Soupfest got creative in 2021

Since 2002, one bit of relief from the February blahs came in the form of Hamilton’s Soupfest, a fundraising event for Living Rock Ministries (established in 1985). They provide a safe place of community and support for youth at risk with programs that include food, housing, job training and drop-in activities.

Julie Conway, operations director, has been the force behind Soupfest, which grew to fill the Hamilton Convention Centre. Restaurateurs set up creative booths around the hall and local musicians entertained. Attendees purchased tickets that permitted them to taste several soups — and vote for favourites.

Much to the credit of organizers, Soupfest continued in 2021 with creative adaptations. Almost 20 eateries participated by featuring a soup tagged for fundraising, with a portion of all purchases going to support Living Rock projects. The event ran from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15 in the middle of a lockdown so soups were available only for pickup or by delivery. So far, they received $17,000 in sponsorships and expect $4,000 to $6,000 from restaurant contributions.

Twice I had the pleasure of joining the official volunteer tasting panel. Along with lead judge Alex Bielak and food enthusiasts Sid Friedman, Jane Allison and Liem Vu, we were sequestered to do blind tastings of all the soups. There were animated deliberations of ratings in the categories of appearance, aroma, flavour, texture, and seasoning to determine winners — along with the People’s Choice Awards.

A tasting panel did not fit with this year’s delivery model, but two members of the team joined me this year in supporting the cause by purchasing some soups and informally sharing experiences.

Jane Allison has won awards for the work of her organization, Dovetail Community, a firm devoted to counselling, connecting and mentoring organizations about community impact and development. She is a passionate supporter of the food culture in Hamilton.

Allison ordered sweet potato and apple soup from Fore Stagione Golf Bar & Pizzeria.

“You might think that a golf bar in a strip plaza might not be the best choice for a delicious and pleasing soup. You would be wrong … Velvety would be the mouthfeel of the perfectly seasoned soup with crispy pancetta as the delectable addition, and rosemary perfuming the whole enterprise,” she said.

Allison is a big fan of Nellie James, so no surprise that this was her second pick. She said, “You read ‘curried vegetable with red chili pistou and toasted flaxseed crouton’ with excitement and the result was even better than the anticipation. With the addition of a perfect meatball, the soup was a hearty and yet delicately symphony of flavours.”

Respected for a fine palate by his fellow tasting panel judges, Liem Vu is general manager of Lime Ridge/Cadillac Fairview, and a mentor who loves to teach and lead.

“Giving back to the youth of today and helping transform our community for a better tomorrow is what I am passionate about,” he said.

He is also passionate about soup and ordered from four eateries. He described the broccoli cheddar from Kelsey’s as having a creamy texture with chunks of broccoli that paired well with the cheese. The Pacific Rim noodle bowl from State and Main offered up different textures from the vegetables, proteins and noodles, and the wee “kick” from the shrimp was, he says, a nice

Living Rock Ministries and Youth Resource Centre livingrock.ca/soupfest

Burnt Tongue

Soup: Senegalese peanut and yam theburnttongue.com instagram.com/theburnttongue Brux House

Soup: Vegan chana masala bruxhouse.com instagram.com/bruxhouse

Chef Nina’s Creative Kitchen Soup: Canadian winter harvest chefninascreativekitchen.com Instagram: chefninascreativekitchen

Fore Stagione Golf Bar & Pizzeria Soup: Sweet potato and apple forestagione.ca instagram.com/fore.stagione Kelsey’s Road House

Soup: Broccoli cheddar kelseys.ca instagram.com/kelseysroadhouse Maria’s Tortas Jalisco

Soup: Azteca mariastortasjalisco.com Instagram: mariastortasjalisco Mosaic Beer Bar

Soup: Moroccan mosaichamilton.ca instagram.com/mosaichamilton

Nellie James

Soup: Curried red chili pistou nelliejames.com instagram.com/nelliejamesdundas

Paramount

Soup: Lentil paramountfinefoods.com Instagram: paramounthamilton

Red Door Cucina

Soup: Cabbage roll reddoorcucina.com instagram.com/reddoordundas Royal Botanical Gardens

Soup: Spiced pumpkin rbg.ca/dining/rock-garden-cafe instagram.com/rbgcanada State and Main

Soup: Pacific Rim stateandmain.ca instagram.com/stateandmain Stuffed: Team Perogy

Soup: Bacon mushroom teamperogy.ca/order-online instagram.com/teamperogy

Synonym Shop

Soup: Carrot synonymshop.com instagram.com/synonymshop Taylor’s Tea Room

Soup: Red lentil taylorstearoom.com instagram.com/taylorstearoom Thirsty Cactus

Soup: Chicken tortilla thirstycactus.ca Instagram: thirstycactusdundas Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor Soup: Mexican pozole whothehellisuncleray.com instagram.com/realunclerays West Plains Bistro

Soup: Cajun potato westplainsbistro.com instagram.com/westplainsbistro

touch. From Paramount, Vu enjoyed the Mediterranean-influenced Lentil Soup that balanced the velvety texture with crispy pita chips as a garnish. He also had high praise for Burnt Tongue’s mulligatawny.

“Beautiful presentation, fantastic taste, right amount of flavour it is a winner for me,” he said.

As for me, I tried the sopa Azteca from Maria’s Tortas Jalisco, described as a classic tomato-based Mexican soup. It came with garnishes — onion/cilantro mix, Cotija Mexican cheese, Oaxaca Mexican cheese, cream and tortilla chips — that made this look and taste like a gourmet treat. A wee bit of mouth warmth was nicely balanced with the last garnish of fresh avocados.

Synonym grabbed my attention with their carrot coconut cumin cayenne ginger soup. It did not come with the promised garlic crouton garnish so I whipped up my own and added a swirl of cream to balance the cayenne heat.

Synonym was selling three additional soups for Soupfest — wild rice, kimchee and Moroccan.

The winners were announced on Friday, Feb. 10:

Most Creative Soup

2nd Runner up - Stuffed - Team Perogy: Bacon mushroom

1st Runner up - Burnt Tongue: Senegalese peanut and yam

Winner - Thirsty Cactus: Chicken tortilla soup with guacamole, fried tortilla and cheese

Tastiest Heart Smart

2nd Runner up - Nellie James: Curried vegetable with chili

1st Runner up - State & Main: Pacific Rim soup

Winner - Chef Nina: Canadian winter harvest

Best Soup

2nd Runner up - Chef Nina: Canadian winter harvest

1st Runner up - Thirty Cactus: Chicken tortilla

Winner - Stuffed - Team Perogy: Bacon mushroom

Some of the SoupFest participants say they will continue to carry their featured soup for a few weeks.

If not, there are still good food offerings that make it worth supporting these local small businesses. Contact Living Rock directly to support their work.

PHOTOS BY DIANE GALAMBOS Left: The Sopa Azteca from Maria’s Tortas Jalisco had a tomato base with chicken, and delicious garnishes.

Right: The lentil soup from Paramount balanced velvety texture with crispy pita chips – an enjoyable Mediterranean treat.

Soup judge Jane Allison of Dovetail Community, a firm which counsels, connects and mentors organizations about community development.

Julie Conway, operations director of Living Rock Ministries, has been the force behind Soupfest, which grew to fill the Hamilton Convention Centre.

Soup judge Liem Vu is general manager of Lime Ridge/Cadillac Fairview, and a mentor who loves to teach and lead.

Scan this code for more food and restaurant columns by Diane Galambos.

Synonym offered carrot coconut cumin cayenne ginger soup with croutons.

LIEM VU Burnt Tongue’s mulligatawny was a big hit with Soupfest judge Liem Vu.

LIEM VU The Pacific Rim noodle bowl from State and Main offered different textures and a “kick” from the shrimp.

LIEM VU Broccoli cheddar soup from Kelsey’s Road House was creamy with chunks of broccoli and came with a biscuit.