From garden to glass
Farmers’ fruits star in Harvest Table’s mocktails
Savour Ottawa’s Harvest Table event, now in its third year, has been wildly popular, selling out each of the previous two years, because it’s been a chance to eat the best of the local harvest, prepared by some of the area’s best chefs. This year, you’ll be able to drink it, too.
In addition to local beers and wines served with the seven-course meal, those who opt this year for the more expensive “cream of the crop” tickets will also get to sip one of three non-alcoholic cocktails created for the event, each highlighting a different fruit from Ottawa Farmers’ Market.
“People talk about eating seasonally, but they can also drink seasonally,” says Jeff Taylor, the bartender at D’Arcy McGee’s who has teamed with jam maker Michael Sunderland of michaelsdolce to come up with three sensational nonalcoholic cocktails to be served before the Aug. 18 lunch.
“Just like chefs want to use the freshest, most seasonal ingredients, I think it’s fun to use these things in cocktails.”
The new mocktails are just one element of how the lunch keeps growing in size and scope. In 2011, it was held at the Parkdale Market and, in spite of it being an unseasonably cool day, the event sold out and was raved about by those who attended.
Last year, it moved to Brewer Park and while there were nearly twice as many seats, it sold out again.
This year’s event will be even bigger, with seating for 224 people, up from about 200 chairs in 2012.
“Last year there was a waiting list,” says Jessica Sims, coordinator for the event. “So we wanted to have room for more people this year, but we didn’t want to lose the intimate setting where people can actually sit and chat with the farmers. There will still be one farmer at each table.”
The menu, designed to showcase the best of the local bounty, is even more extensive this year, with products from more than 20 farms, including familiar favourites such as O’Brien beef farm, Pork of Yore and Roots and Shoots, as well as new ones such as Rollway Hops, with products such as pickled hop shoots, and Kricklewood Farms, with the Ottawa area’s first locally grown sunflower oil.
Chefs, each paired with a farmer, will include such talented cooks as Darren Flowers of Brothers Beer Bistro, Justin Faubert of Thyme & Again and Michael Moffatt of Beckta Fine Dining & Wine. The menu will be a surprise, with chefs creating at the last minute with whatever is freshest, but recipes will be available online after the event. Dessert will be courtesy of chefs from the Château Laurier. Each lunch ticket comes with two drink coupons, good for beers from Beyond the Pale or Turtle Island Brewing or wines from Jabulani Vineyard in Richmond or Blue Gypsy fruit wines of Oxford Mills.
The 30 people who snap up the Cream of the Crop tickets will be treated to a guided tour of the market by C’est Bon Cooking, as well as appetizers and mocktails mixed on the spot by Taylor and Sunderland.
“Jeff and I worked together 11 years ago at Vittoria Trattoria,” says Sunderland, who was a pastry chef before starting his jam company three years ago. “I like the idea of infusing the creativity of a professional bartender with me being the fruit confiseur. It’s just a unique way to showcase local ingredients.”
Taylor and Sunderland have shared the recipes for their joint creations with us so that you can make them at home. Each highlights an ingredient available at the market, from Acorn Creek’s rhubarb (now over for the season — Sunderland snapped up the remaining supply for drinks for the event, but he suggests a substitution) to Warner’s Farm sour cherries and apricots, just arrived.
The rhubarb- and cherry-based drinks start with making a cordial, and Taylor and Sunderland say the drinks will be even better if the syrups sit overnight before using. “That will allow the sugar to meld and the dominant flavours to shine,” says Taylor.
Once made, the cordials would be handy to have on hand for stirring up mocktails or cocktails in minutes. “The syrups will last in the fridge for about three weeks,” says Taylor. The apricot-based drink, which they call the Ottawa South Sunrise, only requires stirring in a couple of tablespoons of Sunderland’s newest jam, Apricot Chili, which debuts this week.
Each of the drinks also includes a bit of citrus. “It’s quite amazing that non-alcoholic
‘I like the idea of infusing the creativity of a professional bartender with me being the fruit confiseur. It’s just a unique way to showcase local ingredients.’
MICHAEL SUNDERLAND
Jam maker
drinks can be this delicious,” Sunderland said, though Taylor, the bartender, was quick to add suggestions for adding alcohol. “A bit of booze can make these into killer drinks,” says Taylor.