LUCIDMEDIA

Slow Food and Good Advice at Brickworks Picnic

Written by Catherine Kustanczy Wednesday, 07 October 2009 12:36

Neither rain nor wind could dampen the spirits of the thousands of people who showed up at the Don Valley Brickworks for the third annual Brickworks Picnic on Sunday, October 4th. Hungry, culinary adventurous Torontonians queued up for delicacies done with a distinctly local touch. The locavore market was especially well represented with producers, chefs and wineries from across Southern Ontario taking part. The yearly foodie event is a benefit for Evergreen and Slow Food Toronto, both of which have been instrumental in raising awareness of food issues and in developing interest throughout the city for foodie culture.

Evergreen is a not-for-profit organization that aims to improve the livability of cities. They work for what they term “community naturalization,” helping to revitalize communities through a combination of education and creative resource management. The organization was crucial behind the revitalization of the Brickworks into a year-round destination for experiencing what is described on their website as “Nature, Culture, and Community.”

The mission of Slow Food Toronto is complementary to that of Evergreen in that there is a strong focus on the twin aspects of community-building and education. Theirs is a multi-layered, frequently hands-on approach to awareness through education and experience. The organization, founded by Arlene Stein and Paul DeCampo, aims to build local sustainable food economies, ensure the integrity of biodiversity within local agriculture systems, as well as create communities that involve producers, chef and consumers, and perhaps most interestingly, “reconnect people with the pleasure of good food.”

This reconnection was in full display during the Picnic, as lines formed around particular tables offering delicacies like the tasty, luxuriously gamey Fricassee of Guinea Fowl (courtesy of Everspring Farms and The Healthy Butcher) and the moist, rich Matchbox Garden Carrot Cake (courtesy of Matchbox Gardens and Amuse Bouche), the latter complete with edible bachelor buttons as garnish. Well-known Canadian Chef Jamie Kennedy was paired with Hope Eco Farms, dolling out delicious bean pakoras with zingy toppings: roasted pureed eggplant, & tomato raita. Even with spicing, each topping nicely retained its flavoursome vegetable character.

The pakoras themselves were utterly greaseless, and a tribute to textural awareness in food: crunchy on the outside like a fritter, they were moist, flavourful, and mealy on the inside. It was a challenge to eat just one, frankly. Kennedy was one of the first chefs to start the trend toward sourcing and using local products in professional kitchens, and his prominent place, clearly visible to entrants, was a sign of support for chefs who source locally. The Alymer –based Hope Eco Farms was also paired All the Best Fine Foods for a wonderful, Philippine-inspired vegetarian crepe. Ruth Klahsen, the head of Monforte Dairy (which Kennedy uses in his restaurants), was present as well, busily doling out her delectable cheeses as part of the Ontario Cheese Society’s table.

Beverages were also well represented with coffee, tea, wine, and beer makers present. But forget Tim Horton’s or Molson’s; purveyors and producers of each one not only took the time to talk to their patrons about how their product was grown, some even encouraged active participation in the consumption process. At Merchants of Green Coffee, attendees were given a thorough education in the production, harvesting, and subsequent roasting of coffee beans –sometimes directly, by shaking a pan of beans over a gas range. The resulting coffee –thick, rich, and flavourful –was watered down according to taste, and adding cream (located handily nearby) was discouraged. Coffee beans, one learned, have just as much of a terroir character as wine, vegetables, and many other foods, and the essential character of the coffee and its place of origin changes drastically with the addition of other ingredients. Think of adding a sugar cube to a glass of wine –not exactly what the maker intended.

Wine was especially present, with several happy attendees gladly making their way through several pie-eyed, hungry gawkers, clearly overwhelmed by the offerings. With recyclable paper plates in one hand, wine glass (real glass, no less) in the other, those with a nose for good wines were spoiled for choice. Well-known Ontario wineries, including Flat Rock Cellars, Malivoire, Frog Pond, Rosehall, and Cave Springs proffered their delicious varietals, happy to do pairings for the foods being served nearby. Reds at most tables were suitably warming blends of merlot, cabernet franc, and pinot noir grapes, while whites were usually crispy chardonnay or smooth rieslings.

With the wind and rain beyond the Brickworks’ environs whipping fiercely through the open space, many found themselves lining up for a delicious hot cup of Oiko tea, where the difference between PG Tips and true Orange Pekoe was gently, patiently explained as consumers took the lids off of tiny jars of loose teas and sniffed the fragrant contents within. The tea, brewed fresh with stovetop-boiled water and served via enormous, samovar-like porcelain teapots into fine bone china mugs, was a gorgeous, welcome reprieve from the cold and damp that started to pervade some areas of the Brickworks during the afternoon’s activities.

Since such a large part of the picnic is devoted to education, it seemed only fitting to have authors who share the ethos of Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen. Bettina Schormann and Jeff Crump, the chef-couple behind the new book Earth To Table: Seasonal Stories From A Restaurant And Local Farms (Random House), were present to offer tips, meet fans, and sign autographs of their recently published book. Crump, an Executive Chef and one of the pioneers of the Slow Food movement, trained at the Stratford Chefs School years ago.

As the annual Savour Stratford Festival becomes more entrenched in Southern Ontario foodie culture (the second Savour Stratford took place recently), it would seem that Perth County is taking its place alongside its better-known Toronto and Prince Edward county cousins. Fred Desmartines, a Stratford-area producer known for his Tamworth pigs, provided the pork used in many of the dishes being served at the Picnic. Angelo Bean used his pork for a gorgeous, warming kale potato soup, while Pingue used his gorgeous, buttery, paper-thin prosciutto, wrapped carefully around olive-oil infused breadstsicks. Local Kitchen also used DesMartines’ pork for their Mexican-inspired dish, which was consistent with a culinary theme at this year’s Picnic: dishes of Latin and South American origin. A number of chefs offered tasty, unusual dishes with a Latin flavour, including The Drake Hotel, Sabrosito, Surki’s, Torito, and Veritas, who partnered with Pilar Cabreras Arroyo. Surki’s Argentinian empanadas were a particular treat, with the succulent rich taste of Scotch Mountain’s sweetbreads nicely contrasting with the flaky, buttery empanada crust.

Overall, the Brickworks Picnic is an important, vital affair for the city of Toronto, because it spreads the power of food – its production, preparation, and consumption – over several different, if vital, hands; as opposed to consumers dictating price, taste and look. There are producers at the Picnic willing to educate people in the finer points of growing and harvesting, creating awareness, support, education, and even empowerment to make wiser food choices as well.

The Picnic is also a wonderful showcase of the incredible diversity and range of foods on offer in Ontario. You won’t come away from such an event looking at the “organically grown in California” label quite the same ever again. You also won’t leave hungry. You will, however, leave with a whole new appreciation of the intricate relationships between producers, suppliers, growers, chefs –and you. Perhaps the nicest part? You’ll make a load of new foodie friends.