The Week In Yum Aug 2-8 Pan Am Food Fest, Norman Hardy

The groom's ride                                                                                                               Photo:Shack

Our week started off with a bang when we attended a Guyanese Hindu wedding in Brampton on Saturday. Now, I have been to an East Indian Hindu wedding and although it was a three day affair, the actual wedding ceremony only took about an hour and was followed by a dinner and a reception so I assumed this would be similar. At this wedding,  guests were free to leave the ceremony and wander over to the food tent whenever they felt a bit peckish with people lining up to fill their plates with delicious vegetarian dishes, sitting at the tables to eat and then returning to the ceremony. Our tablemates filled us in and told us that this was the hard core Hindu ceremony and it would go on for hours and since there wasn't room for all 1000 guests to eat at once, you were encouraged to get up, stretch your legs and get a snack, go back to the ceremony for a bit, come back for a snack until it's all over and then you go home - my kind of affair.


There was rice, some kind of jackfruit dish that tasted just like chicken,  pumpkin, achar and a mild potato curry with a thin, crepe like bread to scoop it all up with. I was surprised to hear that, despite their Indian heritage,  none of our Guyanese table mates had eaten much actual East Indian food although one of the ladies had eaten butter chicken once and loved it. I couldn't help but wonder what is stopping her from eating it again since she clearly loved it the one time she tried it. I will eat some butter chicken in her honour.


P.S. We went back for seconds.



On Sunday we went to visit family outside of Kingston for the day so we spent Monday enjoying a leisurely drive home via Prince Edward County, which we arrived to by taking the Glennora Ferry. Since it was kind of on the way homeish, we stopped in at the Norman Hardie Winery in Wellington, Ontario. We tried the riesling and the calcaire and, to be honest, neither of them rocked our world. The winery is known for their pinot and their chardonnay but it was still kind of early and I wasn't up to tasting any more wine but will definitely give them a go the next time we visit. What DID rock our world was the pizza they are cranking out downstairs on the lovely patio.


It is worth the drive just for the pizza and the view.

Shack was off working nonstop and The Kid was away at a camp so I was on my own all week, which means a shit ton of popcorn dinners but I did manage to crank out this batch of Jamaican Beef Patty Pops, my entry in the Blend and Extend Appetizer contest. Mushrooms Canada and Ontario Beef have teamed up and they are hosting a friendly little contest amongst the members of the Food Bloggers of Canada. The Kid ate three full sized turnovers and The Neighbour pronounced them the best thing I have ever fed her. The recipe will be up by the end of the weekend.


Pan American Food Festival


Photo from 2013 Carlos Bolivar Photo
Pan American Food Festival is here at last and I plan to spend my weekend there eating Latin American food, dancing and sipping Pisco Sours. The festival is a family friendly, all weekend extravaganza happening at the Daniels Spectrum in the heart of downtown Toronto and apart from a couple of programs, it's absolutely free to attend. 

Photo from 2013 Carlos Bolivar Photo

Of course, I am always excited about the prospect of eating delicious food but I am particularly stoked because this year's featured country is Peru. I will be attending with our good friends, the MVP's (Most Valuable Peruvians) who are ready to go all weekend with me. When we are done eating, we will all take a  Salsa/Bachata dance workshop to burn some calories so we can eat some more.

Photo from 2013 Carlos Bolivar Photo

Highlights, for me, will be the cooking demos by both Norman Van Aken and Peru's Roger Arakaki on Saturday afternoon. I will follow that up with the Totalmente Tamales Competition at 6:30 where 6 chefs representing 6 different countries will go mano a mano to find the Top Tamale.  Your $9 ticket to the event will cover the cost of tasting the 6 tamales so come hungry.


Photo from 2013 Carlos Bolivar Photo

Sunday is also full of food demos with chefs representing Chile, Jamaica, Panama, Brazil and Columbia and on both days there will be a licensed patio hosted by Valdez Restaurant, an Art exhibit and a Pan American Market from noon to 11pm Saturday and until 8pm on Sunday.


Pin of the week: too gorgeous to eat

Instagram of the week: feeling hot hot hot

Facebook share of the week:


Post by Carole Nelson Brown.


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Comments

  1. Krista L.August 9, 2014 at 5:02 PM

    Definitely do try to get back to Norm's for some of the Pinot or Chardonnay - he's doing some very good stuff. The pizza (which I agree is delicious) is great with a glass of one of his reds on a beautiful afternoon. The Hubb at Angeline's and Agrarian are also great options for lunch or dinner if you get out that way again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carole Nelson BrownAugust 12, 2014 at 11:11 AM

    We will definitely be going back and I felt kind of bad about not trying more wines but after the first two, I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to go on. Next time!

    ReplyDelete

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