Food from around the world to cool you down on a hot Ontario summer day

Amid Canada's extreme heat warnings, you can escape the heat of firing up the stove, and even the barbecue, with a few unique and inventive dishes suggested by local chefs in the Waterloo region.

Chef Arielle Neils, born in Trinidad, says hot weather demands a touch of heat in a cool salad.

"For me, being from Trinidad and Tobago, something that you can make is called chow — it's fruit and aromatics," said Neils, who is executive chef with Compass Group Canada at a major tech company in Waterloo region.

"You want to use something that's sweet and a bit of tart, like mango, but strawberries work, too," she explained.

The cooling dish is relatively easy to make — the recipe is posted at the bottom of this article.

For the mango, peel and slice the fruit around its large pit, Neils said.

"Add some pureed garlic, add some cilantro, which is also known as saw-tooth coriander, salt and pepper and lime or lemon juice. It's the perfect dish," she said.

Of course, it wouldn't be authentic if you don't add that touch of heat.

"We must add some Scotch bonnet because we like spicy. You could also add some Trinidadian moruga scorpion pepper if you like it really hot."

The dish has a family memory for Neils of hanging out on a hot day.

"We'd say, 'You know what? Today makin' real hot. I could do with some chow.'"

But if you couldn't find a mango or two in the fridge, you'd look elsewhere, she added.

"Someone might say I see two mangoes on the neighbour's tree, so we could go and ask them. If they're home, you ask. If not, when you see them later you say, 'Hey! I picked two mango off the tree earlier today to make some chow.' That's kind of how we do it back home in the Caribbean," Neils said.

Cold pot and green banana salad

When she thinks about cool dishes, Nadia Dragusanu, owner of Café du Monde in Cambridge, is reminded of being a child and imitating her grandmother's cooking in St. Lucia, the eastern Caribbean country.

"We'd do something that's called a cold pot, which as kids we'd look at my grandma making and replicate it."

That includes a green banana salad, said Dragusanu.

"We had a lot of bananas growing, so we'd use green ones to substitute for potatoes. Boil them, add mayonnaise, diced bell peppers, red onions and salt and pepper and you have a nice cool salad. The green banana dish was something that was really part of growing up in St. Lucia," she said.

Veggie dishes with chutney

Vegetables are a big part of cool cooking in other hot parts of the world, including Pakistan, according to Zerka Mya, a co-owner of Pulao Gals.

"It's definitely quite hot in Pakistan. This past week has been quite similar to what would be winter weather in Pakistan," Mya said.

Salads are cool, but don't think leafy salads, she added.

"It's more lentil, chickpea or bean based with a lot of tomato, cucumber and onion. Those are the staples if you will. Chutneys, too."

Summer is also nicely cooled with something like a mango lassi, she said, along with kulfi — a frozen treat.

The barbecue might see some patties cooking, Mya added, "but the cool parts are the chutneys, the dressings and the naan. There's a lot of vegetarian and vegan cooking done. Grilled eggplant but eaten cold with a tomato chutney and yogurt. There's a lot of different ways to use hot food in a cold fashion and usually very platter-style."

Ceviche is 'super simple'

Travelling back across the planet to Central America, via The Village Biergarten in St. Jacobs, head chef Arturo Freire suggests ceviche, the classic dish of "raw" fish marinated in citrus. It's a two-part creation, according to Freire, who is from Veracruz, Mexico.

"Ceviche is cold and refreshing. I used to have a dish here that was a blend of Mexican and Spanish that was like a gazpacho with a little bit of spice," he said.

Freire blends tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, a bit of garlic and onion, olive oil and lime juice as one part that you prepare and then set aside.

"Then have good quality bay scallops because you are going to eat them raw-ish," he said. "Put them in lime juice for about an hour then strain and add a bit of orange juice and ginger and mix it all together."

To finish the dish, Freire adds more pieces of cucumber, pieces of radish, avocado, grape tomatoes and a shot more olive oil.

"It's super simple. It's only a matter of assembling the dish," he said adding that it's perfect for a cool appetizer.

"Es muy bueno, cien por ciento."

Chef Arielle's Trinidadian 'mango chow'

Ingredients:
2 half-ripened mangoes
1 tablespoon lime juice (substitute: lemon juice)
½ Scotch bonnet pepper or habanero
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon bhandania or cilantro (saw-tooth coriander)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Method:
Peel and sliced the mangoes, then cut them into strips and place in a mixing bowl. Finely chop the garlic, bhandania and hot pepper or place in a food processor. Add to the sliced mango along with lime juice, salt and black pepper. Mix. Eat and enjoy!