Tausi Insider

Photo : Lost_in_the_Midwest ( Shutterstock ) Knowing when the turkey is “done” is the most anxiety-inducing part of cooking a turkey. You don’t want to food poison anyone, but you don’t want to serve dry, stringy meat (and shame) to you friends and family. A thermometer is imperative, but the little plastic “turkey timer” that comes stuck in your bird should be tossed directly into the trash. If you’ve been cooking turkeys for a while, you probably already know this, but first- time bird roasters might be tempted to lean on the built-in temperature indicator. The problem is that it sucks. It’s garbage. It’s not your friend. It is, however, a nifty little piece of technology; it’s just calibrated wrong. According to Cook’s Illustrated , it’s not that it doesn’t work, it just works at far too high of a temperature: A harmless compound with a known melting temperature is liquefied in the bottom of the timer device. A spring is compressed into the molten material as it cools and hard...

A vegan climate activist holds a toy chicken during a protest during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Nov. 18. MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY/Reuters Sylvain Charlebois is a professor of food distribution and policy and the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) just authorized the sale of cultivated chicken in the United States, giving a safety approval for human consumption to Upside Foods, a San Francisco-based startup. The company produces meat grown from animal cells, without killing a single animal. While the product cannot be commercially sold until the United States Department of Agriculture gives its own approval, that is likely a formality. The most significant hurdle was the FDA, which means the day we see lab-grown chicken on the market in the United States is within sight. In Canada, though, with our beloved production quota system that essentially amounts to a cartel, chicken farmers wi...

Dawn Calleja, editor of ROB magazine, Dec 2021 Steph Martyniuk/Tausi Insider Each December for the past few decades, this magazine has named one lucky leader our CEO of the Year. For the most part, we’ve had a good run, from the somewhat staid (Michael Medline) to the brash (Hunter Harrison) to the downright controversial (Bill Ackman). But there’s one thing I’ve always regretted, and that’s not giving the title to Maple Leaf Foods chief executive Michael McCain in 2008. McCain was certainly in the running—in fact, he appeared on that month’s cover—but the general consensus was that the timing was wrong: It was just a few months after tainted meat from a Maple Leaf plant killed 22 people and made hundreds more ill. “Going through the crisis,” McCain told reporters at the time, “there are two advisers I’ve paid no attention to. The first are the lawyers, and the second are the accountants. It’s not about money or legal liability—this is about our being accountable for providing consum...

Photo : KHUNNINE ( Shutterstock ) Some foods keep fine in the fridge for longer than others, and whether you observe the rules of the USDA (which advises that most foods be trashed after three to four days of refrigeration) or live by the sniff-and-taste model, it’s good to be aware of when the final day is near—and nearly a week out, the end is darn well nigh for this year’s Thanksgiving leftovers. If you hate tossing leftover meats but you’ve run out of time and appetite, break out the zip top bags and reusable food storage containers and turn to the freezer. As you of course know, meats like turkey, roast ham, or prime rib all freeze well when raw, but they’re also perfectly fine for freezing after they’ve been cooked. But when you’re ready to freeze them, keep future you in mind, and make it easy for yourself to thaw the meat later. If you have a large, solid hunk of meat, break it down into serving sizes, or small slices. This ensures quick freezing, and quick thawing on t...

Photo : Elena.Katkova ( Shutterstock ) People are very into their boards at the moment. I’m not going to comment on the viral butter board, except to say that it is a perversion of the butter board I came up with last year, and that mine is a better, more sanitary concept. But enough about that. The best boards are made of meats and cheeses, artfully arranged, with other little snacky bits that complement the meat and/or cheese. Cheese has its own beauty, but it can be a little harder to make meat visually appealing. On e thing you can do to jazz things up? Fold your charcuterie, people. It gives your salami, et al. a neater, more inviting appearance, but it also makes it easier to grab and transfer to your mouth. Party meats usually come packed in neat little rows, either by the deli or processor, and you might be tempted to simply remove the meat from its packaging and plunk it on the board. It will, however, be quite obvious that you did that, which communicates a slight lack...

Christmas is a big food day. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Liqueur in your coffee! Champagne in your orange juice! Grand roasted meats with crispy potatoes! Gravy to your eyeballs! And do not, under any circumstances, forget the pie. It’s fun , but starting the day with a dense, rich casserole can put a sleepy damper on the festivities before they really take off. Treat your Christmas consumption like the marathon it is and start your day with a festive charcuterie board. High-quality meats and cheeses with a nice baguette, crackers, fruit, nuts, and olives make a great breakfast. (Many countries, such as Croatia, Finland, and Denmark serve cold cuts as part of the morning meal. I wish it were more common here.) They’ll satiate and give you the energy you need to watch your children unwrap presents, without weighing you down and making you sleepy. (Don’t want to eat olives before noon? Grow up.) You don’t have to arrange your meats and cheeses in the shape of a tree or a wreath, bu...

Pam Farrell started Grow Community Food Literacy Centre, a charity that provides nutritional food to low-income families and information on food literacy. CARLOS MARQUEZ/Handout The organizer: Pam Farrell The pitch: Founding Grow The reason: To help address food literacy. Pam Farrell was in the midst of a postgraduate degree in education a couple of years ago when she began exploring the concept of food literacy. “It kind of intrigued me,” Ms. Farrell, 45, recalled from Calgary. “Because I’ve heard of it before, but I never really knew what it meant.” She started researching ways to improve the understanding of how sociocultural factors affect and influence food literacy. And soon her topic became much more than an academic pursuit. In 2019, Ms. Farrell launched Grow Community Food Literacy Centre in her hometown of Niagara Falls, Ont., where she has been an elementary-school teacher. “I witnessed some of the inequities in the food system,” she said. “What students brought to school ...

Photo : Sergey Ryzhov ( Shutterstock ) Eggs used to be one of the cheapest protein sources out there. Back when they cost $2 a dozen, the 84 grams of protein in a carton of extra-large eggs worked out to just 48 cents per 20 grams of protein. But thanks to the recent bird flu outbreak and various other economic factors, egg prices have skyrocketed. Some other protein sources, like whey powder, are more expensive than they used to be as well. So we figured it’s time to calculate the price you pay for a serving of protein, across a variety of grocery items. We’re including the classic meat, eggs, and protein powder, as well as a few underrated options like tofu and peanuts. Methodology The following calculations are not from an exhaustive national survey of prices. After failing to find a good source of up-to-date prices that could be fairly compared to each other on deadline, we used non-sale prices from a chain grocery store in Pittsburgh , checking on Amazon as well for a few i...

Photo : Liz Tracy Photography ( Shutterstock ) Applications are open to be a “Hotdogger,” or a Wienermobile spokesperson for Oscar Ma yer. If you are one of the 12 people selected for the job, you’ll get to drive the Wienermobile across the country doing media interviews and other public relations and marketing tasks for the hot dog and cold cuts company. The job offers a one-year contract with a $35,600 salary; a weekly stipend of $150; 18 paid days off; full health benefits; and paid hotels. You’ll drive to about 20 states, according to Apartment Therapy , and you’ll be considered a brand ambassador for Oscar Ma yer. What does a “Hotdogger” do? Who qualifies to be a “Hotdogger”? Well, here’s what Oscar Ma yer says in its job description: We need outgoing, creative, friendly, enthusiastic, graduating college seniors who have an appetite for adventure and are willing to see the country through the windshield of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Applicants should have a BA or BS, pre...