Ding Dong Pastries – egg tart

This is our first stop. The Ding Dong Pastries was filled with different kinds of bread, and workers zooming in and out carrying fresh trays, ready to be sold.  Not long after, our tour guide arrived and initiated a group introduction.  After everyone’s warm introduction, the tour began.  She explained that there are 2 different kinds of sugar (sugar beet sugar and sugarcane sugar). We learned about the fascinating history of how sugar was made, when it was made, and how Canada contributed to the creation of sugar. Who knew the Napoleon war played an important role in sugar?

                Two-third of the world’s sugar comes from sugar canes, but they are only grown in the equator.  Therefore, the US also discovered sugar beet, which is grown in more temperate forests.

                The tour guide soon gave each of us an egg tart to taste. There are 2 types of egg tart. One of which is Portuguese style and the other of which is Chinese style.  The Portuguese egg tart includes more fruit, whereas the Chinese Hong Kong style is made of only egg.  The egg tart was made in the 1980s and quickly became a popular dessert around the world. Nowadays, we find egg tarts in all kinds of shops.

Filipino Popcorn Shop – popcorn of many flavors

                Before we were done licking our lips to the great savory, we had already stepped into the Filipino Popcorn Shop.  When you walk into the house fashioned building, you see bags full of colorful popcorn piled high on shelves, and a worker who introduced some gumball machines full of popcorn as “samples”.  It was free to the tour members, so we tried almost one of everything. Bacon and cheddar, pizza, smoky chipotle, ketchup, grapes, banana, pina colanda, blueberry, toffee, sweet chili pepper, honey mustard, hot jalapeño, jalapeño cheddar, ranch, cheesy barbeque… Do you think I listed all of them? What if I told you that these are just one-third of all?  We enjoyed the Cheddar, Cheesy BBQ, both jalapeños flavors, and bananas.

                It took a big effort to create the shop, a bigger effort to get the products, and an even bigger effort to create so many different flavors.  This shop presented the most awkward kind of sweets, but also our favorite.

                Akrems Shoppe– Middle East sweets

                We got energy from the popcorns and could walk even faster. Soon enough, we were at the third stop, a Middle East store.  We got to try out some salted pistachios and candies, of which brought a flavor that showed not only the food, but even the kind of emotion of working. 

                Voice K had a pleasure to interview the owner, Hiyan Samara, who enjoys making others happy.  She makes all kinds of food, and others really like it, which makes Hiyan joyful. 

In the beginning, Hiyan sold clothes and her husband sold food.  Then they worked together to make food, such as fellahin.  Everybody went to eat the food and it became very popular.

                Hiyan and her husband established the building from scratch, and it took over two and half years to rebuild it.  But, in our opinion, it was worth it.

                “Little by little, we built up this store, and improved our reputation.  From all over the world, magazines came to talk about our food,” Hiyan said.  “This is an accomplishment that makes me very happy.”

                “Communication is very important.  It is the key to success,” as Hiyan said. “It builds our community and jobs and improves it.”

                Churros

                Some people love bread, though, some people dislike it.  But, we bet Churros is something that no matter your culture or taste, you’ll be willing to try.  The worker took out a deep-fried hollow strip of bread, then using a bottle of chocolate sauce; he squeezed it into the fluffy cake bread center.  This food came from either Portugal or Spain. They still debate on who invented it, and with two completely different stories. 

                Audrey said, “The Spanish said what happened, was that these shepherds were living in the mountains of Spain, and they baked the bread over a fire.  This soon developed Churros.  And they say this is true, because the Churros are named after a kind of sheep.”

                The Portuguese story is that they actually went to China, in the 1600s, and saw this kind of hollow, fluffy, crispy tube of bread, about 30 cm long.  When they went home and made it, they failed, but made the completely new generation, that is just really popular these days. 

               

Wanda’s Pie in the Sky

                Does she cook pies in the sky?  No.  It’s just a creative name.  Wanda created pies, cakes, salads, and cupcakes to fit the taste of her customers.  Wanda started baking since she was 8 using the berries in her mother’s backyard.  When she grew older, she went into an arts and design university, where she decided to take her career of baking.  We tasted mini cupcakes, of which were red velvets, and vanillas.  We enjoyed the red velvet more than the vanilla ones. There were many cool cake displays such as rainbow cakes, and animal cookies.

Since the pan-am games are coming to Toronto this year, this shop will work harder to be prepared when millions of people come to Toronto in the summer.

                Blue Banana market

                The Blue Banana market ranges from food to jewelry.  It is a grocery store that sells things from many different countries. We tasted the marshmallows, which were made by hand. There were many different flavors such as coffee, mint and strawberry. The marshmallows tasted fluffy and stiff at the same time. It was very different than the ones they sell at the supermarket.

We also tried a kind of chocolate named flakers, with many layers and holes inside, kind of like the Aero chocolates we eat. 

Audrey explained to us that this chocolate was made by accident, “A long time ago this chocolate was leftover from chocolate bars. When someone saw that this was a smart idea to invent a new type of chocolate.  He thought, Why not?”

Interview with tour guide: Sunni

At the end of the tour, Voice K finally got a chance to interview with our tour guide Audrey Ooi.

She said, “I think one of the biggest challenges is when you face people who are not interested in the tour.  You need to experiment with the people to help them regain their interest.” 

One of Audrey’s best experiences was when there was an old lady with health issues, and slowed the team down.  But to Audrey’s surprise everyone else on the tour were very understanding about the situation and enjoyed the tour very much.

Audrey also explained the most popular sweets in the past few years. 

“I think the most popular sweets in the past few years are definitely the churros,” she said.  Other than this, people also favored the Take out; Eat in Catering, where Hiyan told about her exciting life and the stories of her shop. 

 

My opinions: Raymond

                Hiyan said, “Communication is the key to success.”  The Kensington market has been around for more than a century, and so have the stores.  Small companies usually don’t survive long for generations. As a historic market, the stores start in a community.  Other than providing the foods, though, the market also knows what the customers need.  Then, they grow – in popularity and reputation.  Even though the people come from different places, they felt that they were treated as old friends here.  With good communication, the stores kept their business, the customers kept their community, and I kept my taste.

When we left the building, it was pitch black outside.  About a half-dozen smaller telescopes were being set up and tested by volunteers on the lawn.  Some have computer controls; others use techniques similar to the larger eye.  The telescopes are all portable, but have a surprisingly high precision.    I almost jumped when I heard someone exclaim, “I saw it!  I saw it!”  When my eye approached the small lens, I finally saw Saturn for the first time in my life.  Its beautiful rings seem to glow in the dark. “Do you know that you’re looking at the Saturn from one hour ago? The light takes one hour to travel to us,” volunteer Paul told us. I slowly steered the telescope, and quickly caught a glimpse of the burning Mars, which shares characteristics of life with  Earth.

David Dunlap Observatory is not only a cool building where scientists do research, but also a place with some of the most fascinating educational programs of which kids benefit.  This year I can enjoy all of these epic sights in an open area.  If the city council decides to build nearby, they can simply be blocking a blinding view of the sprinkling stars.  I hope the DDO doesn’t have a shortage on money.  When I’m 11, I will be allowed to participate in the ‘Star Talk’, with more information, more perfection, and more fun.

By Dea Yu (Age 7)

On February 12th, 2013 at the office of Voice K magazine Shauna Morgan of Shauna Sincerely catering joined some the junior editors in a cupcake baking event to be remembered. During the hands on event Dea Yu was able steal some one on one time with Shauna and asked some questions…

Dea: What inspired you to be a chef?

Shauna: When I was little, I watched my mom cooking and then I wanted my own kitchen and then I learned what a chef really does, and I thought, you know what, I want to do that. But I didn’t just want to be a chef cooking at the back of a kitchen; I wanted to be a chef that wasn’t afraid to be myself and be girly, a chef that makes people laugh, I wanted to share my joy of cooking with others and teach people how to cook within a budget.

Dea: What was your weirdest cupcake request from a customer?                

Shauna: My weirdest request was for customer who made an order for a New Years Eve party. She wanted one huge Oreo cookie with a mini cupcake on it and wanted it to resemble a clock! It was tough but it all worked out in the end and I’m told it was a great addition to her New Year’s Eve party.

Dea: What is your best-selling cupcake?                  

Shauna: My best seller? It’s the red velvet. Everyone likes red velvet……with cream cheese frosting. It’s actually my least favourite.

Dea: Do you have your own bakery?

Shauna: I don’t have my own bakery, all the cupcakes are homemade, and that’s why they are so good. Everyone likes a good homemade cupcake, that’s what makes it special compare to cake. You grab one, it is just for you.

Dea: Are you popular?          

Shauna: Popular? Well I wouldn’t say I’m popular yet.  But I’d like to be very popular someday … may be after this interview!