Wednesday August 29, 2018
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 29, 2018
food
The Novemburger
Illustration by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 3, 2017
Today’s illustration featured on the front of the Saturday Hamilton Spectator:
Is it a thick patty? Dill pickles? Something crunchy? A secret sauce?
Hamilton’s most delicious fundraiser is proof that a good burger takes many forms.
Novemburger, the annual fundraiser for the United Way, kicks off this week. Seventy-five restaurants around Hamilton and Burlington will offer unique and delicious entries throughout the month, with $1 per burger going to the United Way of Hamilton and Burlington.
Diners can vote for their favourites at novemburger.ca. Two winners will be announced, for most Novemburgers sold, and Novemburger of the Year.
In celebration of Novemburger, we asked three participating restaurants to share their secret to a good burger. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)
Wednesday June 7, 2017
Illustration by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Hamilton’s Food Coat of Arms
Go Section, Wednesday June 7, 2017
Hamilton’s Food Coat of Arms
Anyone who meets me can tell I’m the sort of person who probably over indulges with food which may not necessarily be very the healthy. I love fried chicken and chips, smokey bbq’d pork, and grilled rib steak. My brain is wired to be stimulated regularly by taste bud receptors being in contact with cuisine flavours from around the world i.e.: coconut green curry, garam masala, chimichurri, pesto, Rending, Balsamic vinegar, tarragon and so on.
August 15, 2015
So when I was asked to illustrate a story on my hometown foods I was more than delighted to offer my service. Almost all of the foods follow in the tradition of being old favourites of this one time lunchbox city as chosen by Spectator readers. I’m certainly not one to stick my nose up at a maple dipped donut, roast beef on a bun or rotisserie chicken – admittedly, as a one time butcher, I’m not so fond of wiener meat found in hot dogs. Many of these classics go back decades in Hamilton and back in August of 2015, I illustrated another story which embraced the nostalgia of this city’s restaurant history.
Some people have pointed out that there’s no real healthy food on this current list. As if foods like kale and flax seed haven’t gotten enough coverage in recent years, we’re talking about favourite local foods in this story as voted by readers!
I think a glaring omission is the ever increasing availability of delicious ethic foods in Hamilton, particularly from Asia. Yes, there’s good representation from Italy with our love of pizza, and sausage, and wieners, and Kielbasa from Eastern Europe. But what about pho, vindaloo, tacos, and orange beef? Pardon this glaring endorsement, but I have eaten Indian food all over the world but nothing, and I mean nothing, comes close to the quality and yumminess served up at India Village in Dundas. You read about more of my local hits (and misses) through my TripAdvisor review account.
Perhaps this poll of favourite eats in Hamilton represents more of an older, nostalgic audience of locals. My bet is if a poll is taken a few years from now the sausages of this city will be in for a bigger challenge from the sushis.
Thursday March 9, 2017
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 9, 2017
DRESCHEL: Skelly places free city hall lunches on council’s plate
Free lunches are back on the political menu at city hall.
March 10, 2011
The hot button issue has been back-burnered since 2011 when The Spectator revealed the city spends about $33,000 a year on free sandwiches, pizza, cookies, and coffee and tea for councillors and senior staffers who meet over the lunch hour.
But this week Coun. Donna Skelly applied fresh grease to the question of whether the freebies are appropriate by asking if there’s a financial argument in favour of the practice.
Finance general manger Mike Zegarac responded that the free grub is provided to avoid interrupting committee meetings by breaking for lunch.
Skelly’s interest was triggered by a letter in The Spec which suggested that, given the city’s “budget crisis,” the lunch money should be directed to the Poverty Roundtable’s request for a $30,000 funding increase.
“I certainly wouldn’t want us to be accused to taking advantages of this when we’re talking about budget challenges,” Skelly said.
Coun. Brenda Johnson chimed in that councillors were previously told that free working lunches made sense because breaking for lunch leads to staff overtime costs.
“I’m all for let’s look at this again,” Johnson said, adding a review needs to include the impact on the tax levy if the freebies are stopped.
For his part, Mayor Fred Eisenberger says he’s willing to consider “reasonable alternatives” such as councillors offering to contribute money to offset the cost of the feed bags.
But Eisenberger says in the big picture it’s “really kind of nickel and diming.” People need sustenance to get through long, uninterrupted meetings, he says. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)
Friday March 3, 2017
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 3, 2017
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 3, 2017
Subway defends its chicken after CBC Marketplace report
Subway stands behind its chicken.
The sandwich chain is disputing the findings of a CBC Marketplace investigation into fast food chicken. While most of the samples were found to contain close to 100 per cent chicken DNA, Subway sandwiches contained substantially less than the other chains. Tests showed an average of 53.6 per cent chicken DNA for the oven-roasted chicken and 42.8 per cent for the chicken strips.
The story has garnered worldwide attention, and raised questions about how much chicken should be in a chicken sandwich.
Subway says the report was “absolutely false and misleading,” and demanded it be retracted. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the chain says its sandwiches contain 100 per cent white meat with seasonings, although the ingredient list it provided to CBC News lists soy protein as a component of the company’s chicken.
Marketplace stands by its report and is releasing the Subway test results as well as additional detail about the methodology and investigation. (Continued: CBC News)