Food & Drink

Yukon’s food magazine, What’s Up Yukon.  Enjoy stories on local agriculture, and Yukon foods created under the midnight sun!  Yukoners share their local food recipes and wild harvesting secrets.

A watermelon

The Durable (Water)Melon

The origin of watermelons date back as far as 5,000 years ago, in the deserts of South Africa. This melon had the ability to grow in drought-ridden conditions and to store water within the fruit; hence the name watermelon. It was a great food source for some ancient African tribes to have as they ventured across deserts. However, the taste was much more on the bitter side. Around 2000 BCE, the watermelon also made appearances in the burial chambers of ancient Egyptian royalty. In some of the hieroglyphics written on the walls of the burial chambers, the watermelon is depicted.

Premier Puts His ‘Best Foot Forward’ and Makes a Little Yukon History

Who drank the 100,000th Sourtoe Cocktail? Well, now we know. The famous drink (also known as The Toe), was created by the equally famous Captain Dick, in 1973, in the even more famous locale known as Dawson City, and has been a major “Yukon To Do” for visitors and locals alike. Since 1973, the number …

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Rabbit Ragu With Bucatini

Rabbit (Ragu) has mild white meat but it has a bit more of a robust and meaty flavour than average grocery-store chicken.

Whitehorse Brunch Roundup

When planning a Mother’s Day outing in Whitehorse, once thing is certain: There are a “brunch” of options. We feature 3.

When Gatherers Become Gardeners

Mid-winter Potato, Kale and Cheddar Pie. A hearty, cheesy, main course that only needs a side salad for a satisfying mid-winter meal.

Sauces & pâtés

Nose to tail : Don’t overlook the offal when meal-planning this winter

Offal —literally “off-fall”— refers to those parts of an animal carcass that have fallen off during butchering. While muscles represent more than a third of the weight of cattle, by-products including side meats, bones, skin, and intestines constitute most of the animal body. The brain, the trotters (aka feet), kidney, liver, sweetbreads (pancreas) and tripe …

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Peanut butter banana oat smoothie recipe

This peanut butter banana oat smoothie is a fast and nutritious snack or breakfast. It is high in calories, protein and fat so it won’t leave you feeling hungry soon after. It is also gluten-free, dairy-free/vegan and soy-free.

Jeszika Mae’s Joy of Cooking

Macarons represent the bonbons side of Jeszika Mae’s business slogan: “Bacon and Bonbons – smoked meats and sweet treats.”

A cheesy business plan

Jill Johnstone turned to cheese-making for her scientific outlet. Let her show you through a 12 week training program.

Yummy dumplings

Anne’s Dumplings took off in the last year. Anne Huang-Power can’t keep up with the demand for her dumplings.

Pour one out during the pandemic

Almost a year into this pandemic, we’re all dreaming about travelling again. Last summer, during the B.C. bubble, my wife and I took a road trip to explore Okanagan vineyards.

Bringing BBQ to the masses

Smoke and Sow, from food truck to Whitehorse restaurant. The menu includes beef brisket, pulled pork, racks of ribs and whole chickens.

Junk Food

It’s another junk food season, especially for those suffering from cabin fever.

Brothers in beer

Polarity Brewing, the latest addition to the Yukon craft beer scene, is a labour of love.

Chill, it’s summer

Yukon-brewed beers for the season from Yukon Brewing, Winterlong Brewery, and Woodcutter’s Blanket.

Putting delicious food into the hands of Yukoners

Wayfarer Oyster House provides takeout and off-sales during the time of COVID-19 COVID-19 has dramatically changed things for Yukon’s restaurant community, including Wayfarer Oyster House. “If there’s a word to describe everything right now, it’s different,” explained the co-owners of Wayfarer Oyster House, Andrew Seymour, Brian Ng and Eddie Rideout.  “Like our peers across the …

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Cooking up some good

The Yukon Chef Collective is a group of local culinary professionals giving back by creating meals for the Whitehorse Food Bank

Pho-fix

Making sure Yukoners can still get their pho-fix is not the only way Lan Tang, owner of Pho 5 Star Restaurant, is contributing during the pandemic.

Stock your freezers

Antoinette’s Restaurant decided they would work through the pandemic by providing their fellow Yukoners with frozen meals so they could stock their freezers and enjoy the dishes when they wanted.

Great Thumbs, Great Ideas

With everyone still on lockdown and the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in under the COVID-19 lock down, many people are thinking about growing a garden this year — some, perhaps, for the first time in their lives.

Support local with a beer and some Indian food

Things are different for everyone in the new COVID-19 world and companies everywhere are having to change their business models to adapt. Nowhere is this truer than for the Woodcutter’s Blanket. “It’s been difficult, it felt like it happened overnight,” said co-owner James Maltby. “It has forced us to do a 180 on our business …

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Quarantinis: Or, When Life Gives You Lemons

I recently challenged myself to publish a cocktail recipe every day, for 14 days, on social media – the challenge was that I had to use spirits I already had at home, and that I could not make any extra/unnecessary trips to the grocery store.

Bringing the world of the culinary arts to Yukoners

For every Yukoner who has ever felt intimidated by a new recipe or technique in the kitchen Chef Catherine (Cat) McInroy is here to help. She is the owner/operator of the only privately-owned culinary education centre in the Canadian North.

Meals inspired by literature

Many classic stories have food and drinks intrinsically linked to their narratives. The Whitehorse Public Library has taken this idea and run with it, creating Page to Plate – a series of workshops for youth linking literature and cooking.

Love your liver

How I learned to do it Why would I ask you to do such a thing? Because your liver rocks and, according to Anthony William, the author of the Medical Medium series, it has over 2,000 functions, many of which medicine hasn’t discovered yet. If you get your liver function tested by your doctor, you …

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So cheesy

Cultured Fine Cheese has become a specialty shop that offers the necessary ingredients for a fabulous meal and the perfect snack.

A pearl formed in these oysters

Even after a year of operating in downtown Whitehorse, Eddie Rideout, co-owner of Wayfarer Oyster House, stresses that his restaurant does more than just oysters. Some people still associate the 6th Avenue eatery with its pop-up origins, when Rideout and co-owners Brian Ng and Andrew Seymour would show up at different bars around town to …

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Celebrate Local Food – July 2019

This month’s Local Food Promotion winners are… Chris Potvin & Sara Nielsen The couple tried out Dennis Zimmerman’s recipe p.148 in The Boreal Gourmet, our locally loved recipe bible. Delicious pickled pike on mayo with pepper and sunflower sprouts planted by the birds in their yard. Their July prizes: YBAR Meats Horse Haven Farms $50 …

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Tinfoil and the barbeque

Tinfoil, as it’s commonly called, is actually aluminum foil. While it’s not essential, it is a boon to the fine art of barbequing. One of the first things to understand is that it comes in various weights/thicknesses and strengths. Some of it is so flimsy that it tears even while wrapping a nicely shaped potato. …

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Forgotten meals

Here are some old and mostly forgotten meals that still linger on my taste buds and I, once again, long to dig into the good ol’ days with some of these home-cooked meals. Barbecued wieners INGREDIENTS 8 wieners, slit lengthwise Cheese, sliced (enough to fill slits) (Sauce) 1 tsp. dry mustard 2 tsp. vinegar 1 …

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Atlin coffee is burning up the market

Having a wood-fired coffee roaster is more than just a gimmick—it’s good business sense for Philippe and Leandra Brient, co-owners of Atlin Mountain Coffee Roasters.

Raise your glass

Since launching Yukon Brewing, Alan Hansen and Bob Baxter have proven that they know their beer. With the success of Two Brewers whisky over the past few years, they’ve demonstrated to the Canadian marketplace that they know their liquor as well. Their efforts garnered a gold medal and “Best Single Malt of the Year” at …

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The cooking fire …

A cooking fire isn’t just a miniature bonfire, and to make a good one takes luck, experience or some advice from someone who’s got a reputation for being a good campfire cook.

KD, rice and Pilot Biscuits

If you have a big budget and a small appetite, freeze-dried meals will work to keep you healthy on the trail. I have always found the servings too small and I’d need two of them to fill me up. They are certainly convenient and super light to carry. With a little imagination, you can end …

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Chicken fried bison steaks

While I love using bison steaks, you can totally use any sort of lean, quick cooking steak you’ve got – moose, caribou, even beef.

Go Big, Jack

Big Bear Donair shares a parking lot with the old Salvation Army and wouldn’t be the first location many would look to for a new business venture.

A wild and wonderful night

This weekend the Yukon Fish and Game Association (YFGA) is hosting their annual Wild Game Banquet at the High Country Inn. The event will include the usual camaraderie as well as the awards from the Big Bull Night, which took place in November, a silent auction, and a feast of Yukon harvested wild game. Cocktails …

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BonTon Butcherie & Charcuterie

When Shelby Jordan was looking to change her career, she came across an idea that piqued her interest. “I’ve always wanted to learn a trade. I like working with my hands and with food, and I like being creative,” says the long-time Dawson resident. “At one point, I read a book that had an old …

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So Good, So Try It

The Yukon Culinary Festival sounds like a good way to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. “The definition of Canadian cuisine that we use is local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients in the hands of many cultures,” says Eric Pateman, the festival’s main organizer. “This being Canada’s 150th, we have an opportunity to tell this story through the food.” …

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Fresh Fast Food

Culinary queen and DIY entrepreneur Katie Thom might be flying by the seat of her pants, but when she sets her mind on something, she does it, and with force. Though operating a food truck has been on her mind for the last 10 years, it was a decision Thom only made, and fully committed …

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Heart Healthy Hot Dogs

Fried, boiled, barbecued or campfire roasted, there’s nothing more quintessentially “summer” than a classic hotdog, especially paired with white bun, French’s mustard, ketchup and relish. While I loved this old standby as a child (who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned weiner roast?), as an adult, I’ve become far too informed about the preparation and …

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Celebrating Sausages

The Germans are known by the nickname “The Krauts,” which comes from sauerkraut, a famous German dish comprised of fermented cabbage. Maybe Germans should be nicknamed “The Sausages” instead, because we have 1,500 kinds of different sausages in Germany – according to the Deutscher Fleischer Verband (German Meat Association). There is a sausage for every …

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Oyster Sauce Makes it Better

Not too many years ago, I discovered oyster sauce during a barbecue at a friend’s house. I wasn’t sure what the new flavour was, but I really enjoyed it. I have passed on the secret to many others since then and all who have tried it rave about it. This sauce can be found in …

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O – Delicious Oishi Sushi

Oishi Sushi is a small lunch counter located on the second floor above Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street. It’s truly a hidden gem. Oishi means tasty or delicious in Japanese. The name is certainly an apt description of the food offered. Although it is tucked alongside the hallway leading from Zoomz to Hair Sensations, …

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N – North Dragon Restaurant

We needed to find a place to go for lunch that started with the letter “N”. Well, we needed look no further than the North Dragon Restaurant. We were able to park right outside and go in to check out their display. The staff greeted us with smiles and friendly hellos. They pointed out the …

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M – Making New Memories in a Spot with History

We went for dinner at Miner’s Daughter, which is in the historic Capital Hotel building and I imagine, if the walls could talk, we’d all be totally enthralled. As it was, we were impressed with the brick wall that still had the original signage painted in old fashioned lettering. Nice character. Juxtaposing the history in …

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What’s the Appeal?

I was making a carrot cake this week for one of the Jack Russell’s birthdays (he gets the carrot ends, we get the cake, seems like a pretty good deal), and the subject of peeling vegetables came up. I have always been reticent about sending the outer portion of my fruits and vegetables to the …

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A Swiss Tradition in the North

Of course, you have noticed that many people from Switzerland visit the Yukon in summer. Did you ever ask yourself what they do in wintertime? Here is the answer: They enjoy a relatively mild winter in Switzerland and every now and then they eat a Swiss cheese fondue. Fondue has a long tradition in Switzerland …

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Color Me Blue

It struck me a couple days ago that I have gotten out of the habit of baking, and was missing having nibbly bites about for those mid-meal moments that require just a little something. I briefly mentally bemoaned my lack of muffins, before remembering that this is one of the things that I can actually …

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Cooking Up a Career

Teresa Kozakewick grew up in Alberta. Raised by a father who had a passion for food, she had always been drawn to cooking. She enjoyed watching her dad cook on special occasions. Now her passion has become a career path. After moving to the Yukon, she enrolled in the Yukon College Culinary Arts program for …

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Border Lines

If I were to search out the exact opposite of local, homegrown food, I would pass through the security gates at an international airport. The sportsbars, food courts and even neo-eco-healthy cafés are part of an isolated microcosm that I’m sure has allowed for evolution in isolation of the trends towards local, fresh food that …

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Bingeing on Brassicas

Potatoes, kale and cabbage is a pretty common answer to the question, “What can you grow up there, anyways?” For those of us who get excited about growing, however, it is easy to go kind of crazy even within the parameters of a single vegetable family and the brassicas (also known as coles or crucifers …

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Happy Appies

Winter is the time for socializing around the wood-stove at the cabin or just in the living room at home. We all want to be warm and welcoming, but when people “just drop by” we get nervous about what we can feed them as far as snacks and appetizers are concerned. Certainly there are lots …

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Growing in the Dark

I was reminded of the importance of seedling density as I wandered away from my usual mung beans and lentils into tiny seed territory recently. While I do enjoy the little sprouts – alfalfas and mustards and the like – I normally can’t be bothered when I am quite satisfied with what I see as …

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Better When It’s Bitter

Jennifer Tyldesley has spent her life behind the controls of aeroplanes: in the Air Force, flying search and rescue and most recently for Air North. I imagine her in a crisp white shirt with epaulettes gleaming, watching the Klondike Valley sweep away beneath an old Hawker Siddeley when she is struck by an epiphany: “One …

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Tools of the Trade

You know that thing you’ve had for years and haven’t been quite willing to part with, though you haven’t yet discovered its particular niche? Mine is a small hand-crank cast iron meat grinder, and the niche has been found. Two in fact, in the disparate realms of ferments and ice-cream. I’ve been on a pretty …

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Comfort food can be healthy

“It is really nice here,” says Virginie Hamel as she looks at the high ceilings and natural woods of the Meadow Lakes Golf Club chalet. “And a lot of people from  town, too,” says Hamel. “I was amazed at the amount of support I got from the community; Whitehorse is cool like that.” When the …

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I’ve Got a Gut Healing About This

Hippocrates alluded to the gut as the source of all our ills, and Katherine Belisle, a health practitioner in Whitehorse, couldn’t agree more. Working in the relatively new field of functional nutrition she has been doggedly working to introduce the benefits of eating fermented foods to an increasingly willing audience. Functional nutrition differs from a …

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Pickling Salt and Rubber Gloves

I recently came into contact with a terrifying Yukon beast: Mus musculus, the house mouse. After the encounter, I contacted everyone I knew, in complete panic.  Kosher and authentic sea salt will also work in place of pickling salt. Rubber gloves are handy things to have around, for cleaning up after mice or cutting up …

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Cast Iron

Long before Teflon or other spray coatings were on your pots and pans, cast iron was easy to use and easy to clean. It’s been around for hundreds of years and although always heavy, was brought from Europe by the early settlers to North America. The large cauldrons and kettles, now no longer in use, …

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Basking in the virtue of boiling-water baths

The smugness attack hit a few weeks back, while my wife was visiting an out-of-town friend. Perhaps it was boredom or the way the pre-autumn sun slanted down on a Saturday morning. Perhaps it had spotted a binful of perfect pickling cukes, cheek-by-jowl with lacy fronds of fresh dill the previous evening. Whatever factors were …

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L – Make Yourself at Home

I picked up my companion to go for lunch at Legends Smokehouse & Grill, located in the Yukon Inn. We were pleased to find it quite busy. The place has a rustic ambience with wooden tables at the front and raised, framed alcoves by the windows. When we entered many patrons looked up from their …

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Ode to Bread

I have become bread-obsessed.   There is a fine layer of all-purpose flour on surfaces in rooms nowhere near the kitchen. A person suffering from celiac disease might keel over at the threshold of my front porch. (Sorry, Aunt Pat.) Who gets obsessed with baking bread in the middle of one of the most beautiful …

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Two Chefs, a Dinner and a Whole Lot of Beer

If you love beer and food, you’ll love this spin on the traditional Winemaker’s Dinner: Hops ‘n’ Grub.   Seated at a long table with a hundred of your Whitehorse neighbours, you will dive taste buds-first into dishes created to pair with select brews. Four chefs are working together to create the meal: Troy King …

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K – Come See Why People Line Up

Klondike Rib & Salmon is only open in the summer. Both tourists and locals alike flocking to the restaurant. It’s a welcoming place, from the steps up onto the cozy front deck and its patio tables, through the entrance foyer to the dining room, which was originally opened as a tent frame bakery, called MacMillan’s …

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Whitehorse: The Edible City

At the downtown community garden in Whitehorse, a beekeeper tends to the newly built beehive in the fading evening light. Nearby, a gardener waters his small plot of potatoes, beans, and lettuce – a zucchini plant takes up a quarter of his raised bed box. Vegetables grow in plots on the other side of the …

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A Market for the Whole Community

Whitehorse chef and cookbook author (and What’s Up Yukon columnist) Miche Genest has a wonderful description of the Fireweed Community Market: she calls it “community glue.” Providing access to fresh local food is just one role the market plays. According to Genest, it is where people go to connect with friends and the greater community …

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Sampling the ‘challenge’

This is the second year that Northern Vision Development has challenged Whitehorse restaurants to make the best burger. This year six restaurants took the bait — The Gold Pan Saloon, the High Country Inn, The Cut Off, Earls, the Steele Street Restaurant and Lounge (which is the Westmark) and the Klondike Rib and Salmon. Six …

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The Yukon Culinary Festival Tells a Story of the Yukon, Through Food

The Yukon is filled with culinary hidden gems, according to Eric Pateman. A culinary expert, Pateman had no idea how rich the Yukon food scene was until Debra Ryan, manager of strategic planning for Air North, finally persuaded him to visit.  Now he is a main organizer of the Yukon Culinary Festival, running from August …

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More than Just Coffee

I catch Heike Graf between the lunch rush hour at the Caribou Crossing Coffee and picking up her five year old daughter from school. “It was busy today,” Graf, the owner of the coffee shop in Carcross, says while wiping the counter and putting a tray of fresh pizza on the display. The smell of …

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The CutOff Restaurant & Pub: Real food for real Yukoners

The CutOff Restaurant & Pub has really nice customers. On a Sunday night, looking at the crowd that has come in for the ever-changing weekly dinner special, you see a lot of long-time Yukoners. Real Yukoners who dress comfortably and laugh out loud. This is what you get when you open a new restaurant 20 …

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H – Hue Oasis – “A Host of Colourful Flavours”

The Hue Oasis Restaurant in the Skky Hotel was a pleasant surprise.  My companion and I, even though neither of us had been there before, had high hopes and we were not disappointed. We entered the restaurant through the foyer of the hotel and picked up local magazines as we went in.  We were seated …

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A Good Kind of Fat

Whenever I think of avocados, my mind immediately goes to a cartoon I saw circulating Twitter one day that shows an avocado running away from another avocado in tears. The one standing there looks guilty, and says, “I said, ‘You’re the good kind of fat!’” Aside from the cheeky jab at body image issues, the …

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What We Eat When We Eat Alone

No, this is not a book of maps to the McDonald’s in your area. Or a guide to the best Chinese food takeout combinations (that’d be a short book – there are no bad combinations!). It also doesn’t contain coupons for chips, dip, and Oreos (note to the authors – possible improvement? For a second edition?). …

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G – G&P Steakhouse – “Come As You Are for a Fine Evening Out”

It was time to go out for dinner and, since my regular companion was still on the high seas, I invited yet another friend. I was the first to arrive G&P Steakhouse on Main Street. As it was a Monday night, I hadn’t bothered to make reservations.  I was lucky to get the last table. …

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Want to Try a New Restaurant?

In less than a year, Erin Loxam has found her way to the heart of the Yukon — through its stomach. While still a cheechako, she has visited more local restaurants than any sourdough, and has done us the good service of writing about her dining experiences on her blog All Yukon Eat. When she moved …

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The Anti Stress Diet

Stress, and your body’s response to it, is inevitable. When it happens in small, infrequent amounts, it can even be a helpful and necessary function of your brain and body. You are hardwired to respond to dangerous situations – like seeing a bear – in a way that prepares you physically and mentally for a …

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Fusion of fun and authenticity

A weary traveller can be forgiven for expecting typical food in a highway restaurant, even in a nice place like the Skky Hotel in Whitehorse. Instead, at the Hue Oasis Asian Fusion Restaurant and Bar, they find a passionate dedication to South Asian cuisine in an elegant and warm atmosphere. Heavy cherry-wood chairs sit upon …

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Coffee and Flowers

Deep in the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua grows a tobacco that has an elegant yet bold taste. Combine the tobacco from the Jalapa region with other tobaccos from different areas of Nicaragua and you get a lovely cigar called Casa Magna Colorado. Created by Manuel Quesada Jr., whose family been making cigars for a century, …

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The Healthy Side of Chocolate

While turning chocolate into a core food group is not the healthiest of ideas, eating it in moderation – and in its pure cacao form – can be a good thing.

Chicken and Egg

Smooth and brown, the eggs slip through the machine where they are held up one at a time to the light. The light shines through the shells and illuminates the interior of the egg and then the machine moves the egg down the light so the next egg can be inspected. This process, called candling, …

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Healthy resolutions you can keep

Some of the most common resolutions made in the New Year are about health. Almost 70 per cent of consumers surveyed by Nielsen in 2015 had made resolutions focused on staying fit, healthy, and svelte. Of course, the most commonly broken and failed resolutions are also those about health. Perhaps this is not surprising. How …

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Perogy Blessings

Perogies have always been a part of my life. Every meal that includes homemade perogies is a special occasion. Learning the best way to make them has been a lifelong process. I am the child of first generation Canadians. My mother’s family emigrated from Finland; my father’s from the Ukraine and Poland. My father, who …

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Seeds of Cuba

The Christmas season is upon us. For cigar lovers, this is a perfect excuse to indulge and order up a nice selections of stogies. For those who live in Whitehorse, there happens to be a store where you can get the best cigars Cuba has to offer. In the heart of downtown on Main Street …

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A – Antoinette’s Restaurant “A is for Awesome”

Where to go for dinner? I couldn’t decide but I knew there are many restaurants in Whitehorse from which to choose. But how to choose?  Being the well-ordered, disciplined person that I am (read perfectionist), it made perfect sense to me to begin at, well, the beginning and make my way through our city’s eating …

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A Little Bit of Brazil

Different types of tobacco are grown throughout the beautiful country of Brazil – each with its own special taste. The good people at the CAO cigar company thought this was something worth commemorating. Thus, the CAO Brazilia cigar was created. In recent years, CAO created Brazilia Carnivale as a follow up. Unfortunately, I was not …

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Hobgoblins, Skulls, and Warlocks

While the chip and candy industry churns out boxes of treats for the kids, there lies another type of treat adults can enjoy at Halloween: creepy cigars. With names like Insidious, Exorcist, and Warlock, there is a niche market of cigars with freaky name. First, the cigar called Insidious. Line this cigar up with the …

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A Buffet of Freaky Treats

Halloween parties for the mature crowd can’t simply offer a feast of candy and chips. We have issues such as cholesterol, blood pressure and the adult palate to keep in mind. Luckily, there are many healthy party snacks that can be served. Here are some ideas. For a sophisticated-but-creepy appetizer try black caviar. Grab some …

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Giving Churchill’s Brand a Try

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was known for being an avid cigar smoker. Among his favourite brands were Romeo and Juliet, and Camacho. In fact, six years ago, a Camacho cigar that belonged to Churchill was estimated to be worth between $1,500- $,2200 by the auction company Christie’s. The company Camacho Cigars was founded in …

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Romeo vs Alec

We may never know what started the infamous feud between Shakespeare’s  Montagues and Capulets, but I can tell you the nature of the feud between Romeo and Alec. The Romeo I refer to is the cigar brand Romeo y Julieta, and Mr. Alec hails from the Alec Bradley Cigar Company in America. Alec Bradley has …

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The Right Kind of Shaggy

For some reason I just can’t seem to stay away from the Gurkha’s. When I first started enjoying cigars about 8 years ago, Romeo y Julieta was my starter brand. Over the years my curiosities swayed between different brands. But this past summer, Gurkha has held my constant attention. This is probably because there are …

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Unjunk your junk food…

Whether it’s to get you to your next meal, for the kids to fuel up between their many activities or just for a tasty treat, snacks are central to our daily eating. With the growing number of snacks and treats that can be bought at the grocery and health food store, it’s definitely more convenient …

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The Darker Side

Yes, TV and movies in colour are enjoyable and entertaining, but there is something about black-and-white film that sparks intrigue – especially the genre known as film noir. In my opinion, the acting in these films was perfect. You didn’t have to endure a team of B-list actors, cheesy plots, or special effects gone wrong. …

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Promethean Influence

How good is your knowledge of Greek mythology? Yes, we all know about the heavy hitters such as Zeus and his Olympian brothers, Poseidon and Hades. We may know about Gaia and Demeter and others whose names have landed a place in popular culture. But what about Prometheus, the god of forethought, who created mankind …

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Concierge at Large

Most youngsters try on adult roles from time to time, but few go from role-play to reality as seamlessly as Eric Pateman moved into a career in hospitality. The founder and president of Edible Canada has photos of his 5-year-old self with a waiter’s towel draped over his arm, serving lunch to his grandparents, complete …

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Festival Fare

Festival season is in full swing, and every weekend sees crowds descending on another Yukon community for a bit of all-night sun revelry. My personal favourite, and often my only festival of the summer, is the Atlin Arts and Music Festival. This year’s festival had an impressive array of food vendors who seemed to be …

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Frolic for Foodies

At the end of July, foodies from across the country will travel north to take part in the 2015 Yukon Culinary Festival. Now in its third year, the festival will showcase and celebrate the Yukon’s local food movement to visitors and locals alike. Taking place over four days, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August …

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Hotdog Destiny

On July 4 my family headed to Skagway for the Independence Day celebration. Since I was about to write a piece for the WUY Hot Dog Issue, I thought, “What a great way to sample the Americana hot dog culture and stuff myself with delicious mystery meat.” We arrived just in time to catch the …

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An Orange Dog

National Hot Dog Day approaches on July 23. Those who celebrate will most likely be found grilling hot dogs on the barbeque or over a fire. Die-hard hot dog lovers may opt to make their own. In the Yukon there are opportunities to experiment with local game recipes. Regardless of what you use to make …

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The Condiment that Some Take For Granted, and that Others are Really Into

Mustard. It calls to mind sausages, one side of the inside of a sandwich (the meat side), pretzels, Dijon, grainy, spicy, Germany, France, omnipresent condiment, pestle and mortar, seeds, curry, and for some reason, fine beer. But Saskatchewan? No. Roslyn Woodcock recently learned that 90 per cent of the world’s mustard is grown in Canada, …

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The Lone Star State

Howdy. We all know how things are “bigger in Texas”. Alec Bradley knows it. The American cigar company has been producing cigars for 20 years. With over 15 varieties to choose from, Bradley has quite the following. This year they decided to display a tongue-in-cheek attitude and created a cigar called Texas Lancero. A Lancero …

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Learning from the Locals

Returning home after traveling can bring culture shock that’s just as discombobulating as that experienced when heading off to the far side of the globe. I’m learning that staging the return helps ease the transitions of climate and jet lag, as well as culture. One of my main reasons for traveling is the fresh perspective …

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The Thai Box

Guess what I did today? I ate Thai Food. Coconut rice! Pad Thai! And I didn’t even have to go to Skagway. All I did was walk along the river to Rotary Peace Park, where a little red trailer was serving a small selection of the food I’ve missed since moving here. It’s called the …

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Spice, Earth, and Barley

Welcome to the cigar lounge. Last time we were here, I paired a CAO Italia cigar with Glenfiddich scotch. Today, the cigar of choice will be a Cusano 59 in a preferido vitola, from the Dominican Republic, accompanied by a mug of Miller draft beer. Usually seasoned cigar smokers like to have coffee, whiskey, rum, …

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Tools of the trade

Over the last few years I’ve been gathering the components for a makeshift “solar system”, relying heavily on generous donations from friends for parts. Many of these gifts have found their way into the current version, though a few have been cycled out as they were less than functional, and this winter I finally completed …

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Cherries for the Delayed Win

Last holiday season I cajoled members of my family into forming teams and entering a contest, invented by me, entitled, “The First Annual Shake-off, Stiroff Cocktail Competition,” to be held on Christmas day just prior to dinner. My 85-year-old mother agreed to be the judge. There were many things wrong with this idea. First of …

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Keeping Hold Of That Festive Spirit

Is it really true, is another holiday season has come and gone? So much anticipation, preparation, anxiety or eagerness, and then once again time plays its disappearing trick and we find ourselves in January. Whether you love the Christmas/Chanukah/New Years/solstice season , or hate it, it seems to whizz by. Well , I refuse to …

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Second Best Grilled-cheese Ever

Superlatives aside, I did just finish a pretty amazing sandwich. First, let me describe the creation that, to date, is the pinnacle of my gustatory experience in the realm of that iconic thing: the grilled-cheese sandwich. It was consumed perhaps a month ago, when I dropped in on my friend Lori, who is a dab …

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Cowboy/Camp Coffee

A little research shows me that “camp coffee” and “cowboy coffee” are the same thing, but maybe originated in different locations. Basically, each involves a fire, a pot, some water, and some ground coffee. Even the more intricate efforts involve these basic items. Most people who enjoy this type of brew like it for the …

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Whirlwind of Yukon Flavour

It all began with fireweed pepper jelly. I did not know such a thing existed, but I am very glad I discovered it. I arrived at Rivendell farms at 6:00 p.m. for the Feast of Farms, the closing event of the Yukon Culinary Festival. As I made my way across the parking lot, I was …

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Cake, Baby

“Let them eat cake”, is the famous saying, attributed to Marie Antoinette. After all, what could be a more delightful thing to do? For Heather Anderson the answer is, decorating cake; but that doesn’t mean just any decoration. She likes large, multi-tiered, three dimensional, packed with detail, in-your-face cakes. For this decorator, no request is …

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Not Easy Being Green

If you’re heading out to Circle D Ranch for a few days of music and food this weekend, you’d be well-advised to bring your own eating and drinking gear, or at least a toonie to “rent” a plate. The three-day outing, now known as the Frog Food Festival – Served with Music, is being billed …

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A Foodie’s Dream Come True

Birch syrup, fireweed jelly, juniper berry shortbread, and low bush cranberries are a few of the ingredients that will rise to the occasion for the Yukon Culinary Festival. Among the festival events is the Tastes of Whitehorse food crawl, beginning July 31 at 5:30 p.m. It will encompass the tasty delights of five local restaurants …

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Pig-roaster with Serious Cred

Chris Irving has cooked for Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family of Spain. He’s made sushi and fried chicken for the four “just normal kids” of David and Victoria Beckham. He’s cooked on luxury yachts and in fancy hotels, not to mention the private mansion of master chef Gordon Ramsay. Now he’s coming home …

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Le Chien Gourmet

While hot dogs are not traditionally considered ingredients for classy dining, Carl Pearce of Antoinette’s Restaurant in Whitehorse begs to differ. Here are four of his creations, which prove that dogs can be a delicacy.

It’s Not the Dog’s Fault

If you don’t like hot dogs, here’s an Internet trend you want to avoid: “hot dogs or legs.” People take photos of their bent legs from the knee to mid-thigh in a manner that looks like a couple of hot dogs looking out over the landscape, usually a beach scene where oily, bare, hot dog-like …

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Hot Dogging in Quebec

I was on vacation with my family in southern Quebec when I opened e-mail from What’s Up Yukon editor Peter Jickling asking me if I had any “hot dog” stories for the magazine. It occurred to me that other than eating them over the years I had no stories of any value. Once I burnt …

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The Perfect Weenie Roast

As far as I know, electronic gadgetry hasn’t affected the humble hot dog. Having said that, I’m confident that somewhere out there there is a new gizmo guaranteed to make the perfect tube-steak. Making a hot dog can be a very simple operation, and that’s probably why it is so popular with very young children; …

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The Power of Enzymes is Now

If you’re pressed for time, as most of us are, summer is good news. Gone are winter days with their demand for labour-intensive, heated meals. Salads, smoothies, and other raw entrees feel good to eat on hot days, and you don’t have to cook. Plus, fresh foods fill our bodies with nutrients and enzymes that …

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A Soup of Many Flavours

Keith Kelly (aka Teddy Bear) turns out over 1,000 servings of soup each week for the many bingo players at the Elks Lodge on Hawkins Street. Although he was retired, Kelly couldn’t pass up the opportunity of running the lodge’s kitchen. “I got bored sitting around doing nothing and thought it would be something fun …

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Order up!

Cat McInroy has experience wielding a spatula, though she doesn’t consider herself a professional chef. But the numerous weddings, parties and dinners she has catered for friends and family were enough to disqualify her from Master Chef Canada, a TV show that pits lay chefs against each other, when she applied last year. That, and …

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The Scream of Summer

It’s always the same. The temperature rises above 20°C and suddenly we’re all screaming for ice cream. What is it about summer that makes us think the best thing to refresh us is a big lick of a thick, mucous-forming substance that sometimes makes our heads hurt and inevitably leaves us more dehydrated? Even I, …

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A Father’s Day Guide to Whisky

Whisk(e)y is an acquired taste. As a child I would sneak small sips out of my grandfather’s glass of Crown Royal when but it wasn’t until I moved to the Yukon and spent a long winter in Dawson City though that I came to appreciate what a fine drink it is. Here’s an introduction to …

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Potlucks: The art and science of the communal buffet

I’ve been lucky in pot and unlucky in pot. There was the memorable Women’s Day potluck of 1995 where all 12 dishes contained chickpeas with a sprinkling of Ani di Franco. There was also a vegan potluck wedding that resulted in a traffic spike at the McDonald’s drive-through later that night. However, sometimes serendipity results …

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Food to Fly For

Ah the pretzel. I am a strong German piece of “bread” in the eyes of some, yet I am so much more. To many of you in North America I come in the form of a bag of chips, dried out and crunchy — something that is offered on plane rides. To me the pretzel …

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Chef Karina Lapointe: Treat Your Buds

If your taste buds long for something new and your eyes are looking for something as pretty as it is tasty, you need to find Karina Lapointe. This local chef graduated from two different professional culinary schools in Québec but her training started long before then. “I’ve always been crazy about cooking,” says Lapointe. “I …

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Sauerkraut and Sausage

by Sharon Collins As a child of two European immigrants I was fortunate to enjoy many European meals in my own home growing up. From my father’s Dutch heritage we enjoyed meatball soup and rolladin regularly. My father’s pockets always contained my favourite treat – double salted liquorice. This treat is definitely an acquired taste …

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The Reuben: A Nietzschean Analysis

Preceding the last decade of his life — when brilliance gave way to madness — German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche wrote some of the most challenging and controversial philosophy of the 19th century. In the years following his death, Nietzsche’s work influenced a range of admirers, from the Doors front man Jim Morrison to Adolf Hitler. …

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Late Night Dogs

Dave Fraser is wearing a huge smile on his face as he hands out six grilled cheese sandwiches thick with bacon, tomato, onion and pickle. After a few minutes of chatting he says they are the most popular item on Zorro’s menu. “They are a pain to make,” he explains, “but the customers love them …

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Pancakes and Pie

It’s a sunny Sunday in Dawson, the first day of a new month. I am standing by the window at our kitchen counter eating a beetroot sandwich (toasted Calabrese bread, cheddar cheese, pickled beets, cucumber, tomato, and baby dill pickles with a sprinkle of ground pepper), watching two ravens play tag and thinking about my …

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International Potluck Party

Aman with dreadlocks dangling down his back sips a New Zealand-inspired kiwifruit cocktail. He’s deep in conversation with a companion clothed in a gabbi (a traditional Ethopian tunic) who is sampling spicy peanut soup from Sierra Leone. The table before them is laid with Polish cabbage rolls, Indian samosas, and Russian beet salad. Lunch at …

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Bunny Love

Contemplating moving from Toronto to Dawson, I thought a lot about what I’d be giving up. I didn’t anticipate all the “firsts”

What Your Favourite Candy Says About You

Welcome to the annual celebration of low impulse control known as Halloween. Children can anticipate the sheer volume and variety of candy tha t is bound their way. For adults, Halloween presents a more complex decision-making task. That is, which candy to purchase for the Halloween night giveaway. For some, buying candy is merely a …

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One-pot Luck

Brussels sprouts: the tiny perfect brassica. Could anything be better than a side of miniature cabbages oven-roasted with prosciutto and homemade croutons and finished with a generous serving of cambozola cheese? Discuss. For my final 13 years in Toronto, the span of my non-restaurant “career”, I ate an average of five dinners a week in …

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The Secret Ingredient

The Iron Chef, a competitive cooking show, opens with dramatic music, a swelling crescendo of exciting sound building as the camera zooms around a dramatically lit kitchen stage prepped with shining knives, mammoth cooking ranges and walk-in freezers. The theatrical host steps out in a sharp, tailored suit and introduces the audience to the current …

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Swim Out, or Drown

Like most chefs, Gedas Pabritsa says it was his mother who inspired him to start cooking – but not for the usual reasons. “Being honest with you, she sort of did. Because I actually started cooking in self-defence,” he says with a laugh. His mother, he admits, was “a very smart lady”, a technocrat whose …

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Best-Dressed

If you asked me what my favourite food was, and I was actually honest about it, I would probably have to say refined sugar. And pizza. This being said, I am a person who is pretty into nutrition—I am relatively educated about it and take the relationship between food and well-being (both physical and emotional) …

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Random Acts of Sunlight

This summer I learned that random acts of sunlight, a broken lawnmower and tolerant neighbours can lead to a lot of delicious, surprising salad ingredients growing all over my backyard. Instead of the monoculture of lawn, there’s a botanical array of 50 shades of green between the greenhouse and the door. My landlords are away …

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Embrace the Colour Wheel

If Italian gastronomy is all about family, Japanese cuisine about purity and technique, Mexican cooking has always been, at least to me, about colour and celebration. The bursts of pigment on a Mexican platter—brilliant golden corn, lipstick red peppers, gleaming green jalapeño—shout out a certain enthusiasm for edible bounty. In contrast, muddy refried beans plopped …

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Sammy the Yeast

It took me several months living in the Yukon to figure out what was bugging me. One Saturday, after holding nails while two Yukoners and an artist from Vancouver assembled a complicated woodshed art piece, it hit me: I don’t actually know how to do anything. Raised in a family whose parents both had white-collar …

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Dinner with Jerome

My cousin’s husband, Jerome, died in his sleep at home in Paris on December 18, 2003. He was 45 and had been diagnosed with lung cancer the previous March. In France, death is treated more naturally than it is in many North American locales, especially big cities. Jerome’s body was attended to and remained in …

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The best burger in town

When foodies get restless, they debate “the $100 hamburger”. It’s an intellectual exercise that asks the question, “What would you have to do to justify charging $100 for a hamburger?” So, it was with great interest that I watched my Lovely Dinner Companion order a Bison Burger at Skky Hotel’s Volare Restaurant. It was only …

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Barbecue in the Winter! Are You Nuts?

The primeval need to flash-up the grill is totally irresistible … an innate, desperate need passed down through time. The outside temperature will never deter the intrepid grillmeister from accomplishing his task (it will just freeze the barbecue knobs. And I don’t mean his buddies). “Intelligence is something we are born with. Barbecuing is a …

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Good Ribs Start With a Boil

“We want Mojo pork butt in a bag,” is an unlikely dinner request to emanate from your regular backyard barbecue clientèle. I won’t even mention “pulled chicken”. “We want ribs,” is more likely to be the cry you may hear from your great-unwashed rabble around dinnertime. The art of smokology may never face as fierce …

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Where There is Smoke, There is Flavour

Cedar plank barbecuing is becoming all the rage … for some very tasty reasons. This is an ancient method of cooking used along the Pacific North-West Coast among First Nations for some time. During a recent pre-ride cookout at Yukon Horsepacking Adventures, our expert chef, Naomi, demonstrated how it is properly done. As when smoking …

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The Greeks Know Barbecue

On a trip to Greece, we set up camp just off the beach at the bottom of a huge cliff; to reach this location we walked down a steep path through an ancient olive grove. The next day we headed back up the path to gather wood for the cooking fire, returning to camp for …

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Hamburgers

The Basic, Perfect Hamburger

  “Bob, stop pouring beer on the meat; the kids have to eat that,” my mother would yell to my Dad in the backyard, scolding him from the porch. One of my earliest memories of a backyard family barbecue is the huge fireball that was sure to rise from the old, red, globe-shaped barbecue that …

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Chicken on a Stick on Ceramic

Discussing which features you might want in a barbecue, a friend of mine stated a ceramic grill is the only way to go. This friend must have spent as much money on barbecues as the total gross domestic product of a small emerging nation, so you have to believe him. Side burners are OK, a …

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Beer Can Be Eaten

For the most part, this column is used to keep folks abreast of contemporary beer issues and educate Yukoners in craft brewing culture. Often times, it reads as a “news of the weird in beer” type article … a defence of crazy beer happenings the world over. Today, we explore beer’s practicality in an effort …

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A Taste of Beer-Making

It used to be the Chilkoot Brewery; now it’s the Yukon Brewing Company. Either way, it’s the only craft brewery that outsells Molson and Labatt in draft sales on their home turf in Canada. As the sign on the door at 102A Copper Road states, tours are at 2 p.m. (and samples are available anytime). …

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Your Coffee is 97 per cent Water

OK, by this point you have bravely gone to the local roastery/coffee store, chosen from the myriad of names and flavours and arrived home clutching your precious prize. You place it on the counter and find yourself looking at your coffee brewer as suspiciously as if it was your 15-year-old’s date shuffling at the doorstep. …

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One Way or Another

As you emerge from your dream, your senses start warming up; first you hear that familiar hiss, snap burble, then that sweet aroma reaches into your nasal cavity, pulling open the shutters of your eyelids and the sheets lose just enough softness to allow you to pry your legs over the edge as you say …

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If the City is Full, When Does it Get Dark?

The level of education of the coffee customer has moved well beyond the expectation of the beige-coloured dishwater from the corner gas station. Along with many other fresh food choices, consumers are no longer satisfied to just open a can of generic beans. The grocery shelves are lined with choices of brands, roasts and grinds …

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A Whole Latte Love

Many of you may recall the first time you ventured to order a latte and were astounded that the cashier wanted four bucks. “For a cup of coffee?!” you cried. But hopefully, as you waited, the shock wore off and you became complicit to the creation of a magical elixir that danced on your tongue …

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