Bocuse d'Or: Fundraising for Team Canada 2019

Two Sundays ago, I was fortunate enough to attend (and have backstage access to) a fundraising dinner for Canada's 2019 Bocuse d'Or representative: Trevor Ritchie.

Bocuse Fundraiser Dessert (Tropical Tart)

A good friend of mine was recently selected to represent Canada at the 2019 Bocuse d'Or. Megan has promised to write a little more about this competition, so I'll leave out the details here. Let's just say it's a pretty big deal.

With the beginning of his journey as a candidate, the fundraising has begun, and I was happy to suggest that the first venue for a dinner be in Mississauga. As someone who lives in the west end I am always a little disappointed with the lack of fine dining options available. To me, this was a great opportunity to bring some of the talent from Toronto kitchens out to Mississauga. It was nice to hear from our guests last Sunday that they really enjoyed this unique experience. I only wish that we would see a greater demand for these kind of events. Everyone that comes usually says this is great, we should do it more often. Personally, I'd love to see more options and events of this caliber in the city. Unfortunately, without a growing demand that's just not going to happen.

In addition to suggesting the venue, I was responsible for that evening's dessert (recipes below). I know these ingredients are not local, and I've been trying to use more local ingredients -- unfortunately the seabuckthorn berries that I bought for the farm haven't come in yet and it probably won't bear fruit (not enough for a 70+ person dinner anyway) for a couple of years. So this time I stuck with a few of my go-to flavours: passion fruit, mango and coconut. 

A Black Forest (Birthday) Cake

Not too long ago, Royce and I were talking with my mum about food (no kidding eh?) and mum "casually" mentioned that for a time she had really liked black forest cake.

The Best Healthy-ish Candy Bar Ever

This bar is a mish-mash of a couple recipes from one of my many idols/internet crushes: My New Roots. It's healthy in the way that most things are healthy. In the end its healthy-ness is dependent on how much you eat and also what your specific nutrition requirements are. This is not something I'll pretend to know anything about. I know some people avoid fat, while some avoid sugars, and others avoid carbs in general. This bar has these things. But it's made with nice, whole, unprocessed foods. No refined sugars. Also plant-based and gluten free if that's your deal. All in all, it's a really great alternative to those sugar-loaded, ultra-processed candy bars that are so delicious and yet so horrible.

Canis: the restaurant I don't really want to tell you about

Duck for two at Canis.

I don't really want to tell you about my meal at Canis. Royce convinced me to do it, but that doesn't mean that I want to.
But please, allow me to explain. It's not that I'm hoarding, trying to keep a good restaurant all to myself. The logic isn't lost on me that the better a restaurant does the longer it will be around. And furthermore, I'm a planner. If something is worth it, I have no qualms making the effort required to reserve a dinner advance.

My resistance to share is driven by a fear that is deeply rooted in a marriage between superstition and paranoia. It's something that's developed, nay festered, over the years.

Noma: A Retrospective

 

 Reindeer moss and chocolate-covered, fermented cep mushroom at Noma.

Since making the trip to Noma last July, one of the questions we have been asked the most has been: Was it worth it?

The short answer: yes, it was amazing!

Here, I wanted to share a few of my notes on the long answer...