LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2021

INSIDE SCOOP

Man with a plan ASK AN EXPERT

Since running a restaurant is like throwing a huge dinner party every night, we asked Mark Baker, chef-owner of Merk Snackbar (merksnackbar.com) in Hamilton, for tips on hosting the big holiday meal.

There are somany steps to planning a holidaymeal. Where do you start?

First, make sure you know how many people are coming, as it could help reduce costs and time. Second, plan your protein, because it’s the centrepiece. Whether it’s turkey, ham or beef, source that as soon as possible. Then decide on veg and starch, and you’ll have a list by the end of it. What task is best delegated to family and friends? Cleanup. Many people use their best china during the holidays—10 people can lead to 40 dishes. That’s a lot of dishes! Plus there are cooking pans, serving platters and more. But make sure you get all the plates scraped and on the counter by the sink, so they can just come in and do the dishes. They’re still guests. What are a few tips on prepping dinner? I do all my chopping the night before and put food into containers so it’s ready to go. Any sauces or gravies: Make those ahead of time too. Peel and put potatoes in water in the fridge so you can just dump them in the pot. All that chopping takes time and space; you need that for dinner. Howdo you get around the challenges of putting out a bigmeal in a home kitchen? Use your barbecue as an extra full-scale cooking space—grill some vegetables, heat up the po- tatoes. Use all of the things you have available. And throw your drinks outside, even on a back balcony. One of the coolest things I discovered as a teenager was keeping drinks in the snow. That’s genius! Any final advice? Accept that you’re not going to be a part of the party. You’re the host, making sure everyone else is having a good time. You will celebrate at the end.

Persimmons 101 IN SEASON

From fall into early winter, deep-orange persimmons show up in the produce aisle, laid out in boxes like shiny jewels. Here’s the scoop on this mysterious fruit.

tards and cookies. Fuyus are usually thinly sliced and added to wintry sal- ads with strong cheeses and nuts. Howdo you use them in cocktails? The flavour of persim- mons works well in a wide range of cocktails with many different spirits. Ripe Hachiyas can be muddled into drinks, whereas Fuyus are bet­ ter cooked into simple syrups or a purée. For a garnish, a thin slice of Fuyu is best.

and need to fully ripen before eating. (Biting into an unripe Hachiya is trau- matizing.) To hasten the process, place them in a paper bag with a banana. They’re ready when the skin can barely contain the jelly-like flesh. Crisp Fuyus look like a squat tomato and can be en- joyed when firm. Sharon fruit are eaten like Fuyus. Howdo you cook with them? Hachiyas are more com- monly used in desserts, where the silky flesh is mixed into cakes, cus-

What are they? Low in acidity, with a honey-like sweetness, persimmons are tree

fruits that have been culti- vated in China for millen- niums. Most persimmons imported into Ontario are from California, though you can often find the Israeli cultivar Triumph marketed as Sharon fruit.

What varieties are available?

The two basic varieties are Hachiya and Fuyu. Acorn-shaped Hachi- yas are loaded with mouth-puckering tannins

Look for recipes featuring persimmons at lcbo.com.

TRADITIONS Dongzhi Festival When: December 21

What: A millenniums-old Chinese holiday to celebrate the winter solstice and days of longer daylight to come. It’s a time for families to congregate and pay respects to ancestors. Essential Dish: Tangyuan, a multicoloured glutinous rice dumpling served in a sweet or savoury broth.

PERSIMMONS IMAGE BY BAIBAZ-STOCK.ADOBE.COM; DONGZHI IMAGE BY ©ISTOCK.COM/CALVIN CHAN WAI MENG; PORTRAIT BY STEPHANIE WEILER

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HOLIDAY 2021 FOOD & DRINK