In This Installment:
Trenary Cinnamon Toast from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
One corner of the world were we usually DON’T find new flavors is our beloved Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Though it’s connected to Wisconsin geographically and I happen to know that many Yoopers (what we call people from the Upper Peninsula) cheer for the Green Bay Packers over the Detroit Lions the U.P. is very much Michigan and very much a naturally beautiful place. It’s wilderness, pure and simple, dotted with small towns that popped up during the loggin and mining booms back at the turn of the century (1900s, not 2000s).
One of the groups that settled in the U.P. hailed from Finland and they brought a lot of their traditions and cuisine with them. Some of those immigrants settled in the logging town of Trenary and they opened up a bakery—back in 1928. At the time they made a sort of rusk that was a popular snack and treat for the folks working out in the woods. A ‘rusk’ is a dried out bread or biscuit or cracker. When my kids were teething they would gnaw on simple rice rusks, but there’s a long tradition of them throughout history. Hard tack crackers, for instance. It’s a way of preserving bread long after it was baked. You could take your food on the go.
Well, up at the Trenary Bakery they made it sweeter. They would bake a sweet white bread, cover it with cinnamon and sugar and bake it again. The Finns call it Korppu. Local fans started calling it Trenary Toast. I’ve been calling it my favorite go to snack and mid-day pick me up. They are perfect with a cup of coffee or pot of tea and I really enjoy them when I need something sweet. They also make for a great appetizer if you slather some cream cheese on top or fresh farmer’s cheese. You can even drizzle the top with honey. Actually, that’s sounding more like a dessert than an appetizer. Set out a bowl of the toast with some cheese an salami, pickles, and nuts. That sounds more like an appetizer.
Organic Fusilli Pasta from Canada (via Patagonia Provisions)
I’m going to assume we’re all pretty familiar with the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. They’ve been around for decades and they’re revered for putting their values ahead of their profit (though they are certainly profitable). They were at the forefront of plastic recycling and they’ve been working on cleaning up the oceans for as long as I can remember.
One of the things I’ve really respected and appreciated about Patagonia is their ability to source foods that first do no damage to the environment from which they came. Eventually they started an offshoot company called Patagonia Provisions which sells and promotes these types of foods. We’ve been carrying their smoked mussels for years now. They’re one of those animals that grows quickly and actually cleans the surrounding water so if you raise them the right way and harvest correctly, you can have a viable business while maintaing and even improving the environment in the process. That’s what Patagonia is going for when they say “sustainable”…it’s not charity, its viability. It’s doing right for people and the planet.
And that leads us to this delicious (it has to also taste good, you know) organic pasta. While most pasta is a blend of durum and semolina flours, this fusilli is made from a blend of durum and the grain Kernza. Both flours are part of their Regenerative Organic Certified Program, which aims to keep the soil, the animals, and the people on the farm healthy. Good, nutrient rich soil is also good for the environtment because it takes in carbon and gives the farmers a natural buffer between the wild climate swings the see year in, year out.
When something does good on so many fronts AND it tastes warm, rich, nutty with a toothsome mouthfeel…well, that’s a pasta worth eating. Cooks up al dente in about ten minutes like most good pastas. Makes for great (and pretty) cold salads, too.