For those of you shaking off effects of yesterday nights celebrations, you more than likely have a vague recollection Canada demonstrated its prowess in hockey, our Olympians fighting their way to the finals and winning gold medals in both the Women's and Men's events.

Having watched a number of the events during the Vancouver Olympic Games, including both final hockey games, I have to highlight history was made. 2010 saw Canada break two records: most gold medals earned by a hosting nation and most gold medals earned by any country in a Winter Olympics. It brought a smile to my face to hear our national anthem played so often. It brought a tear to my eye when an entire stadium of people sang along with Sidney Crosby, who scored the gold medal-winning goal during sudden death overtime.

Please note, I am not a hockey fan. I am more interested in how concession food is made than hockey itself, but Sunday afternoon, like much of North America, I stopped to watch the Canada vs. US game. I watched the last major event of the games live, streamed though the Internet by CTV and Bell, while reading tweets on twitter. I even bet on the game.

Like our Prime Minister's spokesman, Dimitry Soudas, who mad a bet with White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, I accepted a blog challenge by the blogger (@kalofagus) behind Kalofagus.ca: Greek Food & Beyond. Soudas and Gibbs bet briefings, wearing opposing team's jerseys. It would later be reported President Barack Obama bet Prime Minister Harper beer. I bet a front page blog post.

Kalofagas (Feb 28, 03:15 PM)
who's up for the hockey challenge? Canada wins, you wear/blog Canada apparel, US wins....Cdns. wear /blog US apparel if we lose?

foodiePrint (Feb 28, 03:20 PM)
@kalofagas I'm in! Go Canada Go!!!!!!!

Several food bloggers likewise accepted.

Both men's hockey teams played spectacularly well, tying the game at the close of the 3rd period and forcing an overtime one. It was epic. In the end, Canada won.

Even though I am not required to blog, here is something for my fellow American bloggers who accepted @kalofagus' challenge. Jenn and I are not sure how available Canadian Olympic-wear is across the border, so we took this picture.

Save for the beaver toque, Hudson's Bay-issued (HBC) Official Olympic-Wear
Feel free to post the image on your blogs to make good on the bet. Click here for a link to Flickr.

By the way, Jenn (dressed as she was in the picture), some neighbours, and I ventured out as Canada erupted in celebration. As we walked through our neighbourhood, we heard cheering and honking well into the start of the closing ceremonies.

foodiePrints (Feb 28, 07:50 PM) Re: cheering on Wellington Street (#Ottawa), this may have had something to do with it http://flic.kr/p/7Gx65q cc @robvogt @kalofagas

Still, foodiePrints is a food blog, so this entry requires a food component. Here is the celebratory meal, Jenn and I ate as we watched the closing ceremonies:

Stewed Beef Rice Noodles in Broth with Yu Choy

My Bowl After Adding some Sriracha
Not poutine, but made by proud Canadians!

Update: Here is a picture of front page headlines from two newspapers, one from Friday (after the Women's Hockey Final) and one from today (after the Men's Hockey Final)

Frontpage News: Men's and Women's Hockey Gold Medals

And here are some thoughts during the closing ceremonies:

• New winter Olympic sport: Freestyle Human Hamster Ball Jumping :P [referring to the "Zorbs"]
• Ok...need to point out that moose don't fly in Canada. When fed maple syrup, they do leap great distances though.
• Wonder if the giant beavers can be trained to chase Nickelback off the stage...
• Re female Mountie outfits, they don't exist...Poor gals would freeze!
• Umm...A lot of athletes on the "dance floor" look confused...Canadian ones too!
• They should have prorogued the closing ceremonies after the parade float musical with the hot mounties...

It was however a real pleasure to see Michael J. Fox take to the stage during the ceremonies and the crowd rise to its feet shortly after he introduced himself as Canadian. While many columnists wrote William Shatner warmed our hearts with his "I am Canadian" speech, I firmly believe Fox stole them.

Sometime before Christmas, Jenn and I picked up a package from our local post office, a parcel wrapped in parchment paper and tied with butcher cord. Instantly, we knew it was a book and it came from a professional kitchen. Reading the return address, we realized it was mailed by someone in Ottawa's food industry whom we chat with regularly about food, food trends, and local restaurants, Chef Tracey Black of Epicuria Fine Food and Catering (419 Mackay Street). The book was Earth to Table, a cookbook, journal, and amazing collection of chefs' profiles. It's authors were Chefs Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann.

A month later, I learned Chefs Crump and Schormann were coming to Ottawa to host an event at the Urban Element (424 Parkdale Avenue). Only, the timing of the event was in flux as the executive and pastry chefs respectively were balancing running their restaurant, the Ancaster Old Mill (548 Old Dundas Road), and meeting engagements on their whirlwind book tour, stopping in New York City (cooking at the James Beard House), Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto. Chef Crump is also corporate chef at Spencer's At the Waterfront in Burlington, but more on that later.

Completely forgetting, I received word from twitter Chef Crump (@earth_to_table) was coming into Ottawa within days, so I quickly dropped an e-mail to Urban Element to sign up. Lucky for me, the fully booked event had two last minute cancellations. I eagerly snatched one up, making the Earth to Table event my first non-sponsored event. At $125 (before taxes) per attendee, attending decimated my restaurant budget for a month and a half. It was worth it.

Though, I was surprised by the lack of interest from other attendees to greet and chat with Chefs Crump and Schormann when I arrived. After I hung up my jacket, I noticed only a few attendees gathering around the chefs and authors. Everyone was there for a spectacular meal, each course paired with a fine wine. The ticket price included a short introduction to the chefs, a short presentation by the chefs, cheese and charcuiterie, dinner, and wine.

As co-owner/operator Carley Schelck told me when I passed on the wine pairing, had I warned her earlier, she would have made alternate arrangements for someone who doesn't drink wine. Yes, I am a food enthusiast who has not developed a palate for wine. Such regularly irritates front of house staff at several fine dining restaurants, but I digress.

Here is what we were served:
Hor'deurves

Winter Charcuiterie and Cheese
They were accompanied by cornichons, pickled onions, grainy mustard, and zucchini relish

Appetizer

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Brown Butter
The delicate gnocchi was pan fried in brown butter, sprinkled with Parmesan, and topped with deep fried sage leaves

Entree

Braised Beef Short Rib
The short rib was served with apple parsnip puree and whole roasted heirloom carrots

Impossibly Tender and Flavourful

Shot Ribs Broiled and Kept Warm in an Oven
With Chef Crump having staged at Heston Blumenthal's renowned Fat Duck restaurant, the short rib was braised sous vide at 70°C for 24 hours in a gremolata (green herbs and lemon zest). They were broiled in an oven afterward.

Dessert

Sticky Toffee Pudding
The toffee pudding was served in caramel with a "brandysnap" tuile (which tasted of dark sugars and ginger) and creme fraiche.

It was only after the meal attendees followed my lead and took books to be signed, mine already paged through (showing some wear) and me familiar with Earth to Table.

In the proceeding conversations, Chef Crump told us he is sometimes mistaken for Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and the Omnivore's Dilemma. Alas, flattered, he gently responds he is not Pollan and the famed author penned but a short paragraph after he reviewed the original manuscript. However, Chef Crump admits his book's North American publishing (by Random House in Canada), was more than likely the result of Pollan's blessing the manuscript and it being completed during the rise of of the 100-mile diet. When the 100-mile diet is brought up and he is questioned about whether locavorism is a fad, Chef Crump distances both his book and work from either.

More after the jump...

On January 25, 2010 Ryan Anderson (@ryananderson), web strategist, public relations professional, and founder of Fat Canary Communications, contacted me with a url to an event at Ottawa's Urban Element. Sponsored by the Chicken Farmers of Canada, its guest speaker would be the Ottawa Citizen's (a local newspaper) Food Editor, Ron Eade.

Billed as an "Ottawa Food Blogger Meet-up", I was intrigued, so I signed up. According to its event details, Eade would deliver a keynote about sodium and food writing and there would be a chicken pate cooking demo. All good points.

In the proceeding week, I tweeted the event to local food bloggers on twitter, encouraging everyone to attend. As the date of the event approached, bloggers registered in greater numbers, some I have not come across before. Many I became very excited to finally get the opportunity to meet in person. Others, I had already met and wanted to catch up with. Two of my favourite Ottawa food bloggers confirmed: Rachelle of Rachelle Eats Food and Shari of Whisk Food Blog. Two local chefs who blog confirmed: Chef Tracey Black of Best Tools for Schools: Lunchtime Solutions and Chef Jason Laurin of Sticky Fingers.

To my astonishment, professional writer (sometimes food writer) and legendary parenting blogger, Andrea Tomkins signed up. Hers is the blog many Ottawa bloggers (food or otherwise) measure themselves against, myself included.

Why was this such a big deal? Ottawa's food blogging community, as Anderson and I discussed during the latter part of the event, is large for such a small city. I have enumerated 52 blogs alone. Many of us know of one another. We read each others' work. We comment on each others' blogs. We debate points of contention on the Ottawa Foodies forum. But, we have few get togethers. By contrast, Toronto's foodie community, with its much larger complement of food bloggers, is more organized and has almost weekly get togethers.

As for the event itself, with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Chicken Run on the Canadian Food Network and Food Inc. having had its run in theaters, I expected the Chicken Farmers of Canada event to outline the checks and balances employed by the 2800 farmers the organization represents to produce "quality" chicken, humanely and safely. If you visit either the Chicken Farmers of Canada website or blog, you will find the organization has dual mandates, being responsible to farmers and being responsible to consumers. On the one hand, Chicken Farmers of Canada produces policies its industry follows. On the other, the organization lobbies government to ensure the interests of farmers are represented in agricultural policy and trade decisions. The Chicken Farmers of Canada blog's tag-line is to explain how Canadian chicken goes from farm to plate. The event's tag-line was to get "more Canadians back into the kitchen and pass(ing) on healthy cooking skills to the next generation." Attach to that, Eade's intention to talk about salt in food and food writing and we should have had a pair of very passionate talks and some lively discussion.

Instead, we glimpsed at a chicken farmer, whom I wanted to hear much more from. Eade gave an informative talk about food blogging, raising some thoughtful points about the state of food. We watched Urban Element's resident chef, Candace Butler, make a chicken liver pate and fellow bloggers got to meet each other. It made for a somewhat confusing, but very enjoyable experience.

Resident Chef, Candice Butler

Sous Chef, Line Leblanc
Regarding the chicken liver pate, Chefs Butler and Leblanc prepared several batches beforehand for sampling after Eade's keynote.

Three Flavours of Pate
Sherry Chicken Liver Pate with Pic Bois Maple Vinegar, Bourbon and Rosemary Chicken Liver Pate with "a bit of duck", and Brandy Chicken Liver Pate with Hall's apple and Thyme.

When we arrived, trays of appetizers, made by Sous Chef Line Leblanc were served, only two of which included chicken.

Sundried tomato strata with C'est Bon Goat Cheese

Caramelized onion and pear tarts with Bleu Benedictine

Mini chicken pot pies

An individual mini chicken pot pie

In-house pork rillete with Rochon farm zucchini relish

Chicken dumpling with peanut sauce

Cod cake

Pulled pork with smoked tomato jam

Afterward, Anderson called the event to order, explaining the Chicken Farmers of Canada organized the event to essentially build familiarity with people. In our case, people who are passionate and openly write about food in Ottawa. Apparently, their entire web strategy is being revisited from rebuilding the website from scratch to using social media for richer outreach. Then Eade was introduced.

Food Editor Ron Eade

Here are takeaways from Eade's talk on food blogging:

• Time is the most valuable resource in our hectic lives.
• With distractions like the World Wide Web (referred to as the "Internet"), Specialty Channels like the Food Network, Newspapers, and Magazines, blog readership is precious and must be nurtured.
• Those who read our blogs are choosing our content over others.
• While newspapers try to be everything to everyone, blogs are more focused, a medium unlike traditional media.

Here are Eade's suggestions for cultivating a lasting audience:

• Keep your blog fresh by updating it regularly, preferably every second day
• Do not let your blog go silent
• Add a personal spin so your reader can identify with you, the blogger
• Keep your content entertaining
• Don't bury content, making it difficult to access (Eade dislikes "more" or "read more" links)
• Add value such as photos, videos, and links

Here are takeaways from Eade's talk on food, besides the fact that processed foods harbour an unnecessary amount of salt.

• Traditional print media is guilty of "dumbing down" recipes, simplifying them to a very granular state, effectively suppressing any ability to develop culinary skills (something we have taken issue with at foodiePrints)
• With people dependent on granular recipes, they have lost the ability to be flexible in the kitchen.
• We have become a "nation of non-cooks", making it a strange dichotomy that cook books and fancy kitchen equipment sell surprisingly well in a poor economy.
• It maybe a deliberate effort by food producers to disconnect people from food sources, encouraging waste and objectifying animals as cuts of meat

Eade concluded his talk by encouraging food bloggers to espouse how simple it is to make ready-made foods be they frozen or canned from scratch. One suggestion from another blogger is to start dinner parties earlier with guests in the kitchen, participating in finishing dishes.

So, good company from local food bloggers, good hors-d'oeuvres (complementary of the Chicken Farmers of Canada), and food for thought. I think it an evening well spent.

Links to blog entries on the event from fellow food bloggers:

• Rachelle Eats Food blog (always a pleasure Rachelle)
• Unique Culinary Experiences (Urban Element's in-house blog)
• Eaten Up and Humanyms (great to meet you Pearl)
• Eva's Food World (a blogger at the event I must have missed)
• Sheltered Girl Meets World (great to finally meet you Katy and Dima too)
• Lemon Kitchen (great to meet you Tracey)

Update: This entry has been cross posted on Ottawa Tonite.

Particulars:
Urban Element
424 Parkdale Avenue
(613)722-0885

I am afraid this blog entry is going to be another linker to a piece I wrote for Ottawa Tonite, a great online community that aims to promote arts and culture in Ottawa. For those of you who do no know, we at foodiePrints are members of Ottawa Tonite's team of volunteer bloggers.

When I realized that the piece I was drafting about the premiere of W-Network's Caroline & Dave involved more than food, television and showcasing an innovative restaurant idea in Ottawa, I decided to post it to Ottawa Tonite.

Here is a screen capture for posterity:

Zen Kitchen foodiePrint on Ottawa Tonite

I had great fun at the sponsored premiere, organized by Ian Capstick (@iancapstick) of MediaStyle. He arranged for both traditional and new media to attend the event, local food bloggers.

Here are links to other write-ups on the Caroline and Dave premiere from other food bloggers who attended:

• "The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave" by "J" of It Ain't Meat Babe
• The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave by Jessica of Nooschi (@nooschi)
• "The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave (and the amazing ZenKitchen)" by Rachelle of Rachelle Eats Food

It was an absolute pleasure to meet each blogger. As Jessica points out in her piece, while perfect strangers, it felt like we were already familiar with each other.

In preparation for the event, I discovered that I know far too little about vegetarian cuisine, let alone vegan. With the Adventures of Caroline & Dave culminating in Ottawa's first fine food vegan restaurant called Zen Kitchen, I asked the food community on Twitter for noted tomes to add to my collection. The response was tremendous. A chef (Chef Victoria Elsberry), food bloggers (Leela of SheShimmers and Sarah of What Smells So Good?), and Ottawa residents (@themagicfridge, @refashionista, @smart_spaces and @snobiwan) chimed in.

There were 3 mentions of Mollie Katzen (@MollieKatzen) and the Moosewood Series of cook books. One particular cook book was listed, Vegetable Dishes I can't Live Without.

There were 2 mentions of Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Vegan With a Vengeance: 125 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free, Logo-Free Recipes That Rock and Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.

There were two mentions of Deborah Madison. One particular cook book was listed, Greens Cookbook.

Other mentioned must-have Vegetarian/Vegan cook books:

• The Complete Vegan Cookbook: Over 200 Tantalizing Recipes Plus Plenty of Kitchen Wisdom for Beginners and Experienced Cooks by Susann Geiskopf-Hadler
• The New Laurel's Kitchen by Laurel Robertson et al.
• The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas
• The Essential Vegetarian by Diana Shaw
• Fresh at Home by Ruth Brown
• Weight Watchers Versatile Vegetarian

Other mentioned noted cook book authors:

• Martha Rose Shulman
• Madhur Jaffrey

From the tweets I received, it looks like I have some searching to do in new and used book stores.

Speaking of cook books, at the Caroline & Dave premiere, I met Michael Bhardwaj of CBC Radio 1, host of In Town and Out. He will be airing regular segments, reviewing cook books. To Bhardwaj, I look forward to the reviews. Please say hi to Amrita Singh for me. And, can you ask the publishers when they will pursue Chef Ishii (Caroline of Caroline & Dave) of Zen Kitchen for a cook book?

With Christmas but 3 short weeks away, I find weekends quickly fill with events to attend from pot luck dinners to Christmas Parties, everyone getting themselves into the festive spirit. This past Saturday, foodiePrints' blogging team went to two parties, finishing the evening at the Canvas Resto-Bar on Holland Avenue. The first, was Ian Capstick and Shawn Dearn's MediaStyle Holiday Party. The second, the CycleLogik Christmas Art Show.

For those unfamiliar with CycleLogik, it is primarily a bicycle shop (self-described as Ottawa's "premier bicycle and multi-sport boutique"), but it doubles as a fine coffee shop and local art gallery. 2009 is its second year, organizing an art show.

CycleLogik

Second Annual Art Show

While Jenn and I only stayed long enough to chat with Chef Jason Laurin of Essence Catering, take pictures of his amazing food, and discover that the Andrea Sutton pencil work of Jim Henson's Swedish Chef was purchased, we had a lot of fun.

Pencil Work of the Swedish Chef by Andrea Sutton

The crowd CycleLogik drew together was electric (to borrow a heavily overused but apt term), everyone chatting, laughing, and admiring and discussing the many pieces of great art work on display.

Electric Crowd

Great Local Works

CycleLogik may be powered by fair trade caffeine in an Italian tradition, but its art show was powered by great music, mixed by a fine DJ, Mr//Greg.

Mr//Greg

As for who bought the Swedish Chef piece, that would be, triathlete in training and food blogger, Chef Laurin.

Chef Laurin
Warm and enthusiastic, he was fun to talk with, even as the boys behind the bar mis-adjusted the keg of Beau's Beer and showered him in Lug-Tread.

Proudly reloading trays for us to sample, here is what he served that evening:

Grilled 5 Spice Egg Plant with Dens Miso and Limoncello Pearls

Close-Up
The egg plant had a strong soy umami flavour that was reminiscent of an oyster sauce. The limoncello pearls were flourishes of sour and another texture.


A tray of innovative maki and nigiri.

Aji Amarillo Marinated Shrimp on Causa Roll with Avocado

Seared Salmon on Nigiri with Fermented Black Bean Jam
Only trying the nigiri, I was amazed by how carefully seared the salmon was. While I found the rice bed a little too densely formed, I enjoyed the take on classic sushi.


Pork Belly Confit with Maple BBQ Sauce Frosting
Not trying a block of pork belly confit was a sad oversight. It looked great.


Kumquat Screwdriver with Blood Orange Gel and Campari Pearls
This was a surprise, a hollowed out kumquat with a thin gel and more liqueur-based pearls. The sweet and citrus gel mixed with the Campari in what was essentially a bowl made of zest. Definitely refreshing, I encouraged two people looking skeptically at me to try.


Marshmallows taken to another level...
The red ones were a morello cherry marshmallow with port, sundried cherry, and smoked oreo. The white ones, coconut marshmallow with pina colada mousse, pineapple, and white chocolate powder. These marshmallows were easily the taste of the evening, the marshmallows tasting worlds better than storebought, each with a signature flavour. The coconut marshmallow was salted, so with the pineapple, it reminded me of salted caramel only tart.

His were dishes that borrowed from both classical cuisine and more modern techniques, some molecular. Personally, I think the heavily experienced chef was showing off that night; merely flexing his culinary muscles and orchestrating eating experiences to match the creativity of the art around him.

We look forward to seeing more of him and his dishes.

Particulars:
CycleLogik
1111A Wellington Street
(613) 722-2345

Essence Catering
430 Parkdale Avenue
(613) 850-4776

Canvas Restaurant
65 Holland Avenue
(613) 729-1991