Last week I attended a wonderful dinner at a long table on a cheese farm on a warm summer night in Maple Ridge. This 7th Annual dinner at Golden Ears Cheesecrafters featured a selection of chefs representing several restaurants in Vancouver as well as Maple Ridge. Each chef or team of chefs prepared one of the dishes that featured one of Golden Ears Cheesecrafters cheeses. As each of the delicious courses were served the respective chef spoke about their dish, a BC wine was served to guest to pair to the respective dishes.
1st course
Neaufchatel, Heirloom tomato
Lang Vineyards Rose
Neaufchatel, Heirloom tomato, freeze dried strawberry by Chef Sean Murray of the Pan Pacific Hotel paired with the Lang Vineyards Rose.
2nd course
Homemade jalapeno 4 year Cheddar beef smokie
mustard charmesan bread
Homemade jalapeno 4 year Cheddar beef smokie, corn cheese curd polenta, pickles, mustard charmesan bread by Chefs Colin Burslem and David Baarschars of Fairmont Hotel Vancouver paired with Lang Vineyards Bravo White.
3rd course
House smoked Salmon belly
House smoked Salmon belly, Bannock, Golden Ears Cheesecrafters creme fraiche by Chef Caitlan Mark and Chef Brody Paine of the Westin Bayshore Hotel paired with Bordertown Vineyards Chardonnay.
Palate Cleanser sorbet
Palate Cleanser sorbet
4th course
Hopcott Farms beef tenderloin medallion
Hopcott Farms beef tenderloin medallion, lemon-herb braised leek, smoked gouda twice baked potato, burnt carrot and chive chimichurri by Chef Mike Mulcahy and Chef Michael Mcausland of Big Feast Bistro which was paired with Volcanic Hills Magma Red.
5th course
“The Cheese Garden”
Volcanic Hills Late Harvest Gewuztraminer
“The Cheese Garden” parmesan lace cookie, herb Neaufchatel honey “BEE” macaron, lemon buttercream, BC corn and blueberry cheese tart, chocolate dipped strawberry and cheesecake truffle by Chef Karly Pomes and Chef Astrid Delblanc paired with Volcanic Hills Late Harvest Gewuztraminer.
all the chefs
Live music
I truly enjoyed this well organized feast as well as the wine pairings which were selected by Jennifer Petrichenko of Kits Consulting. Great live music accompanied the dinner with a beautiful backdrop in the foreground. Funds raised during the evening benefited Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation. Make sure you get tickets for next year’s long table dinner as soon as they go on sale as this an incredible event you do not want to miss.
By: Richard Wolak