One of the perks of food blogging is getting to eat lots of good food. One of the perks of being a FoodBuzz Featured Publisher is getting invited to food events.
![](http://www.norecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/cj_topchef.jpg "\\"C.J.\\" from Top Chef")
On Tuesday the California Strawberry Commission put on a “Top Berry” luncheon at the Culinary Loft in SoHo with “C.J” from Top Chef season 3. While I have to admit I’ve never actually watched the show (I’m not much of a TV guy), he was smiley and affable and seemed like a nice guy.
We started off with a plate of strawberries accompanied by powdered dashi, roasted radicchio, balsamic vinegar, jalepenos, and salt. The idea was to pair the berries with umami, bitter, sour, spice and salt to see what combos worked and what didn’t. Although it sounds pretty weird, I actually liked how it tasted dipped in dashi powder. It smoothed over some of the astringency and really rounded out the flavour of the strawberry (look for something featuring strawberries and dashi here soon).
For the main course we had some amazing lamb chops with hazelnuts, fresh strawberries, and a strawberry gastrique. Beyond the fact that the flavours worked well together, the lamb they used was nicely marbled and incredibly moist (way to pay attention to the details). For that matter, the entire event was well organized with lots of little touches that made it more personal than your average industry event.
They brought out two strawberry farmers from California, who both seemed genuinely passionate about what they do, talking about the focus on small family farms in California despite a global trend towards massive corporate farming. Another interesting tidbit was that there are many cultivars of strawberries being grown in CA, some of which are proprietary to a brand (which explains why I’ve always been a big fan of Well-Pict Berries, they have their own cultivar).
As we were headed out the door, we were handed signed copies of the Top Chef Cookbook, which was a sweet end to a sweet event. A quick flip through the book reveals bios of the contestants and episode recaps from seasons 1-3 along with recipes of the dishes the contestants made.
Some strawberry facts:
- Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, rivaling a glass of orange juice while much less caloric.
- Strawberries are loaded with cancer preventing compounds including quercetin, a phytonutrient that’s shown a propensity to destroy cancer cells.
- An average strawberry has 200 seeds
- 85% of the strawberries in the US come from California
Here are some strawberry recipes I’ve posted in the past. I’m off to Montreal for a long weekend, but I promise I’ll post some fresh strawberry recipes when I get back.
Danish Braid with Spicy Strawberries and Lillet
Strawberry Buttermilkshake
Strawberry Rhubarb Crostata with Lavender Crust
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
P.S. One last cool thing about these events is meeting people in the biz. I had the pleasure of sitting at a table with a few folks from various magazines as well as Nichelle from Cupcakes Take the Cake.
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Ooh, great pics! I’m so jealous you got to go to a food-related event! (Well, it’s tough not to be in the States, heh.) I love that CJ is stuck wearing his old Top Chef uniform, haha.
Be sure to try some Liberté Mediterranean yoghurt while you’re in Montréal!
How cool is that event! 200 seeds? Really?
i loved cj! you can go ahead and count me among the jealous because i think strawberries are just glorious.
Lovely pictures (and great blog)! I was at the luncheon as well - too bad we didn’t get a chance to meet. My favorite was the goat cheese tart, but I loved everything as I love strawberries
I wish there were more Food Buzz Chicago members so we could have events like this.
Great photos Marc. The strawberry dashi combo sounds fascinating. Have fun in Montreal!
Thanks for the great experience Mark! That’s great that you got to go to these fun events! I hope you go to many more so that we can see all the food and fun!
I never followed Top Chef but I can see what great fun this would be! Great pics!
What, no dessert? Sounds like a delicious time, those strawbs look gorgeous.
This was a very cool event, I was happy with the event. Too bad we didn’t meet, since it was during a lunch hour for the vast majority of us, it’d have been impossible to plan a “cocktail hour”/mingling portion, but alas. I actually saw Nichelle but didn’t look to see who was sitting at her table.
*This sounds weird I bet but I think I’ve been to this site before and commented… Hmm…!
Hmmm strawberries in dashi powder? Interesting… Makes me want to go home and try it out now! Sounds like a good event. It’s a shame all these events tend to be in the US.
I was hoping to be able to make that event, but it was in the middle of a work day gosh darnit! looks fun. thanks for the interesting facts and the play-by-play! it would’ve been fun to meet you!
Wow, what a great experience! Beautiful photos, too.
Excellent post with great details and photos. This event must have been so much fun to attend.
Awesome pictures!!! Wasn’t the event cool! I liked it a lot and asked our ‘bosses’ to send us to more ;)! See ya at the next one.