A weekend to savour

This week I have tons of fresh fruit and veggies in my fridge thanks to attending Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival in Stratford, Ontario this past weekend (September 21-23). This was the fifth year for the award-winning event that celebrates local chefs, farmers, artists and musicians.

I had the pleasure of spending Saturday with fresh-food chef Paul Finkelstein, a regular contributor to Best Health, at the Pig in a Box event (pictured on the left). Sounds strange (a whole pig is seasoned and then roasted for three hours over charcoal in a box made specially to cook the pig) but it drew big crowds of people eager to sample the delicious pulled pork on a bun topped with a selection of chutneys made by Fink’s students at The Screaming Avocado Cafe. I can tell you the pork was delicious. We enjoyed our lunch while watching talented musicians perform on the main stage right across from the Craft Beer & Wine Tent.

Highlights of the weekend included listening to Emm Gryner sing (pictured above), walking along the amazing farmer’s market and buying up as much as we could carry and sampling delicious food, wine and craft beer at the Sunday Tasting event. The Sunday Tasting is the culmination of the weekend. Local restaurants are paired with wineries and brewers and you walk from table to table trying different appetizer-sized bites and wines/beer. I’ve never eaten so much in one weekend in my life, but it was all so good who could blame me?

While this year I brought my husband, next year I’m bringing my kids, too. It’s a really great family weekend with all the events geared to kids (The Kids’ Tent, face painting, real cows and sheep in a petting zoo-style kiosk set up on one of the main streets) and a fantasic chance to share with kids the importance of buying and eating local.