Culinary Q & A with Anna

Occupation: Attidude Adjudicator

What did you eat today?

Since it is only 10 am (on the new "Spring" time, which would have been even earlier back in "Winter") - NOTHING. I would have consumed something had I been writing this in the "pm" part of the day. "The breakfast should be the most imporant meal of the day" is a an extinct piece of wisdom, an atrophied truth from the peasant/farming culture. What is the need for a substantial meal in the morning if you are going to spend the next four hours at a desk, as opposed to tilling land or doing other farm chores? :)

What do you never eat?

I don't think there are any foods that I detest - I must have outgrown any anti-preferences that I could have had as a child. Boiled onions still hints at a sensation of disgust, however (I have never tried them, but the idea itself makes my stomach turn! :). There are some tastes/ flavours that have failed to become appealing - licorice, mint (unless it is toothpaste :), bacon, smell of "French" fries.

What is your personal specialty?

Real cottage/farm cheese (I have not been able so far to find anything in Canada comparable to the one common in Eastern Europe) with creamed buckweat honey and roasted walnuts...Unbelievably delicious!!!

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Double sink - allows for a greater dish pile-up, before the lack of space makes washing them necessary. :) Also oven, as I believe in baking/roasting as the most harmless way of food thermo-preparation.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Probably, the above "personal favourite." Also, since there is no tomorrow (hypothetically), however, and hence no need to sustain well-being, indulgence into not-so-healthy (or not at all healthy) foods and their quantities appear to be biologically and morally permissible - a platter with a generous assortment of cheese (including the "Rockford" type - the one with mold), a tray of honey-roasted nuts (cashews, pine-, pea-, wall-, brazil-, hazel-, macadamia, almonds, pistacchios) and...coffee-cheesecake ice-cream!

Where do you eat out most frequently?

"Most frequently" for me means "once a month" (or not even that). As a friend of mine has pointed out quite astutely, "What's the point of eating unhealthy food and having to pay for it?" (yes, the underlying assumption is that commercially-prepared food IS unhealthy). Unhealthy eating, however, can indeed be very enjoyable and appealing, so my spot of choice would be the Parkallen restaurant (Lebanese) or Langano Skies (Ethiopian).

What's the best place to eat in Edmonton?

The Symposium Greek restaurant on Whyte and 104 St. A temporal correction - "was" the best place, as the resaurant does no longer exist, although the sign is still hagning on the building, looking grim and abandoned.

If you weren't limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

Any fresh produce in Ukraine (veggies and fruits, especially strawberries, apricots, and sour-cherries) - they REALLY have a taste and a flavour - unlike their rubber-resembling North American counterparts (I am too cheap to go "organic" here), a breath-taking variety of delicious dairy products (some of them have no linguistic equivalency in English), the above cheese. There is also a special type of chocolate/candy, "Hematogen", made with butter-scotch, "regular" chocolate ingredients, and...bull's blood (or the blood from some other domestic animals). It is usually given to anemic children in small dosages, but I can eat it by dozens of bars!