Cookbook Review
By Eva Antonel
Rino’s Kitchen
Cooking Local in
Windsor & Essex County
By Rino Bortolin
Windsor, Biblioasis, 2013
978-1-927428-54-2.
Rino’s Kitchen, Cooking Local in Windsor &
Essex County by Rino Bortolin, is flat out
honest about delivering what it promises.
From the cover design to the seasonal
organization of the recipes and pictures by
home grown photographers, everything about
this colourful volume of locally inspired food
ideas feels as homey as pulling up a chair at
your favourite neighbour’s kitchen table. But
make no mistake, this neighbour can cook. Not
only are the 85 recipes honest about bringing
the best of Essex County to our tables, but
they do so with a flair that is both creative and
inspiring.
Don’t expect complicated sauces or trips to
the store for unheard of ingredients. Get ready
to bring home your favourite products from
the local farmers’ market and throw them
together in a way that will allow the
ingredients to shine. With the help of a handy
pantry stocking and local buying guide, you
will have no reason to cart home
supermarket-bought frozen entrees or stop to
buy take out, unless of course you just want
someone else to do the cooking. In that case,
you’ll know that the door at Rino’s Kitchen is
open. Either way, it will feel and taste like
home.
The trouble with big
box retailers
We asked Steve Green what his
advice would be to someone who shops
for all of their groceries at at a big box
24 The HUB - December 2013/January 2014
happy to offer them to my wider community.”
Green said our food system is very fragile but many
people are convinced that the doors of the grocery stores will
never close. We are very privileged to not have the topic of
food be our first concern.
Right now, our mass food industry produces at surplus.
Being the southern most point in Canada and having the
warmest temperature year round, Windsor and Essex County
have the most greenhouses in all of Canada. Leamington is
home to Canada's largest greenhouse complex covering 130
acres. The majority of the food processed in Windsor and
Essex is being shipped elsewhere because that is where the
business is. And our population is buying more food from out
of this region than from within.
“I think that if we don't do what we do, we are going to
lose our local food system and I don't think anyone wants
that,” said Green. “It makes me nervous to think that a
country would be dependant on another country for their
food. I don't want to see our region slip into a place where we
can no longer produce the amount of food that we need for
our population.”
“One of the important things to remember is that if you
haven't prepared your family, you're roughly three days away
from running out of food. If the trucks stop rolling down the
highway or the border closes, a lot of people are going to be in
a lot of trouble,” said Green.
Restaurants and stores are realizing the importance and
appeal of using local resources. Rino's Kitchen and Lorelei's
Bistro specialize in cooking with local produce. Local Fare
Wheatley delivers local food right to the doors of homes.
There are some direct sources as well; Wagner Orchards &
Estate Winery and Bradner Farms sell from their farm and
offer services upon request. Looking for a bottle of wine with
the Pelee Island label on it? Why not go directly to the source?
Many, like Fare, suggest that our food system is
unsustainable. It’s offering unhealthy food to the public
because of dominating corporations and large farms using
questionable methods. Consumers don’t often think about the
misused energy of transportation costs and the large
quantities of waste being produced without consumer
knowledge. By eating locally, people connect with producers
and have the power to keep the money circulating in their own
communities.
retailer.
“Stop. Start going to places that
source local foods, start going to places
that offer local products. Stop thinking
about quantities and start thinking about
qualities, start thinking about how you
can purchase locally during the seasons
and you'll end up saving yourself money
in the long run.
I would start thinking about what I
am putting in my mouth, where it came
from, how can I do this differently, Start
looking at farmers markets, reading the
labels, start planning for 2014.”