November 2003 - Nr. 11

Special guests in Toronto

  The Cheese Boutique was in luck to be able to have world-famous and world-travelling chef Aldo Martinelli visiting the fabulous store from Bologna, Italy in early October. He is called "Chef Promoter" and great at his job. He provided interested customers with tasty bits of his company’s products such as Spicy Tomatoes, Grilled Artichokes and Onions in Aromatic Vinegar, for example. He also patiently explained some of the intricacies of Italian cuisine to them and listed some of the products of his company "MENU", near Bologna. They have hundreds of products geared mainly to the food service industries and specialty stores. The company is famous for their motto ‘quality over quantity’, a concept that one cannot really have an objection to.

Travelling all over the world - he had just returned from Malta - this very personable ambassador of fine cuisine often works right in some restaurant’s kitchen - with the local chefs in attendance – demonstrating how to utilize some of MENU’s products on site, where it is the most effective.

One interesting little fact that Aldo mentioned concerns tomatoes. Every year - during the tomato-month of August, MENU hires about 200 extra labourers to work in three 8-hour shifts - day and night - to produce all the tomato products for the next year.

The company also has an interesting website: www.menu.it/eng where you can find more information and hundreds of fabulous recipes. Aldo Martinelli - who is currently trying to learn Japanese -will come back in November for another short visit to the Cheese Boutique. Call them for the dates and try not to miss it!
 

Another famous visitor to Toronto was Ulrich Tendera from the "W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik from Germany. Goebel is famous for the delightful "Hummel" figurines, treasured and collected by millions of connoisseurs around the world.

He only visited three places in Canada, one of them was the ART HOUSE in the Sheraton Centre at Queen and York Streets – located in the underground shopping concourse. (We wrote about him in the last issue already, as you may recall!)

Of course ‘Hummel" figurines are only one of the many, many gift items that are available at the Art House – much too many to list here – and whenever you are in the general area it might be a good idea to drop in there - ask for Cynthia and mention ECHO GERMANICA – and take a look at the fabulous variety in the store. You might also take advantage of the shopping concourse for other Christmas purchases at the same time.

Mr. Tendera demonstrated some of the delicate procedures in painting these wonderful figurines and patiently explained this to the visitors, in addition to answering many queries the visitors had regarding the manufacture of the company’s products. If you are interested in learning more, visit their website at: www.goebel.de/englisch and see pictures of the figurines, read about their innovator: Maria Innocentia (Berta) Hummel and get more background into the origin of the lovely figurines and their introduction at the "Mustermesse" in Leipzig, Germany, in 1935. Sister M.I.Hummel tragically died of tuberculosis in 1946… "Wen die Götter lieben….(whom the Gods love, they recall early)

But fortunately her divinely gifted talent lives on in her figurines. Now, as then, they are hand-made in accordance with strict principles of artistic integrity.

r.k.a.

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