Don Genova's Blog

enRoute magazine article now on line...

My latest article for Air Canada's enRoute magazine is now on board, so if you are flying anywhere in Air Canada in July you will see it.  It's called "Living la vida local" and talks about my time spent at a Culinary Boot Camp in the Cowichan Valley.

But hey, if you're not flying, you can visit the new enRoute website and view the article online.  If you're interested in more info on any upcoming culinary boot camps at Fairburn Farm, visit this page on their website.  For some more photos from my experience, check out my Facebook photo album from the week. (you don't have to be a Facebook member to view the album)

Look Mom, I'm on TV!

That's Simi Sara of CityTV's CityCooks, and I am her guest today, (Monday, May 26th at 6pm) talking about the time I spent in Italy getting my Masters of Food Culture.  You'll see some photos, and I will be cooking three different recipes:  Pasta with prosciutto and lemon zest, asparagus, fava bean and parmigiano-reggiano salad, and chicken with balsamic vinegar sauce.  The recipes will be posted at the CityCooks website.  Hope you can watch!  There is a prize if you answer the skill-testing question at the end of the show!

New Classes Begin Next Week!

On May 5th and 6th I begin teaching my latest courses in Vancouver and I'd love to have you join me.  I have a few spaces left in my Food and Travel Writing course which begins Tuesday, May 6th for 8 weeks through the UBC Writing Centre.  The class size is small, which gives you a great opportunity to workshop story ideas, query letters and your writing with me, often in one on one situations.   If you've ever thought of sharing your stories of food and/or travel and getting published, this course is a great way to start.  The course includes a 'field trip' to a new Vancouver restaurant for first-hand experience at writing restaurant reviews.  For more details visit the UBC Writing Centre website.

On Monday, May 5th I begin teaching my Food Culture Course at Barbara-jo's Books To Cooks. This is another 8-week program taught on Monday nights in the superb setting of Barbara-jo's cosy kitchen counter area of her shop.  Angela Murrills wrote a great description of the course in the Georgia Straight, you can read it here.  For a more detailed listing of each night of the course, click here.  You save money by signing up for the entire series, or you can order each lesson a la carte.  All lessons include a book or DVD as well as complimentary snacks and beverages.

Bike The Blossoms!

Here's an announcement about a really neat event being sponsored by Slow Food Vancouver:

Join BIKE THE BLOSSOMS and Recklessly abandon your fast life for one day of s l o w . . . savour some Ethical Bean coffee to start at Vandusen Gardens . . . leisurely cycle along city bike routes riding under fragrant pink canopies of cherry blossoms. . . . visit and get to know some local farmers while savouring some of their local products at Kitsilano and Britannia Community Centres.

 

Enjoy a day of S L O W!

For more information go to the Slow Food Vancouver website.

Food For Thought - The Last Food For Thought

This is it.  After ten years on CBC Radio, my Food For Thought column has been canceled.  It's one of those 'CBC' things...where lots of shows across the country have used the program over the past ten years, and enjoy using it, but the department that syndicates the column says they're not really supposed to be funding me and it's time for them to develop new columns so something had to go.  That's me. If you have something to say about the cancellation you can email the CBC Radio Syndication department at radiosyndication@cbc.ca.

If you want to listen to my 'audio retrospective' of the column, please click here.   In the meantime, if you want to hear new food programming I produce, please go to my 'All You Can Eat' podcast page and subscribe by clicking on the 'Subscribe to My Feed' button beside any podcast you see listed there.  There are full instructions available once you click, and for the most ease, open the subscription link in Internet Explorer, and not Firefox.  Meanwhile, now that my regular relationship with CBC has come to an end, I'm seeking sponsors for my podcast, which reaches a wide audience across North America with thousands of downloads each month.  Email me at don at don genova dot com for details if you are interested.

Meanwhile, life goes on.  I have just inked an agreement with FoodTV.ca, the website of Food Network Canada.  I will be a guest blogger for the website, writing short bulletins about interesting West Coast restaurants and food happenings.  I'll post here when the Food Network posts my posts...gee, that's a lot of posting.  Curiously, the name of one of the FoodTV.ca blogs is 'Food For Thought'.  Well, I knew that name wasn't original when I started using it ten years ago!

James Barber Passes On

Sad news came to me on Saturday...a man that I looked up to for many years has passed away.  James Barber, known to many Canadians and people around the world as the Urban Peasant, died suddenly at age 84 in his home in the Cowichan Valley on Thursday, November 29th.

My condolences to his family.  I am planning a tribute to James on my next All You Can Eat podcast.  Check my website or blog for more details in the coming days.  You can read a CBC News story about James here.  I appeared on The Early Edition on CBC Vancouver this morning to talk about James, you can listen to my chat with Rick Cluff, and I've posted a Facebook photo album of some shots I have of James at various events.  You can view it here, even if you don't have a Facebook account.

Parma Palate - I Graduated!

I Graduated!
Earlier this month I received my Masters of Food Culture, Communicating Quality Products from the University of Gastronomic Sciences near Parma, Italy. To see photos from my grad week in Italy visit my Facebook photo albums here and here.

What's Next?
My Food For Thought show on CBC Radio is continuing, as is my All You Can Eat podcast.  In January I will be teaching an introductory course in Food Culture at the University of Victoria. As soon as details are confirmed I'll post them here, but you can expect lectures in my favourite food products such as cheese, olive oil and cured meats, with lots of tasting! 

I'm amazed at how quickly the year passed by.  It was a fascinating course in an intriguing country.  No, I don't speak that much Italian now, but I can certainly make my way around, in that I can mostly understand the answers when I ask for directions!  To review the postings I made from Italy, and the places our class visited outside the country, follow this Parma Palate category link on this blog.

enRoute Magazine, my first contribution

I have just had my first contribution to enRoute Magazine published.  enRoute is the inflight magazine for Air Canada, so it means my story will  be traveling all over the world this month.

The story is about Eataly, a wonderful grocery store in Turin that recreates a typical Italian market square.  The picture you see at left doesn't really do it justice, but it was built inside a refurbished vermouth factory and has all kinds of places to eat as well as shop.

Why don't you just read the article?  Download the pdf file by clicking here, or make sure you read the entire November issue of enRoute if you are flying this month, as it is the annual food issue with Canada's top ten new restaurants.  I have another article in the works for enRoute, more about that later!

Take My Course! And Watch a Free Lecture!

Next Tuesday night (October 9th) the course I teach on Freelance Food and Travel Writing begins at UBC, as offered by the Writing Centre.

Professor Ira Nadel, shown with me putting all of our eggs in one basket, will be one of my guest lecturers with a wonderful talk on food literature with samples from some of his favourites, including M.F.K. Fisher and Elizabeth David.

I'll show you how to craft the perfect pitch letter so that your idea stands out to magazine and newspaper editors.  There are lessons in food photography, recipe writing and more. For more information or to register, click here or call 604-822-9564.

Food and Feasting: Ira and I will also discuss feasting in literature and history next Wednesday night. The illustrated talk and discussion will draw from my recent study of culinary arts in Italy. UBC Robson Square (800 Robson St), Oct. 10th, 6 pm, Info: 604.822.5812. Free, all welcome.

Catch Me On the BC Almanac Open Line! (and take my course)

Hi everyone....Tuesday, August 14th I will appear on the CBC BC Almanac Open Line show with host Mark Forsythe (pictured at left) between 1:30 and 2:00pm.  I'll be talking about the Slow Food movement, my travels and studies in Europe, and will answer calls about how your community could become a 'Slow City'.

The number to call in the Lower Mainland is 604-669-3733, long-distance toll-free 1-800-825-5950.

And I still have a few spots left in my class in Freelance Food and Travel Writing that takes place next week(Aug20-24) at UBC.  Find out how you can be a freelance writer, just like me!  Click here for more info or call 604-822-9564.  Hope to see you there!