Life has been quite busy with work for the past little while, but I wanted to tell you more about Cornucopia while it is still relatively fresh in my mind. Saturday morning and afternoon I took in two of the many seminars offered. The first one was with Michael Smith, from The Inn Chef and Chef at Large on Canada’s Food Network. The topic was browning techniques, and over the course of an hour and a half Smith not only provided some very valuable information about how to properly make caramel, brown meats, and caramelize onions, but also was quite entertaining in regaling us with quick and funny stories from behind the scenes of his TV shows. My favourite story was one in which he totally forgot all of his professional training and loaded a blender full of a soup he wanted to puree. Of course when he flicked on the switch the blender virtually exploded and sent hot soup flying all over Smith, the kitchen, and even the camera equipment. It took them over an hour to clean up to start shooting again. Smith had to admit a gaffe that took place in our own session, as his instructions to the cooking students helping with the class were taken a little too literally. A standing rib roast wasn’t loosely covered in foil when it came out of the oven, as intended, but was tightly wrapped in foil, keeping in too much heat and overcooking the roast. It was well past the medium-rare he intended, but we still happily devoured slices of it with a caramelized onion-balsamic vinegar condiment, mashed potatoes seasoned with browned butter, and steaming mugs of mulled apple cider.
The second seminar I observed with that of John Ash, culinary director of the Fetzer Winery in California. John’s theme was new twists on traditional foods for the holiday season, and I picked up lots of recipes and tips on doing different things with cauliflower, stuffing and salads, as well as a neat recipe for brining a turkey with maple syrup before roasting it that I’m dying to try. For those recipes and the Michael Smith mulled cider recipe, go back to PacificPalate.com and click on the Recipes/Recommendations link.
The rest of Saturday afternoon was spent relaxing and getting ready for the big winemaker dinner at Araxi restaurant. This Top Table restaurant owned by Jack Evrensel and named after his wife Araxi pulled out all the stops for this dinner. Chefs from all the Top Table restaurants helped out with the meal, which featured wines from Rosemount Estates in Australia and Robert Mondavi wines produced in Australia in a co-operative venture. I was intrigued by one menu item produced by Frank Pabst, new executive chef at the Blue Water Café in Vancouver. He produced ravioli stuffed with snails grown on a farm in Salmon Arm. I asked Frank about the snails and while he couldn’t provide much detail, rest assured I will likely take a trip to Salmon Arm next summer to investigate. Sorry I can’t get there sooner, ha ha. Other highlights of the dinner that night included a thick slice of fragrant pine mushroom atop a delicately-cooked piece of sablefish, and some tender and juicy venison. Our tablemates included food stylist and journalist Nathan Fong, and sushi master Tojo, who along with a couple of Nathan’s friends, kept our table the most lively of the restaurant.
A digital accident (actually human error) erased all the photos I took on Sunday night of a delightful dinner we had at Quattro in Whistler. Our highlights were fantastic duck confit, and a couple of very butter Cuban lobster tails that left us begging for more.
When I got back to Vancouver I received a great email from our CBC Early Edition Cornucopia Contest winner Ann Paulsen, who reported she and her partner Rick had a great time, as you can see from the photos she sent along.
All in all, Cornucopia was a great weekend, kudos to the Tourism Whistler team that put it together and all the restaurant and hotel staff who treated us so well. Don’t forget to check out the photos from Cornucopia on the ‘More Cornucopia’ gallery and others listed to the right of the blog.
