{"id":1431,"date":"2010-10-03T21:13:45","date_gmt":"2010-10-04T01:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cheeseloverca.wordpress.com\/?p=1431"},"modified":"2010-10-03T21:13:45","modified_gmt":"2010-10-04T01:13:45","slug":"cheese-just-one-delight-at-slow-foodevergreen-picnic-at-brick-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/2010\/10\/03\/cheese-just-one-delight-at-slow-foodevergreen-picnic-at-brick-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese just one delight at Slow Food\/Evergreen Picnic at Brick Works in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 90-minute nap was in order after three hours of grazing at the fourth annual Slow Food\/Evergreen Picnic at Brick Works<\/a> in Toronto today. A capacity crowd of 1,200 sampled the best of Ontario’s sustainable harvest as presented by top chefs and leading producers, supported by a bevy of winemakers, craft brewers and producers of fruit wine and hard cider.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here’s how the Brick Works Picnic works: A chef, such as Giacomo Pasquini of Vertical Restaurant<\/a> creates a dish\u2014Tortello, in this example\u2014using fresh ingredients from Bzikot-family run Best Baa Farm<\/a>\u2014sheep’s milk ricotta and a brebis frais filling\u2014with a light lamb jus and vegetables\u2014dried organic veggies and live kale sprouts\u2014grown by Pfenning family-run Pfenning’s Organic Farm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The tortello is served in a simple presentation mere seconds after it is made by the chef’s crew in one of 66\u2014Yes, 66!\u2014food stations spread through the renovated Brick Works<\/a>, a singular cultural showcase devoted to urban sustainability and green living.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Monforte Dairy<\/a> provided the Toscano cheese that was at the heart of the savoury thyme pound cake created by Table 17<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fifth Town Artisan Cheese<\/a> was the only cheesemaker with a display of its own. Petra Cooper (at left) spread the gospel while Ezra Title of Chez Vous<\/a> presented double-baked fingerlings made with double-smoked bacon and three Fifth Town cheeses, Cape Vessey, Chevre and Plain Jane.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>At the Cheese Boutique<\/a> display, Afrim Pristine was kept busy cutting a 10-year-old cheddar that the cheese shop purchased from historic Forfar Dairy<\/a> before it churned its last curds in 2008.<\/p>\n

But cheese played only a small role in the event overall as some of the best cooks in Ontario showed their mastery of a wide variety of agricultural products from close to home. Among the many stand-outs:<\/p>\n