A Canadian Culinary Experience in The Test Kitchen
Driven by the passion to upgrade/expand Filipino dining experience through introduction of quality Canadian products and raw ingredients, the Embassy of Canada tied up with Chef Josh Boutwood to showcase a range of dishes that will just prove this.
A few months back, the embassy started holding these roadshows in a form of culinary festivity, and in each of these events, they lay down their vision of redefining our food scene. The first one that I got to participate in was in Ikomai (read more), where they showcased the excellence of their Pacific and Atlantic seafood and Triple A Ribeye among others.
They wanted to further exhibit the culinary flexibility of these Canadian-sourced ingredients, and hence the Embassy of Canada through a partnership with Chef Boutwood did a popup in The Test Kitchen last March 9-11, 2021. During this limited window, guests were given the opportunity to try out these collab-dishes, and personally experience the vision the embassy is advocating for.
As I've shared in the blog post on Ikomai, Canadian mussels are fresh, tender, plump and bursting in its natural seafood goodness. It's so good on its own that they don't need to rely much on other ingredients just so you can have a remarkable experience.
Canadian mussels, sauteed in whitewine, garlic & parsley
This is what I experienced once again when I had this mussel soup for appetizer.
Maple & soy cured egg, caraway & fennel lavash
Aside from its seafood, Canada is also famous for its high-quality beef, and what else can put this into a major test, other than serving it up as a beef tartar dish. In order to pull this off perfectly, the beef should be on its top-quality state, and that's what exactly what we got with this. Chef Josh also gave this a nice surprise by having this soy cured yolk at the center.
Braised short ribs on pineapple scotch bonnet
If the beef tartar did not pique your interest, I'm sure this one will do. Well, who doesn't like beef short ribs? It's just utterly tender, with the meat fibers absorbing the spices giving this juicy-mouthsploding bite.
For dessert, we had this Ice wine custard & blueberries. What is notably different with Canadian blueberries is that they are rightly sweet less the bitter aftertaste from other blueberries. Hence, this gives you a more suave berry taste -- smooth, ticklish and refreshing!
For more information on Canada products (e.g. beef as well as its collection of Pacific and Atlantic seafood), visit their website at https://canadabeef.ca/. Alternatively, you may also check out their FB Page and Instagram account @loveCDNbeef.
Also, if you happen to be in the food industry, , you may want to work with these brands/companies to source these high-quality products: Hightower, McAsia FoodTrade Corporation, Pilliterri Estates Winery, Growers Ciders, Royal Star Seafood, PEI Mussel King and Wyman's.
