Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on December 1^st, 2012.

To spread happiness this festive season without going broke, what better than a useful and worthwhile gift, purchased at a reasonable price? In matters of food, a good bottle of extra virgin olive oil holds great value and is always appreciated by my friends.

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Right at the Arctic Circle, in the Swedish village of Nybyn (245 inhabitants), in Lapland, the world’s northernmost year-round cultivation of tomatoes has started a few weeks ago. Obviously, these tomatoes, of the “espero” variety, are produced in a greenhouse, which is 1,500 square metres large — about the size of two soccer fields.

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A Swiss baker from Geneva entered the Guinness Book of Records last Sunday, for having prepared a chocolate cake that was 1,221.60 metres long and weighing 4.2 tonnes.

The preparation of the cake took 864 litres of cream, 576 litres of milk, 600 kg of flour, 432 kg of butter and 360 kg of chocolate fondant. And it also took the work of 250 people.

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A new cheese made from donkey’s milk in a farm in Zasavica, one of Serbia’s most famous natural reserves, is now offered to food-lovers with expensive tastes and … deep pockets.

At 1000 euros/kilo (about 1270 $/kilo), this cheese is thought to be the world’s priciest. Part of its cost is due to the difficulty of milking the donkeys and to the fact that it takes about 25 litres of fresh milk to make a kilo of this cheese.

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Strawberry season is over, but it is never too late to learn how to eat them. Apparently we have been eating them all wrong. Do you slice them? Do you eat them while holding them by their leafy end?

Watch this video and you’ll find the proper way, … using a straw:

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Those of you who follow this blog regularly, already know that pumpkins are often featured here.

Here’s some recent news about pumpkins:

Largest pumpkin ever
The world record for largest pumpkin has been broken this week at the Topsfield fair, in Massachusetts, with a specimen weighing in at a whopping 2,009 pounds (912 kg). The heaviest pumpkin title was previously held by a Quebecer grower, whose pumpkin was weighing only (!) 1818,5 pounds, about 825 kg.
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I’ve been told Jean Talon market in Montreal is the largest open-air market in North America. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but you only need to go there to see that this public market in the heart of Little Italy is incredibly well stocked with goods from all cultures and that it is also the market where you get the best deals in Montreal.

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