Thoughts: Stormy Weather for the Food Industry?

It's an interesting time to be writing around the periphery of the food world. The industry, and its legion army of amateur and professional personalities, reviewers, thought-provokers, and unflappable Instagrammers have been receiving a lot of press lately.  And at least from the mainstream side of things, little of it is flattering. Take your pick: the Reviewercard tempest-in-a-teapot (if nothing else came out of the brouhaha, I now know who John Birdsall, who wrote the story behind the latter link, is, and plan to follow his writing, because he makes me smile); subtler reminders that not everyone enjoys others' flash photography during their dinner out; or perhaps this wickedly pointed and yet often on-point post about unspoken thoughts and the food industry. (In regards to this last piece, while we're in accord about elevated cuisine and $16 mac & cheese, I will defend to the pain that cabbage rolls, depicted in their Thought 16 as an example of "not every cuisine deserves to be celebrated," certainly do deserve celebration. And afternoons dedicated to making nothing but with laughter, family, and new and old friends.)

All of this feels, to misquote the newest Selena Kyle, a little like the moments before a storm.

Here's hoping that I'm wrong; still, it feels like there's a few changes on our horizon. How we Tweet and talk about food is changing; hopefully for the better, the more respectful. (Standing on chairs to get a shot of your appetizer really is a little over-the-top.) But for all of that, I quietly advocate that there's still space for all of these odd, wonderful personalities.

After all, KW's food community was the first to welcome me; in particular with my golden ticket at Nick & Nat's Iron Chef competition. In that evening, I gained a new voice and met folks who I admire, respect, and whose lives have intertwined with mine in different ways ever since. I was a little dumbstruck as I took the guest judge's chair - "I can't talk about food; not really," I told the dark-haired woman sitting beside me, gesturing slightly to the man two seats over, "that's Andrew Coppolino, for heaven's sake."  I'd been in town for only a couple of months, but Andrew's Waterloo Region Eats was one of the first local sites I found, and I referred to it  (and continue to) as a map of the region; ideas, recommendations, and things not to miss. She smiled, distracted me with pointing out a chef's dexterous maneuver  rolling and slicing gnocchi with impossible ease, and got me talking; Anna Contini, Foodlink's project coordinator and local food advocate, is a good person to have in your corner.  Susan Cook-Scheerer of Rogers TV Cable 20's daytime (who I would meet again, later, through my work) rounded out the evening's judges. She and Andrew welcomed me to the community, as Anna introduced me, and while they all approached food from different ways of thinking, (and, perhaps, in a more cynical space, could have looked down their nose at this starry-eyed twenty-something with wild hair and wilder metaphors) their welcome was genuine and their thoughts (on the food, on the night itself, on the community and connecting with it) each added something different to the event.

I've a weakness for symbolism - after all, look: here is the neophyte, the established food writer and personality, the media, the community benefit organization. Four judges, four different stakeholders. The thread dancing through this recollection is that there can be a place in the food industry for everyone with an interest in or connection to it. It worked, that evening; it can work on a larger scale with the right steps forward. Whether part of the traditional or independent media structures, advocate or grower, newcomer or steeped in the history and knowledge of a place/art/style, our insights and experiences, when collected, can't help but make our community stronger.

Pie-in-the-sky optimism? Perhaps. But here's to food, wine, and moments of shared wonder, even so.

Crosspost: "A Little Birdie Told Me"

While guest judging at the first Iron Chef Uptown of the year, I had the fantastic luck to meet up with one of Foodlink's representatives. Over delicious scallops and apple martinis, she asked if I might guest-blog for Foodlink's Local Dish blog sometime.

Rendered completely giddy and floored by the offer (and a little intimidated), I puzzled over what to write - until the idea of talking about the connections between social media and gastronomic events like Iron Chef Uptown came to mind. Upon moving to KW, it blew me away how many folks in the food and service industry used tools like Twitter to keep up with each other and the various events in the region. Not only that, how welcoming they were to newcomers like myself.

That said, the pun about "a little birdie" in the blog post's title is both terrible and transparent, but then, I've always had a weakness for awful puns. (As for why this was posted on my own blog so belatedly? Summer is terribly distracting. ^^;;)

Article @ Foodlink's Local Dish.

I hope you read on and enjoy; thoughts are always welcome!

Event: Nick&Nat's Iron Chef Uptown Competition

Guest judging at the first of Nick & Nat's Iron Chef Uptown competitions for the season is shaping up to be one of my favorite KW memories. It had everything: fun hosts, great setting - must make it back to Nick & Nat's for their food soon! - amazing people, tasty food... And it was all for a good cause (raising money for the local food bank and for Foodlink, a local organization that, among other things, connects farmers with restauranteurs and other businesses.)

There was an incredible sense of energy and enthusiasm that bounced off every corner of the restaurant as two-man teams from Waterloo's Bauer Kitchen and Morriston's Enver's incorporated maple sap, maple woodchips, maple candy, and maple syrup into two innovative and delicious dinner menus. In under an hour.

Considering that it takes me about an hour to create a simple meal, my eyes widened in wonder as I watched the chefs shape gnocchi and slice apples into impossibly thin segments. The knife skill and control displayed by both teams was (while perhaps not surprising) almost mesmerizing. Scoring perch fillets and mincing maple candies seemed as easy as breathing.

This is one of my favorite photos from the night, even though nearly everything in it is blurry. It captures the speed with which the teams were moving and a little bit of the concentration and dedication that the Enver's team brought to the kitchen.

Here, gnocchi is being sliced into bite-sized pieces, before being combined with brussels sprouts, parmesan, bacon (?), maple syrup, spices, and mushrooms. Comfort food at its finest. (I admit now that I can't remember all of the ingredients or elements to the dishes, but I'll do my best to recall them.)

I was very, very happy to discover this morning that Enver's has gnocchi on their regular menu; there was a world of difference between what I tried at the judges' table and the plastic-wrapped insta-pasta that I usually pick up from the grocery store. (I may have used a metaphor involving the Sun and "that poor discounted planet, Pluto" to describe the difference between insta-pasta and Enver's pasta during my judge's review. On a mike. In front of the entire restaurant. But I think I made the chefs smile, so...)

More calmness-within-the-storm displayed as Mike from the Bauer Kitchen rolls out the pastry for their apple-maple-cinnamon tarte tatin.

Part of me thinks that when I upgrade to a DSLR camera one day, and almost all of my pictures turn out fully in focus, I might miss shots like this, where the subject's body is a blur but you can sense his concentration. I know I've looked at a blank sheet of paper or Word document with a similar expression: where will you take me? And, sometimes: why aren't you there yet?

Soon enough, "Welcome To The Jungle" was blaring over the loudspeakers, signaling the last five minutes of the competition. If possible, the chefs moved even faster.

Pouring, plating, decorating... to create the dishes below.

The Bauer Kitchen's first dish was a spring greens salad highlighted most memorably by warm goat cheese medallions and spicy-sweet maple candied pecans. The salad was one of my favorites, and, were I given a jar of the pecans, they would be gone in short order. Great, zippy vinaigrette, and one of the prettiest dishes, plating-wise.

Enver's first plate was a perch filet over a sweet potato (and/or squash? eep...) and bacon hash. I believe the fish was smoked with maple chips, and it was an unconventional choice that stood up well to the sweet-savoury hash. I really liked the orange orbital plating detail. I forget what it was composed of, but it was tasty.

Bauer Kitchen's maple-smoked scallops... mmm. Perfect texture and great flavour. The toffee-esque circles of caramelized maple sugar they're sitting upon were worth the work to get some off of the plate (eating it was similar to a good caramel apple; you feel your jaws stick together but you don't care.)

This stack by Enver's was one of the most innovative. Plated on spinach drizzled with a great white wine (and maple?) vinaigrette was a piece of garlic-rubbed bread topped with the Cyprian cheese halloumi (which I've only ever seen before served in a skillet with some olive oil and lemon - this was a great twist!) I'm not certain if the judges knew decisively whether the meat was proscuitto, duck, or duck proscuitto, and while I lean towards at least some duckish element, it complimented the mild cheese and zip of the salad. The green-onion-looking garnish is a garlicky frond of "ramps," or wild leeks! I've seen these growing wild along the Iron Horse Trail, and always wondered what they were...

TBK's pork chop with fingerling potatoes was massive and beautifully tender. No cardboard pork here! I liked the thyme incorporated into the potatoes, and the mild smoke notes in every bite of pork. Very satisfying. I didn't get a very good angle on the maple squash puree underneath, but it was a lovely compliment.

Gnocchi, gnocchi, gnocchi! I blame M for getting me hooked on these tasty, doughy dumplings in the first place - Enver's made my favorite plate of them to date. Complex and comforting... if you're ever puzzled as to what to do with brussels sprouts, may I recommend this?

The tarte tatin rounded out The Bauer Kitchen's menu. Sweet with a great mixture of cinnamon and vanilla bean from the ice cream, this dessert was all about tastes and textures, from the caramelized pastry to the smooth ice cream. We judges were in accord that the apples were "just right" in texture.

Baked, smoked ricotta ravioli may sound like an odd choice for dessert, but teetering over and served with a maple pecan and fresh apple hash, the smoky flavour of the ricotta played off of the sweet maple ridiculously well. It may have broken my brain in the first couple of bites, but this was my other favorite of the night.

And now (understandably) I'm off to find some food. Writing this post has definitely whetted my appetite!