Eat Local Dinner made for an environmentally conscious culinary experience
By Anneleen Naudts

Doug, James and William Prince, along with Carol Good from Caledon East, who had previously participated in Eat Local Week, are about to dig in to the evening's main course.

Nearly 40 dinner guests enjoyed Eat Local Caledon at Chef Talk Bistro in Bolton last Thursday, a dinner organized by the Caledon Countryside Alliance (CCA).

CCA Local Food Coordinator Jennifer Clark organized the event to promote eating local food. This was the second dinner of its kind, and CCA plans to eventually organize Eat Local dinners every other week.

All ingredients for the three-course meal were grown, or raised, in the Headwaters Region.

With chicken raised in Palgrave, carrots, blue potatoes and parsnips grown in Dufferin County and apples from an orchard in Caledon, chef Fab Natale created the evening's menu.

Natale served an oven-roasted parsnip and ginger soup, followed by a main course of stuffed chicken ballantine (with ricotta and creamed carrots drizzled with roasted garlic infused truffle oil) served with roasted blue potatoes. For dessert, he dished up apple honey samosa with vanilla ice cream.

Sisters and long-time friends Sally Drummond, Debbe Crandall, Cathy O'Hara, Kathryn Mifsud, Sarah Crandall Haney and Sheilagh Crandall turned Eat Local Caledon into a cozy gathering.

CCA's Executive Director Karen Hutchinson said Natale, who had participated in Eat Local Week this past September, was not fazed by the challenge of creating a menu with limited ingredients.

While winter may make eating local food a bit more challenging, it can lead to more interesting dishes, said Hutchinson. Relying on creativity is key to make the different dishes and figure out different combinations, she added.

Natale, who has been Chef Talk Bistro's chef for three years, said that although working with only four ingredients posed a challenge, he had a lot of fun creating the dishes.

Eating local food is about trying to eat what is produced in one's own area or foodshed. It can be grown by local farmers or processed by local food processors such as bakeries, dairies, butchers, breweries, wineries.

Chef Talk Bistro's Allison Witherspoon, Stephanie Franchi and Chef Fab Natale prepare to serve oven roasted parsnip and ginger soup, made from locally grown parsnips.