Integrity Foods

Riverton, MB

The “Slow Food” movement may have begun in Italy, but it has been perfected by Integrity Foods near Riverton, MB.

The slow food movement began to shift our mindsets away from fast food and the lifestyle that it supports – hurried, distracted, and with more focus on convenience than anything else. Slow food aims to focus on the enjoyment of our foodstuffs from start to finish and to embrace traditional and regional methods of cultivation, production, and cooking. Its supporters see nourishment as an important part of social structure, providing an opportunity to share, to give, and to interact. Cornelius and Dora Friesen, knowingly or otherwise, have embodied this philosophy in their backyard restaurant and bakery.

The artisan bakery is located on the Friesen property where they use ancient grains to create a variety of goodies from organic grains such as Kamut and Spelt. Loaves of bread, bagels, sweet treats (we’re partial to the pecan date ring!) are leavened with naturally cultivated yeasts and baked in a brick oven heated with local tamarack wood. Flour is ground on-site with a stone mill. The starter that was originally created at the bakery in 2002 is still used today. Every ingredient is carefully selected from Celtic-style sea salt to local honey produced on alfalfa or clover blossoms.

Fridays and Saturdays summer evenings are when locals and tourists alike gather at the farm-based bakery for the famous wood-fired pizza! Unable to decide, we ordered and half-and-half selection of The Bavarian (Manitoba made Farmer’s sausage, homemade sauerkraut, garlic, and cheese) and The Mediterranean (hard-boiled egg slices, tomatoes, and olives). Always a sucker for the classics, Carl, who had come along for the ride, got a whole Pepperoni pizza for himself. While we waited, we strolled through the garden, drank homemade mint tea, and tried to stay out of spitting distance of the llamas (the sheep were much less intimidating to pet!).When our name was called, we grabbed a blanket and created a picnic area on the grass to watch the sunset. The spelt crust was crispy with a slightly nutty taste, the sauerkraut was fresh and tangy, and the medley of flavours tasted vibrant and fresh in the crisp evening air.

Though we didn’t have any leftover pizza to take home with us, we ended carrying an heirloom tomato, a bunch of fresh mint, and a bouquet of beautiful flowers to our car. Summer evenings don’t get much better than that.