It was billed as the “ultimate” food show, so naturally we made a beeline for the EAT! Fraser Valley at the Tradex last weekend.
Intrepid foodie readers will remember from the inaugural Green & Tasty column last week, that this new feature in your community newspaper is devoted to the discovery and the merits of fresh, locally produced food.
It might be like a vicarious odyssey in print for those who dream of trying the 100-mile diet.
Interestingly, what we found at the show on Sunday afternoon, amid the exhibits, the tastings, the celebrity chefs and the demonstrations, was an undeniable, growing emphasis on sustainable, local and organic food.
Upon arrival at the hangar-like Tradex building in Abbotsford, our little group, with Bravo restaurant co-owner Louie de Jaeger and Bravo chef Jared McCunn, headed for an aperitif at the Wine, Beer & Spirits tasting area before checking out the Taste of the Valley restaurant pavilion.
We stopped by the Mission Springs Brewing Co. booth for small glasses of their mildly hoppy ale, strong stout, and muscled India Pale Ale. We were even game enough to test out their version of a layered black-and-tan. Then it we hit upon a unique palate-cleansing Belgian Lambic, being poured by Bravo Beer Co. host Leanne Skrenka.
We sampled the flavours of the tasting pavilion in a rush, trying everything we could throw tickets at. Blustone was giving out sliders but they ran out before we got there. We spooned up some fairly tasty lemon-pepper beef tortellini from Paliotti’s, some creamy roasted red pepper and crab soup by Ravens, and later a Chipotle Pulled Pork Sandwich tempted us from Grillz BBQ House. Our favourite in the end was the simple and delicately crispy crab cake from Waterstone Grill.
But it was the tactile sensations of the Amaze Your Tastebuds presentation by sommelier David McIlwraith in the Grapes & Hops Presentation area that wowed us. The plastic glasses were less than half-full and ined up in row at each place setting.
First a sip of tea. “Taste the astringency?” McIlwraith asked the crowd. Next we squeeze some lemon into it and it’s even dryer on the tongue, just like the tannins in a dry red wine.
What a neat idea, we all agreed, to replicate what a good wine might taste like by adding the individual taste components one by one.
There was a touch of honey to balance the tart tannins, and then a splash of water to change the viscosity, and some wood-distilled water with a hint of vanilla for the oak barrel flavour. Ah, that’s the stuff. The last addition to the mix was some dreaded vinegar. Eww. “That’s a taste to avoid,” he said.
Unusual yet strangely appealing was the verdict on the Totally Organic vodka cooler that had no carbonation.
Another highlight was watching celebrity chef Bob Blumer, host of Surreal Gourmet, make a pizza with corn, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes with a corn meal crust on the BBQ. He followed that up with an even cuter parlour trick. Blumer asked someone to come up from the audience who considered himself “an aficionado of Alpha-Getti” for a mini cook-off. He went about making a super-fast fresh tomato pasta in less time it took the youngster to get the canned mess of overcooked pasta heated up. Oh, yeah.
It was quite something to watch the quirky chef of toaster-mobile fame run an entire fresh tomato through a grater, only to be left with just the empty skin in his hand.
Next year we’ll be back. The first ever EAT! Fraser Valley offered ample food for thought.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
