We attended the Cooking with the Wolfman: Indigenous Fusion Literary Dinner at the Stratford Chef School, October 25, 2018. The event was a part of Appetite for Words, a Stratford literary festival with a culinary twist. The lineup for 2018, with the final dinner on October 28, also includes Jackie Kai Ellis, Jane Sigal, Jeff Crump, and Anna Olson. These dinner-brunch-lunch events allow attendees to be up close and personal with the chef-authors. Just what we love!
Our Literary Dinner began with David Wolfman personally greeting dinner guests at the door.
Chef Wolfman was relaxed as he addressed the room of diners. The real pressure was on the Stratford Chefs School’s student chefs who had prepared the Wolfman’s recipes.
In his book, Cooking with the Wolfman, David Wolfman and his wife, Marlene Finn, combine traditional First Nations diet with European cooking techniques. The dinner menu reflected that combination.
Our first course was Hot-Smoked Salmon with Sour Cream and Onions. Two deep-fried caper berries garnished each plate. The salmon was tender and lightly smoked. The caper berries were fun.
The salmon was paired with 2016 Cave Spring Chardonnay VQA, Niagara Escarpment, ON.
The second course was Sumac Squash Soup with Deep-Fried Sage and Hazelnuts.The soup was smooth with a hazelnut crunch.
The wine pairing was 2016 Cave Spring Riesling Dolomite, VQA Niagara Escarpment, ON. Our sommelier described how our wines were moving from “little grape” to “lots of grape.”
The main and third course was Métis Deer Tourtière with Oyster Mushroom Sauce, Caramelized Rainbow Onions, and Roasted Garlic Sunchokes. The tourtière was truly indigenous fusion – with traditional game and European buttery pastry.
The wine was 2014 Keint-He Portage Pinot Noir, VQA, PEC, ON.
The final course was Pear and Cranberry Galette with Brown Butter Ice Cream. More mouth-watering tastes – traditional, natural tartness fusing with classical sweetness.
Stratford Chefs School’s Chef Eli Silverthorne, off duty, with Chef David Wolfman
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David Wolfman sharing his sense of humour, posing with The Cooking Ladies
Cooking with the Wolfman: Indigenous Fusion Literary Dinner was the kick off event for the 2018 Appetite for Words Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Jane Sigal, the 2018 Stratford Chef School Writer in Residence, appears October 26 with the Taste of France dinner inspired by her recent book, Bistronomy: Recipes from the Best New Paris Bistros. October 27, just in time for lunch, Stratford Chef School alumni, Jeff Crump, will host a Perth County Farm Lunch and discuss his recipes in his latest book, Earth to Table Everyday. On October 27, Jackie Kai Ellis will share her stories from The Measure of My Powers. Her Eat, Travel, Dream dinner will reflect how we can discover who we are through our food. The final event of the series is Anna Olson’s brunch, an interview-style event, on October 28. Her new book is Set for the Holidays. Tickets and details for all these culinary happenings are available at http://www.ticketscene.ca/series/630/