Stratford, ON
September 20, 2013
Tonight marked the start of the Savour Stratford Culinary Festival and the opening night was brought to you by the chefs and students from Fanshawe College. They served cuisine keeping in mind the Festival's theme for this year..."globally inspired, locally grown".
In her opinion:
Tonight was a good appetizer to what lies ahead. After checking in with the Siren Group at Stratford Tourism, Edgar and I headed down to Veterans Drive and the Fanshawe College kick off! The chefs and students prepared little bites keeping in mind the theme of globally inspired, locally grown.
We tried something from each global offering. After all the sampling, I will say that my favourites were the Jamaican, Canadian and Latin American offerings.
The Jamaican "BBQ'd jerked pork spare ribs with pineapple gastrique" were absolutely delicious. The flavours were perfection.
The Canadian offering of "bacon and waffle with bourbon and vanilla cream" was pure comfort. Truly delectable.
Finally, I absolutely loved the Latin American offering of "Mexican spiced pulled beef soft taco with lime yogurt and chili glaze". The flavour of the pulled beef was excellent and the lime yogurt provided the right amount of sourness to balance out all the flavours.
I can't wait for the rest of the weekend and what delicious fare awaits. Take the drive to Stratford and enjoy!
In his opinion:
Kicking off this year's Savour Stratford was the Fanshawe College Tent where most of the fun was happening. The rest of the fun was happening at the Beer Tent, which oddly enough took a while to get going, maybe because bad weather was looming.
In the tasting tent you could find food from around the world and that's how the tasting stations were set up. Tastes of Europe, India, Vietnam, Latin America, Jamaica and Canada were the highlighted ones. Each with a specialized dish that symbolized their ethnic group. They fed the masses quickly and well.
I enjoyed all the stations but if I had to pick a clear winner it would have to be the Jamaican, that served "BBQ'd Pork Spare Ribs with Pineapple Gastrique". The ribs were outstanding and the jerk spice was just perfect. The Canadian tasting came a close second with their "Bacon and Waffle with Maple Syrup & Bourbon Vanilla Cream". From that description I should not need to add anything but I will add that as I cut through the waffle, the maple syrup just poured through the indented squares filling every bite with that sweet nectar of the gods.
We topped the night with some cotton candy. This was a deliciously sweet treat that was as good at giving us flashbacks to our youth as it as was good at turning our teeth blue. Great indulgence, nevertheless.
The beer tent was also along the river and wasn't very populated early on. I'm sure the weather didn't help but surely the thirsty ones made their way to that spot later on. Vikram Vij was spot on in his appearances and bringing joy to those that attended. This opening night promises to be a good preview of what's to come for the weekend. Get going already...there is so much to experience at Savour Stratford...See you there!
With the cutting of this ribbon the festival is opened...don't miss out...visit Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival.
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