Have you ever heard of an organization called “Slow food”?It is a movement that started in Italy and has now spread over Europe and America.
It is devoted to the preservation of traditional food and food preparation methods.
I became a member recently and attended my first function. It was centered around the theme of the Montreal melon.
This melon used to be a very popular delicacy at the turn of the last century. Large portions of the island of Montreal were devoted to its culture. Unfortunately through some mysterious circumstances this culture has all but disappeared.
There has been a renewed interest in the melon in recent years and at least one group has started growing it again. Our slow food activity started in the community garden where the Montreal melon experiment is being carried out. They use two different culture methods, both very “bio” and natural. No chemicals are used. The melons must be turned regularly so that all sides benefit from the sun . The specimens we saw were not very large. As a matter of fact they looked very much like cantaloup both in colour and in size. But it seems that in the old days they could reach a much larger size and weight. I never got to find out what the insides look like because they were not ready for the picking. So the mystery remains….
The second part of the activity took place in a coop store. Very new wave (with terry cloth sanitary pads) and all sorts of seeds and weeds….a lovely store. Unfortunately they also sell lots of soaps and have them displayed unwrapped, and, you guessed it, I sat down right next to the soap display. I am afraid that the smell of all cucurbitae (sp) is forever associated to the smell of soap in my mind. But that did not prevent me from learning all about the squash family from pumpkins to pattypans. We also got to taste squash purée, squash marmelade, squash jam, squash soup, squash bread and even squash ice cream…very interesting…
The next activity will be around mushrooms and risotto…comfort food at its best! There is also an upcoming one called chocolate and peppers…now THAT is intriguing. It brings back memories of the movie “Chocolat”…