Community Sponsored Agriculture is an opportunity for consumers to receive seasonal produce direct from the producer each week during farming season.
In most cases, the recipient receives a mystery box of ultra-fresh vegetables in their delivery and from there, the games begin.
On Tuesday, June 23rd, three local farmers, Donna Stokoe and David Catzell from Fraser Common Farm and Ward Teulon from City Farm Boy, delivered two mystery boxes of seasonal vegetables at their peak to Chef Andrea Carlson at Bishop’s. The subsequent event was the second dinner in the Producer’s Dinner Series at the acclaimed restaurant.
To find out what we ate, sipped and savoured, plus to find out more about the Producer’s Dinner Series, read more, after the jump.
The Menu:
CITY FARM BOY
and
FRASER COMMON FARM
C.S.A. MENU(Blue Mountain Rose – welcome wine)
Peas and Carrots
Kale Chips
Chilled Amaranth Soup
goat ricotta and oregano
filled squash blossom(paired with Quail’s Gate Riesling)
Rouge D’Hiver Lettuce
shaved radish, sweet cicely flower and
pickled spring onion vinaigrette(paired with Mission Hill’s Unoaked ’07 Pinot Grigio)
Seared Ling Cod Spotted Shrimp
saute of romaine, mint and broad beans,
garlic scape and tarragon butter sauce(paired with the Prospect Winery Pinot Blanc)
Roasted Squab Breast
metchosin wheatberries, radicchio
and currant saute, fennel seed paneer,
shaved fennel(paired with the ’04 Morning Bay Merlot)
Lemon Verbena Panna Cotta
nootka rose honey gelee, rhubarb broth
alpine strawberries
More Alpine Strawberries
(paired with the Late Harvest Optima from Quail’s Gate)
The original news release:
(Vancouver, BC) – When you think of dinner at Bishop’s, you don’t usually imagine it coming out of a box but that is literally what will happen this coming July and August. Bishop’s Executive Chef Andrea Carlson is a huge supporter of CSA’s – Community Supported Agriculture. For those who are not yet familiar, CSAs allow small-producer farmers to pre-sell their crops. For a fee, people ‘subscribe’ to share in the harvest. Each week during the season, ‘shareholders’ receive a box brimming with just-picked, organic produce straight from the farm.
The trick with this system is that you never know exactly what you are going to receive from week to week. You might have a fair idea based on what is in season but you never actually know until you lift the lid. “Every week is a special creative challenge,” says Chef Carlson. “It’s a bit like Christmas, every box is a surprise – it’s a lot of fun to work with.”
Currently Bishop’s is supplied by two CSAs – Glorious Organics Cooperative (Fraser Common Farm) and City Farm Boy.
More than 30 years ago, a group of like-minded people banded together to form Fraser Common Farm Cooperative which bought its first ten acres of farmland near Aldergrove. Eight years ago, they were able to purchase a neighbouring property thereby doubling their land base and production. Two co-ops – Fraser Common Farm Co-op, whose shareholders own the land, and Glorious Organics Co-op, who farm it – work together to run this ‘community farm.’ Members of the farming co-op are all shareholders in the land co-op. David Catzel, who heads up the CSA ‘division’ of the Fraser Common Farm, says they grow more than 30 varieties of salad greens along with peas, beans, squash, garlic, herbs, onions, leeks, beets, carrots, potatoes, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes and edible flowers.
City Farm Boy, the brainchild of Ward Teulon, is the ‘new kid’ on the CSA block. Mr. Teulon’s approach is unique, he farms plots of land within Vancouver – usually yard gardens in private homes or unused allotment spaces. This year he is selling only 30 ‘shares’ and has planted a wide range of produce: beans, broad beans, beets, carrots, rhubarb, sugar snap peas, cucumbers along with several varieties of lettuce, peppers and tomatoes to name only a small portion of the 2009 crop.
“From each box I create a menu that accommodates approximately 10 people as our fresh sheet and early bird menus. When it’s gone it’s gone. They send what they harvest – that’s the point – it’s sharing in a portion of the harvest – not customizing,” says Chef Carlson.
The three-course ‘Out of the Box’ early bird menu is available every evening in July and August (while supplies last) from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The price of only $38 is certainly a pleasant surprise.
If you wish to add a wine pairing created by Maitre d’ Abel Jacinto, then that is an additional $20 for 3 oz. pours or $38 if you prefer larger 6 oz. pours.
Reservations are always a good idea and can be made online at
www.bishopsonline.com or call 604-738-2025.
Tags: Kitsilano, West 4th Avenue