The 2010 Feast of Fields will be held at Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township, Ontario, on September 12.
The 2009 Feast of Fields was an idyllic multi-course gourmet picnic. Held at Kortright Centre for Conservation in Woodbridge, Ontario (10 minutes NW of Toronto), the culinary event attracted enthusiastic chefs, winemakers, brewers, organic farmers, bakers and foodies.
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| Organic vegetables from Kestrel Farms. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Warm breezes carried aromas of grilled beef, lamb and roast suckling pig, while Sonica Organica entertained with background music. Open-sided tents shaded food and drink stands. Couples, families and groups of friends strolled between tents to admire, discuss and taste the culinary bounty of Ontario.
Natural and organic food
The colourful painter's palette of organic vegetables on the Kestrel Farms table typified the freshness and diversity of local organic produce—tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, squash, leeks, carrots, onions, radishes, cucumbers and salad greens.
But Feast of Fields features much more than vegetables. The part-educational, part-social celebration of organic foods, healthy sustainable living and environmentally friendly local foods also showcases organic meat, dairy products, olive oil, bread, honey and wine.
Organic meats
Black Creek Historic Brewery Restaurant chef, Maria Honeychurch, served delicious local (Peterborough, Ontario) bison burgers, with pesto mayonnaise, onion ragout and Woolwich goat cheese. Accompanying golden sweet potato and red beet chips were addictive. Another crowd-pleaser was the spit-roasted suckling pig, basted with maple syrup and beer, prepared by Cucci Ristoranti, in Oakville.
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| ACE Bakery bread. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Feast of Fields participants eagerly noshed on pork, apple and stilton sausages, served by The Butchers, which sells organic and naturally raised meats from Ontario farmers.
"I love this event, because it supports farmers," noted Christopher Ennew, executive chef at Ste. Anne's Spa in Grafton, Ontario. "We chefs can be as creative as we want, but we couldn't do it without such incredible raw materials."
Organic raw honey
ACE Bakery featured organic breads in its appetizing display of rolls and loaves, studded with sunflower seeds, olives, cranberries and whole grains.
At the Louianna Estates stand, certified organic first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil enhanced bread and tomatoes.
Honey bees buzzed in a glass-enclosed honeycomb at the Pioneer Brand Honey & Nuts stand. We discussed environmental hazards to honey bees and causes of colony collapse disorder with Andre Flys, as he arranged jars of wildflower and buckwheat honey, next to beeswax candles and lip balm.
Environmentally friendly food
No plastic plates polluted the environment at Feast of Fields. Instead, chefs served food on edible dishes. Chef Christopher Ennew marinated Field Gate Organics beef in olive oil and garlic, grilled it over an open fire and served slices on a chick pea almond cracker with Ontario corn relish.
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| Belworth House squash soup in apple cup and triple apple cake on maple leaf plates. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
We sipped squash soup with apple chutney, toasted squash seeds and maple syrup from matsu apple bowls. "We're featuring apples from Norfolk County," said Chef Tracy Winkworth, as she served the soup from a big pumpkin bowl. It was carved with the letter B, standing for the Belworth House restaurant in Waterford, Ontario.
Equally delicious was her moist triple apple cake, served on green maple leaf plates. "It's made with matsu apples, ginger golds and dried apples," she explained. "The variety of apples varies, depending on what's in season."
Local food
Chef Tracy also served appetizer-size portions of a popular main dish on the Belworth House menu—mouth-watering sweet Thai chili perch, in a light tempura batter on crispy wonton plates. "Belworth House is close to Port Dover, so we get the fish from Lake Erie," she said.
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| Hockley Valley Resort gravlax of Ted's organic Arctic char with local goat cheese creme fraiche on organic buckwheat and locally-grown corn blini. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
The soup, fish and dessert were perfect examples of how eating locally is not only delicious, but also environmentally friendly, saving fossil fuels used for transportation. According to the authors of The 110 Mile Diet, the average grocery item travels 2,400 kilometres between the farmer and the consumer's table.
Other Feast of Fields chefs also used eco-friendly "dishes." Hockley Valley Resort chefs topped locally grown corn blini and tasty gravlax of Ted's organic Arctic char with local goat cheese crème fraiche and chopped chives.
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| Daniel's of Nobleton fire roasted rainbow trout with grilled corn and heirloom tomato salsa on spinach leaf and bread slice. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Bread and rolls were also used as environmentally conscious serving plates. Daniel Gilbert, chef at Daniel's of Nobleton, served delectable fire-roasted rainbow trout with grilled corn and tomato salsa on spinach leaf adorned bread slices.
Chef Jason Bangerter, at Auberge du Pommier, served a foie gras mousse with peach and lavender compote on fire-toasted house brioche. Decorated with edible flowers, it looked appetizing and was lip-smacking delicious.
PEI-based Michael Smith, known for his Food Network shows, and Sodexo Canada chefs drew rave reviews for their grilled Beretta Organic Farms spiced lamb burgers.
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| Auberge du Pommier fire-toasted house brioche with peach and lavender compote, foie gras mousse and edible flowers. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Served on ACE Bakery organic harvest grain mini-kaisers, they were topped with minty caramelized Ontario apple, apricot and cranberry chutney and Fifth Town Bedda Fedda (goat's milk feta).
Organic wine
Nearly two dozen wineries, breweries and dairies offered beverages to accompany the culinary creations of 40 Greater Toronto area chefs.
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| Great Lakes Brewery Pumpkin Ale |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Heike Koch and Jens Gemmrich, from Frogpond Farm, a Niagara certified organic winery, offered us samples of their best-selling Cabernet Merlot. "We use no synthetic fertilizers or chemicals on the grapes for our organic wine," said Heike.
John Bowden, from Great Lakes Brewery in Etobicoke, Ontario, filled our glasses with Pumpkin Ale. "It tastes like liquid pumpkin pie in a glass," he said. "We brew it with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and real pumpkin, grown by a farmer near London. It's only available for six to seven weeks every fall."
Just as popular as the wine and beer stands, on this hot Feast of Fields day, were the Nimbus water coolers dispensing pure filtered water.
Organic dairy products
A favourite dessert, every year at Feast of Fields, is the organic ice cream. We have tasty memories of the organic ginger ice cream cones served by Mapleton Organic Dairy, from Moorefield, Ontario. Their other creamy flavours (green tea, spicy Sri Lankan chai, Madagascar vanilla, cappuccino and maple chunk) were so tempting we returned for seconds.
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| Langdon Hall Elvis ice cream made with bananas, peanut butter and candied bacon. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
More memorable organic dairy products included Harmony Organic Dairy's delicious chocolate milk. Samples of Glencolton Farm's ice-cold milk brought back memories of the healthy milk that we, and generations of our families enjoyed, as we grew up on our southwestern Ontario farms.
Chef Jonathan Gushue, executive chef at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario, won our votes for his imaginative and delicious Elvis ice cream. Made with bananas, peanut butter and candied bacon, he scooped it from an ice enclosed container into ice cream cones.
Fair trade coffee beans
Other desserts also beckoned, including the peach coffeecake with bourbon glaze, from Wanda's Pie in the Sky. Wanda Beaver served the yummy dessert on environmentally friendly wafer plates.
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| Wanda Beaver holds peach coffee cake with bourbon glaze on wafer serving plates. Wanda's Pie in the Sky. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
The diversity of Feast of Fields participants amazed us. We met organic farmers, butchers, bakers, chefs and restaurant-owners, winemakers, craft beer brewers, fair trade green coffee, tea and chocolate merchants, heirloom seed distributors, herbalists, organic sprout growers and green electricity providers. Each person gave us valuable, practical information.
To learn more about organic cocoa and coffee and certified fair trade products, we visited Susy Alvarez and Kevin Walters at Alternative Grounds. The company roasts and distributes fair trade coffee in Toronto.
Famous chefs
Feast of Fields unites people who eat and prepare organic foods and drinks with people who produce them. The organic food festival began in 1989, when Toronto chefs, Jamie Kennedy and Michael Stadtlander, formed a group called Knives & Forks — Advocates for Organic Agriculture, to link chefs with organic farmers.
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| Alternative Grounds organic fair trade cocoa and coffee beans. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
"We have a great organization behind us," says chairman, Daniel Gilbert, "and many dedicated volunteers." Organic Advocates, the non-profit organization that hosts Feast of Fields and supports organic food awareness, donates a portion of ticket sales to promote organic agriculture and education.
Recipients have included FoodShare Toronto, The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Organic Crop Improvement Association, Canadian Organic Growers, Everdale Farmer Chef Intern Program and, this year, the University of Guelph Organic Agriculture Department.
Feast of Fields location
First held at a farm near Rob Roy, Ontario, the location of Feast of Fields has changed frequently over its 20-year history.
Previous locations included Vineland Estates Winery, Vineland (1990), Cave Spring Estates Winery, Beamsville (1991), Boker Organic Farm, Elmvale (1992), Ignatius Community Farm, Guelph (1993), Kortright Conservation Area, Bolton (1995), Maple Lawn Organic Farm, Schomberg (1998), Albion Hills Conservation Area (2006) and Everdale Organic Farm in Hillsburgh (2007 & 2008).
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| Jamie Kennedy's preserved fruits and vegetables with heritage tomatoes. Feast of Fields. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Home canning
"Feast of Fields is a celebration of local foods with a community of like-minded people," said Jamie Kennedy, as he grilled thick slabs of bacon for sandwiches made with arugula and heirloom tomatoes, grown on his Prince Edward County farm.
Beside his barbecue, Jamie Kennedy displayed Mason jars of preserved corn relish, carrots, beans, pickles, cauliflower, peppers, cherries, peaches and other fruits and vegetables.
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| Emerie Brine distributes award-winning peach and tomato salsa at the Bernardin Feast of Fields stand. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Emerie Brine, at the nearby Bernardin stand, also motivated Feast of Fields visitors to preserve Ontario produce. Besides answering questions about home canning, Emerie gave each guest a jar of peach tomato salsa. "It's the prize-winning salsa from more than 200 entries in a Harrowsmith magazine contest for favourite salsa recipes."
Organic food recipes
Feast of Fields tickets cost $100. With each ticket, we received a wine glass for sampling, a linen napkin and an informative organic cookbook in an eco-friendly cloth bag. (Participants returned glasses and napkins after the 12 to 5 pm event.)
The cookbook contained contact information for more than 100 restaurants, bakeries, caterers, wineries, micro-breweries, organic farms, meat suppliers, dairies, organic partners and non-profit organizations that exhibit at Feast of Fields. Best of all, it included recipes for many of the delicious foods and drinks that we sampled during the culinary festival.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Feast of Fields: www.feastoffields.org
Farm-to-table cookbook: Outstanding in the Field