not far from the tree

Not Far From The Tree’s year-end party was the first time I had seen or heard of ‘The Local Café’. When I arrived at the party I mused on the sight of a small school bus parked outside figuring it belonged to a local resident. It wasn’t until I was outside grinding apples for apple cider that I noticed people walking to and from the bus carrying trays of food.

PAUSING FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCMENT:

I have been given special permission by the owner, operator and chef extraordinaire Carole Ferrari, to announce that The Local Café will be changing its name to …. ‘THE BUS’ !

Ok back to the story….

I walked over and was amazed to see a full kitchen in full swing. The Bus, or rather Carole and her crew, were inside cooking up a storm! Throughout the night I noticed its many visitors. People were obviously curious to see this ‘moveable’ feast at work.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Carole to discuss how she came up with the idea for The Bus, and her take on cooking with Not Far From The Tree’s very own applesauce.

The Bus was originally Carole’s answer to filling a void in Toronto’s street food culture; the void being healthy, affordable street fare. The idea was good timing considering Toronto was stepping up its support for healthy street food with its “a la cart” program. However Carole found her niche outside the street vendor market.

Determined to support and expand access to local food, Carole decided the best way to learn how to deliver food to people on the go was to set up shop at farmers’ markets. Farmers’ markets allowed her to experiment with food and create relationships with local producers. She started to build relationships and food networks that allow her to source produce right from the people growing it. Plus, she has tapped into some urban agriculture sources, accessing herbs and tomatoes from gardens – even trading her specialty granola for produce. The closer Carole can get to where the food is grown, the better!

Now, not only is she working at farmers’ markets selling delicious baked goods, she’s also catering festivals and events. This brings us to the year-end party and our applesauce. As I’m sure most of you remember, she made an incredible apple crumble. Working with the applesauce, she describes it as a beautiful chunky sauce. She reflects on how pretty the apples looked, having enough leftover to sprinkle finely sliced pieces on top of the crumble. The slices delicately showed off the apples, while subtly highlighting the reason for our celebration…RESIDENTIAL FRUIT!

She would love to be able to use more of the fruit grown in the city, remarking that Not Far From The Tree is a ‘really special project’.

I for one will not hesitate if I get the chance to get my hands on some more apple crumble, however Carole is now contemplating pear crumble! Either way – I’ll take it!