Elite Event: I Dare You!

This was a night of «Offal» food tasting brought to you by «Taste of Edmonton».
What did I expect with a title of «I Dare You»? I wasn’t sure, but I was up to the challenge. There isn’t much that I won’t at least try.
Chefs Doreen Prei, Andrew Cowan, Serge Jost, Miles Quon, Sarah Peebles, Alex Sneazwell and Richard Toll all gave us their best version of what to do with the bits that no one likes to think about.
My husband and I quite enjoyed this event. I had two favourites from the night; Chef Jost’s Duck Liver Flan and Chef Sneazwell’s Blood Pasta with Crispy Brains.
The only one I couldn’t do, oddly enough was the super spicy Szechwan Hot Pot by Chef Quon. I had a taste of my husband’s but couldn’t do any more than just a taste!
Thank you Jennie for making us step outside our comfort zones on a taste adventure!

It isn’t you, It’s me. Honest.
The reason I have given one of my beloved events a ‘meh’ rating is because I don’t have an adventuresome palate. I don’t mind out of the ordinary dishes, but I am not a brains and organs kind of eater. I’m not a 100 year old egg, burn your tastebuds off kind of eater.
I ended up slipping away and getting something from a couple of the usual Taste of Edmonton vendors.
On the upside, the wine we were given when we walked in was out of this world wonderful.

Jennie put on a fabulous event with some wonderful wine selections — all despite Taste’s rendition of «Fear Factor».
Of special note was the Xyris that was offered on entry to the tent.
I hope Taste of Edmonton decides to be a little less extreme next year with this event…

What an experience! Thanks to these fantastic chefs, I got to encounter dishes that I never imagined I would get close to. While I did have to give myself a mental pep-​talk before each first bite, the taste of each dish was a pleasant surprise. There were also lovely wine pairings that pleased the palette and lowered inhibitions :).
The venue was fantastic; loved the cabanas that allowed us to relax and enjoy the evening’s entertainment while staying dry. As usual, Jennie pulled off a fantastic event!

The «I Dare You» event in the Sip ‘n Savour tent at the TofE ’14 was definitely a unique experience.
I’ll have to admit, it wasn’t something that I expected. Instead of sampling unique meals from some of the best chefs in town, my first impression was that I stepped into an episode of fear factor!
Dishes such as blood pasta, tongue tacos, sweet breads, and squid ink were definitely out of my norm.
Wine pairings were fantastic and Jennie had a fabulous VIP Unilocal area set up to keep us dry from the rain.
It was a treat getting to talk up close and personal with some of the best chefs in town! It was reality TV come to life getting to talk with Miles Quon from the LIngnan.
Thanks again Jennie for a fabulous and unique experience that will never be forgotten.

July’s Elite Event at Taste of Edmonton is one I will NEVER forget!
The theme in the sip ‘n savour tent was «I Dare You» and they weren’t kidding! Stand outs for me includes brains and chicken feet in Chef Miles Quon’s (The Lingnan) super spicy and mouth numbing hot pot and Chef Andrew Cowan’s (Hundred Bar Kitchen) take on comfort food Haggis served over a bed of mash. There was no shortage of unusual culinary delights!
The Blood pasta with Sweet Breads fried in lemon garlic was a definite first for me by Chef Alex Sneazwell (El Cortez). The taste was surprisingly non-​bloody — just a tad salty.
Chef Sarah Peebles prepared Taco de Lengua fresh to order! Two small soft tortillas with melted cheese in between topped with cooked ground tongue, cilantro, micro greens, and Avacado! Yummy! the only think that would have made this dish even better was some hot hot hot caliente!
Chef Richard Toll (ASNA Cooks) prepared Porcetta di Testa (pig face — yep, I said it) — think of it like sliced thin/​cured pig’s face with a sweet fruit style bruschetta and light mustard glaze with micro greens.
Hotel MacDonald’s Chef Serge Jost served up Duck liver flan with sweetbread popcorn, nettles, and black squid ink lobster sauce.
Wine… Yes, oh the sweet nectar of the Gods helped to keep our bravery spirits high! Hubby and I sampled about 8 but our FAVE was the one we were given upon entry to the event: Xyris! I’m not usually a red drinker, but man was the bubbly and fruity red to die for! It would go great in place of a port with dessert or a cheese plate! In fact, Monique and I liked it so much, we may have even kissed the bottle ;-)
Jennie, the hostess with the mostest, ensured we were comfy and dry from the rain in the lovely covered gazebos and had Jones Soda and Karma water infusion on hand for us!
Had a great night but honestly struggled a bit with the richness of many of the foods. I think The idea from Taste of Edmonton was great but some calm interludes or a sweet treat would have made the «I Dare You» tent even better.
Merci buckets Jennie! Thanks for spoiling us Elites with a fabulous night out at the Taste of Edmonton!

What a night full of yum. I got to try a bunch of tasty meals from gifted chefs. First was the Haggis Sausage from chef Andrew Cowan from Hundred Bar Kitchen. A tasty beginning to the evening. Though the sausage casing didn’t hold together it was still very good. Next I tried Duck Liver Flan with Sweetbread Popcorn covered with Nettles and Black Squid Ink Lobster Sauce by chef Jost from Fairmont Hotel MacDonald. Wow! What a presentation. Everything was mouth watering. Next I tried Blood Pasta with Crispy Brains from chef Alex Sneazwell from El Cortez Tequila Bar and Kitchen. My favorite of the evening. Would love a bigger serving. An additional sauce would make this even better. Next on my list was Szechwan Spicy, Mouth Numbing Hot Pot by chef Miles Quon from Lingnan. This was one I couldn’t’t finish. Insanity! This was true to the name. I love my spicy food but this was hard to swallow. He wins in the catergory of «I Dare You». I lost. After letting my face cool off I moved on to try Taco Dr Lengua by the private chef Sarah Peebles. A favorite amongst the crowd. Her line up was huge. Worth the wait. Next was Sweet Bread with White Asparagus Mousseline, Smoked Mushrooms and Champagne Fois Gras Sauce by chef Doreen Prei from Edmonton Petroleum Club. Very good and another great presentation. Last on my list was Porcetta Di Testa by chef Richard Toll from ASNA Cooks. Really good and really messy. Overall a great night. Thanks to all the chefs.

A really, really nice event, as ALWAYS. Thank you Jennie! All the tables with the varying dishes were interesting and good… my two regrets are that I didn’t get to try the Bison tacos (she ran out! hurrah for her!) and there wasn’t something sweet to finish off the delicious savoury foods :-)
I started with Doreen Prei’s (Edmonton Petroleum Club) Sweetbreads with smoked mushrooms and white asparagus mousseline which was, honestly, extremely delicious (I went back for seconds, something I rarely do because it was my FAVOURITE of the whole tent), I then tried the Szechwan Spicy Hot Pot by Miles Quan (Lignan). For someone who loves and eats pepper spicy food, it was quite tasty… that is, initially starting to eat it you do taste the flavours of the foods in the soup with the spice… however, what I did notice is that as you continue to eat it, you are (at least I was) concentrating on the spicy hot part and not on the actual other wonderful ingredients in the soup… quail egg, for example ;-9. My next stop was the Porcetta (sorry, gentlemen, it should have read «PorcHetta») di Testa. Very nice and the combination of the flavours was really nice as no one overtook the other :-). My companion got us the Blood Pasta with Sweetbread Crisps from the Cortez Tequila Bar and Kitchen. An unusual dish considering «pasta» is not a Mexican dish (and in fact, my companion said that they typically don’t do this dish). I will say that the flavour was very good as it didn’t have that after taste that «blood» anything can have if not well seasoned. The texture of the tagliarini wasn’t great, but I am accounting for the «kitchen» within which they had to cook it. Overall, it was good. My next dish was the Liver Flan from the Hotel MacDonald. VERY delicate with really nice accompanying flavours and NOT what you would think… in fact, for the faint of heart this dish is a wonderful introduction, in my opinion, to pâté’. My last dish was the Haggis Sausage by 100 Bar. I have NEVER had Haggis as I don’t like gamey tasting foods for the most part. The chef explained that the sausage was created/​made for the «faint of heart» who could at least enjoy Haggis in its milder form, that is, combined with other meats in a less intimidating way. Served with mashed potatoes and turnips, it was quite good and for sure an enjoyable Winter dish :-)
The wines I had were all quite good. Our entry sparkling wine, Xyris was delicious as I remember it :-) In fact, it reminded me to buy a few bottles again since I haven’t had it in a while :-) The DeAngelis Piceno (I hope I remembered it correctly) was quite nice with Doreen’s dish, I also tried the Hermit Crab Chardonnay which was good with the Porchetta and finished off with the Sardinian Cannonau.
As always, a wonderful event and well organized :-)
Before I do forget though, if you did go out and search for sweets… please have gone to La Pasta Trattoria for the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Truffles… they are really, REAlly, REALLY DELICIOUS! Do NOT fall into the trap of going to the spot next to it (Italian Bakery) to have the Canoli (Yes, they do misspell it) or Tiramisu’ …In my honest opinion, they are not worth the calories or the tastebuds in comparison to the Truffles from La Pasta Trattoria… really, really.

The «I Dare You» event in the Sip n’ Savour tent at the 2014 Taste of Edmonton should have been called the «I Double Dare You»!!
I never thought I would ever get to taste all these organ meats in one shot, or even want too! But thanks to Jennie and that «dare», I did! Yes, I never shy away from a dare and will try everything once.
What did I try?
I started with The Lingnan’s Chef Miles Quan’s Szechwan Spicy Mouth Numbing Hot Pot that should have been called Fire Pot! 6 kinds of chiles and peppercorn! My mouth was numb but it was a good numb! It also contained chickens feet, intestines, sweetbread, 8 Weeks old eggs preserved in ash, tripe and probably the kitchen sink!
Next was Asna Cooks’ Chef Richard Toll’s «Porcetta Di Tasta» Shaved pig’s face with peach salsa on a crostini with a mustard spread (available at Pan Tree Kitchen in Sherwood Park) and topped with parsley & baby greens.
I then had a delicious Sweetbread with white asparagus mousseline, and smoked mushrooms in a Champagne foie gras sauce. This was prepared by Chef Doreen Prel of the Edmonton Petroleum Club.
Then I ventured to try 100 Bar Kitchen’s Chef Andrew Cowan’s Haggis on a bed of mashed potatoes. By far this Haggis containing lamb and pork organ meats & sweetbreads wad my favourite! DELICIOUS!
But that wasn’t all, oh no!
I also tried Bison tongue tacos! The bison meat was very tasty but the tacos were bland. A little hot sauce would have helped.
Then there was the warm, velvety and airy Duck pâté mousse served with squid ink and lobster sauce accompanied with sweetbread popcorn! THAT Fairmont MacDonald Hotel dish prepared by Chef Serge Jost was divine!
I also ventured to nibble on the Blood pasta with Sweetbread crisps by Chef Alex Sneazwell of Cortez Tequila Bar and Kitchen. The pasta was surprisingly quite tasty but the crisps were unfortunately anything but! They were gummy and pasty. That was unfortunate. I wonder if a different way of keeping them warm might have helped keep them crispy?
We also had the chance to taste a variety of fabulous wines! The wine reps were extremely knowledgeable and recommended which dishes to enjoy paired with their wines.
All in all, it was quite a fun Unilocal elite experience! I am grateful to Jennie for always creating events that allows one to be adventurous in a way that they would not be able to be on their own!

The sparkling wine we for at the entrance was lovely! My husband is not a huge wine drinker, and he would have gone back for more. It was also nice that there were some bevvies with no booze for those of us who don’t drink (or who just taste things).
Shawn likes spice, but he couldn’t finish the hot pot soup. I was impressed. Not much is too spicy for him, and it was a clear indication that I should not have some. Everything else I did try was great.
Our son, who is just about six months old, loves watching people eat, so he enjoyed himself too. Thanks to Jennie for the awesome bibs and baby name tags! What a nice surprise!

Going into this event I really had no idea where the «I dare you» part of the title came from. Upon walking around the tables and talking with some of the chef’s about the ingredients in their dishes however it all became crystal clear. I didn’t really think I would be all too interested in pig’s blood pasta or mouth numbing hot pot but they were not as bad as I thought they would be and I appreciated the opportunity to try new things. My favorites was actually the haggis which had a great flavor and texture surprisingly. My guest and I really appreciated the access to the comfy private seating area as well as the drink cooler. That festival can feel a little overwhelming at times and it was nice to have a place to escape the crowds. My thanks go out to Jennie and the good folks at Taste of Edmonton for being so welcoming to the Unilocal elite crew.

Awesome champagne… the vip tent was comfy and great for mingling! Jennie you are the hostess with the mostess.
This was by far one of my favourite elite events. It was a great event hosted in the sip and savour tent. The Unilocal elites were treated to lots of food and chanmpagne. Our wristbands gave us exclusive use of the sip and savour tent with a vip seating area which was loaded with lots of drinks. We got a champagne glass which we filled with the most wonderful champagne and was so delicious. We did drink lots. 2 cases in fact but thats ok. It was wonderful!
The wristband gives you unlimited food items in the sip and savour tent. The theme was I dare you. With lots of adventourous dishes created by the wonderful chefs of edmonton. Overall there were about 8 chefs coooking some great delights. Some ran out pretty quickly but thats because the food was that good. Portion sizes were big considering the items ingredients. Some including foie gras or truffles or exotic items not typically used. I found the different items tantalizing and innovative.
I was very fortunate to attend this event, and I am sad to say it didnt happen again in 2015. i guess it was too adventerous for some. But I find that if you close your eyes and just swallow. It all tastes a bit like chicken anyway!!! So sad I will definetly look into going to the sip and savour tent this year!!! Dont miss it.

The «I Dare You» event at taste of Edmonton was not for the feint of heart… literally, because they were serving heart in some of the dishes. The idea of having innards and extreme ingredients made by executive chefs was unique enough to get me to head out to give it a try.
The highlights for me were the dish from the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald who made a duck liver flan with squid ink and sweet bread concoction. It was surprisingly tasty. The other highlight was the pork blood pasta by Alex Sneazwell. It was good because it tasted very neutral, the brown butter that he coated the pasta in was delicious.
The wines left a fair bit to be desired… I have never chased down italian wine, which a lot of the wines seemed to be, but I tried just about all of the reds and didn’t particularly like any of them.
The Unilocal crew was out in full force and had our own VIP seating area complete with swag, a non alcoholic drink cooler featuring jones soda and flavoured water.
Overall this was a fun event and an awesome experience and a chance to try things I never would have tried otherwise! I wouldn’t hunt any of these dishes down given the chance, but I wasn’t running for the hills, so thank you Jennie and crew for expanding my horizons.

You know when you find yourself saying something, and then you kind of stop and think, «gee I never thought I’d say that.»
Well that’s how I felt when I told my family that I tried blood pasta, and tongue, and haggis, and duck liver flan, and squid ink, and sweet bread, and pigs head for supper. Yet that’s what happened at tonight’s Elite Event: I Dare You, held at the Sip and Savour tent at Taste of Edmonton.
Some dishes I liked more than others, but I tried everything and had it all (well except the hot pot — if anyone finished all of that fiery inferno I tip my cap to you). My favourite dish by far was the haggis, another thing I am surprised to hear myself say. Things were a bit out there, but my friend and I agreed the tongue tacos were pretty tame, and if you weren’t told you were eating tongue you’d never know — it really tasted like a tender cut of bison or beef. The duck liver was probably my least favourite, certainly not bad but the metallic taste was a bit much for me. It was very rich too, definitely best to taste in small bites. Good news is my iron count is probably thorough the roof from the food I had here.
Aside from getting to lounge in the Unilocal sections, talking with fellow Unilocalers, and getting some cool Unilocal swag there were also several wines to try from Vinomania. Do I remember any of them… no, but whatever the first red sparkling wine (yes, a red sparkling wine) was by far my favourite wine.
Last year’s local eat event at Taste of Edmonton was fun, but I Dare You certainly kicked things up a notch. Can’t wait to find out what’s in store for us elites in August.