If there's one major food event I look forward to each year, it's Indulgence, which celebrates Canadian slow food and wine. Each year this sold out event brings together Alberta chefs, food producers, and Canadian VQA wines. Chefs are given the task to create a dish highlighting the products from a specific producer, and additionally the wineries/breweries suggest a beverage pairing for the dish.

Clockwise from top: Gull Valley Tomatoes | XIX Nineteen x Four Whistle Farm chicken liver pate
The Marc x Gull Valley pan seared frog leg | NAIT x The Cheesiry Fresco tart
Tickets for Indulgence this year went on sale at 9AM sharp on May 1st. The Junior League of Edmonton has been the beneficiary of ticket sales for the past few years, supporting the incredible work they do in the community. Tickets typically sell out within the hour, and I'm not surprised! At $80 per person for unbeatable food & wine pairings, and supporting a local organization, it's hard to say no to buying a ticket.

Throughout the evening there were may dishes eaten and wines tasted, but a few dishes stood out above the rest. The prettiest dish for the evening for me was from 4404 Delta who was paired with Rock Ridge Dairy. Onion confit infused goat cheese was served on a bed of truffle honey caviars and a tempura fried zucchini blossom, and garnished with a beautiful orchid.


Clockwise from top: Kitchen by Brad 'Bubbles & Balls' - Irvings Farm Fresh bacon & pork ball
Vivo x Sundog Organic Pizza Rustica & Italian savoury tart | Tzin Wine & Tapas x Nature's Green Acres ramen terrine | Slow Food Edmonton x Reclaim Urban Farm greens & radishes
The most unique dish of the evening would have to go to Chef Corey McGuire of Tzin Wine & Tapas. Taking the hot ramen trend and turning it into a terrine was something I didn't imagine I would ever eat. Marinated bamboo, pickled wood ear, scallions, handmade noodles, Tamworth pork broth aspic, smeared marinated egg yolk, pork belly, and a smoked porkfat and nori dust all made it onto the plate. This was definitely a labour intensive dish!


Clockwise from top: Royal Glenora Club x Vesta Gardens duck & greens crostini | Searzall action
Rostizado x Tangle Ridge Ranch Tamales de Barbacoa y Queso

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse x Strawman Farm Bison - bacon wrapped bison top sirloin steak

Clockwise from top: Hundred Bar Kitchen x Crooked Lake Farm seared outside round on pretzel crostini
Ampersand 27 x Sunworks Farm chicken galantine | Lux Steakhouse + Bar x Alberta Bison Ranch striploin tartar
Zinc Restaurant x Sylvan Star Cheese Farm gouda grilled cheese
So what was the best dish of the evening? I had a few favourites, but the people's choice award for this year went to Ampersand 27 for their chicken galantine with char siu sauce, charred scallion aioli, sweet sesame snap and micro coriander. As the winners of Indulgence, $500 was donated on their behalf to Camp fYrefly - another fantastic organization here in Edmonton. I also quite enjoyed the pate from Nineteen, gooey grilled cheese from ZINC, and the fresco tart from NAIT!


Clockwise from top: Doef's Greenhouses | Belgravia Hub x Doef's puff pastry vegetable napoleon
Toast Fine Catering x Mo-Na Foods Alberta lamb with smoked morel mushroom
Red Ox Inn x Greener Pastures BBQ pork steam bun
With so many different dishes to eat throughout the evening, I was absolutely stuffed at the end of the night. Congratulations to the Indulgence committee for hosting this fantastic event for 15 years, and thanks to all the chefs, producers, wineries and volunteers that made this night possible. Indulgence really is a must-go-to food event, and if you missed out this year, keep an eye out for tickets for 2016 and I hope to see you there!

Two weeks ago I was able to attend a pop up dinner hosted by Shovel & Fork and Slow Food Edmonton (SFE) at RGE RD. Shovel & Fork is a local organization working towards educating the community about local food and sustainability. Working together with Slow Food Edmonton, the funds raised from hosting the 9 course meal are going towards sending some SFE members to the national conference later this year. It was great to see that the pop up was sold out, and I had no idea what the menu was going to be like. But what was better yet? Chef Robin Wasicuna came in from Yellowknife to cook for this event too! Mr. G and I were rooting for him to win Chopped Canada and I was excited to see him in action in the kitchen.

Before the meal began we started with an amuse bouche that featured one of my favourite cheeses: one bite of The Cheesiry's pecorino paired with House Honey Crafts honey. I love the flavours of this cheese and the pairing was lovely. I could eat it all day (but good thing I don't :))

Most of the meal was pizza themed given that Chad Moss, cofounder of Shovel & Fork and current SFE president, used to host a pizza club in Edmonton. First up was a margarita pizza, a classic and tasty savoury pie.

Next up was a pairing of mitake mushrooms with miso butter and a 62 degree egg. The mushrooms and eggs were delicious together, especially with that beautiful runny yolk binding the ingredients together.

Another pizza course was up next, this time with four different local cheeses, pea shoots and Shovel & Fork apple cider. The pizza had a sharp cheese flavour and was amazingly garlicky, making me feel that I need to have this combination more often!

Switching things up between the pizza courses, the next dish featured ling cod from Great Slave Lake, which Robin Wasicuna caught himself! Super cool. I love the firm texture of ling cod, and without a doubt this fish tasted delicious! The ling cod sat upon a bed of savoury kale and garnished with cilantro, burnt lime, and birds eye chilies.

Our next pizza course featured housemade chorizo, The Cheesiry's pecorino, and arugula grown in Morinville. The combination of salty and peppery ingredients made this my favourite pizza of the evening.

The seventh course was one that I thought didn't match with the theme of the dinner, but it was delicious nonetheless: a bulgogi pork shoulder paired with a Fuji Apple kimchi, fish sauce, crackling and guanciale. The pork shoulder was a little too salty for my liking but it was so moist and tender and I loved the kick of heat from the kimchi.

The second last course of the night was a pizza featuring morel mushrooms. The earthy flavour of the mushrooms really came through, but I would have loved to have more on the pizza for some different texture with each bite.

The last course of the evening was a dessert pizza - we definitely had an overdose of carbs this night! A combination of Saskatoon berries and honey raspberry coulis gave the pizza some sour and sweet bites, which I really enjoyed. It definitely gives the traditional dessert pizza a spin - one can only have so much nutella & banana on pizza dough!

Thank you to Shovel & Fork, Slow Food Edmonton, RGE RD and Robin Wasicuna for coming together to host this delicious pop up dinner! I may stay away from pizza for some time, but my stomach was definitely happy this night. Slow Food Edmonton will be hosting more events in the future, and I highly recommend checking them out for some great chef collaborations and delicious eats!