Romance, food and drink: Thursday, Feb. 23
What would Rick have served?
by Staff
Epicure’s Revue fans, mark Thursday, February 23, on your calendar. We’ll be screening Casablanca, and we’re asking all of our creative local chefs to show us what Rick would have served at his Café Américain. We will also have a liquor licence, so you will also be able to enjoy what's on Rick’s wine list.
Make a date. It’s after Valentine’s Day, but this great love story and a selection of terrific food samples are not to be missed! For more on our Casablanca evening, go to our Epicure's Revue page!
The Epicure’s Revue audience saw Babette’s Feast projected large, the way it should be, on the big screen.
All the better to see the quenelles placed carefully in the soup dishes before the clear turtle soup was spooned in; the blini, with carefully measured caviar and crème freche; quail stuffed with foie gras, nested in a vol au vent shell, with truffle sauce; the feathery chicory salad with walnuts; luscious fruit and exquisite rounds of cheese, the grand finale, a liquor-infused rum baba. All presented with the most elegant porcelain, crystal and linens in a most unlikely place.
Magic.
The eccentric, elderly residents of that remote Danish coast could not help themselves, despite their most puritanical inclinations. They tucked into the sinful wines. They reveled in the succulent figs and pineapple. Ah, the power of superb cuisine, prepared with love and artistry.
Food stylist Olga Truchan, our expert for the evening, told us about the shopping challenges faced by the team that put all that food on the screen. It wasn’t just one quail that was perfectly bisected, but probably many. And plucking? How familiar were those food stylists with stripping the feathers off fowl? Or the number of wheels of cheese that had to be purchased for the perfect cut. And perhaps the biggest challenge of all: creating food that the cast would relish and truly appreciate on screen to make acting that much easier!
And the French themed food, provided by our local restaurants, was terrific:
Soup ‘n Such Café (2285 Dundas St., 416-916-4131, www.soupnsuch.net) created Mock Turtle Soup, a blend of chicken and beef broths. It was delicious.
Pizzeria Defina (321 Roncesvalles, 416-534-4414, pizzeriadefina.com) created a Duck Confit Pizza with creamy brie and pear poached in Marsala wine. Plus: Cod croquettes, which vanished quickly.
Balluchon Raymond (221 Sorauren Ave., 416-516-8980) created savoury muffins, syled as Les Petits Biscuits Babette, with fromage bleu, roasted walnuts and poached pear.
Blue Plate: (392 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-538-7500, www.blueplatetoronto.com) created their riff on Blini. Delicious.
Fat Cat Wine Bar (331 Roncesvalles, 416-535-4064, fatcat.ca) spent a couple of days cooking up a cassoulet, which blends a variety of poultry, other meats and beans. It was presented in small baking dishes with a tasty crumb crust.
Barque Smokehouse (299 Roncesvalles, 416-532-7700, barque.ca) invoked the French colonial influence with pulled smoked duck tacos, a blend of French and Vietnamese cuisines, featuring smoked duck, pickled radish and carrots, Hoisin sauce, green onions and fried chicken skin.
Stasis Local Foods (476 Roncesvalles Ave., www.stasispreserves.com) offered a selection of locally-sourced foods: French Onion Soup Bites, Evelyn’s Crackers, Stasis Preserves Onion Chutney, and Ontario Montasio Cheese.
The Chocolateria (361 Roncesvalles, 416-588-0567, www.thechocolateria.ca) created Tanzanian dark chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis and candied mint leaves.
Gurts Yogurt & Bakery (283 Roncesvalles, 647-725-2138, www.gurts.ca) opted for that Proustian specialty, Madeleines, the small shell-shaped sponge cakes, made with a rich butter and egg batter and flavoured with vanilla and lemon.
Mabel's Bakery & Specialty Foods (323 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-534-2333, www.mabelsbakery.ca) served up tiny bite-sized éclairs.
Thanks to everyone for making Babette’s Feast a tasty success.