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Monday, December 10, 2012

Taste Canada Food Writing Awards, Nov 5/12

 The Date and Time: Monday, November 5, 2012 4:30PM to 10PM
The Event: Taste Canada -- the food writing awards 2012.
The Venue: Arcadian Court
The Target Audience: media, book authors, cooking industry people.
The Quote/Background: this was a celebration of book awards to cookbook
authors who had published sterling books between Fall 2011 and Fall
2012. There were 73 submissions of culinary publishing. The awards
ceremony usually begins with wine and cheese, followed by the
announcement and presentation, followed by a sampling of great food
from nine or so caterers/restaurants. For more details, check out
www.tastecanada.org/awards
The Wines: Once again, Niagara College Teaching Winery contributed the
wines, both as prizes and as accompaniments to the cheeses and later
foods. Their Merlot 2008 was showing nicely for its age, more round due
to age. The Chardonnay 2011 was an unoaked knockout, brimming with
fruit.
The Awards: For the English language awards, Natalie MacLean's
"Unquenchable" (Doubleday) won for Culinary Narratives, David Rocco's
"Made in Italy" (HarperCollins) won for Regional Cookbook, Julie Van
Rosendaal and Sue Duncan's "Spilling the Beans"(Whitecap) won for
Single-Subject Cookbook, and Michael Smith's "Chef Michael Smith's
Kitchen" (Penguin Canada) won for General Cookbook categories.
The Food: we began with Gay Lea's Ivanhoe Cheese and wine, followed by
ten stations with small plates:
-Beretta Organic Farms (Cynthia Beretta) – squash puree, short ribs,
beet chips, watercress
-Cambridge Mill Restaurant (Bradley Lomanto) – Eramosa heritage pork,
carrot orange kale and goat cheese. MY FAVE OF THE NIGHT.
-Ted Reader – smoked beef brisket, heirloom carrots comfit
-George Brown Chef School (Donna Sanche) – dessert table with scores of
different items, including chocolates. They had a double table.
-Aphrodite Cooks (Vanessa Yeung) – apple-ginger turkey pot sticker
-Kimberley's Own (Kimberley Lugsdin) – gluten-free oatcake, herbed goat
cheese, stewed blueberries, crispy prosciutto AND gluten-free oatcake,
herbed goat cheese, stewed blueberries, salted maple crunch.
-Oliver & Bonacini (Jamie Meireles) – Angus ribeye, fried quail egg,
pimento crisps, chimichurri sauce.
-Rock Lobster Food Co. (Matt Dean Pettit) – spoons of lobster devilled
eggs and Far East lobster (ginger, shallots, microgreens). VERY POPULAR
TONIGHT.
-EPIC Royal York (Amira Becarevic) – sweet potato and roasted corn
chowder with smoked ham hock and cilantro cream.
The Downside: for me, I had just come from a massive Italian wine
tasting.
The Upside: a great place to renew contacts in the food industry.
The Contact Person: debby@mdgassociates.com
The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade):
89.

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