Yesterday, the Northeast Ohio Convivium of Slow Food held its second "tasting" event at Shaker Square's fire Restaurant. It was about two years ago that we had a "bacon tasting" at fire, followed by brunch. This time, the featured item was Maple Syrup. Ten syrups, as a matter of fact. After tasting and scoring all of the syrups, we were served a delicious brunch by Chef Katz's kitchen. But first, the tasting!
When we arrived at fire's back room, we found the tasting set up as follows:
The syrups for two of the glasses (#5 and#6) arrived a little late - but in time for everyone to enjoy them. We each had a scoresheet and a small pencil - and the table held a whole lot of little bitty spoons!
#6
#7
Let the tasting begin!
This little guy wasn't the only youngster - bravo to the parents who are educating their children about where their food comes from! After everyone had tasted, Kari Moore revealed which syrup was which - and there were a couple of surprises. The biggest surprise what that some people liked #10 a lot - #10 was Mrs. Butterworth's. I confess, I had started at the end and worked my way up, so I tasted #10 first and #1 last, though #6 & #7 were my actual last tastes, as they arrived after my table had gone through the line. #10 did not taste very "maply," but it was very tasty, with a lot of caramel/butterscotch flavor. It coated my palate, and seemed thicker than the other syrups. Thank heavens #7 came to rescue me from choosing a fake food as favorite! It's scary how such artificial food can taste so good!
The real syrups lined up as follows, I hope (Kari - please feel free to comment and correct any mistakes I may have here):
Miller Farm 2007 Light Amber
Kari said this was also from Miller Farm, but the label says Sutton's
2008 Medium Amber
Godell Farm 2008 Light Amber
Godell Farm 2008 Dark Amber
I don't seem to have a photo of #5, which is ironic since that syrup, a 2008 Light Amber, is the fire "house" maple syrup, produced by Snake Hill Farm in Geauga Country. One of the proprietors, Savery Rorimer, was our guest speaker, and she told us about the syrup making process and answered questions.
Snake Hill Farm 2008 Medium Amber
Snake Hill Farms 2008 Dark Amber
This was the personal favorite of me and my husband; we were very happy that Ms. Rorimer brought some to sell!
Vermont Maple Syrup 2007 Dark Amber, Grade B (the only sample that was not Grade A)
Holden Aboratorium [spelling??]
This was from 2007; Kari was not sure whether they are still producing syrup.
I did not photograph Mrs. Butterworth, but you know what she looks like!
The servers then began to appear, bearing goodies. First, an exquisite clay oven bread topped with cinnamon sugar that melted in the mouth:
Next, two warm pancake toppings:
Blueberry Compote
Snake Hill Farm 2008 Light Amber Maple Syrup (tasting #5)
Next, plates of meaty sides appeared:
Applewood Smoked Bacon
The bacon was perfectly cooked to slightly chewy crispness - and what a taste difference from supermarket bacon!
House Made Breakfast Sausage
I'm not a big sausage eater - but I really loved this!
Lemon Souffle Pancakes
Once everyone was served, plates of fresh pancakes came out for each table.
This event was a perfect way to play with nine natural, sugar, corn syrup, color and chemical free Maple Syrups, while enjoying a delicious brunch! Thank you, Chef Katz and Slow Food for a lovely event.
When we arrived at fire's back room, we found the tasting set up as follows:
The syrups for two of the glasses (#5 and#6) arrived a little late - but in time for everyone to enjoy them. We each had a scoresheet and a small pencil - and the table held a whole lot of little bitty spoons!
#6
#7
Let the tasting begin!
This little guy wasn't the only youngster - bravo to the parents who are educating their children about where their food comes from! After everyone had tasted, Kari Moore revealed which syrup was which - and there were a couple of surprises. The biggest surprise what that some people liked #10 a lot - #10 was Mrs. Butterworth's. I confess, I had started at the end and worked my way up, so I tasted #10 first and #1 last, though #6 & #7 were my actual last tastes, as they arrived after my table had gone through the line. #10 did not taste very "maply," but it was very tasty, with a lot of caramel/butterscotch flavor. It coated my palate, and seemed thicker than the other syrups. Thank heavens #7 came to rescue me from choosing a fake food as favorite! It's scary how such artificial food can taste so good!
The real syrups lined up as follows, I hope (Kari - please feel free to comment and correct any mistakes I may have here):
Miller Farm 2007 Light Amber
Kari said this was also from Miller Farm, but the label says Sutton's
2008 Medium Amber
Godell Farm 2008 Light Amber
Godell Farm 2008 Dark Amber
I don't seem to have a photo of #5, which is ironic since that syrup, a 2008 Light Amber, is the fire "house" maple syrup, produced by Snake Hill Farm in Geauga Country. One of the proprietors, Savery Rorimer, was our guest speaker, and she told us about the syrup making process and answered questions.
Snake Hill Farm 2008 Medium Amber
Snake Hill Farms 2008 Dark Amber
This was the personal favorite of me and my husband; we were very happy that Ms. Rorimer brought some to sell!
Vermont Maple Syrup 2007 Dark Amber, Grade B (the only sample that was not Grade A)
Holden Aboratorium [spelling??]
This was from 2007; Kari was not sure whether they are still producing syrup.
I did not photograph Mrs. Butterworth, but you know what she looks like!
The servers then began to appear, bearing goodies. First, an exquisite clay oven bread topped with cinnamon sugar that melted in the mouth:
Next, two warm pancake toppings:
Blueberry Compote
Snake Hill Farm 2008 Light Amber Maple Syrup (tasting #5)
Next, plates of meaty sides appeared:
Applewood Smoked Bacon
The bacon was perfectly cooked to slightly chewy crispness - and what a taste difference from supermarket bacon!
House Made Breakfast Sausage
I'm not a big sausage eater - but I really loved this!
Lemon Souffle Pancakes
Once everyone was served, plates of fresh pancakes came out for each table.
This event was a perfect way to play with nine natural, sugar, corn syrup, color and chemical free Maple Syrups, while enjoying a delicious brunch! Thank you, Chef Katz and Slow Food for a lovely event.
