JM
Jasmine Mangalaseril
@cardamomaddict
Canadian freelance food writer + columnist
Kitchener, Ontario
Canadian freelance food writer | CBC-KW food columnist | communications strategist | promiscuous eater | informed | effervescent | cat pillow | equal opportunity buttertartist with an art history degree Opinions: mine all mine Bylines include: CBC-KW, Waterloo Region Record, Grand Magazine, Toronto.com No longer posting here.
120 Posts
Post will shutter soon. If you want to keep up with my food writing (and cats) here's where I am: Threads account
Am on Threads, giving it a poke and a prod, in case anyone wants to follow. Like my Masto (and when I was active on Twitter), I'll be posting a range of content (food, history, arts, culture, humanities, politics, people doing good. And cats) #Threads #Food #History #Arts #Cultur An odd duck with a social conscience
It's been a while, but I am so thrilled that this piece about Kitchener's odd duck is now out, I had to share it here. It's a story I've been following for three years (from idea to pop-up to restaurant). It's about rewriting the restaurant playbook to focus on sustainability of Five Classic SF Stories About Invasive Species Enhanced ecosystems and the people who regretting having facilitated the process. Mmmm....doughnuts
Sure...you can go to the big chains or the grocery store for donuts. Or you can go to these spots and get doughnuts. I discovered a bit of a local doughnut trail, so I nibbled my way along it. I found six spots from Elmira to Cambridge where you can pop and out for a dozen (vs res Recipes developed by robots leave me hungry
In place of a review, this week I got to chat with some awesome folks at UW about food, recipes, and robots. #AI #Recipes #Culture #Foodwriting OOPS apparently Post didn't post this from the other week.
My latest dispatch is out! Because of a conversation I had about AI-generated recipes, I wrote about trust we ascribe to recipes (and recipe writers). If that's not your thing, I've provided my recipe for Roasted Honey-Harissa Carrot Soup. #Substack #FoodWriter #ShamelessSelfPromo RIP Gordon Lightfoot #Canada #Music Pho Vietnam K&W bursting with flavours of Saigon
My latest review is up! This time, I'm at Pho Vietnam K&W. Delicious Vietnamese dishes in downtown Kitchener's Farmers' Market area. #restaurantreviewer #foodwriter #WaterlooRegion #waterlooregioneats #kweats # VietnameseFood I'm kinda hungry
With everything happening in my life right now, I didn't get a chance to share my latest dispatch. It's short one, about shaking off the rust. I also mention how the restaurant column will cover more local foodish stuff. Cool stuff. Fun stuff. Interesting stuff. So excited about t Restaurant Review - Hem's Hakka
It's been a flurry this past week, plus a holiday weekend! Didn't get an opp to share my latest review (went live last week) until today. This time, I'm at Hem's Hakka in Kitchener, combining Indian, Hakka Nepalese cuisines in Kitchener. #RestaurantReview #WaterlooRegion #FoodWrit I made something delicious for Easter Dinner. Then I did something stupid.
Every Easter Dinner is different. This year's featured a smoking oven (everything's okay now). You can read about it here (or get the recipe for my Chai-Spiced Carrot Bundt Cake). #Substack #FoodWriter #ShamelessSelfPromo #Recipes #Easter #Baking #Cakes #Nom #NomNom #NomNomNom Hot Cross Bunnies
If the Easter Bunny is coming this weekend, that means it's time for my Hot Cross Bunnies. They can get interesting looking as they bake, but that's part of their charm. Whether you want to bake bunnies or regular buns, my recipe's included. #Substack #FoodWriter #ShamelessSelfPro The Power of the Plate
There’s more to a diplomatic dinner than what’s on the plate or a menu card. In this week’s dispatch I offer my two cents about last week’s gala dinner for President Biden (tl;dr: dull, but gastro-creativity wasn’t the point), and offer a slight adaptation of his favourite Chicke The Incredible Blandness of ChatGPT
It seems as if ChatGPT’s squirrels think I live a more fascinating and influential life than I do. It also wants me to be a far less interesting eater than I am. This week’s dispatch is about the GIGO-ness of AI recipes. I include one of its recipes as well as a much tastier one Restaurant review: Leymoon lets ingredients shine, somewhere between Middle Eastern and Mediterranean
My latest review is up and this time, I’m in Cambridge at Leymoon for fast-casual Mediterranean dishes. Owners Junaidh Mon and Shefeeq Palakkal returned from PEI looking for a spot on SWOnt to open a Mediterranean fast-casual. It was a chance stop at the end of a trout fishing tr On the Dumpling Trail: Uzbek Samsa
On Pi Day I’m back on the Dumpling Trail - this time for hand pies! This week’s dispatch has me trying my hand at the forerunner to samosas: Uzbek Samsa – triangular meat-filled dumplings that travelled the world from the Silk Road. Recipe included! #Substack #FoodWriter #Shame ICYMI: The Humble Lotus
ICYMI, Pics from my latest resto review dtk's The Humble Lotus. I'm happy to share my adventures, but this one...I'm super happy about. A la carte sushi and SE Asian bowls, made by a fantastic family focused on doing good in the community. Image description: Spicy tuna roll Image Thank you
A little thank you for the love & kindnesses from those who read and shared (& subscribed to) this week's Substack, and from those who tagged me on International Women's Day. It means a lot :) (I meant for this to be a selfie, but Rufus (claws and all) photobombed.) #ThankYou #Wat Iron Maiden sells. Kitchen maids don't.
To mark International Women's Day (tomorrow), this week’s dispatch is about the kitchen and how its defined boundaries continue to define. No recipe this week, but I do provide a list of Waterloo Region female-led food businesses I’ve written about over the past few years. #Substa
