Without completely rewriting the Wikipedia entry here, it does contain some pertinent facts that must be noted: Canadians buy almost a quarter of all Kraft Dinner sold in the world (thats ungodly, considering our relatively small population). I personally think Douglas Coupland (Generation X, jPod) says it best in his book Souvenir of Canada (2002). After likening Canadians relationship with KD with the Brits fondness with Heinz Baked Beans and the Australians fixation on Vegemite (gross), Coupland writes that it so precisely laser-targets the favoured Canadian food groups: fat, sugar, starch and salt. Truer words have never been spoken these are the four elements that make up what we call comfort foods. With the exception of Toronto, Canada is a frigid hellscape through the winter (winter in Toronto is a Caribbean vacation Im still laughing about that time Mel Lastman called in the army to shovel the snow). Since KD contains all of these warm, snuggly taste sensations, its a sign from beyond the plane of mortals that Canadians and Kraft Dinner belong together. Macaroni and cheese is the mana of a nation. This is probably why Kraft Dinner and all varieties of macaroni and cheese permeate college dorms and student ghetto housing blocks across the land. It is the penultimate comfort food and its filthy, filthy cheap. Even the fancy kinds arent more than a toonie, which is affordable on a student budget and it makes you feel like youre being hugged from the inside out. It also takes under 10 minutes to prepare and all the groceries you need to have are milk and butter. Boil some water, cook the pasta, drain, add the magic cheese powder, milk, butter, then eat the entire box to yourself like its nothing (yeah yeah, I know one box is supposed to be four servings, but those have to be like Great Depression sized portions. Try splitting a box of mac and cheese four ways. I dare you. You will just end up making four boxes).

But this answer lacks the passion, the charge, the pure vigor which macaroni and cheese deserves. Words cannot describe the true, untapped power in a box of mac and cheese. When you have that blue box in your hand (though I would also recommend Compliments and Annies brands. Never, ever go No Name; its blasphemy!) you must realize with great power comes great responsibility. The responsibility is on you to not rely on the mac and cheese to provide ecstasy, it is merely a vessel capable of bringing you there if you so choose. So after three years of experimenting with macaroni and cheese, I feel I must share with you what I have learned. The pots of mac and cheese I have made, ruined, and shared are innumerable, but they have taught me this: cook with your friends and eat with your friends. The role of the KD cook is to be the bodhisattva; discover the secret of mac and cheese but do not hoard it! Share the slice of nirvana you have discovered, one forkful at a time. This my friends, is my forkful for you, straight from the loins of my radioactive-orange, macaroni shaped heart. Ingredients: One box of whichever macaroni and cheese catches your fancy, one red onion, lean ground beef, mushrooms, peas, one tomato, milk, butter, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper. Directions: Make the mac and cheese. Its not hard, really. Dont be lazy. While the water is boiling, brown the beef in a frying pan on a low-medium heat with some worcestershire and pepper. Drain the fat if you care about your heart; keep it in if youre a badass. Saute the onions and mushrooms (which you have sliced up real nice) in with the beef and add a little salt. When the stuff in the pan looks tasty, put in the tomato (which you have diced up real nice) and stir it all around for just a bit, then cut the heat. Drain the pasta, add the cheese mix and the required amount of milk and butter then stir that shit like mad. Put all the stuff from the pan in the pot and keep stirring. Add hot sauce and an obscene amount of pepper and keep stirring. Then proceed to impress everyone in your dorm/house who cannot cook at all and share that sweet, sweet nectar of Cthulhu with as many as possible. If you want to take it to the next level, put it in a casserole dish and broil it with a bunch of shredded cheese on top. Barbecue sauce or ketchup is always a solid addition too. Add jalapenos and/or chili flakes for more heat. Pair with your favourite discount beer (personally I like Carling for its understated hoppiness) and enjoy.

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ariel leutheusser

m in love with Chinese food. I love it in my hometown and I love it in Toronto. Ive loved it every awesome place Ive had it. For me, it is the taste of home and the taste of far away at the same time. My first memories of eating and loving Chinese food are at my neighbourhood Canadian-Chinese restaurant in London, OntarioThe Golden Dragon. From the first time I set foot in there, I fell in love with everything about it: the kitschy dcor; the placemats detailing all the zodiac animals; the bright red walls adorned with yellow and golden draped decorations; the tiny fountain in the restaurants front window. The food was superb, and is still a favourite family haunt. As a child, it was an extraordinary delight to eat the Chinese buns my father faithfully brought home from his

journeys into Toronto for work and visits to my grandparents in Agincourt. On the occasions when we accompanied him into the big city, visiting his latest favourite Chinese bakery was the highlight. When I moved to Toronto, I was thrilled by the prospect of living in the proximity of what I had built up in my mind as my mythical land of milk and honey: Chinatown. In my second year in Toronto, I moved to a cramped apartment off Spadina Avenue and was enraptured by the sketchy-yet-wonderful neighbourhood that is Chinatown. Chinatown quickly became a fundamental part of my everyday; the grocery shops, the everything-butthe-kitchen-sink shops, and the restaurants crammed onto this strip, my strip, of Toronto. My roommate and I became fast Chinese food aficionados, and quite

accomplished amateur Chinese food cooks. The place worked its way under my skin and now Chinatown is quite possibly the only part of Toronto that I would truly call my own. Now Ive moved a stones throw away, into a much roomier, more comfortable place, but I do miss leaving my apartment and stepping out into the smells and sights of Spadinathat jarring feeling of leaving home and stepping straight into the city. However, I havent completely left Chinatown behindyou can take me out of Chinatown, but you cant take Chinatown of me. This is my ode to Spadina, and to the wonders that can be found therein.

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dumplings
LEILA KENT

Chinese bakeries

Mothers Dumplings: 421 Spadina Ave. Dumpling House: 328 Spadina Ave.
A perennial student favourite, the flavour-packed dumpling has some excellent purveyors on Spadina. Mothers Dumplings, a long-time Spadina fixture, is a go-to place of mine. They never fail to disappoint with their pan-fried dumplings, however, the boiled ones do leave something to be desired. This place is definitely vegetarian friendly, with a couple of veggie options on the menu, including my favourite: steamed melon, tofu and vegetable noodle dumplings. They also do a delicious Northern Chinese wonton soup. Dumpling House is a little bit cheaper, but just as delicious. The pan-fried pork and chive dumplings are delicious, with an unexpected but appreciated kick of ginger to boot! The lattice of fried remnants holding the dumplings together is reminiscent of Pacific Mall food court style dumplings. Their cilantro-y Egg Drop soup is quite nice, and their Green Onion Pancake has less green onions than Mothers Dumplings options, but is twice the size! And my vegetarian friend was very pleased with their veggie optionsa wider variety than Mothers Dumplings.

vs.

vs.

Mashion Bakery: 345 Spadina Ave. Ding Dong Pastries: 321 Spadina Ave.

As I mentioned, there is a special place in my heart for Chinese Buns. I used to live around the corner from Ding Dong Pastries and Caf and became a regular. I find their buns unparalleled; my dad loves their curry beef bun and they do melt-in-your-mouth taro and coconut buns, among many others! You can also pick up a neatly and flavourfully packaged steamed rice for an easy tasty meal. Their sesame rice balls are not to be missed. The only item I would recommend against is the tuna bun. They get a little soggy, and, well, its tuna. But with a price point of six for three bucks, there`s nothing to lose! Mashion Bakery emerged on the scene last year, elbowing in on Ding Dongs hardwon territory. It is thanks to them that Ding Dong has lowered their priceand bunsize to be competitive. My impressions of Mashion arent great. I find their buns a little doughy and their flavours not as well developed as Ding Dongs. However, I must admit that I am most certainly biased in this instance, as Im a great Ding Dong loyalist.

dim sum

1hrCafeteria
435 Spadina Ave.
This charming spot hasnt been on Spadina for long, but it has certainly made an impression. 1HrCafeteria is a cozy study spot with solid wood tables, hardwood floors, and beanbags for chairs. The dcor is bold and interesting, and atmosphere is very cozy and chic and is certainly different from the ordinary restaurant on the Spadina strip. They serve hot and cold bubble tea in huge servings for a slightly elevated price, but its certainly worth the cost to chill out in this very chill place. They also serve a beef soup with pickled vegetables, which is delicious, if pickled things are your thing.

vs.

Rol San Restaurant: 323 Spadina Ave.

Sky Dragon: 280 Spadina Ave.

Dim sum, bite-sized dishes served in small portions, is one of the most fun and enjoyable Chinese foods to eat. Its a great thing to share with a bunch of people, but also doable in small groupsif you know what youre getting into! I rank Rol San Restaurant as the foremost location for dim sum on the Spadina stretch. It can get really busy at peak hours (lunchtime, evenings, and weekends) but it is worth the crowded environment. They do an excellent har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings) and a mouth-watering fried squid. You are given a menu sheet to fill in at your table to give to your waiter, so you really know what youll be getting. For an awesome dim sum experience, Sky Dragon is your destination. Located at the top of the Dragon City Mall at the southwest corner of Spadina and Dundas, its a great place to go for an awesome view of Chinatown, and for the legendary sight of carts overflowing with every dish on the menu wheeled past you for your consumption. While the whole experience is pretty awesome, the quality of their food disappoints. The food can end up being cold by the time its gone around the whole restaurant, and some of the dishes . I wouldnt recommend their fried squid (it was rather chewy) and their flat rice noodles just didnt cut it.

hua sheng supermarket

293 Spadina Ave.
So, you want to try and make your own Chinese food? This is the perfect place to start. Hua Sheng is my favourite Chinese grocery store on Spadina: low prices, relatively helpful staff, and all the delightful Asiatic groceries you can dream of. The sea-creatures section is a little terrifying on first exposure, but you become inured to the sight of piles of huge wide-eyed fish after a few encounters. The produce is cheap and pretty good quality, and the Asian sweets are awesome. This is a great place to stock up on inexpensive tofu, meat, fish, soy sauce, peanut butter, you name it!

new sky
353 Spadina Ave.
The cozy atmosphere of this spot right near Baldwin and Spadina was my take-out Chinese choice, hands down. The inside is reminiscent of my hometown fave The Golden Dragon, and their food is consistent and tasty. New Sky is pleasant to sit in as well, and at the end of your meal youre served orange slices along with your fortune cookies. I recommend their hot and sour soup, it is spicy and tangy to the perfect degree. Their orange crispy beef is gets-stuck-in-your-teeth delicious, and their garlic eggplant with shrimp is saucy and superb. For a true Stuart Dybek Paper Lantern Chinese restaurant experience, I recommend New Sky.

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