Good morning! National Ice Cream Day is coming up on Sunday, so naturally, this week is all about frozen treats (with some of the world's best pizza and vibrant Eastern European recipes in the mix). According to Uber Eats, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., had the nation's most ice cream orders this year, earning it the title of "Most Chill City in Canada." Three other Ontario cities — Thunder Bay, Belleville and Ottawa — follow, with Victoria rounding out the top five.
Chocolate and vanilla mix is the No. 1 ice cream flavour, followed by cookie dough, peanut butter, caramel and (not-so-plain) vanilla. And the appeal of having ice cream dropped on doorsteps is growing. Uber Eats data shows an 86 per cent increase in ice cream orders since last year, with the start of summer (June 22) and the Victoria Day long weekend (May 17 and 18) seeing the highest demand. — Laura Brehaut |
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Sydney, Australia-based cook, author and former MasterChef contestant Anastasia Zolotarev tapped into her Ukrainian and Belarusian heritage for her cookbook debut, Sour Cherries and Sunflowers. The recipes are homey and convivial and capture the essence of the seasons. If you have a suggestion for cookbook of the week, reply to this newsletter or email us at cookthis@postmedia.com. |
The taste of sour cherries and the scent of sunflower oil take Anastasia Zolotarev back to her roots. The cook and author was born in Belarus and lived in Ukraine before her family moved to Australia when she was six. Sour Cherries and Sunflowers (Quadrille, 2025) felt right as the title of her cookbook debut. "Sunflowers connect me instantly with Ukraine, and sour cherries do the same, but with Belarus," says Zolotarev from her home in Sydney.
Sour Cherries and Sunflowers' more than 80 recipes highlight the seasonality and togetherness at the heart of Eastern European cuisines. From vibrant salads, such as a Belarusian barley pilaf with plums and walnut pesto, and refreshing kholodnyk (cold beet borsch, pictured) to pickles and ferments and varenyky (dumplings) that "were made for cooking with others," Zolotarev showcases the different ways Eastern Europeans prepare and celebrate food. "I wanted to give people a taste of my home and also communicate how we cook these recipes."
Read the interview, and don't miss the three recipes Zolotarev shared from Sour Cherries and Sunflowers. First, the aforementioned cold beet borsch is a refreshing chilled version of the classic Ukrainian soup.
"The cold beetroot borsch takes me back to extremely hot summer days when I would visit Eastern Europe. That's what you'd want to eat for lunch after running around all day or being out in our garden," says Zolotarev. "Even though it's a cold dish, there's just so much aroma around it all because of the use of herbs, and this cold beetroot borsch rejuvenates you and refreshes you and rehydrates you."
Next is a Belarusian salad: barley pilaf with plums and walnut pesto. "It's such an earthy but vibrant salad. The plums are sweet and sour, and they pair so beautifully with the earthiness of the grain. And then the salad is beautiful with the chicken rissoles, which are stuffed with mushrooms."
Zolotarev associates rissoles with celebrations or special occasions. Whether getting together with friends or visiting home, they're always on the table. "They're a staple on a special gathering table, and the buttery mushrooms are like this surprise in the middle when you bite into them." Photo by Karen Fisher and Anastasia Zolotarev (Sour Cherries and Sunflowers, Quadrille) |
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Author JR Ryall, head pastry chef at Ballymaloe House in County Cork, Ireland, loves serving ice cream bombes at parties regardless of the season. In his 2022 cookbook debut, Ballymaloe Desserts, he includes both summer and winter variations.
In the summertime, Ryall layers vanilla, blackcurrant and strawberry ice creams — during wintertime, chocolate, praline and coffee. He moulds them in a two-litre freezer-safe bowl but notes that you could also use a baking pan for a striped effect.
"The key to a bombe is that you pick three flavours that are going to marry really well together," says Ryall.
A bombe may be labour-intensive, but Ryall welcomes having a kitchen project. After a busy day at work, he often boils or poaches an egg for dinner. But there are other times when there's nothing he would rather do than create something more involved.
"Even though I'm young, I'm terribly old-fashioned. I actually quite liked spending time in the kitchen. So, having a project like a bombe on a rainy day is really fun. And then there is such immense satisfaction when you set that on the table and you cut into it, and there are the oohs and ahhs," says Ryall.
"That's one of the wonderful things about the world of desserts. I'm not an advocate for people eating more sugar — I'd be all about 'make it better and eat less of it.' But if you've got a big gathering and you've got a bombe you can share with people, it's just so much fun."
Photo by Cliodhna Prendergast (Ballymaloe Desserts, Phaidon)
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ICYMI Two Canadian pizzaiolos among the world's 100 best pizza chefs |
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An independent voting panel of 512 experts from 60 countries has recognized what locals already knew. Ryan Baddeley of Toronto’s Pizzeria Badiali and Cédric Toullec of Halifax’s Lou Pécou Artisanal Pizzeria make some of the best pizza in the world.
The third edition of The Best Pizza Awards, a “celebration of global pizza excellence and innovation,” recently took place in Milan, Italy. Baddeley was named No. 51 for his “refined yet nostalgic approach” to New York-style pizza by the slice. Toullec, whose ethos is “rooted in sustainability and authenticity,” placed No. 93. Read the full story. Photo by Hector Vasquez |
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