Celebrity chef Mark McEwan was in town a couple of nights ago promoting his new book, Fabbrica, so Barbara-Jo McIntosh’s Books To Cooks arranged for CinCin chef Todd Howard to prepare several dishes from its pages. You can read the menu full here, complete with all-Italian wine pairings. Howard’s cooking was really top drawer (particularly the steelhead with clams and sausage), but I still can’t stop thinking about the deconstructed tiramisu by pastry chef Christophe Bonzon. I will never look at the ubiquitous dessert the same way again. A few more shots from the meal below…

MORE AWESOME THINGS WE ATE

Jonathan Chovancek, stoked at a rainy then sunny Chefs To The Field day in Richmond

Instead of going home after getting off the plane from my Okanagan Summer Wine Festival trip (see here), I went directly to Richmond’s  Terra Nova Rural Park to judge the annual Chefs To The Field cooking competition in support of the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society.

chef Neil Taylor of Cibo Trattoria making tagliatelle by hand, quickly...

On hand and plating wonderful bites for the many hundreds of foodies who braved the rain were several of Vancouver’s cooking schools and chefs from Cibo Trattoria, Raincity Grill, Diva, Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, Wild Rice, and many other Lower Mainland restaurants. Joining me as judges were Barbara Jo McIntosh of Barbara Jo’s Books To Cooks (interview), Araxi executive chef James Walt, chef/restaurateur Manny Ferreira of Senova and Le Gavroche, and chef/restaurateur Bruno Marti of La Belle Auberge.

Chef Vicente Mabanta of Steveston's Blue Heron presents his dishes to the judges

It’s one of my favourite events to judge because it’s split into two competitions: one between culinary students from across the city, the other between the pros. Both are given basic larder eseentials (vinegars, olive oil, spices, flours, etc), 90 minutes in the garden to choose the freshest ingredients possible, 1 secret ingredient for the students with with they must prep one dish, and 2 secret ingredients for the pros, with which they must prep an appetiser, a main, and a dessert.

Javier Alarco (standing left) with the judges and his crew...

Javier Alarco’s crew from The Sheraton Wall Center won for the pros. To be honest, I ate from 30 plates of food so I can’t remember what he and his team prepared. I do remember that their secret ingredients were goat’s cheese and agar agar (whoever dreamed up that bit of delicious cruelty is a gorgeous bastard), and that I had a four way tie for 1st on my score sheet between The Sheraton, Raincity, Diva, and Cibo Trattoria.

Event organiser Ian Lai reveals the mystery ingredient: land-based aquaculture Coho salmon from Agassiz

The mystery ingredient for the students was land-based aquaculture Coho from Bruce Swift’s awesome farm in Agassiz. I’ve been amazed at how well the students have done in the past, and this year they all performed exceptionally well. There was one  really young guy from VCC who totally knocked us out. He came 2nd, but probably would have won the thing had he not been just a little too conservative with his seasoning. His fish was so simple and so flawlessly presented that when we later found out he’d been cooking for just six months we sought him out afterwards just to shake his hand. His name is Chris Sinclaire. Watch for him in 10 years.

And that was that. It rained and then it got sunny. My kids likely destroyed at least an acre of perfectly good farmland between facepainting, card-making and drum circles, and I gained enough agar agar, goat’s cheese and coho to spawn a new genus. Rain or shine fun, as befits a Sunday in August.

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photo - Hamid Attie

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure.

Barbara-Jo McIntosh is one cool lady whose passion for books and food combine at her popular book store, Barbara Jo’s Books To Cooks. An award-winning food professional with over 25 years experience in the food and hospitality industry, she is the author of the bestselling Tin Fish Gourmet and a passionate supporter of Vancouver’s gastronomic community. In 2003, Vancouver magazine honoured her with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her many contributions to our culinary scene.

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Uva, Orpheum, Screening Room

Default drink of choice: Whisky.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: Drug scene.

Book you’re reading: Paris Edition by Waverly Root.

Last place traveled: Paris.

Biggest fear: Dying before I can speak French fluently.

Most regrettable purchase ever: my Renault Five – Le Car.

Talent you wish you possessed: Patience.

Musical instrument you long to play: Violin.

The game you’re best at: Scrabble.

Mac or PC: Mac Wannabe.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: Toss up between the food poisoning in NY or being mugged in NY and I still love NY.

Best concert experience ever: my first-Carole King and James Taylor.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Vicar of Dibley.

First memory: My mother and father bathing me in the kitchen sink.

Song that first made you love music: [Ravel's] Bolero

The career path you considered but never followed: Social worker.

The first three things you do every morning: Yoga-eat-email.

Favourite book as a child: A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Biggest hope: To spend alot of time with a wonderful man.

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photo by Hamid Attie