ottawa foodies

Earlier in the month I had the pleasure of sampling some wonderful "seed to sausage" jalapeno and cheese sausage at a Creative Mornings event. I sought it out and bought some at the Ottawa Bagel Shop just before Christmas. I went to cook it yesterday and noticed there was no best before date on the package, just a note that it had been packed on Dec. 20. I was a little concerned, so I called Seed to Sausage in Sharbot Lake at the number on the wrapper and spoke directly to Frank. He reassured me that the sausage was still good, talked to me more about his products, how they were packaged, asked me which ones I had sampled and gave me a bit of advice on how best to cook them. Yes they were delicious (maple and walnut pork sausages) but I was most impressed at how my possibly-a-bit-neurotic question was met with such grace and pride. So nice to be have an excellent local product with pleasant customer service, and I look forward to trying more Seed to Sausage products soon!

One product of theirs that I discovered only recently (at Grace in the Kitchen / Serious Cheese) is the "Lomo". It is very lean cured meat (beef-like, but it could be pork for all I know) with a gorgeous light crust of very spicy dry chili. Slice it super thin and it is guaranteed to be a hit. It's only about one inch in diameter — perfectly sized for canapés and the like.

[Edit: I looked it up on their website and "Lomo" is pork tenderloin, having "flavours of allspice, marjoram, and a slight heat."]

Stopped by the General store and tried the genoa, calabrese and a Northern Italian sausage. All delicious! They also had Nat's bread for sale. Unfortunately they were sold out of the jalapeño and cheddar sausages which rocked when I had them one other time. Great shop!