Canadian meals in a time of trade wars and tariffs: Andrew Coppolino

Talk of trade wars and tariffs have led to some people encouraging Canadians to shop as local as possible.

That includes food and ensuring the meals you make are benefitting the Canadian producers.

The federal government imposed tariffs earlier this month on food items like sugars, jams and jellies, white chocolate, berry purees, soy sauce and salad dressing.

While the idea of buying Canadian may seem easy enough to carry out, buying 100 per cent Ontario or Canadian food at grocery stores and restaurants is not as easy as one might think. That's because the Canadian and American economies are, in most sectors, closely stitched together, and food labelling is not transparent.

All Canadian or mostly Canadian?

There are a few things to consider. First, you need to define your goal. Is it 100 per cent Canadian, or "as much as possible?"

Right now, it's a bit easier to buy local produce because there's a plethora of fruit and vegetables available during the summer and into the late fall. You can buy fresh local "tunnel tomatoes" for about 10 months of the year here in Waterloo region. Local meats are also generally easy to source and are sometimes grown only kilometres away.

Processed food is a bit more complicated. Take sugar, for instance. Just about every processed food contains sugar. About 70 per cent of the sugar we consume comes from cane sugar, which isn't grown in Canada. It comes from a few southern American states. (Incidentally, Canada has some sugar-beet processing which produces only about 10 percent of our domestic needs.)

Those packages of shredded cheese at grocery stores may say "Product of Canada," but the fineprint says made with "domestic and imported ingredients." Similarly, a product might be made with "100% Canadian wheat," but the syrup used for sweetening could be from the U.S.

As well, a company might make soup in Canada, but it's likely not exclusively Canadian ingredients. 

Condiment kerfuffle

You'll recall the flurry of headlines regarding ketchup a few years back when industry-leader Heinz was boycotted for moving its ketchup production out of Leamington, Ont.

There hasn't been the same furor over its backyard barbecue-partner mustard. We produce a lot of mustard seed in Canada and growers were worried a tariff would kill prices on mustard seed exports to their biggest customer, the United States. The federal government heeded the mustard-seed lobby's cries and didn't add tariffs to the yellow condiment.

The Toronto-based Kozlik's has been making mustard for 70 years and many of their mustards use exclusively Canadian ingredients (except for exotic spices). Others use as much as 25 per cent imported ingredients, and we won't know from where. That's just a fact of food production.

Challenges with dining out

As for restaurants, many are very dedicated to Ontario ingredients — yet, realistically, the FeastON program certifying restaurants are using Ontario products requires only a 25 percent threshold to qualify. You can bet there are a wide variety of imported ingredients in the remaining 70 percent. A restaurant making its own tortillas, for instance, probably needs to import a lot of American masa flour.

With its 75-acres of property, Langdon Hall in Cambridge has a significant number of local ingredients at hand, but it's still not 100 percent Canadian (nor does it want to be; not many restaurants do).

Chef Arron Carley at The Bruce Hotel in Stratford serves a "New Canadiana" menu with only Canadian ingredients.

Ultimately, it's about choice. Local, Ontario and Canadian jobs matter; however, cooks and food producers want to find the best ingredients at the best cost. Making food choices will require research and asking lots of questions of producers who may not know off-hand where some incidental ingredients come from. Such are the vagaries of our food supply.

Pork chops with crabapple jelly and grainy mustard

Serves four

Ingredients

4 pork chops, 1-inch thick (Vibrant Farms (Linton Pasture Pork) or Oakridge Acres (Tanjo Farm)

Salt (from Goderich)

Pepper (optional)

Oak Manor (Tavistock) flour for light dredging

2 tablespoons Pristine Gourmet cold-pressed canola oil

1 tablespoon Stirling Creamery butter (perhaps a splurge, but worth the richness)

1 medium onion, sliced

½ cup Appleflats crabapple jelly (but has organic cane sugar)

Dash ground cinnamon (optional)

3 tablespoons Kozlik's grainy mustard

2-3 tablespoons Pristine Gourmet maple Vidal vinegar

Method

Heat a heavy cast-iron frying pan (if you have one; a regular skillet if you don't) on medium-high heat and add the oil and butter. Season the pork chops with salt and dredge lightly in the flour.

When pan is hot, add the pork chops and onions. Sear for about three to four minutes and stir the onions. Flip the chops and cook another few minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the crabapple jelly, grainy mustard and maple Vidal vinegar. Spoon the mixture on the chops and reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pan and cook until just done (between 145-160 degrees F, depending on your preference) and sauce thickens. Add some chicken stock if you want more liquid for your sauce. Season according to taste.

Fresh local grilled vegetables with butter, cheese and black walnuts

Ingredients

1 lb asparagus (if still available; or, broccoli, green beans, snap peas, bok choy)

3-4 tablespoons of Stirling Creamery butter

Salt to taste

Black pepper (optional)

½ cup parsley, finely chopped (easy to find from your local farmers' market; ask the grower)

¾ cup grated hard cheese — Handeck from Gunn's Hill or Golden Blyth Aged from Blyth Farm Cheese

1 small handful black walnuts (or to taste), chopped into pieces from Jewels Under the Kilt in Fergus.

Method

Oil and season the asparagus and grill until done but still tender. Reserve warm.

Melt the butter in a large pan set on medium heat.

Chop the vegetables (as needed) and add to the pan of butter. Season and stir about. Don't overcook.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the parsley, cheese and walnuts, toss thoroughly and allow to warm through. Serve with the pork chops.