Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - Gone Fishing

Pierre D'Amours cooks a shore lunch
on the banks of the Restigouche river -
 Iphone pic by Alex Bielak

GONE FISHING!

The filing deadline for this column was inconveniently in the middle of Food for Thought's annual fishing trip to the Maritimes. I'm sending this photo - recording a remarkable lunch in a remarkable place - from a Timmies in Campbellton during a "supplies run." (The river is low, as are staples like nibblies and gin, so needs must, and we have ventured from camp to "civilization" to restore the larder.)

The joys of such a trip with good friends include not just the fishing and easy camaraderie, but also long discussions after dinner on esoteric subjects: thus far we've covered the recent discovery of the oldest ever published volume of fly patterns, fraternities, British sketch comedy, and what in life remains sacred. Not much beyond love, apparently.

The integral fuel for all of this is the fantastic camp food, wine assembled from all over the world and intermittent, copious refreshments. An additional bonus this year was a side trip a number of us arranged down much of the Restigouche River. Over the course of a sunny day we motored and floated about 100 Km of the river, including over 60 Km of stunning wilderness, punctuated by some of the most exclusive salmon camps in the world.

Our guide, Pierre D'Amours, a superlative woodsman, navigated the skinny waters, teaching us much about the ecosystem, and some about ourselves and our place in it. At midday, after we had seen a fisherman land a fine male salmon on the best pool on the river that can hold thousands of Atlantic salmon up to 40 pounds or more, Pierre made a fire over which he cooked a splendid shore lunch.

Salmon smoked according to his secret recipe, and fiddleheads were followed by the steaks in the photo, accompanied by fried potatoes, onions and mushrooms. His wife Lisa's fresh strawberry jam on rolls baked by his mother were dessert. And yes there were libations, chilled in the cool tributary that ran into the main river.

It has been said one fishes to feed one's soul rather than one's body. I put that into practice this morning as I released a small salmon back to the clear green waters of Camp Pool. Luckily our cook, June, had a light something ready for us to restore the balance between soul and body!

Dr. Sam Schulman- on management of bleeding disorders

Enjoy our chat with Dr. Sam Schulman as Dr. Schulman talks about his and the researchers working with him's findings on the management of bleeding disorders and of blood thinners during surgery

1. In layman’s terms, can you describe the contribution your research has made to the issues surrounding bleeding disorders and use of blood thinners used during surgery. Please describe the problem you’ve addressed and the impact of what you have discovered.

The new blood thinners that are starting to replace warfarin (Coumadin) act in a different way and therefore you need to stop and restart them differently when patients have surgery. Physicians have been unsure of how to do that and it is important to demonstrate the optimal timing for this. If the blood thinner is stopped too early before surgery, the patient can suffer a stroke or a new blood clot in the lungs or legs. If it is stopped too late, they can bleed more during surgery. same problem after surgery. Our results show how this should be done safely with a very low risk for both bleeding and stroke.

2. What will physicians and surgeons learn from your studies and how might they employ these findings?

By publishing the result in a high-impact journal like Circulation and also lecturing on this we hope our colleagues will adopt our strategy and establish local hospital guidelines or policies based on these results.

3. We are certain that many will be interested in the results of your research, but can you also explain what prompted you to focus on this area and, more specifically, what triggered the revelation that led to this breakthrough?

When new drugs are approved some questions are addressed by the studies performed before registration. But many hugely important issues are left for studies such as ours to answer afterwards.

4. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about this work?

The study was funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and recruited almost twice as many patients as originally planned, which strengthens the results.

Thanks Dr. Schulman for your work and the sharing of this information on The Hamiltonian. 

Food for Thought with Alex Bielak-Taste report and a Year’s Worth of Beer in Two Weeks

Taste report and a Year’s Worth of Beer in Two Weeks 

Beer-lovers have the opportunity to swamp any sorrows they might have over the coming two weekends this July.

Before I give details of how you too can sample over 52 beers or ciders in just two weeks, a short note about the recent Taste of Burlington launch event. In a nutshell it was a terrific showcase of what’ll be on prix-fix lunch and dinner offer at the 23 participating restaurants, July 19 – August 2, 2015.

Though I had my favourites (see photos), there were many fine dishes on offer and it was clear many
of the chefs had upped their game this time around. The judges courageously picked a very simple, but refreshing, watermelon and mint salad from Persian restaurant Rayhoon as the “Best Taste” winner.

It won over a splendid, more complex offering, from three-time champ, Chef Mitchell Lamb from