Written By Guest Writer Edibles / Food Events Oct 8, 2012 A Last Bite of Summer: The Flavour Gourmet Picnic SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterestright: Crown Isle Smoked Salmon Veloute. Photos by Rhona McAdemby Rhona McAdamCOMOX VALLEYStrength was in numbers at the first Flavour Gourmet Picnic held September 23 in Black Creek, near Courtenay. Nearly 70 producers from Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands showcased their wares, while another 150 volunteers and media helped to grease the gears of gastronomy, including about 40 North Island College students. My dining companions and I joined some five hundred smug North Island foodies canny enough to secure tickets before they sold out two weeks in advance.Blessed by sun and good humour, participants made their leisurely and well-provisioned way along the booths at Coastal Black Estate Winery & Meadery, sampling food and drink and chatting with winemakers, brewers, farmers, chefs and food activists. Exhibitors were nicely spaced, alternating food and drink, sweet and savoury and ran the gamut from seafood, bread, salad wraps, pastries, wild meats, chocolate, wine, spirits, beer and soft drinks. There was enough to keep every food preference satisfied: raw foodists, vegetarians and carnivores would all have found something to sample, and there was gluten-free baking as well, from The Rose Bakery which operates out of LUSH Valley Food Action Society’s kitchen.left: Church Street Bakery right: Dark Side ChocolatesAmong my favourite gastro-moments were Crown Isle’s wild smoked salmon velouté, rich and nubbly; grilled Island scallops finished with a delightful dollop of gingery goo; Avenue Bistro’s densely nuanced Pâté de Campagne, using Tannadice Farms pork; and a couple of instances of beet-infused cold-smoked salmon that brought a visual pang to salmon eaters over this year’s lost sockeye run. We were not short of sweet endings, including Kingfisher Lodge’s spectacularly silky chocolate pavé, as well as exquisitely satisfying tastes of BC dessert wines: Coastal Black’s Blackberry Ambrosia, and Elephant Island’s powerfully aromatic Black Currant Wine.left: Fat Moose Smokehouse right: North Island College House Smoked Albacore TunaThe first of what is hoped to be an annual fundraiser for North Island College Foundation, the event raised over $10,000 towards Culinary Arts bursaries and scholarships. It was a deliciously educational experience for all concerned, and well-seasoned with knowledgeable organizations like LUSH Valley and North Island College, as well as opportunities to learn about herbalism and horticulture therapy from Innisfree Farm, organically-grown tea from The Small Tea Cooperative, and – if you could get past the children sampling bear and moose sausage – about smoked and cured wild and alternative meats from Fat Moose Smokehouse and Wild Game Custom Cutters.left: Union Street Grill Tortillas. middle: Kingfisher Chocolate Pave. right: AvenueBistro's Tannadice Farms Pate Comox Valley. chefsFolks SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Guest Writer We get many people writing guest articles for us, as well as past contributors. This is the Guest ... Read More You may also like Food / Recipes October 25, 2021 Sopa Paella Try the iconic Valencian dish as a hearty fall soup brimming with seafood and chorizo. We were going through a heat wave in Victoria when I ... Read More Food / Recipes October 25, 2021 It’s a Pancake Day! That crisp edge in the fall air stirs up a craving for comfort that sometimes only a stack of hot pancakes can deliver. So get your cast-iron pan ... Read More Breads / Food / How to Cook / Recipes July 13, 2021 Rosemary and Feta Potato Loaf A delicious homemade bread is always a welcome treat that can really set the mood for a good day. This is an approachable recipe to bring to holiday ... Read More EAT Magazine News / Food News January 28, 2021 CITY EATS February | March 2021 If you haven’t yet taken advantage of Victoria’s free local delivery program, Downtown Delivers, you have until February 15 to try it ... Read More Food News / Pantry / Review January 28, 2021 Some Like It Hot — A Hot Sauce Tasting Party A Hot Sauce Tasting Party Gillie Easdon gathered 15 local, house-made hot sauces and four brave souls to taste-test them. It was a mid-October, late ... Read More EAT Magazine News / Food News December 7, 2020 EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide. Not just for the holidays! Bolen Books Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi ($45.00) Cat’s Meow Trivet ($6.95) Book Seat ... Read More Comments are closed.
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