Like a little spice?

The weather’s cooling down, and as I write, it’s a beautiful sunny day with a clear blue sky - and just a tad nippy. The mellow, late afternoon sun is coating all the skyscrapers downtown in a gorgeous, soft golden glow and they’re reflecting off each other – so beautiful!

But it’s Alberta, and coming back down to earth, we all know that when you read this, it could be very different. Chances are good it could be chilly (unless you’re a snowbird, in which case, add another cube of ice and raise your glass!), so with increasingly cooling days, we’re looking to increasingly warming food and drinks. And the direction we’re looking is – spicewards!

Evidently, many of us are leaning this way; polls are showing that the vast majority of restaurants have at least one spicy dish on their menu currently, when historically they didn’t have before - because we’re asking for it!

Tastes are changing to be more accepting of flavours from other countries, even if many people in Western Canada didn’t grow up with them. Long a favourite of mine; the British national dish is still Chicken Tikka Masala, and when I return for a visit, many of the older restaurants are now South Asian restaurants, and you hear no complaints!

Spice grows on you; I was in Singapore for work 16 times in the three years before I came to Canada, and at first everything was too hot and spicy, but you’ll be surprised how your tolerance for heat increases the more you eat it, and by around the fifth visit I could take much more spicy food – and around the tenth visit I was craving it. I hope you find a recipe in this issue to make at home and enjoy!

And what else do we have for you?

Well, it’s almost Holiday season and we know because you tell us that you’re looking for gifts. Our Holiday Gift Guide is in December’s issue as we’re still gathering beautiful products we can recommend, but meanwhile we can tempt you with all the highest-scoring Alberta-made beverages from our 2025 Alberta Beverage Awards.

Cheers Linda, Editor-in-Chief