Author: annika

My name is Annika and conifères & feuillus is my personal food blog. In between recipes and photos, conifères & feuillus is also home to snippets of my life.

hunger & hope: banana bread with nuts & dates

banana bread with nuts & dates | conifères & feuillus
~ annika ~ 41 Comments

You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope. -Suzanne Collins

banana bread
Growing up, my parents never wasted any food. Although, we always had just enough to eat, we certainly didn’t have enough to waste. But I learned the real reason behind their no-waste policy at age 9 during our first visit to India.

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After much preparation, our suitcases are packed with gifts until they are ready to burst. Returning to our homeland from Canada, it’s unthinkable to arrive empty-handed.  We leave on a cold Saturday afternoon in December. Our seven week long trip would span over the Christmas holidays to ensure the least amount of disruption to our lives here. We arrive in Bombay, as it is called at this time or Mumbai, as the locals call it, in the dark of the night. Compared to Montréal International Airport (otherwise known as Mirabel), Santa Cruz airport is literally a few small buildings strung together. Exiting the airplane, onto the tarmac, the first things that hit you are the odour and the humidity. Eventually, you learn to accept the odour, but the humidity is unrelenting, even in the middle of the night. My parents had warned me about how different India is compared to Canada, but still, I find myself unprepared. Within minutes of exiting the plane, India no longer feels like home to me anymore. Six years abroad can do that when you are so young. Continue reading “hunger & hope: banana bread with nuts & dates” →

khichdi & kadhi, gujarati peasant food

gujarati comfort food, khichdi & kadhi | conifères & feuillus
~ annika ~ 31 Comments

Every peasant cuisine has incredible ingenious tricks for getting a lot of nutrition out of a small amount of ingredients.  –Michael Pollan

A simple dish consisting of rice and lentils, khichdi is deeply rooted in the history of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, a peasant food of rural India, it has since been reincarnated into elaborate dishes fit for royalty. Present day, amongst Indians, it holds the title as both the ultimate comfort food and a perfect plant-based source of protein. Throughout India, it is one of the first foods given to babies and long before the word “detox” became a thing here in the West, it has been Ayurveda’s answer to detoxification.

Each region of India has its own version of khichdi. In my birth province of Gujarat, it remains much like the original peasant dish and consists of no more than rice, split mung dal,  a pinch of turmeric and a dallop of ghee and is always served with kadhi, a spiced, soup-like yogurt curry.gujarati peasant food, khichdi & kadhi | conifères & feuillus
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spiced carrot and apple cake

Spiced Carrot and Apple Cake | conifères & feuillus
~ annika ~ 42 Comments

In the midst of a Canadian winter, the beauty of dead hydrangeas is a reminder of what was and what’s to come.

Past mid-February, here in the Northern hemisphere, we are just one month away from spring equinox. Even though the amount by which sunrise and sunset change each day is now perceivable  and though the days are becoming noticeably longer, here in Montréal, our streets are lined with huge banks of snow. Playing outside with my youngest this weekend, I couldn’t help notice that there are still a few dried flower heads on my hydrangea tree lurking above the two feet of snow on our front yard -a reminder that far below the lifeless sheet of snow and ice, comfortably and patiently, life awaits.
Spiced Carrot and Apple Cake | conifères & feuillus
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rye and tuna patties & a tale of two immigrants

rye and tuna patties | conifères & feuillus
~ annika ~ 78 Comments

The strength of Canada lies in our diversity. Our harmony comes from knowing that there is commonality within this diversity.

Our first home in Canada was in the Mile End neighbourhood of Montréal. Back then it was far from being the gentrified hipster hangout that it is now. It had served as the stomping grounds for waves of immigrants, notably English Protestants, Irish Catholics, Jews, Greeks, Italians and Portuguese, long before we arrived. By the time we settled there, in the 70’s, it was already embedded with relics from its rich history.

Every Saturday morning, we took the 55 south to do our weekly shopping on The Main or boulevard Saint-Laurent as it is officially called or Saint Lawrence Boulevard as it was called back then among English-speaking Montrealers. My parents found the shops along this strip far less daunting than the pristine aisles of the large chain stores like Steinberg’s and  Simpson’s. These smaller shops were more in line with what they had been accustomed to back home in India. Money was tight and if a little haggling could save a few quarters and pennies, it made all the difference.  On Saturday mornings, the place was bustling, streaming with new and old immigrants alike. Everyone spoke with a different accent if not a different language, and although everything was new for us, we were strangely comforted by the diversity of it all.rye and tuna patties | conifères & feuillus

Continue reading “rye and tuna patties & a tale of two immigrants” →

toum, a middle eastern garlic sauce

Toum, a Middle Eastern garlic sauce | conifères & feuillus
~ annika ~ 15 Comments

Toum is simply a garlic sauce that hails from the Middle East and consists of no more than garlic, lemon, oil and salt. It’s very similar to the Mediterranean region’s aioli and what is often referred to simply as garlic sauce here in North America.  If you’ve had a bite to eat at a Lebanese restaurant, you’re sure to have had some!

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