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Wednesday, October 7, 2009
By Fresh Bites
One of the thousands of pumpkins at Knox's Pumpkin Farm in Durham.
Across North America, farmers are working at full force to harvest their crops and last Saturday, we had the opportunity to attend a great dinner in Durham Region where we got to know them personally. In Clarington, just east of Oshawa (a 1 hour drive from downtown Toronto), the signature dinner event of the 2nd annual Gates Open Durham Festival was a celebration of all things local. The Harvest Dinner was held inside a rustic wood barn at Knox’s Pumpkin Farm, where 140 farmers, city slickers, and suburbanites (with a few local politicians mixed in) savored the seasonal creations of King’s Court Catering and listened to the urban-country sounds of the local band, Dirt Squirrel All Stars.
Knox’s Pumpkin Farm, a fourth-generation family farm, was the ideal location for the event. Set amongst the rolling hills of Clarington just north of Courtice, the working farm run by farmer Ken Knox is also an educational centre for the residents of Durham Region. Last year, 150 groups of teachers and students between grades 1 and 4 participated in hands-on educational programs offered by Knox’s Pumpkin Farm ranging from the basic of country living to planting and farm-animal familiarization. The goals of the programs offered are to showcase the ways of farmer life and to encourage urban children to become familiarized with where their food comes from.
Outside the barn at Knox's Pumpkin Farm. The view during pre-dinner cocktails.
While the day-to-day educational programs of Knox’s Pumpkin Farm are focused on the local urban children, the event held last Saturday was also an educational one for the farmers. King’s Court Catering served a fabulous dinner using local and seasonal ingredients, many of which were harvested by the very farmers in attendance. The first course was creamy garlic infused butternut squash soup garnished with crème fraiche and fresh garden chives served in a Watson’s Squash Bowl. It was delicious and you could hear a warming round of agreement through the humming of happy guests at the communal table savoring every last drop. Next, a fresh sliced High Hope Farms pear and Courtland Apple slaw were served. These were tossed in an Archibald’s Spiced Apple Wine Vinaigrette and accented by cucumbers, onions and tangy Pineapple Saga from King Court Caterings very own Chef’s Garden. It was crisp and refreshing and a perfect palate cleanser before our next course, a slow roasted Bowman Organic Pulled Beef set atop a layered sweet and regular potato bake. This was complimented by a whole marinated Portobello Mushroom and garnished with Parsnip crisps. Once again, the farmers, local city residents, and food policy experts at our table were mesmerized by the culinary creations of Executive Chef Kathy Anyan.
Buy Local...the theme of the evening!
The final course was dessert and, given the venue, it was pumpkin-themed. The lightly spiced pumpkin crème brule was a treat and the pumpkin sugar cookie with royal icing was suiting - given the darling reminder inscribed on it to “buy local”.
The evening then progressed with lively dancing and conversation to the sounds of the live band. The cool crisp air flowing through the old wooden barn, the fire crackling outside, and the parade of cowboy hats let you know that you were in farmer country and for many guests; this was a first time experience. At the same time the creativity displayed by Chef Anyan was, for many of the farmers, the first time they had seen their labor of the land as it would be served in the finest of city restaurants. It was a learning experience for many. Urban foodies listened to lessons from farmers at their tables on their crops, the importance of the soil, and “top-secret” techniques. All the while, a farmer at another table learned of the origin of crème brule and the technique for achieving a perfectly crisp caramel top from a “city slicker”. The dinner brought two worlds closer together, and while the theme was certainly a celebration of the harvest, it could very-well have been a strategic think-tank on urban-rural relations.
We were inspired by this Harvest Dinner and we decided that OUR DISCUSSION TOPIC OF THE DAY should be focused on the power of bringing the farmer and the consumer closer together. Each and every day, urban folk head to the grocery store and buy an apple or potato without understanding how it got there or the degree of human labor involved to produce it. Likewise, farmers spend hours toiling in their fields to send products out to the wholesale world and never see the creative culinary genius their labor inspires through chefs and home “culinistas”. This made us wonder… What initiatives would help consumers better understand the life of the farmer, and vice-versa? Is it simple advertising or do we need more hands-on programs like the Harvest Dinner held last week in Durham Region? Maybe you already know of an initiative that is helping to bridge this gap. If so, post them on our discussion board and let’s work towards building more bridges between these two communities.
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