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.

Accordingly, the 100-mile diet, while thought provoking, is extreme to the philosophies founding his book and the dishes he and Chef Schormann serve at the the Old Mill restaurant. First and foremost, he admits they are foodies, not environmentalists. In fact, Earth to Table was originally titled "A Year's Relationship Between a Restaurant and a Farm." It is a culmination of documenting a journey he, his chefs, and his cooks had, striving to learn where food comes from. The goal: finding the best possible ingredients. It is why Chef Crump advocates eating responsibly and as sustainably as possible. He refuses to forgo ingredients like fair trade coffee, vanilla, olives and olive oil, rice, white truffles, and buffalo mozzarella, a sampling of "10 things worth the food miles."

As we were served our appetizers, he and Chef Schormann, both correcting each other at times, explained why buying locally and seasonally is advantageous. For Chef Crump, he was indoctrinated at the beginning of his career. Despite completing a political science undergraduate degree, he found he was at home in the kitchen and worked at legendary Chef Alice Waters' Chez Panisse. She effectively hard wires her staff to cook locally. But, local and seasonal food comes with more benefits than lowering one's carbon footprint. You support local business. You often get the opportunity to meet the producers, some of whom have even more stringent standards than anyone certified organic.

Chef Crump advocates shopping at farmers' markets and buying whole meat and poultry from co-ops. He and Chef Schormann practice what they preach, engineering a culinary ecosystem that embraces nose to tail eating. For instance, they purchase 30 whole heads of cattle per year, which produces approximately 800 lbs of ground beef. The beef is sent to Spencer's At the Waterfront. Beneath Spencer's, Chefs Crump and Chris Haworth (formerly of the Old Mill and once a stagiere for Marco Pierre White) opened The Bite. The Bite serves gourmet burgers, fries and ice cream, a re-visioned Milestones, only with really good grub.

My favourite chapters in Earth to Table include seasonal coping strategies those of us in a Northern climate can employ. Our growing season is short. Farmers can only extend it so much with poly-tunnels. We spend half the year battling snow and ice. When produce is in season, practice age-old methods of canning and preserving. Make fruit into jam, preserves, or leather. Pickle vegetables. With respect to meat, fish, and poultry, think charcuiterie come winter. Chef Crump even pointed out that the easiest way to extend a season is look to your refrigerator and consider freezing some of the summer and fall bounty.

As for how to start eating more responsibly, Chefs Crump and Schormann suggest following in their foot steps, choose one ingredient, and move on from there. For the Old Mill restaurant, they started with chicken.

Needless to say, Earth to Table is a good buy and makes a great gift (Amazon and Chapters/Indigo).

Update: Fellow Ottawa food blogger Heather (@aftertheharvest) interviewed Chefs Crump and Schormann before the even. Click here to read her interview.

Also, I neglected to mention I sat with Jennifer Heagle and Jo-Ann Laverty, owners of Red Apron (571 Gladstone Avenue), at Urban Element's dining table.

Red Apron Business Card
I found them great to talk with even though our conversation was at times heated. It was especially so when the conversation turned to newer cooking techniques like sous-vide, which is becoming mainstream.

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

Ancaster Old Mill
548 Old Dundas Road
Ancaster, Ontario
(905)648-1827

Spencer's At the Waterfront
1340 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, Ontario
(905)633-7494

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