Sourcing Stuff

Let’s start by making something clear: I don’t make a red cent if you click on any of the links or if you buy from any of the places in this section. This page is solely because in my mind – the more people are eating sustainably sourced whole foods and whole grains – the happier a place our planet will be. It will also be filled with much healthier and much more balanced people!

So want to get Crunchier in the Kitchen? Having trouble finding some of the weird-ass ingredients I work with but curious to try them? Here is a list of the places where I source stuff from. With the exception of fruits and veggies which, as much as possible, come from my garden or the local organic farmers; in roughly that order.

Dry Goods (Beans, Grains & Flours):

  • Aliments Trigone : Québec-grown buckwheat products and whole groats in all shapes and sizes; Québec-grown hemp hearts and cold-pressed hemp oil; a large variety of gluten-free flours in a variety of formats; hard-neck local garlic when in season
  • Fieldstone Organics : Canadian grown organic whole grains and pulses; they also carry some really gorgeous home-sized flour and flaking mills
  • Flourist : Canadian grown, small-batch milled flours; some of the most beautiful beans out there with details about the farms that grow them (their chickpeas and blackbeans are something special); bread-making supplies
  • Organic Matters : Beans, grains, flours, pasta, herbs, spices, dry mushrooms, sea veggies, miso – pretty much most stuff Crunchy (‘health food’). great service and wide selection, much of the sourcing is international however, so don’t expect local home-grown – there isn’t much of it
  • Upaya Naturals : Notes as per Organic Matters above. They also carry a wide variety of raw foods supplies and supplements.
  • Singal’s Indian Grocery Delivery : Pulses and supplies for Indian cooking; one of the only sources of organic Toor dal at a reasonable price in Canada since 24 Mantra Organic closed up shop in Calgary.

Nuts & Seeds:

In addition to Organic Matters and Upaya Naturals above, there’s also some premium quality nuts and dried fruit available here:

  • Prana : in the past, they focused mostly on bulk nuts and seeds. Now, they have a large line of transformed foods that are pretty high in sugar to steer clear of – but if you put in a buying club or bulk order a couple of times a year, the quality of their nuts is very good and it’s less distance to ship if you’re in Québec!
  • Nut Hut : much of the same stuff as Prana but out of BC; focus is still exclusively on bulk nuts and seeds however

Sea Vegetables:

Although you can find quite a few in the dry goods store above, make a detour and get the local wildcrafted sea vegetables lovingly harvested by Varech du Phare Est:

  • Varech du Phare Est / Coop du Cap : simply the very best sea vegetables you’ll ever try. Their Atlantic Wakame (allaria) and Royal Kombu are delectable. Our family young person actually asks to eat sea veggie… you get the idea!

Fermentation and Culturing Supplies:

In addition to Upaya Naturals (see the dry goods section), the following shops are Canadian and 100% dedicated to fermentation:

  • Révolution Fermentation : out of Montreal, they carry fermentation supplies for pretty much everything you can dream of from lactofermentation to koji culturing and tempeh making. They also have a wide selection of books and offer workshops.
  • Culture Mother : out of Sakskatchewan, they carry cultures for Kombucha, Jun, sourdough, yogurt-making, koji and natto

Weird Macro Ingredients:

  • La Boîte à Grains : Actually, they also have regular health food grocery items – but they’re one of the only places in Québec that I can on-line order kuzu, agar bars, umeboshi plums, hatcho miso and Koyo rice cakes (they’re not healthy I know, but they are better than chips…)

Herbs and Teas:

In addition to Upaya Naturals & Organic Matters, more obscure or specific items can be found at:

  • Richter’s : a huge variety of medicinal and culinary herbs and amazing seeds and seedlings for the gardeners amongst you
  • World of Tea : Ottawa-based, they carry a large selection of organic teas and herbs. I’m a particular fan of the sencha, kukicha and hojicha
  • Thésaurus Tea : out of Montreal, combining great products and a quirky sensibili-tea!