On Learning

I spent last weekend with my friend Rona and looking back, I realized that our weekend had a theme: Learning

I learned about her family and about growing up in London, Ontario over dinner at a Japanese/Korean restaurant. We munched on agedashi - a crisp deep fried tofu appetizer - as she told me about her studies at York University. By the time she started on her zaru soba - cold buckwheat noodles - she had recounted her exploits in Europe, which were spicier than the Korean soup of tofu, kimchi, seafood and vegetables (sundubu) I had ordered so I will mention them here.

Rona and I share a love of scrabble, so a game or two of this fabulous word game was inevitable. Unabashedly, we sat at the kitchen table and started our Friday night word war. Here are two new words I learned: ewer, which is synonymous with jug or pitcher and ovoviviparous, which refers to egg-producing animals. (Did you know that xi and qi are words accepted in scrabble?)

The weekend of learning continued as we cooked together on Saturday night. We discovered that creating flavourful dishes doesn’t have to be complicated. We made a quick appetizer with pita bread and goat’s cheese topped with mesclun greens, grape tomatoes and mango (see recipe below). We paired this wih Chilean chardonnay, a lot of it.

Still at dinner, we learned to appreciate a new kind of pasta called permanente, (we inferred that it came from the word perm, as it permed hair) by cooking it simply: In a bowl we combined chopped capers, kalamata olives, lemon zest and juice, Dijon mustard, grated garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Then we added the boiled pasta with some of its water. We threw in some watercress and halved grape tomatoes, covered it with plastic wrap for 10 minutes to let the flavours meld. It was simple. It was light. It was good.


The weekend of learning culminated in a celebration of reading and books - Word on the Street. At this book fest, we learned about a few authors and their works as they shared selections from their new novels. We met Jeffrey Rounds, who had written a book called The Honey Locust - about the war in Bosnia, Nino Ricci, whose book The Origin of Species tells the story of a man’s exploration of life and the Galapagos Island, and Jonathan Goldstein, who reinvents the story of creation in his work Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible!. Walking along the different booths and pavilions, we discovered new publishers, browsed at hundreds of books, and got to know other writers. There were also writing classes, workshops and volunteer opportunities to help adult literacy. It was great to see so many people hungry for knowledge and others who want to share it.

When I had the chance to speak briefly with The Origin of the Species author Nino Ricci, I asked him what advice he would give to someone who is thinking of starting to write. In summary his answer was, “Keep at it.” Good advice, which I think could be applied to learning as well. All of us to want to learn. “Keep at it“. When I saw some booths for organizations that help underprivileged children from other parts of the world have access to books and education, I realized that there is one things that binds us human together - our natural thirst for learning. As soon arriving home, I read through the first few pages of Nino Ricci’s book, I learned words that I never knew existed. So whether it be new words or new recipes, let’s keep at it. And share what we know, so others can learn.


Here’s my recipe for the pita bread appetizer Rona and I made last weekend:


4 pita bread
8 tbsp goat’s cheese
2 med. pepperoni, thinly sliced
mesclun greens (mixed greens), 4 handfuls, enough for 4 salad servings
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
1 cup ripe mango, peeled and cut into ½ cubes
3 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp Olive oil, plus extra for brushing pita
Salt and pepper to taste


1. In a bowl combine mesclun greens, tomatoes, mango and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Toss well. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Brush both sides of pita with olive oil then spread goat cheese. Place on baking sheet.
4. Put pepperoni slices on pita, then a handful of mesclun green mixture.
5. Place pita in 375° F pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes.
6. Remove pita from baking sheet and cut into quarters. Serve warm.