Top 10 gourmet destinations for fast foodies.

by Chris Welner

1. Niagra-on-the-Lake
2. Montreal
3. Vancouver
4. Quebec City
5. Victoria
6. Toronto
7. Okanagan Valley
8. Banff
9. Ottawa
10. Whistler

When you head out of town for a race, the competition only lasts so long. You need to fuel up nutritionally before the race and make time for recovery after.

TripAdvisor.com has listed the top-10 food and wine destinations in Canada to make that journey a little more memorable.
From the Niagara Ultra to the North Face Whistler Half with a stop at the Subaru Banff Triathlon, there’s room to eat and compete in style across the country. Waiter, more Chardonnay, please.

Above is TripAdvisor’s top-10 Canadian food and wine destinations. As a bonus we’ve gone to a couple of the top restaurants in the top-10 cities and asked them to share their recipes with IMPACT readers.

Sablefish Caramelized with Soy and Sake
Featuring the tart fruit taste of tamarind and mirin, a sweet cooking wine, this sablefish, caramelized with soy and sake is a melt-in-your mouth blast of protein from chef Frank Pabst at Blue Water Café in Vancouver.
Soy-sake Marinade
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp mirin
Preparation: In a small saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-high and simmer until sugar is dissolved and alcohol has evaporated, 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, cool mixture, then refrigerate.

Orange-tamarind Sauce
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 small carrot, sliced
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 jalapeño pepper, sliced
1-inch piece of ginger, sliced
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup concentrated orange juice
2 Tbsp tamarind paste
4 cups chicken stock
8 kumquats, sliced and seeded
Zest of 1/4 orange, julienned, for garnish
Preparation: In a large saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add carrot, celery, onion, garlic, jalapeño and ginger and sweat for 5 to 10 minutes until fragrant. Add mustard seeds, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, vinegar, orange juice, tamarind paste and chicken stock. Cook until liquid has reduced by two-thirds, 20 to 30 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, then season with salt and pepper. Add kumquats. Will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

Caramelized Sablefish
4 sablefish fillets, 6 oz each, skin on
1 1/2 cups soy-sake marinade
10 oz green beans
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups canola oil, for deep-frying
4 Tbsp flour
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 shallots, thinly sliced
Preparation: To caramelized combine sablefish and soy-sake marinade in a resealable plastic zip bag and refrigerate overnight. Heat a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add beans and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the beans to a bowl and toss in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat canola oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to 300F. Mix flour and cayenne in a bowl. Toss shallot slices in seasoned flour to dredge, then fry in the oil until golden and crisp, 30 seconds. Remove the shallot from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Remove the sablefish fillets from the refrigerator and allow them to warm to room temperature. Turn the broiler on. Transfer the sablefish, skin-side down, to a cast iron pan and place it on the lowest rack under broiler for 5 to 10 minutes until deeply caramelized. (The cooking time will depend upon the thickness of the fillets.)
Arrange a quarter of the green beans in the centre of each of four plates. Using a metal spatula, lift each fillet from its skin and place the fish on the beans. Sprinkle each dish with fried shallots and finish with range tamarind sauce and some orange zest.
Serves 4

Mountain Minestrone
Chef Linda Calabrese at Banff’s Sleeping Buffalo Dining Room has a pot of mountain magic brewing with her signature minestrone soup.
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red onion, 1/2 inch dice
2 oz (60 g) diced pancetta
1 green zucchini, 1/2 inch dice
1 yellow zucchini. 1/2 inch dice
1 cup cabbage, 1/4 inch dice
1 leek, 1/2 inch dice
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup cooked navy beans
2 cups tomato juice
3 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp chopped basil
1/2 cup orzo pasta
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Grated Parmesan
Preparation: Heat olive oil in saucepan; add onion, garlic, pancetta, zucchini, leek and cabbage. Sauté vegetables without color and then add tomato juice, stock, beans and seasoning. Simmer for 25 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, orzo, and basil, simmer for a further 10 minutes, adjust seasoning and serve topped with grated Parmesan.
Serves 6

November/December 2011

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