Counting Down to Feast Portland: Cookbook Social

This post is part of my series “Counting Down to Feast Portland” where I talk about events I plan to attend as part of this 4 day food and drink festival September 19-22, 2013. Disclosure: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated.

Update – After attending the event, you can see my recap here of Feast Day 2

The Feast Cookbook Social is a free event with a suggested donation of $5 at the door. This is an event that takes place as part of Feast Portland on Friday, Sept 20th 2:00pm – 4:00pm at the Heathman Hotel, Broadway and Symphony Rooms.

Another Feast Free Event! Well, practically free. Consider attending the Cookbook Social to squee with me (my Bloggers Pass doesn’t get me anything special here, so I’ll be right in line with you trying not to be an awkward foodie dork). Get autographs on cookbooks and chat with some amazingly knowledgeable big names and niche experts of various facets of food, as well as support the Feast worthwhile charity partners focused on fighting hunger: Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. There will also be light food and drink from Heathman Executive Chef Michael Stanton at the social in case you are feeling faint from being starstruck or need nourishment as you soak up the knowledge.

To give you a little bit of context, I pulled out a review quote for each of the authors/books and added them to the Lineup list I got from the Feast website. Hopefully, by sharing my homework with you, it will encourage you to check them out by giving you an introductory blurb about what their book covers, and the passion and expertise they are sharing with their book!

Description from the Feast website: Join your favorite cookbook authors, local and national, for this walk-around cookbook signing at the Heathman Hotel. Twenty writers will be waiting to chat with you at tables around the room, while Heathman Executive Chef Michael Stanton will provide light food and drink to refresh the conversation. Cookbook subjects range from sauces to the roots they’d dress, crackers to the school lunches they’d go in, and lox to the salt blocks it’s cured on (to name just a few). All cookbooks will be available for purchase to round out your collection! A suggested donation of $5 at the door, to be donated to Feast partner charities: Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon.

The Lineup

  • Mark Bitterman, Salt Block Cooking:: 70 Recipes for Grilling, Chilling, Searing, and Serving on Himalayan Salt Blocks and Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes
    • On Salted, the James Beard Award-winning book: “As the FDA considers lower salt standards for Americans, salt has never been a hotter chef’s ingredient. This is part cookbook (Roasted Peaches in Bourbon Syrup with Smoked Salt), part salt tract (positing “Five Rules of Strategic Salting),” part reference tome.” — Cooking Light, Favorite Cookbooks, 2010l
    • Check out Mark and salt here, in this video which shows only some of the 90 artisan salts The Meadow carries and you can see how he delights in teaching  how various salts impart a unique addition and open up food in a new and different way – they can be a game changer in a dish’s taste profile.
  • Karen Brooks, The Mighty Gastropolis: Portland: A Journey Through the Center of America’s Food Revolution
    • “Street food capital of the world, home of ethical eaters, dreamers in a strange food landscape, Portland is the crucible of new American cooking. If you’re curious about why we’re eating the way we do – and how we’ll be eating tomorrow – you need to read this book. Passionate, powerful and filled with recipes that make you very, very hungry, The Mighty Gastropolis is a celebration of America’s most interesting food city.” – Ruth Reichl
    • I also embedded a video from her TED talk in my previous post on the Feast Speaker Series
  • Lucy Burningham and Ellee Thalheimer, Hop in the Saddle: A Guide to Portland’s Craft Beer Scene, by Bike
    • “In a town bursting with bikes and beer, no one knows more about both scenes than writer Lucy Burningham. With her vast knowledge and experience surrounding the artisan bike culture and booming beer scene, Lucy has sipped, supped, and cycled her way around Portland for years, noting her favorite meals, beers, and bike paths along the way. Ride with Lucy and Ellee as they navigate you through the city’s best of the best in this guide to Portland’s food, drink, and cycle culture.” — Megan Flynn, editor/publisher, Beer West magazine
  • Kyra Bussanich, Sweet Cravings: 50 Seductive Desserts for a Gluten-Free Lifestyle
    • The first gluten-free baker to win the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars (and she’s won twice!) shares her indulgent recipes for cakes, muffins, scones, cookies, brownies, cobblers, buckles, tarts, and more. “When Kyra won her episode of Cupcake Wars, she amazed me with her baking technique and flawless execution. I am now convinced that prepared the right way, gluten-free baking can produce a most delectable result, and Kyra’s book is a perfect introduction.” — Florian Bellanger, founder, Mad Mac NYC, and judge, Food Network’s Cupcake Wars
    • Check out Kyra making one of her gluten free cupcakes in this video! Note that although the video shows the name Crave Bakery,  she renamed it to Kyra’s Bake Shop earlier this year.
  • Sasha Davies, The Cheesemaker’s Apprentice: An Insider’s Guide to the Art and Craft of Homemade Artisan Cheese, Taught by the Masters
    • from the book description: Pick up the fundamentals of cheese making, and then gain behind-the-scenes insight from 19 interviews with industry experts. All the basics you need to get started, 16 illustrated, step-by-step recipes for fresh cheese, washed curd, grana-style, blue cheese, and more—that will build your skills. Tricks of the trade from experts on mozzarella, Cheddar, Comté, Parmigiano Reggiano, Stilton, and more. Also tips on selecting, handling, storing, tasting, and pairing cheese
  • Ken Forkish, Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
    • “Owner of Ken’s Artisan Pizza and Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland, Ore., Forkish begins by telling of the trials and tribulations of opening up shop (people didn’t want to pay $2.50 for a cup of herbal tea). Divided into four sections (“The Principles of Artisan Bread,” “Basic Bread Recipes,” “Levain Bread Recipes,” and “Pizza Recipes”), with recipes broken down by breads made with store-bought yeast, breads made with long-fermented simple doughs, and doughs made with pre-ferments, the book presents recipes accessible to novices, while providing a different approach for making dough to experienced bakers. Plenty of step-by-step photographs, along with a chapter outlining “Great Details for Bread and Pizza,” make this slim work a rival to any bread-baking tome. A variety of pizza recipes, including sweet potato and pear pizza and golden beets and duck breast “prosciutto” pizza, (along with an Oregon hazelnut butter cookie recipe), end the title and inspire readers to put on the apron and get out the flour.” — Publishers Weekly
    • Check out Ken providing an introduction to this book in this video
  • John Holl, The American Craft Beer Cookbook: 155 Recipes from Your Favorite Brewpubs and Breweries
    • “Not every recipe in the book is made with beer, but they all taste great when paired with beer — and isn’t that the important part? The American Craft Beer Cookbook: 155 Recipes from Your Favorite Brewpubs and Breweries offers up instructions on how to cook everything from appetizers to desserts, including some stuff you’d expect — like pub-friendly foods and barbecue — to some you wouldn’t — like cupcakes and ice cream floats. But hey, it’s all beer-friendly, so it’s all good.” – uncrate.com
  • Martha Holmberg, Modern Sauces: More than 150 Recipes for Every Cook, Every Day
    • “Modern Sauces is my favorite book this year. It is destined to be a classic reference for the rest of my cooking life, on one of the most valuable but least understood facets of cooking: sauces. Martha Holmberg brings great intelligence and lucid writing and instructions to the important craft of sauces. She is both respectful of and illuminating about classic sauces, innovative in her thinking about contemporary sauces, and practical in terms of everyday cooking. This is a great book.” – Michael Ruhlman
    • Martha in this video prepares  pork tenderloin with orange-rosemary balsamic butter sauce
  • Makini Howell, Plum: Gratifying Vegan Dishes from Seattle’s Plum Bistro
    • “The vegan chef makes it look easy, with chapters on replacements for conventional staples (egg foam, anyone?), a helpful dissection of meat substitutes, and even a few mostly raw dishes for those in transition. Highlights: tostadas with spicy strawberry avocado relish, and balsamic tofu with white bean sauce and agave pumpkins. Most recipes are soy and/or gluten free and definitely aren’t all broccoli and turnips; expect recipes for sinful—yet morally sound—treats like tiramisu pancakes and tempeh vermouth.” — Seattle Metropolitan
    • Check out an overview of Plum Bistro with Makini in this video:
  • Ellen Jackson, The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook and The Grand Central Baking Book
    • With over 115 original recipes from over 115 of America’s best chefs, Ellen worked with the 115 of America’s Best chefs offering 115 recipes in The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook celebrates that revolution and translates the tenets of sustainable food production into actual recipes that most any home cook can prepare. Meanwhile, she worked with Piper Davis to author the Grand Central Baking Book which offers 85 recipes from the great Grand Central Bakery but scaled for the home baker.
  • Leslie Mackie, More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle’s Popular Neighborhood Bakery
    • “More than a follow-up to the original Macrina cookbook, this inspiring hardcover features recipes for the artisan loaves, rich brioches, and enticing pastries that have been added to the bakery shelves in the years since the first cookbook was published, as well as profiles of the people, providers, and philosophies that make Macrina so beloved in Seattle. There are also savories like breakfast hash and BLTs.” – The Seattle Times
  • Ivy Manning, Crackers & Dips: More than 50 Handmade Snacks
    • “Happy Hour – brunch, snacks and picnics – will never be the same. Ivy Manning has given us a new reason to head to the kitchen and a new treat to love: homemade crackers and great dips. Move over chips, there’s a new kid on the block!” — Dorie Greenspan, author of Around My French Table
    • Here’s a video clip of Ivy demonstrating making homemade crackers and spread
  • Domenica Marchetti, The Glorious Vegetables of Italy
    • “The Glorious Vegetables of Italy–glorious indeed! Domenica Marchetti reveals the last, great secret of the Italian kitchen: the abundance and staggering variety of vegetable dishes that Italians enjoy on a daily basis. What’s secret? The recipes are not from limited restaurant menus, but from la cucina, the home kitchen. Tha”s where the chickpea, eggplant, fennel and radicchio reign. Domenica, at home in the tradition, reveals all: lore, history, tips, and, best of all, a thousand thrilling tastes from the garden that is Italy.” – Frances Mayes, author of seven books on Italy, including Under the Tuscan Sun”
  • Diane Morgan, Roots: The Definitive Compendium with More than 225 Recipes
    • ” . . . that is what a cookbook should be: a guidebook, a resource.. The kind of thing you can go to again and again and again. Not because you loved one recipe, but because no matter how many times you read it, you’ll always learn something new. That is what I discovered in Roots: The Definitive Compendium with more than 225 Recipes . . . it hit all of my cookbook expectations. It’s a resource (and a good one at that), the photos are beautiful but the recipes aren’t over dominated by them, the story is personal, and in reading it, you get a lesson in food. For example, I had no idea that carrots are believed to have originated in Afghanistan.” – Anna Brones, Huffington Post
    • Check out Diane working in this video with celery root
  • Gabe Rucker, Le Pigeon: Cooking at the Dirty Bird (book would have been just released a few days earlier/Sept 17!)
    • “The stories are engaging, the recipes are complicated enough to be fun but not so tricky as to be unattainable, and the photography is well done but not fussy. It is the only cookbook I can think of that contains photos of dishes being prepared on an electric stove… The book also puts a healthy emphasis on drink pairings, with GM Andy Fortgang offering ‘Pigeon Pours’ for many recipes. ” – Paula Jones, Eater.com
    • Hm, celery root is apparently popular- here is Gabe making BBQ celery root with mâche and Dulce de Bourgogne in the Le Pigeon kitchen (same recipe I witnessed him demo at Bite of Oregon!)
  • Allen Salkin, signing postcards for forthcoming title
    • Allen Salkin is a hilarious guy. I’m not sure why they are being coy on the Feast website about the forthcoming title, which is From Scratch: Inside the Food Network. The book comes out in October, and promises to be a dramatic inside look of the inception of the Food Network and the various adventures of trying to mix the creative freedom inherent in those creating food and the hard line of the business of a network channel.
  • Andrea Slonecker, Pretzel Making at Home
    • “Here’s a new twist on an old favorite: pretzels warm from the oven. DIY bakers can make their own crunchy, chewy, savory, or sweet artisan pretzels with this collection of 50 recipes that imagines every way to shape, fill, and top them. Here are the traditional versions as well as novel creations such as Philly cheesesteak pretzel pockets and fried pretzel with cinnamon sugar. More substantial dishes like wild mushroom and chestnut pretzel stuffing, and pretzel bread pudding with caramel sauce elevate the humble pretzel to dinner-table fare as this tantalizing cookbook takes a cherished everyday snack to the next level of culinary creativity.” – book description
    • Check out Andrea making classic fresh soft German  pretzels here in this video:
  • Joe YonanEat Your Vegetables, Bold Recipes for the Single Cook
    • A collection of eclectic vegetarian and vegan recipes for singles as well as lone vegetarians in meat-eating households, so note the recipes are all meatless. “As more and more people embrace vegetable-heavy diets, the need for a primer on these wildly varying foods is great. … Recipes are designed to feed one but are easily doubled or can serve nicely as a side dish if desired. The greatly appealing dishes in this collection open up a whole new culinary world for veggie lovers.” – Publishers Weekly
    • Check out Joe doing one of the dishes from his cookbook, sweet potato soup with orange and smoky pecans
  • Michael Zusman and Nick Zukin, The Artisan Jewish Deli at Home (book would was just released on Sept 3!)
    • “Nick Zukin and Michael C. Zusman have written a cookbook that allows delicatessen enthusiasts to make their favorite deli dishes at home. Making your own knishes? No problem. Rustle up your own pickles? Bring it on. Michael and Nick manage to make deli food simultaneously contemporary and timeless, which is no easy feat. If reading The Artisan Jewish Deli at Home doesn’t make you hungry, you’ve never rhapsodized over a pastrami sandwich or driven a hundred miles for a transcendent plate of latkes. If my grandmother, the greatest Jewish deli–style cook I’ve ever known, were alive she’d be kvelling over this book.” – Ed Levine, founder of Seriouseats.com

I hope to see you at the Cookbook Social. Who are you looking forward to meeting?

Previously: I highlighted the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting food festival scheduled for Sept 20 and 21 and also of my excitement for the Sandwich Invitational on Sept 19. I also described the Best Butcher and Fishmonger Face Off free event, and how I am so looking forward to my big splurge of the festival, High Comfort at the Nines, both are on Sept 21. I also highlighted a few interesting panels from the Speaker Series.

Disclosure: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.

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Counting Down to Feast Portland: Feast Speaker Series

This post is part of my series “Counting Down to Feast Portland” where I talk about events I plan to attend as part of this 4 day food and drink festival September 19-22, 2013 to raise money for the two Feast Portland charity partners focused on fighting hunger: Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. 

Previously: I highlighted the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting food festival scheduled for Sept 20 and 21. and also spoke of my excitement for the Sandwich Invitational on Sept 19 and the splurge gift to myself, the luxe High Comfort at The Nines on Sept 21. I also highlighted a free Feast event, the Best Butcher Contest and Fishmonger Face off on Sept 21.

Not every event is about eating and drinking. We can also just talk about eating and drinking without the action itself, such as with the Feast Portland Speaker Series. Each of these is is a $10 ticketed event that takes place as part of Feast Portland on Friday Sept 20th and Saturday, Sept 21st at the Portland Art Museum: Marion L. Miller Gallery.

Each speaking session is scheduled throughout the day, with each session lasting 1.5 hours, and with quite a pedigree of Feast speakers lined up! Although it is great to eat and drink the deliciousness, I think it is also our responsibility to have an open mind so we can learn and actively support the ecosystem that provides us both nourishment and comfort/joy in the form of cuisine.

There are SIX Feast Speaker Series events on the calendar- if you looked as recently as a few weeks ago there were only 5, but they added another!

  • Friday, September 20th
    • Hunger Bites, Let’s End It / 9:00am-10:30am
    • Food Will Define the Future of Healthcare/ 11:00am-12:00pm
    • The American Experience Through Food / 1:00pm – 2:30pm
    • Transparency and GMOS: The More You Know, The Better / 3:00pm – 4:30pm
  • Saturday, September 21st
    • Beat the Devil: Create an Awesome Food Business without Selling Your Soul  / 10:00am – 11:30am
    • Portland Matters  / 2:00pm – 3:30pm

I cannot attend them all since I plan to work (you know, at my regular full time job) half the day on Friday I took the day off! There’s too much goodness I don’t want to miss a thing,  one conflicts with time I will attending the Cookbook Social I will be covering next week in a post. That leaves to my hopeful schedule these particular ones that I will be trying to attend.

Hunger Bites, Let’s End It Friday, Sept 20th 9:00am – 10:30am

The first of the Feast Speaker Series, and the motivation of fighting hunger is the dear cause of Feast Portland.

Description from the Feast website: In his first term, President Obama made the ambitious pledge to end childhood hunger in America. What would it take to end child hunger in Oregon – a state with one of the highest hunger rates in the nation – but who is at the forefront of the anti-hunger movement? Join anti-hunger leaders as they share their vision, highlighting the power and effectiveness of partnership, advocacy and funding, and discuss how we can make childhood hunger a thing of the past in Oregon, and across the nation.

The Lineup

The American Experience Through Food Friday, Sept 20th 1:00pm – 2:30pm

This one has a lot of interest to me because American food is both specifically regional based on available ingredients and the area’s food culture from the reality of its history and climate, and yet is also a melting pot no only of various areas of the US but of the world. Formal training, if a chef has it, often involves experiences overseas. I’m curious to hear the takes of this blend of food writers and chefs, east and south and west coasts have to say. Also, Hugh and Naomi!

Description from the Feast website: What the heck is American food? Is it Southern chefs celebrating local ingredients and family recipes honed over centuries? Is it one of the youngest chefs on Earth ever to receive three Michelin stars? Answer: It is all of these and more. Listen to renowned chefs from around the country who approach food from many different backgrounds, experiences, and influences—and find out what makes American food exhilarating.

The Lineup

Beat the Devil: Create an Awesome Food Business without Selling Your Soul Saturday, Sept 21st 10:00am – 11:30am

I’m interested in this talk to hear how a food entrepreneurs balance the line between running a business but also representing their viewpoints and passions in their products and services that is part of the differentiating experience for its customers.

Description from the Feast website: What makes a coffee shop more than a morning ritual stopover? What makes a grocery store more than a place to buy groceries? Food can be a business where passion and conviction can win over customer hearts, but the new players in the food business game are proving this doesn’t come at the cost of losing market share. Meet some of the most influential players in changing the way America eats.

The Lineup

Portland Matters Saturday, Sept 21st 2:00pm – 3:30pm

I want to hear about what direction Portland as a food city might be going in- and how we contribute to the definition of American food. The food scene in the US now is full of passion for artisan ingredients and sourcing locally and seasonally, but yet Portland still stands out to me as unique. I am curious to hear the Portland Food Scene 201 (101 was the original Portland TED Talk by Karen Brooks) by hearing more from Karen as well as from other distinguished panel speakers. You’ve seen that TED talk right? Surely you have- it’s only 10 minutes, yet succinctly explains the Portland perspective on food (The Three C’s- Craft, Connection, Community).

Description from the Feast website: Portland, Oregon: Food media crush of the moment, or a city with serious culinary cred? Eavesdrop on the experts and hear their side. From the talented chefs changing the conversations locally and nationally, to the booming multi-billion dollar beverage and artisan products industries, to an agricultural bounty and natural beauty rivaled by few places on Earth, to the homegrown heroes—from David Lett to James Beard—learn why the Portland story is far from over.

The Lineup

Are you going to listen to any of the speaker series events? Which ones are you interested in?

Disclosure: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.

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Counting down to Feast Portland: High Comfort at The Nines

This post is part of my series “Counting Down to Feast Portland” where I talk about events I plan to attend as part of this 4 day food and drink festival September 19-22, 2013. Disclaimer: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated.

Update – After attending the event, you can see my recap here of Day 3 of Feast

 

Previously: I highlighted the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting food festival scheduled for Sept 20 and 21 and also wrote of my excitement for the Sandwich Invitational on Sept 19 and then had to go get a sandwich to recover after writing that post. I also highlighted a free Feast event, the Best Butcher Contest and Fishmonger Face off on Sept 21.

This next Feast event I am counting down with you to is my splurge birthday gift to myself this year. It’s a food festival event which highlights comfort food that is familiar and makes you feel happy, but elevates it to a decadent level that I would imagine world leaders and only the jetset millionaires might see in terms of ingredients and execution, and so this would be a chance to spoil yourself and get a glimpse of that richness. Not to mention, I can be totally be a (secret) fangirl and see all these incredible chefs.

High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

The event is called High Comfort at The Nines, presented by Portland Monthly Magazine.  Tickets are $175 and the event takes place as part of Feast Portland on Saturday, Sept 21st 6:00pm – 9:00pm at the Nines Hotel.

Last year at Feast 2012, this event was held at the Multnomah Athletic Club, and reading some of the food from the event convinced me this was worth the price tag, as I paid for this ticket out of my own funds (not part of my Bloggers Pass). In fact, the price this year is slightly less expensive than last year’s ticket price of $200. Update: as of Labor Day weekend, this event is now sold out!

Furthermore, don’t forget that the money is going to two incredible impressive causes, so it’s a gift not only to myself but supporting Feast’s fight against hunger. Last year, it was reported that nearly 9,000 attended the September food festival on September 20-23 2012, raising $46,000 so that $23,000 was donated to each of the Feast Portland charity partners: Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. You can feed yourself and others!

Examples of the offerings from last year’s High Comfort event included

  • pork skin spaghetti puttanesca from Chris Cosentino of Incanto;
  • squab pot pie with chanterelles and corn from Stephanie Pearl Kimmel of Marché (Eugene);
  • crispy Rocky Mountain oysters with coffee purée and pink shrimp Hollandaise from Dustin Clark of Wildwood;
  • nutella panini with espresso, bacon and banana from Hedy Goldsmith of Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink;
  • foie gras cappuccinos from Philippe Boulot of Multnomah Atheletic Club;
  • a cereal of maple pork corn flakes, smoked berry marshmallows;
  • and toasted hazelnut milk from the Dentons of Ox;

Yeah you get the point.
High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland High Comfort Event from Feast Portland 2012, all right reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

Description from the Feast website: What happens when comfort food gets pushed out of its comfort zone? What would grandmother’s food taste like if grandma had a Michelin star, an immersion circulator, and a pantry full of Iberian ham, foie gras, and candy bars? The answer: High Comfort, the most decadent culinary event around. Last year’s event saw meat cereal, caviar sandwiches, and a charcuterie hall of fame without rival. This year, some of the best chefs from the US and Canada are going to take it to the next level: Get ready to be fed silly with help from premier Oregon wines and their European counterparts. Don’t plan anything early the next day.

The Lineup

Here’s a video showing how it went at last year’s event.

For more, you can check out a slideshow from Serious Eats or part of the photo essay of the Feast festival from the Oregonian also.

Disclaimer: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.

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Counting Down to Feast Portland: Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off

This post is part of my series “Counting Down to Feast Portland” where I talk about events I plan to attend as part of this 4 day food and drink festival September 19-22, 2013. The goal of Feast Portland is to raise money for two Portland charity partners focused on fighting hunger: Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. Disclaimer: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated.

Update – After attending the event, you can see my recap here

Previously: I highlighted the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting food festival scheduled for Sept 20 and 21 and also wrote of my excitement for the Sandwich Invitational on Sept 19 and then had to go get a sandwich to recover after writing that post.

The previous two events I highlighted might have a ticket price (and remember, they are trying to raise money for charity after all), but not every Feast event does. One of the new events this year for Feast is the Whole Foods Market Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off. This is a FREE event! The event takes place as part of Feast Portland on Saturday, Sept 21st 11:00am – 2:00pm at Director Park. There will be surf and turf samples provided by Whole Foods Market’s meat and seafood partners, so don’t worry about watching all that deliciousness and only wondering conceptually about the product.

The Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off are two branches of regional competitions by Whole Foods Market that are held all over the country. Last year, the Best Butcher contest included whittling down 300 butchers to just 3 (representing the west, central, and east regions of the US) that made it to New York City to be crowned at the the 2nd annual Best Butcher competition at Meatopia. Tasks they had to rise to for the competition included crafting a turducken (duck stuffed inside a chicken stuffed inside a turkey), merchandising a whole lamb, and creating a new cut of beef steak, chop or roast! Best Butcher 2012 Armand ”The Arm” Ferrante will be defending his title. You can read more about Best Butcher Contest 2012 here at the Whole Foods Blog.

Meanwhile, the 1st annual Fishmonger Faceoff of 2012 ended with the Golden Trident being awarded at Food & Wine Classic Aspen, as you can read here about the Fishmonger Face Off at the Whole Foods Blog. Fishmonger Winner Bob “The Fish Guy” Reany had to cut and fillet a certified Wild Alaska Salmon in 3 minutes- and he did it in 90 seconds! Both winners of the Best Butcher and Fishmonger Faceoff had about 40 years of experience each- we’re talking about masters of meat or fish! Check out the awesome nicknames of the fishmongers who competed last year in this 1 minute video of the 2012 finalists- will we be seeing some of them this year?

This year, the final for the Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off are BOTH coming to Feast and Portland! It’s serious technique required to know where to cut and to cut quickly, but they also will be judged on “swagger” in knife skills. It should be exciting to watch them throw in showmanship while working with the blade and with still an eye on quality of cuts and quantity of yield of product!

Who knows… is one of the butchers and fishmongers we see at this event going to be one from your neighborhood Whole Foods and providing you with the finest cuts of meat and fish?
Meat + Poultry section of Whole Foods Pearl... Is one of the butchers and fishmongers we see at Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off at Feast Portland 2013 going to be one from your neighborhood Whole Foods and providing you with the finest cuts of meat and fish? Seafood section of Whole Foods Pearl... Is one of the butchers and fishmongers we see at Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off at Feast Portland 2013 going to be one from your neighborhood Whole Foods and providing you with the finest cuts of meat and fish?

Butchery and Fishmongering is an art that seemed like it was being lost for a while into uniform piles of plastic wrapped hunks of meat in a cooler, but thankfully it has been making a comeback. People are returning to wanting to appreciate where the food comes from, and use all of the animal, which is evidenced by the rise of butchery classes in the past year in Portland. So it seems like the perfect place to hold these Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face Off finals.

Camas Davis of Portland Meat Collective gives a class on butchering a pig at Feast Portland 2012
Above: Photos from last year’s Feast PDX Basic Pig Butchery class with Portland Meat Collective’s Camas Davis. This class is back this year but already sold out! Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

Description from the Feast website: After months of regional competitions at Whole Foods Market stores across the country, 12 butchers and fishmonger finalists are sharpening their knives to go head-to-tail for the glory of being named best in their craft. Come watch the sparks fly as the butcher and fishmonger finalists battle their way to the top. Finalists will be judged by an expert panel that includes top chefs and media on presentation, craftsmanship and swagger in dazzling demos of knife work. Sample some surf-and-turf from Whole Foods Market’s meat and seafood partners, pause for some live music, snap a picture in the photo booth, and even learn a thing or two about high-quality meat and sustainable seafood.

Camas Davis of Portland Meat Collective gives a class on butchering a pig at Feast Portland 2012 Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Camas Davis of Portland Meat Collective gives a class on butchering a pig at Feast Portland 2012 Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

Disclosure: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.

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Counting Down to Feast Portland: Sandwich Invitational

This post is part of my series “Counting Down to Feast Portland” where I talk about events I plan to attend as part of this 4 day food and drink festival September 19-22, 2013. The goal of Feast Portland is to raise money for two Portland charity partners focused on fighting hunger: Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. Disclaimer: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated.

Update – After attending the event, you can see my recap here of Day 1 of Feast

Previously: I highlighted the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting food festival scheduled for Sept 20 and 21.

One of the events I am very much looking forward to is the Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational presented by Lincoln Motor Company. Tickets are $95 and the event takes place as part of Feast Portland on Thursday, Sept 19th 6:00pm – 9:00pm at Director Park.

This event is not covered by my Bloggers Pass, so I bought my ticket to this event with my own funds. I recall this was the first event that I read last year that I had regret that I had not attended, particularly as I had walked by it during that time on the way to something else and been so cruelly teased from the outside. I had rationalized myself out of buying a ticket last year, telling myself it wasn’t worth paying that price for just sandwiches. I kept second guessing myself the entire time.

And then, after the event, I gazed at the photos from last year’s event here from the sandwich porn slideshow from Bon Appetit, a Portland Monthly Magazine Slideshow, an article and Slideshow from Serious Eats, and the Diary coverage from Michael Russel at the Oregonian.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Imperial served up some beef belly banh mi, featuring beef knuckle marmalade. Sandwich sample from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 This Cuban fritas from Irving Street Kitchen contained chicken liver, Kobe beef, pork tenderloin, and veal. Sandwich sample from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Staple & Fancy (Seattle) Ethan Stowell showed off his pork belly porchetta sandwich with Bosc pear and onion mostarda from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

I gazed hungrily at the photos of the various sandwich samples (ahem… at the time then, and also now as I compose this post!). 15 sandwiches, paired with beer. Sandwiches like shrimp and watercress sandwiches from Ned Ludd? Dungeness crab rolls with tarragon, lemon, fennel and bacon from Jenn Louis of Lincoln? “Egg McDuffin” sandwiches made of serrano ham, bacon, and sausage from Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes and the show Ace of Cakes?

Texas-smoked Carlton Farms pork butt and pickled Dungeness crab with Oregon pear slaw and pig’s ear gravy from Ned and Jodi Elliott from Austin’s Foreign & Domestic? Bunk Sandwich’s Tommy and Nick served up a matahambre (hunger killer), with chuck steak and a slow-cooked egg marinated in chimichurri, along with spinach and carrot escabeche?!

Then there was a collaboration sandwich, a smoked prime rib with jalapeno cheesesteak from Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin Barbecue (one of the top Texas BBQ spots, and possibly of all the USA?) and Rodney Muirhead of Portland’s Podnah’s Pit? And representing Beast,  an offering of maple-glazed pork belly and pickled watermelon slaw on a housemade semolina roll from Naomi Pomeroy (who ultimately won the sandwich invitational)? I would go on but it’s making me really hungry and sad that I missed out.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Naomi Pomeroy of Beast's maple-glazed pork belly with pickled watermelon slaw on a housemade semolina roll sandwich sample from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Bunk served up this matahambre (hunger killer), a play on a traditional sandwich from Argentina with chuck steak and a slow-cooked egg marinated in chimichurri, along with spinach and carrot escabeche. Sandwich sample from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

Um, so YUM. These are not your normal sandwiches, the combinations are creative, ingredients high end and fresh, and the flavors bold, these are sammies at a level you would never find on a regular menu, even at the home base restaurants of these illustrious chefs. Based on the experienced last year, it turns out that you barely had to wait in line for your taste, with the longest apparently being for the cheesesteak sandwich at 20 minutes. Are you kidding, I’ve waited for an hour or two to eat deliciousness before, and add to that this is being crafted from the very hands of those gifted palates (squeeeee!!!)… so 20 minutes (probably while eating another sandwich) is nothing! And OMG Jeffrey Steingarten was there! I should have bought a ticket ;(

Naomi Pomeroy of Beast and her sandwich samples from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Shrimp and watercress sandwiches from Ned Ludd, sandwich samples from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Jen from Lincoln served up Dungeness crab rolls with tarragon, lemon, fennel and bacon sandwich samples from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

Naomi is one of the my dream chefs as I admire her as female chef in a mostly male-dominated industry despite not having formal training, and also as a representative celebrating Northwest cuisine and ingredients nationally, and her perspective of intimate supper club like food service rather than white linens experience… but I am also intimidated of. She is so unapologetically focused and driven, so whip smart and quick to learn and also take risks and pull from an amazing database of flavor possibilities in her mind. So kick ass.

And add to that the sandwich kings of Portland, Rick from Lardo and Tommy and Nick from Bunk, will be there? And the dream team for any meat,  Greg and Gabrielle from Ox? And I loved Stephanie on Top Chef (maybe I was already cheering her because she’s from my hometown Chicago, yes she’s a female chef too, and she is such an approachable genius that seems like you can have beers and laugh with). I could gush more, but suffice it to say it was clear to me I must be there at this Sandwich Invitational! I can’t write anymore, I need to go out and get a sandwich.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Kenny and Zuke brought the classic Reubon of course, sandwich samples from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational 2012 Rodney assembling the smoked prime rib with jalapeno cheesesteak collaboration from Aaron Franklin of Austin's Franklin Barbecue and Rodney Muirhead of Portland's Podnah's Pit. Sandwich samples from Feast Portland 2012 event Sandwich Invitational. Copyright All rights reserved by Feast Portland
Photo Credit: Feast Portland CopyrightAll rights reserved by Feast Portland

Description from the Feast website: What happens when 15 of America’s top chefs convene to harness their culinary ambition between two slices of bread? Enter the Sandwich Invitational, Feast Portland’s killer kick-off party, where wildly imaginative, chef’d-up interpretations redefine everything you thought the lowly sando could be. Enjoy sandwich bliss under the stars at Downtown Portland’s urbane Director Park, an experience paired with craft brews from legendary local Widmer Brothers Brewing plus Northwest wines and cocktails.

The Lineup

And, here’s a video showing last year’s event.

Disclaimer: I was granted a Bloggers Pass for Feast Portland 2013, and asked to help promote Feast but they did not require that I write this post and I am not otherwise being compensated. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.

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