Get Inspired to Taste Canada

INSPIRED TO TASTE CANADA

EVENT:  Taste Canada Event HBXTasteCanada at Hudson’s Bay Queen Street

                176 Yonge St., 7th floor (Housewares dept)

DATE:     May 12, 19 and 26th, 2016

WHO:     Taste Canada's Renowned Cookbook Authors and Chefs,
                Matt Basile (Lisa Marie, Fidel Gastros),         
                Mairlyn Smith Cookbook author & television personality, 
                Derek Damman (Maison Publique) and writer Chris Johns.

HASHTAG:  #HBxTasteCanada

I attended 2 out of 3 of Taste Canada's events and I am sorry that I missed Mairlyn Smith's session because I heard she was hilarious as I knew she would be.

The events were hosted by Taste Canada's English Language Chair Jennifer MacKenzie who I had the pleasure of meeting on last year's Farm Food Tour.

The event was to showcase some of the recipes in a few of the cookbooks submitted to the Taste Canada Awards which will be held on November 14, 2016.  It is open to the public if you want to purchase tickets.  It is held at the Bay as well.

The shortlist will be announced on September 13th and I hope to see some of these cookbooks on the short list.
Last year they introduced Food Blogger Awards and for the second year I have submitted my Blog for the Award.  I know it's a long shot but you never know if you don't buy a ticket as they say.  Last year the bloggers were also invited to be red carpet correspondents which was really fun and a great way to finally meet some of the other bloggers and cookbook authors.

I attend the first session just for fun since it was my birthday and wanted to have something to do after work.
Matt Basile made his popular Sriracha Maple Syrup Cauliflower and I think there was other stuff but I didn't get a chance to try it.  The first session was a bit more chaotic because I was trying to figure out all the stations for Beer, Wine, Coffee, Godiva chocolate covered strawberries, Flow water and Kale Chips.
By the time I went to the one with Derek Damman I knew where everything was and already tasted a few of the things so I had more time and a better view of Derek's demo of some amazing fresh Wild Garlic (Ramp) pasta with Wild garlic sauce.  Derek wasn't used to the induction stoves and had a bit of a challenge trying to get them to the temperature he wanted and he said he never used the pasta attachment on the Kitchen Aid Machine but that never stops a true Chef even though he was a little flustered by it he still produced the most amazing pasta.  Imagine the freshest pasta with a full flavour of fresh garlic.  Simple but amazing.  He also made potato croquettes that were passed around and they were fantastic too.  I could have eaten a half dozen of those.

There were deals on products from All Clad and lot's of different beverages to try.  After the quick cooking demo the Chefs sat down to sign their cookbooks and meet everyone.

I have all 3 of these cookbooks and I can tell you that they really represent all that is Canada.  Matt's book is wild and decadent with recipes from all over from his food truck travels. Matt likes to go BIG.  Mairlyn Smith is a people person so her cookbook is just that.  A collection of recipes from fellow Home Economists from across Canada and some are healthy and there are Canadian classics like Butter tarts.  Derek and Chris' cookbook is a superb collection of local ingredients from the West coast to the East Coast of Canada and it could be a lovely coffee table book with the photos from their seasick photographer.  For more info on these Cookbook Authors here is their info:

Matt Basile

Thursday, May 12, 2016 

Featuring Matt Basile, author of “Street Food Diaries” 

Twitter: Matt Basile @fidelgastros 

Presented by Penguin Canada @PenguinCanada

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fidel-Gastros/180390048709936

IG: fidelgastros 

Website: fidelgastros.com

Thursday, May 19, 2016 

Featuring Mairlyn Smith, author of “Homegrown” 

Twitter: Mairlyn Smith @MairlynSmith ; also @OntarioHEA

Presented by Whitecap @whitecapbooks

FB:  Mairlyn Smith Author 

IG: MairlynSmith

Website: mairlynsmith.com

Derek Damman

Thursday, May 26, 2016 

Featuring Derek Dammann & Chris Johns, authors of 
“True North”

T: Derek Dammann @maisonpublique 

Chris Johns @chrisandvinegar

Presented by HarperCollins @HarperCollinsCA

FB: https://www.facebook.com/maisonpubliquemtl/?fref=ts

IG: maisonpublique 

Website: maisonpublique.com

http://chrisjohns.tumblr.com/

To find out more info about the Taste Canada Awards:
http://tastecanada.org/awards/

Please follow Taste Canada and these other sponsors on Twitter: 

@TasteCanada

@hudsonsbay

@AllCladCanada

@GODIVA 

@HealthyCrunch

@CraftBeerGlass 

@sawdustcitybeer

@jamieoliver 

Taste Canada at the Bay with Basile, Smith and Damman

Taste Canada is bringing a series of 3 Chef demos to the Hudson's Bay this May.

I will be spending the 1st of this series of cooking demos on my Birthday on May 12th with Chef Owner of the Restaurant Lisa Marie and the Food Truck Fidel Gastros own Matt Basile.  Matt is a fun guy so I know it will be a fun way to spend my birthday.

On May 19th the 2nd in the series is with Home Economist and hilarious television personality Mairlyn Smith. She has a new cookbook out called Homegrown, that she put together with a group of other Home economists.  Mairlyn is a lot of fun and although I am not able to attend this session I know it will be great fun too.

On May 26th Chef Derek Dammann, and Chris Johns owners of Montreal's Maison Publique which is also partially owned by Jamie Oliver.  I have seen Chef Dammann once in Stratford and I am really looking forward to seeing what he has in store for his demo.  His restaurant is very highly regarded and he doesn't often come to Toronto so this will be a great opportunity since I haven't had a chance to go to Montreal yet. Their cookbook is "True North" and I am looking forward to checking it out.

You can register to attend these demos for free but SPACE IS LIMITED so you need to try and get in right away.   Here are the details.

RSVP here:  http://www.thebay.com/registry/events/tastecanada

Hashtag #HBxTasteCanada

Follow:
Matt Basile IG and T @fidelgastros
Mairlyn Smith T @MairlynSmith  IG @MairlynSmith
Derek Dammann T@MaisonPublique
Chris Johns @chrisandvinegar  IG @maisonpublique

Websites:
www.fidelgastros.com
www.mairlynsmith.com
www.maisonpublique.com

Thanks and follow:
@hudsonsbay
@TasteCanada
@AllCladCanada
@GODIVA
@HealthyCrunch
@CraftBeerGlass
@sawdustcitybeer
@jamieoliver

Michelin Star Chef Paul Cunningham brings a bit of Denmark to the Bay

 Chef Paul Cunningham a Michelin Star Chef from the Copenhagen restaurant The Paul,  paid a visit to the Hudson's Bay on Queen Street in Toronto to talk about modern Danish food and his new cookbook Paul Food.  Also stopping in for a quick lesson about Danish desserts was HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.  She was the first to sample the delicious lemon, blueberry meringue dessert that Chef Paul prepared for his demo.  She was only there briefly but had a huge entourage and a whole lot of media people there who were eager to see her.  She was only there for about 10 minutes and after she left it was back to food with Chef Paul.  The Bay welcomed Chef Paul and other Danish designers to feature their Danish Design Obsessed exhibition for 3 weeks in September and October.

Chef Paul is an Essex, England born chef who moved to Denmark and received his Michelin star from 2003-2011 at The Paul restaurant.  He has written seven cookbooks. He is married with 2 children and admitted he suffered from burn out and didn't realize it until it was reflected in his children's eyes and concern for his health.  He has made some lifestyle changes to spend more time with his family.   Being a Michelin star chef takes a toll on your personal life and sometimes health with the constant pressure of living up to the high standards and pursuit of perfection.

After Chefs Pauls dessert demo and a lot of selfies with fellow bloggers we all went down to the Lower Level of the Bay to Foodwares, a personal favourite place of mine where the food always changes and reflects the global world of Toronto. We were treated to some Smorrebrod open face sandwiches and Pork Loin, mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, braised red cabbage and of course some gravy to bring it all together.  Although it was cold by the time I ate it after taking a whole lot of photos.   The food is great but the lighting was a challenge.   I was able to take home some of my favourite desserts of fun and incredible marzipan and coconut macaroon desserts.  Pictured below.

I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch with my fellow bloggers.  I am finding there is a secret club of bloggers that follow each other and know who each other are but have never met in person.  I have been meeting a lot of them lately.  It's great to finally meet them in person instead of just being an instagram or twitter friend.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to pick up one of Chef Paul's cookbooks as I didn't realize there was limited copies available and I wanted to try the food first.

If you are around the Bay go check out the Danish exhibition and try some Danish food at Foodwares in the lower level until October 1st.

HRH Princess Mary was very beautiful and I found that Chef Paul was very approachable, friendly and a lot of fun and his dessert was amazing.