Did you know that chocolate drinks were first invented over three thousand years ago? The very first chocolate drinks were invented by the Olmecs of north western Central America. Unlike the hot chocolate drinks that we know today, these chocolate drinks were served cool! To create these drinks, the Olmecs would mix crushed roasted cacao with water and cornmeal. By …
Choose a Cooler or Freezer Rental for Your Next Event!
At Coolmate Rentals, we understand how important it is for restaurants, caterers, and other food and entertainment businesses to create memorable experiences for customers. Whether you are making plans for a wedding reception, an outdoor festival, or a private party, the most important items on your to-do list will likely be related to foods and beverages. After all, everyone will …
Poutine is a delicious “mess” you won’t regret!
Canadian historians said the word “poutine” could have come from the French word “pouding” (pudding) or the slang word for “mess” in Quebec. In the book Poutine Nation, author Sylvain Charlebois describes the Quebecois origins of the poutine. The author said a customer named Eddy Lainesse in a dairy town named Warwick in Quebec walked into a restaurant in 1957 …
Oktoberfest is a celebration of coziness!
You may already know that Oktoberfest is a famous beer festival that takes place in the fall in Munich, Germany. Due to the immense popularity of the Munich Oktoberfest, there are now many Oktoberfest celebrations around the world, including in Canada. But it may surprise you to learn that, outside of Germany, the largest Oktoberfest celebration is Oktoberfest Kitchener-Waterloo in …
Why do we eat turkeys during Thanksgiving?
Did you know that the roasted whole turkey which many families put on their dining table over Thanksgiving looked very different in previous generations? When Europeans first settled in North America, the wild turkeys that they ate during Thanksgiving were a lot skinnier and consisted of mostly dark meat. Historians believe the very first British settlers who arrived in the …
Experience Diverse Cuisines at the Asialicious Carnival
You may have heard of the Winterlicious and Summerlicious Festivals in Toronto, but did you know that, since 2019, over 100 restaurants and food vendors in the GTA have been participating in an Asian cuisine festival called Asialicious Carnival? Just like the Winterlicious and Summerlicious festivals, patrons in the Asialicious Carnival can order foods from price-fixe menus (set at $10, …
New Food Offerings At the CNE
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is running from August 18th till September 4th this year. Also known as “The Ex” to many Torontonians, the CNE is an end-of-summer, annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place along Toronto’s waterfront with Lake Ontario. The CNE is a popular family event that draws over a million visitors from across Ontario and beyond …
New Popsicle Flavours for Grownups
According to Forbes magazine, the very first popsicle was invented by a man named Frank Epperson in San Francisco, California. In 1905, when Frank was only 11 years old, he left a container of soda pop with water and a mixing stick outside on a freezing cold evening and discovered the next day that his accidental creation tasted really good! …
El Nino Means More Hot Days This Year
Major news outlets in Canada and the US have declared the return of El Nino to North America for the first time in seven years. But what exactly is El Nino? According to the National Geographic magazine, El Nino is “a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean”. In simple terms, this …
Modern Weddings Are More Fun!
According to Country Living magazine, weddings from a century ago were simple but less fun than modern weddings. While modern weddings often take place in a church, a park, or a restaurant/food venue over the weekend, weddings from a century ago often take place in the family home on a weekday. Back then, there was even a rhyme to help …