Sumptuous Slow Food Gala

Swag!

Put on by Slow Food Edmonton, the Slow Food Gala took place at Prairie Bistro at The Enjoy Centre on Saturday, May 5th, bringing together the best chefs in Edmonton to work together to create a spectacular 8-course meal.

Chefs were tasked with making courses that highlighted a local ingredient, and each course was paired with either wine or beer.

Although the courses are too numerous to detail, some of the highlights of the evening included the amuse bouche by Chef Shaun Hicks of Prairie Bistro. It was an incredibly fresh and juicy tasting Gull Valley Heirloom Tomato Salad wit rosehip, local honey and cold pressed and incredibly flavorful Mighty Trio canola oil vinaigrette. The hums also enjoyed the Feeb course by Chef Brad Lazarenko of Culina and Chef Brad Smoliak of Kitchen, who collaborated to create a slightly sweet and extremely tender Pine Terra Organic Grass-fed Feeb Tartare with Mighty Trio Canola Oil, Cheesiry pecorino served on crispy Treestone Bakery baguette. Lastly the highlight of the evening for the hums was the Great Plains Bison course by Chefs Blair Lebsack, Nigel Webber and Allan Suddaby of NAIT Culinary Arts. The First Nature Farms Great Plains Bison was incredibly tender and beautifully medium rare, served with a heavenly Head to Tail potato and wild onion puree, wild mushrooms, and a very light Saskatoon wine gastrique that perfectly complimented the meat.

Amuse Bouche

Overall the food was incredibly successful, and ending it with an old-fashioned marshmallow roast right at the table was a fun way to finish off. The company at our table was great as we were seated at a table with two Jennifer’s and two very entertaining couples, who spent the evening telling us tales of their Iron Chef like competitions and their Guitar Hero band!

Although the evening was a bit long for our taste, over five hours by the time the entire meal was complete and there were some serious technical issues in regards to audio visual – including not being able to hear much of the evening’s programs or see anything on the TV screens as the night wore on and the space became darker and darker, the evening was overall a success. Congratulations to the organizing committee and to participating chefs for your wonderful creations!

For a chef's take on the event, you can read Chef Paul Shufelt's Edmonton Sun article.

More photos at PhotoBucket.




Menu

Breads
Chefs Chad Moss and Jeffrey Johnson

Amuse Bouche
Chef Shaun Hicks with Prairie Bistro
Gull Valley Heirloom Tomato Salad, rosehip, local honey and cold pressed Mighty Trio canola oil vinaigrette

Feeb
Chef Brad Lazarenko, Culina
Chef Brad Smoliak, Kitchen
Pine Terra Organic Grass-fed Feeb Tartare, Mighty Trio canola oil, Cheesiry pecorino, Treestone Bakery baguette
2010 Riesling Ex Nihilo Vineyards (Okanagan Valley)

Grains and Pulses
Chef Paul Shufelt, Chef Tony Le, Lux Steakhouse
Gold Forest Grains Spelt Spaetzli, foraged morels, prosciutto, great northern bean confit, spring pea puree
Green Envy, Birds & Bees Organic Wine Farm and Meadery (Brosseau)

Great Northern Pike
Chef Shane Chatrand, Murietta’s Bar & Grill
Northern Pike and Burnt Sage, fried pemmican and foraged high bush cranberries
The Barb, Barr Estate Winery (Strathcona County)

Pork
Chef Daniel Costa, Chef Ben Chalmers, Corso 32
Tamworth Pork Tortellini, hand-made mortadella, cured pancetta and loin, parmigiano brood and spring chives
Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager (Edmonton)

Vegetables
Chef Nate Box, Elm Café
Vegetables, beet, radish, carrot, pea, onion, tomato
Amber’s Brewing Co. Pepper Berry Lager (Edmonton)

The Great Plains Bison
Chefs Blair Lebsack, Nigel Webber, Allan Suddaby with NAIT Culinary Arts
First Nature Farms Great Plains Bison, Head to Tail potato and wild onion puree, wild mushrooms, Saskatoon wine gastrique
The Other Red, Barr Estate Winery (Strathcona County)

Cheese
Chef Shaun Hicks, Prairie Bistro
Gougeres, cheesiry rustic, happy days chevre, raspberry gelee and rhubarb coulis
Mellow Gold, Birds & Bees Organic Wine Farm and Meadery (Brosseau)

Dessert
Chef Tracy Zizek, Café Du Ville
Chef Will Kotowicz, Duchess Bakeshop
Zuppa Inglese, honeyed Saskatoon berries, goat milk custard, rhubarb and ice wine preserve
Ice Cider, Domaine Pinnacle (Quebec)