P.E.I.'s culinary institute hopes underwater ingredient creates recipe for success
CBC
Tim McRoberts admits the focus group was a little skeptical, "courageous" even, when they were invited to the Culinary Institute of Canada to taste test foods such as chocolate, crackers and pasta made with a special ingredient — kelp.
But by the time they left, they were licking their lips and asking how to make the dishes at home.
"You would hear things like, 'That wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, was going to be.' Or, you know, 'That stuff tasted great.'"
McRoberts is the director at Canada's Smartest Kitchen, often referred to as the research and development arm of the Culinary Institute of Canada at Holland College in P.E.I.
Canada's Smartest Kitchen has been collaborating with the Nova Scotia Community College and the College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland to see if kelp, a type of seaweed, can replace or supplement other vegetables in mainstream foods.
The research, which received about $2 million in funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, suggests it can. And with that comes an opportunity for entrepreneurs to farm a new vegetable and develop new products.
"The project would have been very different if we were in a constant struggle to take fresh kelp, process it and turn it into a food that's tasty and generally people liked," McRoberts said.
"That wasn't the case, the project would have been quite different, but it just wasn't the case. People were really happy with it."
McRoberts describes kelp as having a vegetal, "ocean-type" flavour. It is rich in nutrients and not a novel ingredient. There's dulse, for example, and anyone who has eaten sushi has probably tasted nori.
But McRoberts said they didn't want to simply replicate what was already in the marketplace.
"We wanted to use our R&D capabilities here to really see what could be possible."
So off to work they went. They processed the kelp in different ways. They smoked it, freeze-dried it and ground it up. Then they put it in energy bars, rigatoni, caramel ginger cake, crackers and dip, kombucha, a Clamato juice they called kelpmato, and even chocolate truffles.
"In the chocolates, what we found is it really gives a unique flavour that complements ... the sweetness and richness of chocolate," McRoberts said.
When the project concludes in October, Holland College will be ready to launch three new ones funded by the council. Two will focus on upcycling seafood byproduct, with a third project focused on youth food insecurity.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.