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Pancake Day a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday was one of the highlights of our heathen/Christian childhood calendar. You understood there was some vague religious thing about it but what really mattered was — pancakes for dinner! And pancakes means maple syrup.

Sanagan’s maple and birch syrups are produced by Shady Grove Maple in Woolwich Ontario, just outside of Guelph. There, Heather and Dan Goetz tap their woodlots and undertake the labour intensive process of turning sap into syrup. Now, lest you have visions of maples trees festooned with old metal buckets and a rustic sugar shack out by the beaver pond, understand that Shady Grove is serious operation. Across 15 local woodlots, they have over 30,000 taps operating on a vacuum system. They can process 4000 gallons of sap per hour. This is what allows them to reliably supply us with GRADE A AMBER maple syrup. Out of the four maple syrup grades; golden, amber, dark and very dark, amber is your classic table syrup; the lustrous pour that provides the definitive Canadian breakfast. And if some of that syrup spills over into the bacon pile? Smoke, sweet, salt, fat; it’s like making love to a lumberjack.

Maple syrup is the king but birch syrup is its lesser-known and surprising sibling. The birch sap season is later and shorter and you need almost twice as much sap to make the syrup. The result of this painstaking process is a thick and dark syrup with a revelatory flavour featuring notes of molasses, licorice and a long tangy fruity finish. Its vibrant flavour will enliven your vinaigrettes, marinades and glazes.

Shady Grove syrups are just one of the many Ontario-made sauces, pickles and condiments that make us so much more than just a butcher shop.

You might think that it’s a bit of a stretch for a Toronto butcher to be writing about Mardi Gras but here’s two reasons why March 5th is being celebrated in our newsletter.

1. Sanagan’s makes some of the best andouille sausage in town. So when you shop for your Mardi Gras feast, whether it features a gumbo, jambalaya or an étoufée, make a stop at Sanagan’s Gerrard or Kensington and get your andouille.

2. The establishment of New Orleans and the term Mardi Gras, as it applies Louisiana, are both attributable to the French Canadian and really long-named, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Yup, it was a Montrealer who made this stuff up while he was representing the Colonial French in what is now the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Ergo, we should claim Mardi Gras as being partially Canadian, like General Motors and The Mamas and the Papas. And the direct link between Nova Scotia’s displaced Acadians and Louisiana’s Cajuns only strengthens our claim on Mardi Gras being as Canadian as broomball.

Old World French and New World Louisiana-style andouille sausage are now only distant cousins but what they still have in common is pork and smoke.

Ours fall into the Louisiana grilling style, featuring ground pork in a natural hog casing, flavoured with the typical Cajun mix of garlic, onion, thyme, black pepper and paprika. Then we kick it up a notch (where is Emeril these days?) with cayenne, marjoram, clove and nutmeg. These additions help it to shine in those classic New Orleans dishes.

If you want to keep things simple for Mardis Gras or you’re just looking a zippy prepared sausage, our Andouille are hot smoked over apple wood and are ready to go. Just throw them on the grill, in the pan or in the oven and heat them through.

Laissez les bons temps rouler, eh.

No food screams Superbowl to me like chili. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest football fan, but I love watching any sports game when there are high stakes. Speaking of stakes, I would gamble that this chili, created by Chef Anne and her team, will be your new go to recipe for game day. Hut, hut, hike y’all! Make about two liters, or enough for six healthy servings Ingredients 800 gr ground beef, preferably from the blade 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced 1 celery stalk, washed and finely diced ½ pc red bell pepper 2 tbsp garlic, peeled and minced 2 tbsp chili powder 1 tbsp Spanish paprika 2 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp dried oregano 1/3 cup tomato paste 1/3 cup water 500 ml plum tomatoes, canned 1 tbsp chipotle, canned 1 heaping cup red kidney beans, canned, drained 1 heaping cup black beans, canned, drained 1 cup beef stock 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, leaves picked, washed, and chopped 1 tsp brown sugar 1 tbsp lime juice to taste salt and pepper Method In a large pot over a medium heat, brown the beef in 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Once brown, drain off excess oil and set the beef aside. In the same pot, warm up 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and add the onions and sweat for five minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and sweat for two minutes, or until fragrant. Add the bell peppers and celery and continue cooking and stirring for another few minutes. Turn the heat down to low and add all of the dried spices. Stir well and cook for five minutes, or until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and water to the pot, and stir well, creating a loose paste. Simmer for ten minutes to create your chili base. Season with salt and pepper. Pass the tomatoes and the chipotle peppers through a food mill or food ricer. If you don’t have a food mill, use a food processor, but bear in mind that the tomato seeds may leave a bit of a bitter taste in your chili. Not the end of the world, but a decent reason to get a food mill. Add the tomato/chipotle mix and the cooked beef back to the pot, as well as the drained kidney beans. Add the beef stock, and stir to mix everything together. Bring the chili to a simmer on a low heat, cover, and simmer for about 2 hours, or until the beef is tender. Stir every once and a while to prevent the meat from sticking to the bottom. For the last 15 minutes or so of cooking, add the black beans and the cilantro. This will help retain the structure of the beans. Add the sugar and lime juice, and adjust seasoning. The chili should be tangy and spicy with a hint of sweetness.

2019 = Pig. Yay!

According to the Chinese astrological calendar, 2019 is the Year of the Pig. Now that’s a chronological event Sanagan’s can really get on board with. Our domestic and heritage breeds of pork, as well as wild boar will enhance any dishes you may be considering for your Chinese New Year feast.

Gwenyn Huang has only recently hung up her meat hawker apron at our Kensington store so she can dedicate more time to her studies in Literature at University of Toronto. We asked Gwenyn what pork the Huang family likes to prepare for Chinese New Year. Here, in her own literate words, Gwenyn outlines the preparation of pork belly fried in red wine dregs.

One of the many dishes we make in our family is pork belly fried in wine dregs. The wine dregs, which is the sediment left over from making Foochow red wine, is fermented and has a very strong flavour and is bright red. It dyes the pork bright red as well, which is why it's so appropriate for the new years. In China, red has always been a festive colour that symbolises fortune and prosperity.

Only a little is needed for any recipe since it's so pungent, which is good because it's hard to come by. (The real stuff is.) My family has a jar that we guard very jealously! But for special occasions as important as the New Year, possibly the biggest holiday in China, we bring it out for sure. But first, we heat a lot of oil and deep fry cubes of pork belly. Then we strain the lot and while the excess oil drips away from the pork, we heat a little bit of oil in a pan. We throw slices of ginger into the hot oil and let it crackle and then a heaping tablespoon (no skimping on New Years) of the wine dregs. We fry the wine dregs for a few seconds, carefully since it burns easily, and then toss in the pork belly. Once all the pork belly is coated and bright red, it's ready to go!

Thanks Gwenyn. When should we come over for dinner?

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, the former cook in me screams "No! Don't do it! Why put yourself through the madness of going out to eat on one of the busiest nights of the year!" As I've matured in life and career, I still feel the same way! Don't get me wrong, any night can be a great night to go out and experience one of the hundreds of excellent restaurants that Toronto has to offer, but during the mad rush of Valentine’s, why not let Sanagan’s transform your dining room into a romantic restaurant table for two. This year, we're offering the following menu for two, with only the beef requiring actual cooking on your end: House Made Duck Liver Parfait with Blackbird Demi-Baguette Winter Greens Salad with Vinaigrette 2 Beef Tenderloin Steaks, with Potato Gratin, Green Beans Amandine, and Brandy Peppercorn Sauce Cochinitos Cookies with Cinnamon Sugar All you need to do is pick up a beverage or two and settle in for the night. The entire package will cost $80 and quantities will be limited, so order yours today by emailing info@sanagansmeatlocker.com (for Kensington Market pickups) or gerrard@sanagansmeatlocker.com (for Gerrard St. pickups), or calling in at 416-593-9747

Family Day is important to Sanagan’s because it’s right in our motto: Quality Meats and Poultry from Ontario Family Farms.

The people at King Capon Farms have been part of the Sanagan’s family from the get-go supplying us with their outstanding poultry. If you come in and buy a leg or a breast or a regular whole chicken, it’s probably coming from King Capon, which has been owned by the same family since the 70’s. King Capon chicken is free-run, barn raised, vegetable grain fed and air chilled. Their birds also benefit from on-site processing saving them from stressful caged trips on the back of a truck.

Michelle is the mother hen of the operation. We asked her what she likes to cook for her family. “For a quick dinner” replies Michelle, “I make my mother’s recipe: chicken strips dipped in an egg wash, breaded, pan fried with lemon squeezed over. On a cold night I’ll do a chicken chili. I’ll grind the chicken with a hand mincer — we eat the leftovers because we can’t keep enough of those boneless skinless breast around — beans, onion, red pepper, canned tomato. It’s just something you do, you don’t write it down.”

And for a big ceremonial family meal? “We had capon for Christmas. And they were good.”

So whether your family is nuclear, extended or just you and a friend watching Netflix, enjoy Family Day and eat some King Capon chicken.

The most important thing about a New Year’s party? Have fun! What’s not fun? Stressing about the food. As a guest you want to bring something portable, pleasing and easy for the host. As a host you want to serve a celebratory spread that doesn’t require being in the kitchen until next year. A charcuterie board selected from Sanagan’s deli counter does it all.

To start with, here are some seasonal Sanagan’s exclusives and house-made items that will really flatter your New Year’s platter.

Mangalitsa: Our special speck, copa, bacon and prosciutto from the rare-breed Hungarian Mangalitsa pig. (Ontario-raised, of course.)

Premium Pâté en Croute: Our decadent pastry-encased pâté gets even decadenter over the holidays. We’ll be packing them with things like venison, smoked duck breast and foie gras. Naughty? Nice? You should still get a slice.

Holiday Terrines: Our in-house charcutier has whipped up various recipes to bring a touch of luxury to your celebrations.

Boudin Blanc: A delicate white sausage flavoured with black truffles.

Pickles and Condiments: Beerhall and Old Yeller mustard, pickled red onions, giardiniera, red current and cranberry jelly. All made by our Kensington kitchen team.

THE FIVE POINTS OF THE CHARCUTERIE BOARD STAR

Lets look at the essentials that will make your tray tres bon!

1. Cold Cuts and Sausages

Salamis, hams, cured meats and dried sausages; nothing says Buffet the Appetite Slayer like a big spread of these bite-sized delights. The cold cuts are served as melt-in-your-mouth deli slices and the sausages can be chopped into rounds for variations in texture and shape.

2. Terrines and Pâtés

These rich traditional preparations are the essence of festive nibbling. Spread these around and your New Year’s toast will have never had it so good.

3. Cheese

Party snacking without cheese? No whey! Sanagan’s Kensington is proud to carry a selection of Ontario cheeses. Hard, soft, creamy and washed rind classic styles are available from artisanal producers like Monforte, Fifth Town, Back 40 and Forfar. If you're a Gerrard shopper, you can visit our neighbours at The Pantry for a similar selection.

4. Condiments and Pickles

The acidity of the pickles, the sweetness of the jellies, the bite of the mustard; they all add essential counterpoints of flavour, texture, colour and moisture to your board.

5. Grains

Fill ‘em up with crackers, toasts and bread. Even though we’re a butcher shop, we can help here too. Evelyn’s and our neighbour, Blackbird Bakery constitute Kensington’s cracker collection. And Gerrard’s got you covered with fresh Blackbird bread, daily.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF HAM AND CHEESE

As a starting point, you could budget 100 grams of proteins per guest. So for 10 partiers you could select 330 grams of cold cuts and sausage, 330 grams terrines and pates and 330 grams of cheese. Then add in your garnishes, bread and crackers and your guests will be greeted with the sight of charcuterie board that elegantly yet emphatically decrees — let the festive munching begin!

The above is a very approximate formula for an inexact art. Most customers will just come in, and with the help of a Sanagan’s meat hawker, build their charcuterie board navigating between their eyes and their wallet.

January is definitely a time of year when people start thinking about losing those couple of pounds they put on over the holidays, but it’s also a time of year when everyone gets sick. I have a three-year-old at home so I figure I’m going to be sick constantly for the next few years. But I try to fight it, and one of the luxuries of running a butcher shop is that I have almost constant access to a hot cup of bone broth. Bone broth is like a Snuggie for your insides. We make it on site, and sell it by the litre as well as hot, dispensed like coffee out of an urn. People go nuts for bone broth this time of year, and while we’re happy to make it for our customers, it’s quite an easy thing to create at home. Here is the version we make at the store. Makes 4 liters Ingredients 1 kg chicken carcass bones ½ kg beef knuckle bones, cut into small pieces (ask your butcher) ½ kg beef marrow bones, cut into small pieces (ask your butcher) 2 tbsp tomato paste 2 pc Spanish onion, peeled and cut into quarters 2 pc garlic bulbs, left unpeeled and cut in half width-wise 4 pc medium sized carrots, peeled and cut in half width-wise 4 pc celery stalks, washed and cut in half width-wise 2 pc parsnip, peeled and cut in half width-wise 5 tsp salt 2 tbsp whole peppercorns 6 pc bay leaves 8 branches fresh thyme Method Preheat the oven to 375°F. Ask your butcher to cut up the beef bones as small as they feel comfortable doing so. Spread the beef bones and the chicken bones out in a roasting pan and place in the oven. Roast for forty-five minutes, or until golden brown. Take the bones out of the oven and put them into a large stock pot. Add the tomato paste, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and parsnips to the same roasting tray, and stir them around to pick up some of the fat from the bones. Put into the oven and roast for another forty-five minutes, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are golden brown. Take the tray out of the oven and scrape the vegetables into the stock pot. Pour a cup of water into the roasting pan and place it over a medium heat on the stovetop. As the water comes to a simmer, use a wooden spoon to scrape all of the good bits of roasting bones and vegetables from the bottom of the pan, and add that to the stock pot. Pour 4.5 cups of COLD water over the bones and vegetables in the stock pot. If the bones aren’t completely covered with the water, add just enough to cover them. Add the salt, peppercorn, bay leaves, and thyme to the pot and place over a medium heat. Bring the broth to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low. The broth should be just bubbling, maybe a bubble or two every ten seconds. Allow the broth to simmer at this temperature for at least eight hours, carefully skimming any scummy water off the surface. After the eight hours, strain the broth through a large colander, and then again through a fine mesh strainer. This extra step just helps ensure a clearer broth. Taste the broth for seasoning, and add more salt to your liking. And now you have plenty of bone broth to keep you warm and healthy throughout the month. Added bonus, the calories in this healthy drink will help you resist those chocolates and cookies that are leftover from Christmas. Or not…

It was very early into my time working at Mistura, a mainstay of Toronto’s Italian dining scene, that I had my first exposure to cotechino. Bollito misto may not be the most well known Italian dish, but it is very classically Italian, relying on quality ingredients that have been simply prepared. This was the first time I had seen the dish, but while it was new to me, most of the ingredients were pretty common. The one that stuck out was the delicious cotechino sausage with its exceptional texture. It isn't a common ingredient in Toronto, and I haven't had much of a chance to work with it since, until our resident Charcutier Scott started making his own.

Like most great charcuterie, cotechino was born of a need to conserve limited meat supplies for the longest possible time. Rumour has it that this sausage's use dates to the early 1500's in Northern Italy. It is very similar to the traditional zampone, with the main difference being that zampone are typically stuffed into the hind trotter from the pig. The French produce a version of their own (which Scott has also played around with) called sabodet.

Our house-made cotechino is a combination of pork meat, fat and skin, and flavoured with ground coriander and warm spices such as allspice, cinnamon and ginger. It's the use of the pork skin that leads to the unique texture of the cotechino.

While you could, I suppose, use cotechino in most any instance where you would use regular pork sausages, there are a couple of applications we would specifically recommend for you. The combination of most accessible and traditional would be as part of your New Year's Eve dinner, served with lentils (which represent the prospect of money to come in the new year). Less traditional but equally delicious would be in place of our regular breakfast sausages at any holiday brunch. And then there’s bollito misto. This is a fantastic use of the product, but much better suited to someone who has a full day to devote to the prep, and 11 friends to share the meal with. However you choose to enjoy our cotechino, come in for it soon as we only make it through the holiday season. Felice anno nuovo!