Weekend festival celebrates all things tea
Event ends with themed dinner
A workshop matching tea to chocolate truffles, a demonstration of a Japanese tea ceremony and a four-course dinner with tea in every dish are some of the highlights of this weekend’s Ottawa Tea Festival.
“The first year, at Ottawa City Hall, we had 600 people come to the festival,” says organizer Kimiko Uriu. “Last year, at the Convention Centre, 1,200 attended, but by this time, in the week before, only about 600 tickets had been sold. This year, already 1,100 tickets have been sold.”
The festival will be held in a larger space at the Convention Centre this year, with performances in a separate room to make more space for tea exhibitors, workshops and bigger crowds.
Among the two dozen exhibitors, new ones include Camellia Sinensis Tea House, from Montreal; Jalam Teas, a new Ottawa online tea club; Maple Valley Tea World, a new tea shop in the ByWard Market Square; and Nutty Greek Bake Shop.
Performances, which are free with admission, will run continuously from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and include everything from Sri Lankan dance and Indian drumming to presentations on how importers have tracked down awardwinning teas.
Workshops, $20 each and limited to 20 people, include tasting a selection of award-winning teas, making matcha, Tea 101 and tea-andtruffle pairing, with four combinations including Moroccan mint tea with fresh mintleaf chocolates and chai with peppercorn-and-mango chocolates.
“The warm tea really helps melt the chocolate and bring out the flavours,” says Céline Levo of Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut, who will put on the tea-and-truffle workshop with Uriu.
You must register in advance for workshops.
A four-course dinner, to be held at Lapointe Fish Restaurant in the ByWard Market on Sunday, Nov. 24, will include such dishes as Chai MasalaCured Steelhead Trout Gravlax, Green Tea Spice-Rubbed Atlantic Salmon, Matcha-Marinated Mushrooms and Earl Grey Ice Cream Sandwiches on cookies made with chocolate rooibos tea. It costs $40, is limited to 20 people and you must reserve in advance.
“People were amazed by the dinner last year — some said it was the best culinary experience they’d had,” says Uriu. “This year chef Simon Brière-Audet has really got into cooking with tea.”