Alissa Fingold

Old Montreal is famous for its history and French vibe, and, unfortunately, its overpriced food. Tourists abound in this part of the city, and restauranteurs have taken note, feeling free to charge as much as $5 for an ice cream cone. Olive et Gourmando is one of the few café-bistros left that doesn’t cater to tourists or charge outrageous prices.

Soups, salads, and sandwiches dominate O+G’s menu. The vegan sandwiches with tofu, homemade hummus, arugula, and pickles would please even a carnivore. Their Cuban Panini with ham, homemade spicy mayonnaise, and gruyere is a lovely French take on the classic deli sandwich. Other must-eats include a chicken, mango, and guacamole sandwich and a nutty, oriental Herbivore Salad.

The tomato platter is like a caprese salad on steroids: fresh heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and croutons neatly stacked like a game of Jenga, all drenched in sun-dried tomato dressing. At $15 per platter and a dozen tomatoes per serving, it’s best shared by two.

The soups change daily, and are served with paninis and salad on wooden cutting boards.

For a quick breakfast before a walk in Old Montreal, O+G serves up excellent coffee and local pastries. Customers line up by the dozen to sample tarts with seasonal fruit, brownies with Valrhona chocolate, and sweet and salty “Everything Cookies.” Their famous brioche is filling enough for breakfast and lunch combined, and the perfect complement to their freshly brewed coffee.  

What really sets Olive et Gourmando apart from typical lunch spots is the atmosphere. It’s a lively, truly Quebecois lunch spot full of young Francophone professionals on their lunch breaks. Homemade jams and sauces, crispy granola by the bag, and nut mixes line the walls for those wanting the O+G experience at home. French music blares over speakers, and signs displaying “eat” or “yum” send a subliminal message to diners. O+G seems busy even when it’s not, and is not a place to read the morning paper (you can do that on a bench in the Old Port), but rather to make friends and rave about the food.

Olive et Gourmando’s ordering process is a cross between the traditional and take-out service, and is designed to maximize efficiency and customer satisfaction. The coffee and pastry bar is at the front, and the sandwiches, soups, and salads are at the back. Order in person at either of the bars, and the food is delivered to your table. Although this design is a little awkward, it allows O+G to have a manageable load in the kitchen. With fewer waitresses scurrying around taking orders, more tables can be added to the floor. Diners can decide how long they want to eat and enjoy the ambiance.

Despite its location and French vibe, feel free to speak English. The restaurant is so bustling that the staff knows English-speakers can’t understand rapid-fire French. The staff also knows that O+G is not short on customers, so expect curt service. They’re not open past 6 p.m., and like many restaurants in Montreal, they’re closed on Sundays and Mondays. O+G seems to like to keep people waiting.

These nasty little bastards can smell fruit and alcohol from a mile away, and they breed faster than bunnies. Drosophila live for a month, and their favourite activities are eating and reproducing, both of which are possible in a fruit bowl. A single fruit fly from an unsanitary grocery shelf can wreak havoc in a kitchen. Luckily, they’re not very smart, and can be easily trapped with fruit and plastic wrap.

1. Slice a banana into thirds and place each piece in small separate bowls. Alternatively, pour wine, beer, or even dish soap into the bowls.
2. Cover the bowls with plastic wrap. Stretch the plastic wrap as tight as possible. The top should be wrinkle-free.
3. With a small, sharp knife, cut a few small holes in the plastic wrap. The holes should be big enough for the vermin to enter, but no larger.
4. Distribute the bowls around your kitchen.
5. The pests should be trapped within a few days. To kill the trapped flies, put the bowl in the freezer and rinse thoroughly.

    

Alice Walker

As Harry Nilsson famously sang, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” One has to wonder if Mr. Nilsson was lamenting his lonesome nights in his kitchen, cooking just for himself.

As many university students know, cooking in itself can be difficult, but cooking for one can sometimes be a whole different ball game. However, it can also be extremely fun and rewarding. One of my favourite ways to spend time is alone in my kitchen with my music and my cast-iron pan. No, it’s not weird. It’s actually fun. You’re in total control of the meal and don’t have to worry about anyone else’s schedule, taste preferences, or dietary restrictions. Whatever you make, you will eat, and if it’s bad, you are the only person to blame. Inversely, if your meal turns out well, you can take all the credit and don’t have to worry about sharing. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you know you are the only diner for a meal.

Will you be wanting leftovers?

If you don’t mind having leftovers the next day or for the next couple of days, then you can easily cook any amount of food and freeze or refrigerate whatever you can’t finish. However, some things are better for leftovers than others. Anything saucy—like a curry, a stew, or chili—will usually hold up well for a few days. And, if you add some rice or noodles, you can easily prepare a completely new meal.

If you do refrigerate your leftovers, plan to eat them within the next 36 hours. Otherwise opt for the freezer, but make sure whatever you put the food in will hold up to the cold temperature. Some Ziploc bags are freezer proof, while others let in too much cold air, leaving your delicious meal with freezer burn.

Roast a whole chicken

It might seem counterintuitive to make a lot of food if you are only feeding yourself, but roasting a whole chicken can work well if you like leftovers. Not only will the first meal be excellent, but you will have delicious leftover chicken that you can use in pasta, sandwiches, wraps, tacos, salads, taco salads, or anything else you can think of. Roasting a chicken can seem like a daunting task, but it really isn’t. You might want to cut the chicken butterfly style before roasting it so you don’t have to worry about the inside cavity, and the chicken is more likely to cook evenly without drying out.

Be wary of recipes

While recipes in cookbooks or online are great, you need to be careful if you are just cooking for one. Most recipes specify a serving size for anywhere from two to eight servings. Once again, if you like leftovers, cook away, but if you are making something like chicken cutlets, you need to divide all the ingredients by the appropriate number to get the serving size down to one. This is especially true of any recipe involving sauces, where you will not need as much sauce as what is called for if the rest of the recipe serves four.

Inspiration

Alternatively, try using the recipes for inspiration and coming up with your own concoction that is simple and easy. Aim for simplicity to avoid screw-ups and problems. When you’re working alone in the kitchen, you don’t have anyone to help you, so avoid any dish that requires a ton of prep work. Something simple like a salted pork chop and rapini with salt, pepper, and chili flakes is a great dish that requires very little work and can be made in one pan. I also like a breaded chicken cutlet with an arugula and tomato salad for a simple, delicious dinner.

Cooking for one gets easier with practice and time. After several years of cooking, you’ll understand what is easier to make, how much food you’ll need, how much time it takes to do what, and you’ll become more comfortable in the kitchen. The more comfortable you are in the kitchen, the easier everything becomes. The easier everything becomes, the more fun cooking gets. And the more fun cooking gets, the more delicious your food will be.

Two thousand six hundred McGill students wandered the halls of the Shatner Building last Tuesday and Wednesday during Activities Night to learn about the different clubs and services tht the university has to offer. In case you weren’t able to attend, here is a list of a few clubs you might be interested in joining.

Financial Markets Group

For the business-minded among us, the Financial Markets Group is a club that offers students the chance to discuss and learn more about the complex world of financial markets.

the group brings in guest speakers, analyzes investment strategies and risk management, and hosts invetopedia competitions with cash prizes.

Contact fmg,[email protected] to learn more.

Go Club

Go is a game that originated in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago and has recently risen to popularity, with roughly 27 million players worldwide. Often con-

sidered the ultimate strategy game, Go is traditionally played on a 19-by-19-space grid with black and white stones. The goal of the game is to capture more territory, or space on the board, than your opponent.

While Go is based on a relatively simple concept, it is a game filled with intense strategy and complicated game theory. The club meets once a week to discuss strategy, hold lectures on various topics related to the game, and play. All levels of players are welcome to attend and encouraged to learn as much as possible. As they say, “A minute to learn, a lifetime to master.”

The group meets Thursday nights at 7 p.m. in the Trottier cafeteria. More information can be found on the McGill Go Club Facebook group, or by contacting [email protected].

BRefuge

BRefuge is a refugee-oriented student club that works to “promote intercultural interaction and understanding” around McGill and Montreal. Throughout the year, BRefuge hosts talks and film screenings in order to shed light on issues related to refugees.

The club also organizes group events and outings with McGill students and refugees to exchange stories and help the refugee newcomers learn more about Montreal and Canadian life. Also, this year BRefugee will be launching its Buddy Program, which will match small groups of students with refugee or refugee claimants to volunteer together at partner organizations. Not only is this a great way to help the Montreal community, but the program also offers the opportunity to help a foreigner get acquainted with a new life, which can be an extremely difficult and scary task.

More information is available on brefugee.blogspot.com or by contacting [email protected].

Gorilla Composting

One of the several McGill groups dedicated to a greener tomorrow, Gorilla Composting works to divert all organic waste away from the trash bin and towards an on-campus composting facility.

The group is working on an organic recycling plan for the McGill community while also teaching people about the importance of composting and living green.

This year, Gorilla Compositing will be focusing on vermiculture. It is in need of many volunteers in order to stay on track with its mission to make composting a “necessity and responsibility.”

Check out gorilla.mcgill.ca for more information.

Movember

A men’s health charity started by a group of Aussies in 2004, Movember is a monthlong event in which men around the world grow moustaches to raise awareness for men with health issues. The Movember Foundation was launched in Canada in 2007 and raises money for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada.

Because it can be difficult (or embarrassing) to grow a moustache without any support, a McGill club has been formed to provide support and guidance to charity participants. Men can participate by growing moustaches and collecting money from friends and relatives, whereas women, or “Mo Sistas,” provide much needed support and attend the end of the month gala parties. Perhaps best of all, McGill will be filled with sweet-moustachioed dudes for an entire month.

More information can be found on ca.movember.com, their Facebook group, or by contacting [email protected].

Cinema Politica McGill

Not only are documentaries a great way to learn about an issue in 90 minutes, they are also an interesting medium for accessible information sharing. Cinema Politica McGill screens documentaries “pertaining to relevant political and social issues in an effort to raise global awareness on the McGill campus.”

Cinema Politica is an international media-arts, nonprofit organization trying to inform people about various issues through by-donation screenings around the world. This semester, the club will be screening 10 documentaries on subjects such as the pharmaceutical industry of sex and the history of the portrayal of First Nations in Hollywood cinema.

Fall 2010 screenings take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Leacock 26. Check out the Cinema Politica (McGill) Facebook group for more details.

McGill Pre-Law Society

McGill’s pre-law society helps aspiring lawyers navigate the tricky trail of applying to law schools. Their mission is to “provide invaluable opportunities and services to inform [their] members about the field of law.” The MPLS offers a mentorship program, a volunteer program and publishes a news journal called Fiat Justitia.

As a new group, the MPLS is looking for membership and is eager to help students with an interest in a future legal career.

Check out ssmu.mcgill.ca/MPLS or contact [email protected] for more information.