When the weather gets unbearably hot, diners at Casa Manila are sure to order the halo-halo, a special dessert of shaved ice topped with a dozen different sweets. Owner Mila Nabor-Cuachon explains how this Filipino dish also provides a history lesson on the country of 7,000 islands.

Click here for a close-up view of the graphic below.

$7. Casa Manila, 879 York Mills Rd., 416-443-9654, casamanila.ca.

Ferraton Père & Fils La Matnière Crozes-Hermitage 2010, $21.95

From the northern half of France’s Rhône Valley, this wine is made from Syrah grapes. Try with grilled liver.

Ponce notes: “The opposite of a confected Aussie Shiraz, this superb Syrah is tight and tangy, with a glimmer of graphite among the ripe fruit and a peppery finish. Will be even better in a few years.”

Muga Reserva 2008, $23.95

From Vintages Essentials, this Rioja is a blend of 70 per cent Tempranillo, 20 per cent Garnacha, and the rest a mix of Mazuelo and Graciano. Pour with lamb chops.

Ponce notes: “The best vintage of this wine in many years, it’s more polished than Dwayne Johnson’s dome. Expect aromas of cherries and old leather, mouth-watering acidity, and a long finish.”

Paitin Sori’ Paitin Barbaresco 2008, $32.95

From Italy’s famed Piedmont region, this Nebiollo-based red was aged in Slovenian oak barrels. Forget about it for five years and open with a mushroom pasta.

Ponce notes: “The nose is a heavenly bouquet of dried cherries, flowers, and spice. On the palate, it starts off sweet, then the zesty acid hits you followed by a hard backhand of tannin. Be patient.”

This should probably come as no surprise, but if you happen to go to Cocina de Doña Julia, a small Ecuadorean restaurant on Dupont, west of Lansdowne, you’ll be sure to find Julia Calle herself, working away tirelessly in the sweltering kitchen. She’s pretty much there from the moment the restaurant opens on Friday morning until it closes on Sunday night. “Everything here is made by hand,” she says, patting down fistfuls of wet cornmeal on banana leaves, and piling them with shredded pork, chopped garlic, carrots, peas, and raisins, which she then wraps and ties with a string of banana leaf to make tamales that’ll steam for half an hour. “And when I say hands, I mean my hands,” says Calle, holding out her strong palms for validation.

Calle’s kitchen is dedicated to the authentic cuisine of Cañar, the mountainous region of Ecuador where her hometown of Azogues is located and which was once a central part of the Inca empire. Though she has lived in Toronto for more than three decades after moving here at 18 with her parents, Calle can still recall the smell of her aunt cooking up meals in the little restaurant she ran out of her house. It’s been 20 years since Calle started cooking professionally. Before that, she worked in administration at The Hospital for Sick Children, and began making tamales and other dishes for church dinners during Christmas and other holidays only. These proved so popular that she began catering out of her own home, like her aunt did, preparing dishes for events in Toronto’s small Ecuadorean and Latin American community, and building a loyal following in the process.

Six years ago, Calle opened up her eponymous restaurant in this little Junction Triangle strip mall. The décor is sparse: a few narrow tables, bright fluorescent lights and white tiles, a large television tuned to Latin American soccer matches, and some Ecuadorean flags. A giant metal bowl of chicharrones—bite-sized cubes of fried pig skin—sits on the counter, filled to the brim. Calle places chicharrones on each table, topped with airy fried corn kernels, as a crispy, salty welcome mat. “This is my appetizer,” she says, with a smile.

“I guarantee that everything you eat here, you’ll taste the freshness,” Calle says. “Nothing is pre-made.” For example, the shrimp ceviche, which her friend, Marta, the equivalent of her sous-chef, makes by quickly poaching a dozen prawns, which she peels, places in a bowl, and tops with freshly squeezed lime juice, pepper, and thinly sliced red onion. It’s a mix between shrimp cocktail and more commonly marinated ceviches—less acidic and more subtle, with soft slices of avocado floating in the broth along with the plump, sweet shrimp.

There’s a lot to Latin American food that’s familiar. Every nation has its empanada, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered an empanada like those that Doña Julia serves. They’re the size of a paperback novel, light as a brochure and fried to a golden, bubbly crisp. The outsides are sprinkled with sugar and, inside, there’s just the faintest trace of gooey, mild mozzarella, which gives a salty edge to the sweet dough—it tastes like something you might find at a carnival fairground. The tamale she had so expertly folded comes out steaming from its shell, with the soft cornmeal acting as a sort of plate for the tender, sweet filling that’s risen to the top.

Considering that many of her Ecuadorean customers come from as far afield as Hamilton after church each Sunday, Calle’s kitchen doesn’t shy away from traditional off-cut dishes like tripe stew or sautéed organ meats. A house specialty is the Yaguarlocro, a thick soup with potatoes, tomatoes, and diced lamb kidney, liver and tripe, topped with an avocado and crumbled, fried lamb’s blood, which is sweet and tangy, but also funky in that way only offal dishes can be.

The restaurant’s most coveted specialty, which draws in everyone from far-flung Latin Americans to Junction artists and long-time regulars, is the hornado. Every day, Calle braises two giant pork shoulders, skin and all, which she shreds and serves with delicate pan-crisped mashed potato pancakes, a light coleslaw, and mote pelado, which are giant kernels of white corn, peeled so they almost flower and boiled until they are fork-tender. It could easily go up against any roast pork in Hogtown; the skin is sweet and crisp, the meat juicy, soft, and laced with just enough fat that it sings on the tongue.

“We try to make what we have the best,” says Calle, “so we can get everyone who comes in here to come back.” She doesn’t advertise, and relies only on word of mouth, but, even just working three days a week, Calle’s reputation is growing. “I won’t be rich, but I can pay my bills and survive. That’s enough for me.”

Cocina de Doña Julia, 1545 Dupont St. (at Perth), (416) 536-4577.

George Clooney runs his own tequila label in Mexico. Francis Ford Coppola has opened a vineyard in California. And here in Canada, the latest famous face getting into the premium booze game is…public-access shock comic Tom Green.

Among others, that is. More than a dozen local, famous (or at least Toronto-famous) celebrities have paired with Ontario craft breweries in the past few months to create some star-studded brews for Collaboration Nation, a tasting fest and part of Session Toronto, the event that wraps up the Ontario Craft Beer Week festivities on June 22. While some of the pairings are clearly straight marketing ploys (Amsterdam Brewery created a pale ale in “collaboration” with Ed the Sock), other guest brewers are genuine beer fanatics. Including Green.

“For the last four years, I’ve been touring non-stop, and after every show I always go out and have a locally brewed beer or two with my fans,” the comic says. Last year, Green approached Beau’s—based in Vankleek Hill, just east of his hometown of Ottawa—about collaborating on a Tom Green–branded beer that he could take on the road. In tribute to Green’s dairy-related stunts, like riding a cow into an Ottawa grocery store, Beau’s president Steve Beauchesne suggested a milk stout—a Guinness-like beer brewed with lactose to give it a creamy sweetness.

For many of the other collaborators, music is the common denominator. Folk duo Madison Violet created a Lavender Honey IPA with Toronto’s new gluten-free Snowman Brewery, Royal Wood and Mill Street Brewery worked on a Belgian tripel, and Hamilton’s Arkells paired with Muskoka Brewery for Dragonslayer, a triple IPA brewed with hot peppers.

Arkells guitarist Mike DeAngelis says the connection is about “DIY spirit. You start making beer in your basement, the same place most rock bands start.” (The music-meets-beer connection isn’t new—last year, Barenaked Ladies teamed with Flying Monkeys on a chocolate stout, and this month, indie-rock label Arts & Crafts brewed a limited-edition beer for its 10th-anniversary.)

Sawdust City Brewery has paired with DJ Fearless Fred, of 102.1 The Edge, on a peppery Belgian Saison. Fred is a bit more blunt about the marketing appeal of aligning oneself with Canada’s most popular tipple: “Beer is for the blue-collar everyman,” he says. “And right now everybody wants to be the everyman.”

Our top three Ontario Craft Beer Week events

1. Strange Brew

Ontario breweries invade a Junction warehouse for a sideshow circus/ rock ’n’ roll party.

June 21, $20, strangebrewto.com.

2. It’s a Beer World After All

Free shuttle buses head to an Etobicoke skate park where you’ll find four parties in four “countries,” with four Beau’s brews.

June 20, $35, beaus.ca/its-a-beer-world-after-all.

3. Great Lakes and Harbord House Dinner

Try four one-off cask beers along with cuisine cooked with Great Lakes’ brews.

June 17, $60, 647-430-7365.

Session Toronto, Artscape Wychwood Barns, June 22, 4–9 p.m. sessiontoronto.ca

Breakfast: Beef pho at Pho Rex

“I like to kick off the day with a real heavy meal. I’d roll in with my entourage at 11:30 a.m. and order a child-sized rare beef pho—that broth is like my morning cup of coffee. Salty and sassy is how I like to get things started!”

$4.50–$7.95. 658 Bloor St. W., 416-533-8688, phorex.ca.

Lunch: A Filipino feast at Kanto by Tita Flips

“This is fast and cheap Filipino street food. I love fried lumpia [spring rolls] and lechon kawali [pan-fried pig] on a bed of white rice. They’re both deliciously salty. These were two dishes my family would make when I was growing up—my aunt would be up at 5 a.m. roasting the pig, and my sisters and I would help roll the lumpia. To end the meal, I’d request my all-time favourite dessert, halo-halo, which is a mixture of shaved ice, evaporated milk, boiled sweet beans, and fruit, served in a tub—I’m not usually a fan of sugar, but this treat is so refreshing.”

$4–$6.50 per item. 707 Dundas St. W., 1-888-393-9990, kanto.ca.

Dinner: Fried chicken-thigh sandwich at This End Up

“The overall style and vibe of this place is tops, not to mention the amazing presentation and intense flavouring of their food. The fried chicken-thigh sandwich is delish—the combination of crispy fried chicken and creamy blue cheese sauce is brilliant. I always get a side of their shoestring fries with some smoky house-made ketchup. After looking over my choices, I’m afraid I might have a salt deficiency!”

$16–$18.50. 1454 Dundas St. W., 647-347-8700, thisendup.ca.

1. Salt-cod donuts

Bannock

The twist here goes both ways—are chef de cuisine Stephen Pynn’s savoury rings a take on classic croquettes, or are they renegade donuts? Made with a choux paste and soaked, poached salt cod, the appetizer is a nod to both Pynn’s Newfoundland roots and to Toronto’s Portuguese and Spanish communities. He also pokes a hole in the croquettes (which are traditionally formed into a ball) to make them that much more Canadian. Try dunking these beignet aberrations in Bannock’s buttermilk-and-dill dressing—not coffee. Definitely not coffee.

$7. 401 Bay St., 416-861-6996.

2. Kentucky fried hen

Happy Child

This Queen West watering hole likes ’em young: They use Cornish hens—a.k.a. immature chickens—for their bar snack. Co-owner Fan Zhang chanced upon this recipe one day when the market was out of fryer chickens, and hens proved to be worthy (and more tender) understudies. The bitty birds are brined for 24 hours, then cooked sous-vide, and finally dipped in buttermilk and a Southern-style dredge before being fried and served with a side of watermelon. The KFH isn’t always available, but don’t get your feathers ruffled—it makes frequent appearances on the rotating menu.

$8. 1168 Queen St. W., 647-748-1599.

3. Spaghetti and beef-tongue meatballs

3030 Dundas West

These particular meatballs come straight from the cow’s taste buds to yours. Chef Adisa Glasgow had “been messing around with tongue for a little bit” (yes, those were his words)—smoking it, pickling it, slicing it for sandwiches—when some overcooked tongue threw a wrench in his plans. Instead of wasting his product, Glasgow blitzed it and made these offal orbs. The result are light and airy bites that, he says, aren’t heavy and chewy like pork meatballs, and instead “fall apart in your mouth.” Find them on the chef’s house-made pasta with tomato sauce.

$12. 3030 Dundas St. W., 416-769-5736.

4. Kale Caesar salad

Parts & Labour

All kale Caesar! These surrogate leafy greens sub for romaine in chef Matty Matheson’s spin on the classic salad. Why? According to Matheson, “Kale is the coolest thing in the world right now,” and, even more to the point, “it sells.” The kitchen finely shreds the kale, then tosses it in a buttermilk, anchovy, and pecorino dressing. Into the bowl go lemon segments, golden raisins, and butter-roasted croutons. The Caesar has never been the healthiest of salads (note the repetition of the word “butter’” in this preparation), but kale is a nutritional powerhouse, so suck it, lettuce!

$10. 1566 Queen St. W., 416-588-7750.

Joseph Drouhin “Chablis Drouhin” Vaudon 2011, $19.95

Founded in 1880, this famed Burgundy producer has practiced biodynamic viticulture (an agricultural ethos that emphasizes sustainability) since 1998. Open with pan-fried trout.

Ponce notes: “Pure and elegant, with stony flavours, this newcomer to Ontario is about as light as Chardonnay gets. Attention LCBO: Add more bottles like this to your general list.”

Roland Lavantureux Chablis 2010, $19.95

New to Vintages, this un-oaked Chard was made from grapes grown on 25- to 30-year-old vines. Pour with herb-roasted chicken.

Ponce notes: “Compared to the typically lithe Chablis, this one has a few more curves. Expect aromas of citrus and melon, Golden Delicious flavours, and a long, smooth finish.”

William Fèvre Chablis Champs Royaux 2011, $21.95

This dependable Burg comes from vineyards planted in the chalky limestone soil along the Serein River. Serve with raw oysters.

Ponce notes: “The nose seduces with green apple, lemon oil, and crushed seashells. It’s clean and zesty, with considerable depth for such a light-bodied wine.”

Jeff Carroll
Cocktail: Bitter Bourbon Fizz
$14, at The County General (936 Queen St. W., 416-531-4447)

Jeff Carroll isn’t afraid to show his bitter side.

Besides the bounty of bitters displayed on his back bar at The County General, the 30-year-old bar manager makes eight of his own varieties. And he can be a bit heavy-handed when it comes to old favourites like Angostura—especially in signature cocktails like his Bitter Bourbon Fizz, containing a whopping half-ounce of the reliable standby.

“A lot of people are terrified of it because we’re used to only using a drop or two,” says Carroll. “There are a lot of stories of old-timey bartenders trying to prove they had big cojones by drinking a shot behind the bar. But once you do it, you realize it’s not that big a deal.” (Bitters, he points out, were originally invented to be medicinal, and drunk straight.)

Carroll takes inspiration not only from Angostura chuggers of yore, but also from the Trinidad Fizz, an early-20th-century drink that calls for a full ounce of bitters. Cutting that maybe over-generous quantity in half, he adds cinnamon-infused bourbon and ginger beer to give his dry and potent cocktail a little extra spice and sparkle. It’s a study in contradiction, a mélange of bitter, tart, sweet, and spicy.

Pulling off such a bold combination is no novice trick. Carroll moved to Toronto from Atlanta nine years ago to attend George Brown’s food and beverage management program, and it was a happy accident that landed him a bar job—he applied as a cook to a restaurant where the kitchen was already fully staffed. At first, it wasn’t a perfect fit.

“After three months, a manager took me aside and said I wasn’t pouring beer properly, along with a list of other things,” recalls Carroll. “I was scared I was going to lose my job, so I started reading books like crazy, trying to learn how to do it right.”

Today, with his Southern hospitality bred in the bone, Carroll is one of the city’s most laidback bartenders, the sort who makes customers feel at ease as they saddle up to the bar. “I still get in trouble for calling women ‘ma’am’,” he says. “I don’t mean it to be anything other than polite. I can’t help it.”

Jeff Carroll’s Bitter Bourbon Fizz

Cinnamon-infused bourbon + Angostura + lime juice + house-made grenadine + egg whites + ginger beer

Burger fans across the city came together at Toronto’s Artscape Wychwood Barns yesterday for The Grid’s Burger Day.

In its second year, our epic celebration of beef on a bun was bigger and better than ever. Sixty-four of Toronto’s finest restaurants set up under a maze of white tents and grilled up a total of roughly 40,000 sliders. (That’s about four times the number of burgers served last year.)

With Steam Whistle beers flowing, music by The Grid’s resident DJs, and one giant bouncy castle for the kids, Burger Day was an unforgettable festival of food.

In case you missed the festivities, we documented the scene at Burger Day and talked to chefs Alexandra Feswick of The Samuel J. Moore and Paul Baneham of Hey Meatball about their burger creations.

Directed by Wyatt Clough and Nathan Watson for The Grid.