Photo: Joshua M. Bernstein.

Joshua M. Bernstein, Gourmet.com's beer columnist, has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, ForbesTraveler.com and the New York Times.

It takes a strong man to wear pink. It takes an even stronger man to heft a frothy pint of pink beer, like the rare-burger-hued Rosée d'Hibiscus, from the genre-busting Canadian brewers at Dieu du Ciel! ("god of the sky").

Since 1998, these mad fermentationists have crafted head-scratching, tummy-pleasing beers like the Equinoxe du Printemps, a strong Scotch ale made with maple syrup, and the Clef des Champs, a floral rye ale flavored with heather and mugwort. Naturally, there was no way that Dieu du Ciel would make a conventional wheat beer.

One day, head brewer Jean-François Gravel was watching a TV documentary on western Africa, which included a discussion of bissap -- a tea made from an infusion of hibiscus flowers and sugar. Gravel re-created the drink at home, realizing the flower's floral profile and acidity would complement a tangy blanche (a wheat bear).

One of the most popular faces of the Canadian Food Network scene is Ricardo Larrivée -- a wonderfully flamboyant Montreal native who whips up unending piles of deliciousness. While promoting his new book "Meals for Every Occasion," Tourisme Montreal chatted with him about the notable foodie destinations in the French-Canadian city.

Of course, the first things on the docket were the classic smoked meat and poutine. While he stuck to the roots of the curds and gravy grandeur by stressing the pleasure of simple fry stands, Larrivée also made sure to mention the succulent wonder of Au Pied du Cochon's foie gras poutine. (If you follow Anthony Bourdain's show, you definitely know what we're talking about.) From there, he mentions foods and destinations such as the excellent local brew, Blanche de Chambly, French feasting at Restaurant Julien and Jean-Talon Market -- which Larrivée says is the largest open market in North America.

Anyone else ready for a road trip?

Dole has issued a recall on cartons of cantaloupes in the Eastern US and Quebec, Canada, after discovering the fruit tested positive for salmonella. Approximately 6000 cartons of the Costa Rican-grown fruit were distributed to wholesalers between the dates of February 5th though 8th, though no reports of illness have yet come in.

Though I don't know how this will help those that bought individual cantaloupes, the cartons they were packaged in were dark brown with red lettering and have a 13-digit number on them with the tenth digit of 2. If you think you may have purchased some, you can contact the store where you got them, or Dole directly at 1-800-232-8888.

Though a salmonella infection can be fatal, the most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting.

I am always looking for alternative sweeteners to my standby, pure cane sugar. I really love the taste of maple syrup and jumped up and down in my chair when I just heard about Equinox Organic Maple Flakes with a teaspoon having half the calories of a teaspoon of sugar. Made in Quebec, Canada; Equinox Organic Maple Flakes are 100% pure, kosher, organic maple syrup that has been freeze dried at an extremely low temperature and made into small flakes. It dissolves fast, is sweet, and adds that great maple flavor as well. Suggestions for use are on pancakes, waffles, French toast; as well as in coffee, tea or hot chocolate. anywhere you would use sugar you can use maple flakes. Also they are great to use in a maple glaze for salmon or chicken, or you could just sprinkle them on top of fish and poultry, along with some other spices, and broil, for a quick and easy maple coated dish.

Equinox Maple Flakes come in regular maple and cranberry maple flavors in 4 oz. containers, and they also have an attractive Maple Flake Mill, pre-filled with 2.5 oz. of flakes so you can grind the flakes into a fine powder in the kitchen or at the table. So if you feel like a little luxury and a boost of maple taste try these maple flakes.They sound good to me. They are just launching in the United States and are available at Food Emporium in New York. As I find out any more info I will update this post.

Canada does not have a country-wide organic certification system - not yet, anyway. Organic farming and ranching is an almost $1 billion dollar industry in the country, but currently, the farmers cannot seek certification from a central source. Some are certified by the US Department of Agriculture, which would be required for export to the US anyway, and farms in Quebec and British Colombia are regulated by rules put in place by the individual provinces.

A new system would allow for a "Canada Organic" label, increasing awareness of the farmers nationally and internationally and the country has been working on developing a standard set of guidelines and regulations since 2004. Recently, the process was sped up to meet a deadline set by the EU that would prohibit uncertified organics from trade after December 31st. Such a ban could cost Canada millions of dollars, so after much deliberation, a draft of the new rules was published on September 2. It will be up for discussion and revision for 75 days, at which point it will become law.

A Canadian study showed a link between beer drinking and an increased risk of lung cancer. Non-beer drinkers had no increased risk, while wine drinkers actually had a decreased risk of lung cancer. The researchers, who did their work in the province of Quebec, obtained "very good smoking information on subjects, so [they] were able to filter out cigarette smoking [as a cause]."

The problems with the study as it is presented are twofold. The first is that the researchers noticed that wine drinkers had a healthier diet than beer drinkers, something other studies have shown. Diet could play a large role in overall health, including the likelihood of developing cancer.

The second problem is that even if the beer drinkers who smoked cigarettes were accounted for, they did not account for the amount of second-hand smoke that the drinkers might have been exposed to. Quebec does not have a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, though one may take effect as early as May 31st, 2006, and beer tends to be a more popular drink than wine in bars and nightclubs. All subjects would have to be exposed to the exact same amount of smoke for conclusive evidence that it was the beer alone that raised their risk.