Chef's tour
Oct. 7th, 2008 03:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_lotus13Yesterday I had a really fun day. I got up early in the morning to get on a bus with about 20 Edmonton area chefs. The initiative was part of a tour developed by Dine Alberta and Alberta Agriculture, as part of an ongoing campaign to get chefs to source their local farmers. The first stop on our trip was "Four whistle Farm", a mixed farm owned by a couple who immigrated from the Netherlands. It was an average farm visit for me, but I have to say that I was slightly angered when we went into the turkey barn. The Alberta Turkey organization told me that I would not be able to get into a turkey barn in Alberta due to biosecurity concerns, and a farmer just opened his doors to me and showed me his turkeys. It was frustrating.
After this, we went to the family farm of the Irvings, a British couple who immigrated from England three years ago. They make all kinds of sausages, and British bacon and raise Berkshire pigs for pork. The pigs are black and are really cute. Following this, we drove to Highland Feeders, which is owned by the Kotelko family. Highland Feeders is one of the largest feedlots in Canada, but they have won awards because of their environmental initiatives. This was my first time on a feedlot, and I was impressed by how clean it was and how healthy the animals looked. The ranch was pretty cool, as they also have one of the country's largest biogas plants. They use the cattle manure to generate enough power to fuel 1400 homes in Alberta. The power is then put on the Alberta grid.
We had lunch inside their farm house. It was a homecooked meal, and it was delicious. I tried a few different Ukrainian dishes that were new to me including some kind of crepe filled with cottage cheese. I also tried a Raspberry mead that was extremely tasty. THe chefs were all very impressed with the meal, and I got a chance to talk with some of them, and with Judy Schultz, a local food writer who has written a lot of books and won several awards. I spent a while bouncing some ideas off of her while we were sitting on the bus.
Following this, we went to a game farm where a man named Rick raised pheasants, turkeys, and earthworms for the Alberta Education Grade 4 curriculum. He also had two Canadian lynx on site. He raises the lynx to eat his animal remains, and then breeds them each year to give the kittens to zoos, and for repopulation purposes. Apparently the Canadian lynx is endangered on the east coast of the US.
All in all, it was a whirlwind day, but it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot, saw a lot and got some good story ideas. I was exhausted when I arrived home.
After this, we went to the family farm of the Irvings, a British couple who immigrated from England three years ago. They make all kinds of sausages, and British bacon and raise Berkshire pigs for pork. The pigs are black and are really cute. Following this, we drove to Highland Feeders, which is owned by the Kotelko family. Highland Feeders is one of the largest feedlots in Canada, but they have won awards because of their environmental initiatives. This was my first time on a feedlot, and I was impressed by how clean it was and how healthy the animals looked. The ranch was pretty cool, as they also have one of the country's largest biogas plants. They use the cattle manure to generate enough power to fuel 1400 homes in Alberta. The power is then put on the Alberta grid.
We had lunch inside their farm house. It was a homecooked meal, and it was delicious. I tried a few different Ukrainian dishes that were new to me including some kind of crepe filled with cottage cheese. I also tried a Raspberry mead that was extremely tasty. THe chefs were all very impressed with the meal, and I got a chance to talk with some of them, and with Judy Schultz, a local food writer who has written a lot of books and won several awards. I spent a while bouncing some ideas off of her while we were sitting on the bus.
Following this, we went to a game farm where a man named Rick raised pheasants, turkeys, and earthworms for the Alberta Education Grade 4 curriculum. He also had two Canadian lynx on site. He raises the lynx to eat his animal remains, and then breeds them each year to give the kittens to zoos, and for repopulation purposes. Apparently the Canadian lynx is endangered on the east coast of the US.
All in all, it was a whirlwind day, but it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot, saw a lot and got some good story ideas. I was exhausted when I arrived home.
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Date: 2008-10-08 03:56 pm (UTC)