Fire crews battle the blaze in Assiniboine Forest Thursday, April 26, 2012. But is it bad news for foragers and forest lovers alike?

Smoke billows, flames lick through the understory, and what was moments earlier familiar and safe is vaporized, changed, blackened.

The recent, if brief, blaze in Assiniboine Forest on Thursday, April 26 brought the spectre of forest fires dangerously close to home.

It’s natural to react with fear. We’ve been taught that forest fires are agents of destruction. But the forest sees fire in a different way.

Yes, if forests could feel, fire would be a painful experience, but it is also one that brings renewal and possibilities.

For millenia, they’ve been maintaining healthy forests and grasslands. As much a part of the natural landscape as springtime crocuses, squirrels, and our many lakes.

In fact, the city plans controlled burns within the very park we all feared would be forever scarred, if not destroyed.

The explosion of life following a fire is quite amazing to watch. Pioneer species, such as strawberries, fireweed, aspen, and others, rush in to take advantage of newly available nutrients and sunlight. Animals of all sorts, from voles to bears, follow to take advantage of nature’s new bounty. And many a wise mushroomer will tell you to keep an eye out for morels in the blackened wake of a burn.

Have no fear for the fate of our urban emerald, tarnished, but not lost. We are lucky the damage was not more extensive and owe thanks to the efforts of the folks who contained and put out the fire. And I cannot understate the fact that the act of starting a forest fire unintentionally is not good; deliberately, reprehensible.

But as we head out for another season of Foraging, starting this Saturday, May 5, we here at Savour Winnipeg are cautiously optimistic. I hope you’ll join us. Because when you sign up for one forage, you’ll get access to the entire season of foraging. And you’ll have a front seat to the miracle of re-birth and biodiversity that our little fire brings forth.  I think we’ll find this jewel will actually shine even more brilliantly for the blaze.

As usual it has a number of courses of interest to Winnipeg foodies including the ever popular Cooking With Kathy Man Series.

It does seem like there’s a little less going on in the foodie department this year (listed under adult leisure).

Also, I didn’t see an update to the Conservatory series. Led by Chef Karen Peters, these were a guided exploration of Mediterranean influences.

Perhaps it’s because, as  rumor has it, she plans to open her own restaurant, reportedly in the former Chocolate Shop digs downtown. Yaaay Karen!

Registration for the Spring 2012 Leisure Guide begins Wednesday, March 14 at 9 am.

Call the city of Winnipeg’s 311 line to register and make sure you have the 5 digit course number handy (as well as a backup option). These things fill up fast…often the first day of registration.

View/download a course guide at www.Winnipeg.ca or check out Savour Winnipeg’s calendar of food related events around Winnipeg.

I’ve cross-listed all the leisure guide’s foodie related classes there (even ones interspersed throughout the guide).

You’ll also maybe find a few you didn’t even know were happening at other fine food venues across the city like The Food Studio, Centro Caboto, or our fabulous independent wine stores.

Plus, if you use Google Calendar, adding them to your schedule is as easy as a right click.

I guess I should be happy for the trees, carbon footprint etc, but dammit…I like flyers. I like holding something in my hand, turning down a page corner, tearing out a page and sticking it in a file.

Oh well, looks like its PDFs from here on in.

Registration is officially open. Check out the virtual guide on the City of Winnipeg website (but I’ll also be listing them all on the Savour Winnipeg Events Calendar) and waste no time signing up for courses by calling 311. Have those course numbers handy, and prepare some backup dates/courses. These things fill up pretty fast.

But if you’re out of luck or looking for alternatives, keep an eye on Savour Winnipeg’s Experiences page. We’ll certainly be leading another excursion into the woods to forage for wild edibles in September, so stay tuned for dates or subscribe to email updates.

If you’ve never been it’s a second to none opportunity to try over a hundred beers and related products (cider for instance) from 25 countries. And unlike the Winnipeg Wine Festival, all the packaged products are available at the MLCC.

Besides the unparalleled array of beer, I appreciate the opportunity to chat with the reps and (in most cases) learn more about products I’ve previously, or planned, to enjoy. If you’ll forgive a quick rant there was an MLCC rep who couldn’t tell me a thing about the Well’s IPA whose origins had elluded me in my current state (it was burton-on-trent). At a beerfestival, this nonchalant shrugging of shoulders is unforgivable. But the fact that MLCC monopolizes product offerings and distribution in the province, means we have to grovel in appreciation for any crumbs of knowledge or new product they afford us.

Thankfully brewmaster Dave Rudge of HalfPints filled my tank with a taste and description of their cask ale. Specially brewed for the Flatlanders Beer Festival, it was an intensely but well integrated citrus ale that (although not commercially available) further justified those 7am lineups at their 550 Roseberry retail store whenever they launch a new special.

They also offered the holy trinity of their product lineup–St. Jame’s Pale Ale, Bulldog Amber, and Stir Stick Stout, beers whose flavours once seemed to border on the ridiculous and now (educated) for me are the flavour standard by which all new market arrivals are measured.

It might seem weird or frustrating to encounter a brew that you can never buy, but these one-offs are the reason you should go to festivals and tasting nights. They offer the brewmasters a chance to market-test a product, the public a chance to weigh in and inform future product offerings, and are ultimately a shining example of the talent and ability of our local brewmasters.

Prime example being Fort Garry Brewery’s Ice Bock (a last minute replacement for the Special Dark Whiskey Infused). While most of Fort Garry’s line are too tame to be interesting for my taste, the Ice Bock blew my socks off and I learned is a sign of very exciting things to come.

The big buzz (besides the one I was sporting at this point) was Fort Garry’s recently completed amalgamation with west coast based Russel Brewing.

Russell puts out some decent brews (including the blood alley bitter that was on hand). This announcement means more offerings from out West. But it’s also going to shake things up locally.

While FGB will continue to offer their staple products, they’ll also begin to introduce four new craft brews to market each year under the auspices of the Brewmaster Series.

Keeping things fresh and interesting, they’ll drop the bottom two sellers each year replacing them with a brand new concoction.

Not only will these be available at the Liquor Mart, but on tap at select pubs and bars. According to the marketing manager, talks are happening right now but you can take an educated guess that beer friendly venues like The Grove, Luxalune, The Kings Head etc will be among the chosen.

I just hope the market will prove sud savvy and flavor adventurous enough to sustain some interesting product developments.

The mere mention of the word sets the taste buds tingling, evoking sweet recollections of those tender morsels of meat, that delightful smoke, that sweet, yet tart and spicy sauce.

I can’t get enough of the stuff. On a bun. On a pizza with pineapple. Over noodles. As a poutine topping or burger garnish. Its uses are only as limited as your imagination.

I’ve learned to avoid the lineups at Lovey’s. With a little research and ingenuity, you can enjoy all the amazing smokey, succulent flavours of pulled pork anytime at home.

In an August guide to backyard grilling, Savour Winnipeg shows you the secret perfect pulled pork in six easy steps.

Meat Selection

In the classic barbeque style, pulled pork is cooked low and slow. Partly because it takes time to impart that smokey flavour, but also because it uses a really tough cut of meat.

Most recipes call for a Boston Butt, or Pork Butt. It’s actually the shoulder which is laden with connective tissue and fat. It takes a long time for those sinews to break down and the fat to render out, but it also makes this a cheap (and flavourful) cut of meat. A three or four pound piece like the one in the picture will easily feed 8-10  once shredded and sauced, all for under ten bucks, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Don’t waste time at the big box groceries, you probably wont find butt anyway. Instead, head straight to Millers, Food Fare or Frigs. It’s reliably available and you can rest assured knowing it’s locally raised and reasonably priced. Often on display as a humungous hunk of meat, any of these places will cut it to size for you.

Seasonings

It’s not essential, but I like to treat my meat to a dry rub–a mix of any spices you think will taste great together. The pros and competition barbequers have closely guarded recipes. My go to seasonings include chipotle chili powder, cayenne, and smoked paprika to name a few. Mix em up and rub them onto the surface of your pork. If they aren’t sticking, a spritz of your favourite hot sauce will enhance adhesion.

You may note from the picture that I’ve broken the butt down. Most pork shoulders are trussed into a roll so it’s a simple step of cutting the strings, and slicing through the thin hinge of connective tissue.

I do this for a couple of reasons. First, efficiency. Heat more easily penetrates the smaller cuts of meat, reducing cooking time. Second, flavour. It provides more surface area for the rub, and smoke to cling to.

The Smoke Pouch

Whether you season your meat or not, the most important part of pulled pork is that smoke flavour.

You don’t need a big ass smoker out back. Believe it or not you can get authentic smoked flavour from your gas grill. The secret is the smoke pouch–nothing more that a tin foil envelope of hardwood chips placed over the heat source.

I recommend that you build more than one pouch for the pulled pork method, because we’re talking long cook-times here…5 hours minimum.

For detailed instructions on making a smoke pouch, see Savour Winnipeg’s post: How to Build a Smoke Pouch.

Grill Setup

This post assumes a two burner, split cooking grate gas grill (with a relatively full tank of propane), but you can easily replicate this on a charcoal grill too.

Divide your cooking area into a hot side, and a cool side. The hot side (pictured left) is your heat source, burner or solid fuel. It’s also where you’ll position your smoke pouch. The pork lives on the opposite, unlit or cool side (pictured right).

I like to use an oiled tray (to make removal easier and prevent sticking) and place it on the top rack where the smoke accumulates. Hard core barbeque fans will probably advocate puting the meat right on the rack. It exposes it to more smoke, but I’m terrified the whole works will disintegrate when it’s time to remove it (believe me, it gets that tender!) If you don’t have an upper deck, don’t worry. I’ve cooked on the main grate too and works just fine.

Now We’re Cookin’

Grill configured, light the hot side and set burner to low. Close the lid and wait patiently until whisps of smoke have begun to escape (you’ll smell it before you see it). Do not rush this step. While there’s much debate on this, I believe most of the smoke flavour is imparted in the first hour. Adding your meat before there’s smoke effectively sears the outside, creating a seal which the smoke will have a hard time penetrating.

Pouch smoking, deposit your pork on the tray, close the lid and find a distraction. This sucker’s gonna take at least 5 or 6 hours (+/-) depending on weight and size. About half-way through the cooking process, you’ll also have to change your smoke pouch. Careful what you do with the discarded packet. There’s still enough heat and embers to do some damage. An errant and carelessly discarded pouch actually set fire to my barbeque last year, hence the mismatched wood / plastic shelves depicted in this post.

Many websites say your pork is done when the internal temperate has reached at least 190°F. I like to let it hold at that temp (or a little above) for a while. But the litmus test here is shredability. Take a couple of forks and try prying a few fibers of the meat apart. If it gives with little to no resistance, you’re done. If you have to put much effort into it, let er cook.

Pull That Pork

It’s best to rest the meat before you rip it to shreds. Tent it with some foil and give it about ten minutes. Then take two forks and start ripping. How much shredding you do depends on the size of chunks you want on your sandwich, pizza, poutine or whatever. Some folks like to get their hands in there, others use food-safe gloves. Whatever works for you.

The dark crust that has formed during cooking is very desirable. I like to snack on it while I’m shredding. In BBQ circles this is called bark and it’s often accompanied by a layer of pink right beneath. It’s not undercooked meat. The technical term is the smoke ring and a sign you’ve done your work well! You’ll also probably encounter a fat cap. You can discard it or work it in to the rest of the meat…it adds moisture and flavour, but also fat and calories. Your call.

That’s it, you’re done! Use your pulled pork wherever you like…it’s a great vehicle for your favourite sauce. Top it with a store bought one  (I like the whiskey infused Canadian Club Hickory) or make your own. And leftovers, sauced or otherwise, freeze particularly well so you can enjoy pulled pork all year round. The secret’s out. Sorry Lovey’s.

Let’s cover a few ground rules of building a smoke pouch. First of all, wood selection. Always, always, always use hard-wood. The most common are Hickory, Mesquite, Cherry, Apple, Maple or Oak (it’s Manitoba Oak you’re tasting at Lovey’s).

Thankfully you don’t need to be an arborist. Bags of the best hardwoods can now easily be found at most hardware stores. I’ve found them readily available at Rona, Home Depot and Canadian Tire, and they sell for a modest 3-6 bucks a pouch.

Some people like to play with wood recipes, blending Hickroy, Mesquite, and a fruit wood of some kind. But most of pros swear by Hickory.

Second of all, smoking is a low and slow cooking method. Well managed, indirect heat applied over long cooking times. In fact, true barbequing uses a detached smoker box to smoulder the wood of choice, sending the smoke and limited heat to a separate compartment that houses the meat.

Most of the so-called barbequing we do on our patios is grilling–direct, and fairly intense heat. That’s not to say you can’t apply your smoke pouch prowess to grilling, but more about that later.

Once you’ve selected your wood, you’re three easy steps away from a new level grilling goodness.

Soak the Wood

Soak 1/2 the wood chips in a bowl for at least 30 minutes. Some folks like to keep a container of soaked chips at their barbeque on an ongoing basis.

Soaking isn’t as important if you’re adding smoke to a grilled item like steak or burgers–there we want instant smoke and don’t care about burn time.

But for cooking methods like pulled pork or ribs, we need to slow down combustion, exposing the meat to smoke over the long haul.

Pulled pork takes at minimum 6 hours to cook, depending on size of cut. Many pit masters cook their cuts for 12-14 hours!

You don’t have to build one gigantic pouch. In fact, two pouches works best, exchanging the expended pouch for the new about half-way through the cooking process. But watch what you do with that discarded pouch. It’s hot, and although it’s only coals, it packs enough combustion power to do some damage.

Build the Pouch

Pull out a strip of tin foil twice the size of the pouch. We’re going to fold it back on itself to create an envelope.

Place a handful or two of soaked chips in the centre of one end, leaving about 2 inches on the sides. Add an equal quantity of dry chips.

I like to toss the wet and dry together, others like to layer. The wet/dry blend gives the smoking a quick start as the dry chips will combust early in the cooking process. The wet ones will loose moisture and reach combustion point just as the dry ones burn out extending the life of your smoke pouch.

Once you’ve tossed your chips together (or not), fold the foil over the top and roll the top edge. Repeat for the sides until your pouch is sealed tight.

Use a fork, knife or anything pointy you have at hand and perforate one side of the pouch (this will be the top).

The holes do double duty. They allow the smoke to escape, obviously, but they also allow oxygen in. Too many holes, too much oxygen, and your smoke pouch will burn too fast.

SIDE NOTE: The soaked chips will have made a kind of tea. You can reserve this liquid and I’ve found by pouring it over my lava bricks when grilling, I can get add a cheep and cheerful hint of smoke into other items. You could alternately reserve it for soaking other chips in the future.

Prep Your Grill

Most grills have a split burner, and many have split cooking racks. Mine didn’t have the latter and if you find yourself in that camp, never fear, help is here.

Remove your cooking grate and hack it in half. Whatever it takes…hack saw, grinder, bolt cutter, whatever you have at hand, just do it.

Even if your partner is staring on in horror, mentally checking the account balance to see if you can afford a new barbeque because these projects always seem to result in the replacement of appliances (or is that just my household), forge on! You’re about to make your barbeque twice as useful.

When it’s time to smoke, remove half of your grilling grate…doesn’t matter which side, and drop your smoke pouch right on the coals.

If you’re cooking pulled pork, you’ll only light the burner under the smoke pouch, and put the meat on the cool side. Low and slow.

If you’re using your smoke pouch to impart flavour to chicken, burgers, steaks, there’s no cool side. You’ll be using the opposing grill to cook.

Either way, make sure the pouch is smoking before you add the meat. While there’s debate on the subject, I believe (and have learned from experience) that most of the smoke flavour is imparted early on. If your meat starts to sear before there’s smoke, it effectively creates a barrier which the smoke will have a hard time penetrating.

It’s already one of the quickest and fun ways to experience the range of incredible ethnic food we enjoy right here in Winnipeg, but now it’s even easier!

The interactive Folklorama app for iPhone makes it easy to look up pavilion information, get GPS directions, peruse the VIP World Tours, and even rate your experience.

With the new Folklorama app you can:

• view detailed pavilion information
• rate your Folklorama experience
• see the top-rated pavilions
• track pavilions you’ve visited
• make a visitor wishlist
• locate pavilions using GPS
• get turn-by-turn directions to pavilions
• get updated information about the VIP World Tour program and Folklorama Kick-off
  see which pavilions offer late night parties

Click here to download the free Folklorama app for iPhone or iPad.

Although at home viewers only saw four, two-minute segments and a couple of teasers, we spent from 5:30 am (ouch) to just gone 8:00 doing a live broadcast from the beautiful Assiniboine Forest.

You can view one of the segments that made it to air here, but check out this clip that didn’t make the final broadcast…Savour’s Television Debut

Drew couldn’t believe the edible bounty that’s available right out our own back door and we made several scrumptious scrounged snacks.

We started out with a mixed greens salad dressed with an apple cider, wild hazelnut and cattail vinaigrette. Although its late in the season, we also found a few wild rose petals to dress it up and provide some colour and contrast.

I think my favourite find though was the sweet yet tart cloud berries. A pleasant mix of strawberry and raspberry with hint of something tart and tropical, we used them to create a crepe which we dressed with whipped cream and ribbons of wild mint.

For dessert (as if breakfast needs a dessert), we made a simple wild-mint butter cream icing for some barbeque baked chocolate cupcakes. The cloud berries and sprig of wild mint came into play again as a garnish. Beautiful and delicious, I’m still eating them for breakfast.

As we led Drew through the basics, Barret and I were surprised at how much had changed since we first foraged just a few weeks ago. But that’s the beauty of foraging. Every day, every week there’s something new to discover, and every experience is unique and yours to savour!

While this may not be the launch of our television careers, we were encouraged by the coverage, and rave reviews from the first foragers who joined us at the end of June. As such, we’re offering a few more forays into the forest.

The Monday, July 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 session is just in time for you to impress family and friends with your new found foraging skills when you venture into the woods for the August long weekend.

Never fear if you can’t make the Monday session. We’re also running one on Sunday, August 7 from 1:00 to 3:00, and again on Tuesday, August 9 from 6:30 to 8:30. Depending on demand, we’ll also offer up Tuesday, August 16 from 6:30 to 8:30. You’ll find all the details and registration steps on the Savour Winnipeg Experiences page, but don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions.

Hope you can make it out, but if you can’t, we’ll be highlighting a wild find right here on the blog so you can follow along.

Founder of Channel Canyon Consulting and an outdoor educator at FortWhyte Alive, we tested the proverbial waters with a Fantastic Forest Forage: an introduction to wild edibles and foraging techniques.

We were joined by chefs eager to add locavore variety to their menus and folks simply looking for a fun way to while away an afternoon.

We covered plant identification, tools of the trade, tips and tricks for finding your favourite vitles, and sampled everything we could.

We unearthed a bounty of all kinds of deliciousness growing right on our doorsteps. Wild mint, rose flowers, rose hips, burdock root, wood nettles, wild hazelnuts, cattail roots and of course dandelions and even made a tasty bush tea.

Participants also received a take-home handbook summarizing everything we covered including some of Barret and Ben’s favourite recipes.
We had so much fun on that first session, receiving rave reviews and attracting some media attention. In fact, CityTV will be featuring us on Breakfast Television this Wednesday!

It’s a first for me, but Barret’s no stranger to media attention, getting a sweet feature on the Freep website, and even a few vids.

Encouraged by such a strong start, we’re offering four new sessions:

• Monday, July 25 pm from 6:30 to 8:30 pm
• Sunday, August 7 from 1 pm to 3 pm
• Tuesday, August 9 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
• Tuesday, August 16 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Space is limited and I suspect tickets will sell super fast once the segment hits the airwaves. So waste no time, register online now at www.SavourWinnipeg.com/experiences. It’s safe, easy and secure.

Mushroom identification is one of the most requested topics on the blog. With all this fuss about fungus, I thought the response might be helpful to others looking for info.

First of all, thanks for your inquiry, Jim.

There are over 10,000 species of mushrooms world-wide. Manitoba alone boasts 1000. Although there are dozens of local wild edibles, the most common are the August/September sprouting Puffballs and Chanterelles; May Morels; and Oyster mushrooms.

To my non-expert eye the mushroom of Jim’s question looks like the latter–an Oyster mushroom. It’s an edible that grows in both temperate and tropical climates. They generally prefer hard woods like the dead ash on which Jim found this specimen.

But there are many factors in identifying a safe to eat mushroom besides its ecology. Stem, veil and gills all provide clues. The only way to know for sure is to pick up a couple of good mushroom field guides, readily available at local bookstores or online.

Even if you’ve identified what you think is an edible using a reputable guidebook, proceed with caution. There are many poisonous look-alikes and mistakes can quite literally be deadly. False identification has claimed the lives even of experienced pickers.

Guidebook having supported your suspicions, you should still test for edibility with extreme caution. Best practice is to harvest only a sample and put it in a paper bag (not just good for for freshness–you’ll see why in a minute).

Cook and eat only the tiniest piece at first (I like a simple sautee in butter with salt and pepper)–perhaps the size of a pencil eraser.

After consuming, monitor your condition for the next couple of days. Some of the effects of the more nefarious fungi won’t manifest for at least 24 to 48 hours.

If no ill effects present themselves over the next few days, try a slightly larger serving size–maybe the size of a dime.  Repeat the eat and monitor method taking slightly larger portions until you’re confident it’s not making you ill.

The reason I say keep a sample is that if you do become ill, the emergency room will know what caused your illness should you become unable to report.

But there’s no substitution for experience. I have identified and harvested wild mushrooms only with experienced pickers and reliable reference material.

If you’ve spotted what appears to be an edible mushroom, get a guide book, but also ask around.  Often enough, someone else has been eating them (or not) and can save you some homework.

If you’re interested in exploring the wonderful world of fungi, there are a few courses offered.

The Winnipeg Leisure Guide usually offers something in the spring and fall like Fungus Among Us which I took at the Conservatory last May.

And The Manitoba Naturalist Society sporadically offers a Morels and Other Mushrooms education evening followed by a fall foraging expedition.

And if you’ll forgive the shameless self promotion, keep an eye on SavourWinnipeg.com/calendar where I try to compile and list all the education opportunities and food events happening around Winnipeg.

Happy hunting!