Simon Turcotte Jams
They’ve been crafting the most remarkable jams, jellies from carefully selected local fruit in Sainte-Marelline-de-Kildare, Quebec for over 25 years. Why then have I only just now just stumbled on Simon Turcotte?
My introduction began at the One Of A Kind show in Toronto, when I was captivated by an elegant sleeve that contained three “Nordique” jams.
Unlike so many commercial jams and conserves, the principal ingredients are just as promised on the label. As a result, these jam’s taste like grandma made them, rather than a product that comes from a food scientist’s laboratory.
Tartinade Cameris has a lovely, understated tartness softly balanced with muted sweetness. No surprise the ingredients are simple; foremost are Honeyberries followed by organic sugar, lemon juice and pectin. The jam has a semi-liquid consistency similar to a fine demi-glace sauce, making it ideal for some of the producers innovative serving suggestions. As a compliment to duck rillette, for example, the sweet tinged tartness would be an ideal foil for the richness.
Raspberry and Cherry has a similar consistency with a contrasting balance of sweet and tart. The finely honed brightness of raspberries with heightening notes of tanginess of cherries and brightness of lemon. Serving suggestions include slathering it on croissants or adding it to yoghurt or cream cheese. Yum.
An inspiring combination, Lingonberry and Sea Buckthorn has nothing added except for organic sugar and water. The result are delicious, slightly unusual, sweet-savoury flavours with tinges of balanced acidity. Serving suggestions included duck, grilled pork or game terrine.
Simon Turcotte Confiturier’s long-time partner, Jeanne Turcotte says Simon’s small-batch recipes are a tribute to forgotten traditions and flavours of our ancestors who gathered wild fruit and captured the abundance of summer. Quite simply, these are some of the finest and most versatile hand-made jams I have tasted.
Suite 88 Chocolatier
What’s not to love about the combination of whisky and chocolate? Enter Suite 88’s Chef Chocolatiere, Ashley Mosca. Her Whisky Collection is marriage of two long-held passions.
Mosca’s love of chocolate, it was bit early for whisky, started as a young girl. She was enchanted by the magic of making sweet things so, after her very first chocolate lesson at Le Cordon Bleu, she found herself “in awe of the way chocolate moved, changed and transformed.”
Learning from top chefs, including the famed Maître ouvrier de France, Christian Faure and a stint at Le Cordon Blue. Mosca was mentored by the owner of Suite 88 in Pointe Clare Quebec for nearly a decade before she acquired the business. It’s been eight years and, with the support of her mother Suite 88 has flourished.
All her chocolates are small batch and the superb craftsmanship shines through. The Whisky collection, a set of 9 Belgian chocolates is presented in an elegant square box and inside is a guide for pairing whiskey with three types of her chocolate—Vanilla Caramel, Orange Praline, and Honey Cream.
Ashley suggests that her whiskey collection is best with light and fruity whiskies like those from the lowlands of Scotland or sweet bourbons from the US. Apparently whiskies with tasting notes of coffee species and orchard fruits pair best.
Not one for staying away from a little experimentation, I paired a few with two of my favourite whiskies the Suntory World whisky AO (a remarkable blend of Japanese, Scotch, Irish,US and Canadian) and, a bit more adventurously, Green Spot single pot still Irish whiskey.
Starting with Vanilla Caramel with notes of toffee apple and raisins, the combination brought out intense deep flavours in the whiskies. Turning to the Orange Praline the smooth rich milk chocolate infused with natural orange oil the flavours of nuts, citrus and oak again brought forward the deeper whisky undertones.
Last but not least, the Honey Cream—a dark chocolate with filling of butter and white chocolate emphasising hints of crème brûlée and white peach. Again there was a transformation of the whiskies as yings and yangs of sweet and savoury earthiness played out. Wonderful stuff.
SUITE88.com • ashley@suite88.com
Augusta Coffee
Kensington Market always surprises me. It’s such a mix of quirky, bizarre, seedy and innovative. Augusta Coffee is, by outward appearances, a more or less conventional market coffee shop: white-painted brick exterior, sufficient graffiti for “street cred”, and, inside, exposed white-painted ducts, not to mention the requisite number of young things hunched over laptops.
A closer look however, reveals a welcome addition to the world of so-called third-wave coffee shops.
This relative newcomer, which first opened in the fall of 2024, is an aficionado’s delight. Here I find down-to-earth coffee “geekery” without the attitude. Craftsmanship is lightly delivered by friendly baristas who answered my questions about their limited menu of fine coffees.
They happily served sipping samples to calibrate my taste preferences. I settled for a Worka Sakaro naturally dried coffee from the southern Ethiopia region of Yirgacheffe roasted by Landrace coffee at the back of the shop. I’m offered the beans to sniff, and detect a woody floral aroma. My barista lovingly prepares a pour-over, carefully timing the initial wetting of the grounds before starting the circular pour. The coffee drains into a small glass flask. He then heats a small ceramic cup and presents everything on a tray. Its perfect. The delicate floral aromas combine with notes of gentle berries that mingle with something slightly earthy topped off with an undertone of creamy chocolate.
As I savour my coffee beyond the window is a moving floor show of interesting characters weaving their way through this funky market. Worth a visit for more than the coffee.
Genuine Tea
Purely by happenstance, not long after finding Augusta Coffee, I stumbled on another third-wave pioneer, Genuine Tea. Founded here in Toronto by David O’Connor and Sarah Wilcox who’d spent five years wandering about Asia from a base in Taiwan where they’d fallen in love with local artisan teas.
From my own experience, tea making in Taiwan is serious business. I remember watching a tea master fishing out a tea leaf from the pot and rolling it out in front of me to show it was a whole leaf and not fragments or dust.
David & Sarah brought that seriousness back with them. The third wave ethic is to focus on the attributes of each region. Not for them is the anonymous commoditisation of tea. Rather, they care where it comes from and the welfare of the growers and pickers with whom they have direct contact—ensuring respect for those who toiled to produce what is in the cup.
This is obvious from their restrained but informative packaging. As an ingredient obsessive I noticed they specify the levels of caffeine and anti-oxidants alongside the country and even the district where the tea was sourced…. Right down to the latitude and longitude! More practical information is included such as water temperature and time for brewing.
Despite the temptation to opt for a sample from their mind-boggling array of green and black teas, I found myself searching for an evening beverage without caffeine. I settled on a soothing Elderberry & Hibiscus tea. Genuine Tea waxes about its multiple traditional health benefits but for me its mix of tart, slight sweet tanginess makes is a herbal tea to savour.
