On Monday, July 1, 1867—two years and two weeks after Juneteenth took place in the U.S.—the British North America Act united three separate North American colonies: the Province of Canada (which was then divided into Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Together, they formed a single Dominion within the British Empire. For over a century, the holiday was known as Dominion Day—a corollary to the American Fourth of July (notably, in this case, without a war). Now it’s known as Canada Day.
On Saturday, April 17, 1982, Canada gained full constitutional independence from Britain. This day is now known as Equality Day. As the transition to independence was happening, Paul and I and a small group of staff members and friends were preparing to work our fourth weekend at the Deli. If you missed celebrating either occasion, the good news is that you can still swing by the Bakeshop and grab a couple (or a couple dozen) marvelous Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies.
Since Amy Emberling, our longtime co-managing partner of the Bakehouse, is a Canadian who grew up in Sydney, Nova Scotia, we have long had a particular affinity for honoring Canadian traditions. These cookies definitely qualify—Amy has had a lifelong affection for them.
The Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies are small, but they are not an afterthought. They’re actually an important part of Canadian culture. Food writer Rosemary Molloy sums up this sweet and only slightly sticky situation beautifully:
Canada isn’t just Hockey, Maple Syrup and Poutine! Nope it’s also Maple Leaf Cookies. I guess you could call them “Canada’s National Cookie.”
I call them really good. We also call them a July Special at the Bakehouse, which means that they’re for sale every day this month!
The cookies’ history seems to go back to 1892—the same year in which a young Italian immigrant couple with the last name of Disderide arrived in Ann Arbor. A decade later, they built the building that would eventually house the Deli. Around that same time, across the Canadian border, a German immigrant named Charles Doerr began selling homemade biscuits out of his grocery store in what was then called Berlin, Ontario. As word spread, his business grew into the H.C. Doerr Company. One of his early bestsellers was a cookie shaped like a maple leaf and filled with a cream sweetened with Canada’s much-loved maple syrup. During World War I, Doerr changed the company’s name to the more English-sounding Dare. Around the same time, Berlin changed its name to Kitchener. The cookies, though, kept coming out of the oven just as they always had.
The Bakehouse crew describe the Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies like this:
A sweet celebration of maple you’re bound to fall for. Leaf-shaped shortbread cookies made with maple syrup and maple sugar for a double dose of caramelly richness, sandwiched around a filling of maple Swiss buttercream.
Swing by the Bakehouse, hum “O Canada” as you’re getting out of the car, and grab some of these great sandwich cookies soon!
In 1982, Ari Weinzweig, along with his partner Paul Saginaw, founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen with a $20,000 bank loan, a Russian History degree from the University of Michigan, 4 years of experience washing dishes, cooking and managing in restaurant kitchens and chutzpah from his hometown of Chicago. They opened the doors with 2 employees and a small selection of specialty foods and exceptional sandwiches.
Today, Zingerman’s Delicatessen is a nationally renowned food icon and the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has grown to 10 businesses with over 750 employees and over $55 million in annual revenue. Aside from the Delicatessen, these businesses include Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Coffee Company, Creamery, Roadhouse, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Candy Manufactory, Cornman Farms and a Korean restaurant that is scheduled to open in 2016. No two businesses in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are alike but they all share the same Vision and Guiding Principles and deliver “The Zingerman’s Experience” with passion and commitment.
Besides being the Co-Founding Partner and being actively engaged in some aspect of the day-to-day operations and governance of nearly every business in the Zingerman’s Community, Ari Weinzweig is also a prolific writer. His most recent publications are the first 4 of his 6 book series Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading Series: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business (Part 1), Being a Better Leader (Part 2), Managing Ourselves (Part 3) and the newly-released Part 4, The Power of Beliefs in Business. Earlier books include the Zingerman’s Guides to Giving Great Service, Better Bacon, Good Eating, Good Olive Oil, Good Vinegar and Good Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Ari regularly travels across the country (and world) on behalf of ZingTrain, teaching organizations and businesses about Zingerman’s approach to business. He is a sought-after Keynote speaker, having delivered keynotes for Inc. 500, Microsoft Expo Spring Conference, Great Game of Business Gathering of Games, Positive Business Conference at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the American Cheese Society. Most recently, Ari and Paul Saginaw were invited to address an audience of 50,000 for the University of Michigan 2015 Spring Commencement.
One of Zingerman’s Guiding Principles is being an active part of the community and in 1988, Zingerman’s was instrumental in the founding of Food Gatherers, a food rescue program that delivers over 5 million pounds of food each year to the hungry residents of Washtenaw county. Every year Zingerman’s donates 10% of its previous years profits to local community organizations and non-profits. Ari has served on the board of The Ark, the longest continuously operating folk music venue in America.
Over the decades, the Zingerman’s founding partners have consistently been the recipients of public recognition from a variety of diverse organizations. In April 1995, Ari and Paul were awarded the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County’s first Humanitarian Award. In 2006, Ari was recognized as one of the “Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America” by the James Beard Foundation. In 2007, Ari and Paul were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bon Appetit magazine for their work in the food industry. Ari was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Cheese Society in 2014. And Ari’s book, Building a Great Business was on Inc. magazine’s list of Best Books for Business Leaders.
Notwithstanding the awards, being engaged on a daily basis in the work of 10 businesses and 21 partners, writing books on business and in-depth articles on food for the Zingerman’s newsletter, Ari finds time to be a voracious reader. He acquires and reads more books than he can find room for. Ari might soon find himself the owner of the largest collection of Anarchist books in Ann Arbor outside the Labadie collection at the University of Michigan library!
