Everything you always wanted to know about food in the Okanagan
Edmonton author and part-time Naramata resident Jennifer Cockrall-King has written Food Artisans of the Okanagan (TouchWood Editions, $24.95). The book profiles over 125 growers and producers of craft food and drink including chefs, farmers, cheesemakers, butchers, foragers, beekeepers, distillers and craft brewers, in both the Okanagan and Similkamen valleys. Complete with maps, lists of farmers’ markets, shops, farm gate markets and fruit stands, this book will become your indispensable guide to food in this verdant part of the country. It’s marvelous! In bookstores April 5; at 7pm Wednesday, April 13, join Jennifer at Audreys Books for the launch.
anju pop up Anju chefs, from left: Bern Glatz, Kevin Cam (North 53), Ray Oh
North 53 (10240 124 Street, 587-524-5353) invited the boys from Calgary’s Korean tapas house Anju (exec chef Roy Oh and sous Bern Glatz) for a sold-out pop up January 31. Guests were treated to cocktails, inspired bar snacks and four delicious courses featuring sashimi-style salmon with crispy won ton, silky foie gras and Anju’s killer chicken wings. Come back soon!
new chef at share
Chef Geoffrey Caswell-Murphy is the new face behind the stoves at Share (10135 100 Street, 780-426-3636, thewestinedmonton.com/edmonton-restaurant). Chef Caswell-Murphy has cooked in Halifax and Ottawa; most recently Regina where he was a bronze medallist at the 2014 Gold Medal Plates competition. The Westin’s former exec, 2015 Canadian Culinary Champion Ryan O’Flynn, is now in Toronto with the multi-concept restaurant group Oliver & Bonacini, but he’ll be back in the west this spring to open The Guild in Calgary for the group. Oliver & Bonacini comes to Edmonton in 2017 with restaurants in the arena district.
cooking la dolce vita
Learn how to cook like an Italian at Massimo’s Cucina Italiana beside the southside Italian Centre (5012 104A Street). The first class saw Vittorio Colacitti, a 2013 Food Network Top Chef finalist, working with truffles. Expect regular demonstrations and pop-up dinners discussing olive oil, fresh pasta and other constants from the Italian kitchen.
earn by doing with chef vikram vij NAIT Chef in Residence Vikram Vij
Top chef Vikram Vij is the 2016 Hokanson Chef in Residence at NAIT from March 7-11. There’s not much chef Vij hasn’t done in the world of food; he operates restaurants, a food truck and a food production facility, has written two cookbooks and is a television personality and competitor. Yet he remains excited, passionate, down to earth and ready to share what he’s learned with the culinary students.
“I know how these kids feel. When I left India to go to Austria to learn to be a chef I was anxious; am I going to be ok? Am I going to survive?” His advice to young cooks? “Travel, see the world. You are going to work your ass off in the future, so have some fun now. “When we opened Vij’s in 1994 no one knew what we were doing.
I had a vision to introduce people to how diverse Indian food is; so much more than butter chicken. We worked hard and we focused.”
Career highlight for chef Vij? “The honourary degree from UBC. I am very proud of that. It’s an acknowledgement that cuisine is a form of art, not a funky thing you do on the side. It’s a legitimate pursuit.”
have a drink in the winter city This year’s winning Winter City drinks: Noe Cordeiro and daughter Julie with Winter’s Kiss
This is the third year for Winter City Drinks and they keep getting better and better. Points are awarded for taste, how the drink looks and the story, with bonus points for the use of local ingredients. In the non- alcoholic category judges chose the Winter’s Kiss, a sprightly mix of raspberry and apple by Noe Cordeiro; “because every Edmonton back yard has an apple tree and raspberry bushes.” Daughter Julie read a poem about the drink, which charmed this judge utterly. The runner- up was a healthy mocktail made with ginger, turmeric, milk and honey by Agnieszka Wajda-Plytta.
The top cocktail, The Sure Thing by Chuck Elves is a tasty riff on Irish coffee: Alberta Premium Dark Horse, Alvear’s medium sherry, cold brewed coffee and Vitaly Teas Earl Grey tea, topped with salted caramel foam and Jacek chocolate shavings. Second was the Mulled Gold: Alley Kat Scona ale, mulled with warm spices, honey, ginger and a hit of Eau Claire’s Gin Rummy, also by Agnieszka Wajda-Plytta. Delish! The contest is held in the Wedgwood Room at the Mac hosted by Global’s Jennifer Crosby. Congrats to all the drink makers. Visit wintercityedmonton.ca/winter – signature-drink-contest for all the recipes. This year’s winning Winter City drinks: The Sure Thing
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