|
The Team
The Ingredients
Sustainability
Rebekah's Blog
Classes
|
|
About Us / The Ingredients
Our ChocolateBefore opening Nectar, Rebekah made a decision to never use chocolate that could not be traced to its origin for one reason only: to make sure that Nectar never has and never will use chocolate that has been produced using child slave labour.
Child slave labour is a major issue affecting the chocolate industry, particularly in the cocoa producing countries of West Africa. For more information on this under-reported issue, CLICK HERE.
We do not accept chocolate from producers that cannot prove that is has not been sourced in whole or part from West Africa, and we will continue to do so until these issues have been permanently dealt with.
The chocolates we currently use at Nectar are:
Michel Cluizel www.cluizel.com
Valrhona www.valrhona.com
and the Rainforest Alliance certified chocolates from Belcolade www.belcolade.com
  Our Vanilla
Like chocolate, vanilla is a luxury product grown in the third-world that we have come to look at as a commodity in the first world. Cutthroat pricing has led to abysmal living and working conditions for many farmers and their families. Unsustainable farming practices and the ravages of conflict and poverty have caused quality to drop along with prices. For more information about problems plaguing the vanilla industry, CLICK HERE
At Nectar, we have always chosen our vanilla beans, extract and other vanilla products with a keen eye to their ethical sourcing and impeccable quality. We partner with The Vanilla Company based out of Santa Cruz, California, who supply us with unbelievably high quality Mexican and Tahitian vanilla products that come from ethical suppliers and responsible farmers.
Our Produce 
We source our produce from a wide variety of suppliers, always looking for freshness, quality, and sustainability. We favour in-season, local and organic produce, although we use exotic fruits in the cold winter months. We get excited every time a new season rolls around: the first case of BC rhubarb in spring, cherries in summer, figs at harvest time, and the sweet crunch of apples when the days get longer.
Some of our favorite suppliers are:
Dave Kyte Produce (based out of BC)
DJ Produce Market at 4645 12 St SE
Crossroads Farmer's Market at 1235 26 Ave SE
Blush Lane Organic Market at 3000-10 Aspen Stone Boulevard
Our Fats
Every year, we process over one metric tonne of unsalted butter at Nectar. It is the type of fat used in our tart shells, frostings, cookies, and other desserts. As a result, few of our desserts are appropriate for those who avoid all dairy products. We have NEVER used hydrogenated fats and never will. Other fats found in our kitchen include Alberta canola oils, including those prepared by our friends at Highwood Crossing Farms, which we use to achieve the light and fluffy texture in some of our cakes, as well as good quality olive oils.
Our DairyWe love our dairy products at Nectar, and in addition to butter, we use large quantities of fresh milk, cream, buttermilk and cheese products in our desserts as well. Many of our dairy products we culture in-house, making creme fraiche, fromage blanc, mascarpone, ricotta and buttermilk from scratch to ensure thier freshness and quality. Plus, it's a lot of fun!
Our Honey
We use a blended unpasteurized honey from made primarily from alfalfa
blossoms, produced by Chinook Honey, just outside of Okotoks. Click HERE to learn more about Art and Cherie
Andrews and their busy bees at Chinook! Our Sugar
We use locally produced commercial beet sugar for most of our baking. Where feasible we also use organic agave nectar, cane syrup, organic cane sugar, honey and other natural sweeteners. We do not use sugar substitutes, and we are a corn syrup-free kitchen. Our Flour
We use Alberta grown and milled flours produced by Ellison Mills in Lethbridge. Click HERE to learn more about this company.
Last updated: July 11, 2010
|
