Dear reader,
There’s a lot going on right now, so I’ve been dissociating with the help of a murder mystery set in Victorian England. I’m more than halfway through,and while the narrative thus far has included no fewer than three formal dinner parties, there has been virtually no mention of food. These people are living off of tea (so much tea) and something called “white soup,” which sounds brutally bland. I had to google it, of course. Some recipes suggest that it starts with some kind of meat-based stock, to which is added, among other things, milk or cream, flour, ground sweet almonds, egg yolks—essentially all the expensive ingredients of the day. This soup had clout, if not flavour.
Maybe this is a case of bad marketing. Maybe white soup is tasty and just what our current weather and scary political climate calls for, but could anything sound more bland? Especially in comparison with all the exciting cross-cultural food there is to eat in the year 2025 and in a city like Toronto.
In this week’s edition of Table Talk, you’ll read about Bindi’s Burgers, the new resident restaurant inside the Monarch Tavern serving up Indian-inspired smash burgers alongside masala nuggets dunked in butter chicken sauce and deep-fried paneer sticks served with bright tomato chutney. You’ll also learn where to find five new Toronto takes on shrimp toast, a long-time darling of the dim sum scene (and one of the earliest forms of fusion), and what’s on the new dinner menu at Gateau Ghost, including some interesting Korean crossover dishes like smoked kimchi arancini and gochujang-spiked steak tartare.
Chicken soup gets too much credit for being good for the soul when we have food like this.
For more of our food-and-drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition.
