3rd Annual DECADENCE: A CELEBRATION OF CHOCOLATE AND ICEWINE lives up to its name at The Canadian Food + Wine Institute at Niagara College.

CULINARY REVIEW

For the third consecutive year, The Chocolate and Ice Wine event at The Canadian Food & Wine Institute at Niagara College lived up to its Decadence title. On February 16^th, just a few days after St. Valentine’s Day, the faculty and staff at the College pulled out all the stops to present a very entertaining and educational event, showcasing their ability to  turn imagination into reality with the help of Chocolate and Ice Wine. Visitors to the two-day event were treated to an array of activities and culinary tastes. Considering the event took place over Family Weekend, there was plenty to do for the family including free live ice carving with Ross Navarro, face painting, horse-drawn carriage rides, a display of  Skyhunters Birds of Prey, balloon making, glitter tattoos and magicians. The Chocolate Kids Camps did not disappoint as chefs Avi Hollo and Phillipe Corbierre got the young ones excited about cooking with chocolate.

For an hour, kids from 7 to 13 were let loose in the kitchen to make food inspired and infused with chocolate. Each kid took home their edible creations along with their chef hat. For the ladies, the Niagara Waters Spa served up a decadent chocolate mini-manicure including nails coloured in deep dark chocolate. The Godfather of the Grill, Ted Reader, fired up his BBQ outside the Benchmark Restaurant to create some great menu items including chicken bacon Epicoa rotisserie spun sliders with ice syrup glaze, smoked brisket drizzled with BBQ NC College Beer gravy and onions, smoked CFWI Sausage seasoned with Ted Reader Bone Dust in Kosliks triple crunch mustard and chopped creamy slaw, pulled pork cone and other mouthwatering delights.

Throughout the premises, the Decadence bake shop offered up delicious baked goods prepared by the team at the Canadian Food and Wine Institute. The adult events were plentiful and well presented in the Chocolate Theatre and at the Wine and Beer Tasting Seminars. Featured in the Chocolate Theatre were Chef Mark Picone and Niagara College’s Teaching Winery Assistant Wine Maker Gavin Robertson; Food Nework’s celebrity Anna Olson; Cacao Barry Chocolate Ambassador and World Chocolate Master Joseph Montinaro; Chef David Penny and Debi Pratt from Iniskillin; and Top Chef Canada’s Carl Heinrich.

Those who attended these seminars were treated to a sampling array of creative culinary creations that did not disappoint. The Wine and Beer tasting seminars were beyond surprising as the students of the Brewing Program served up a sampling of Icewine Cocktails and Beer Cocktails. To my surprise was the unbelievable combination of beer, wine and food pairings presented under the direction of Brewmaster Jon Downing, Sommelier Jennifer Wilhelm and Chef Professor Alan Kerr. Over the last three years, the Niagara College Brewery has outdone itself with the creation of chocolate beers that are absolutely alive in taste. Presentations such as “Coco Takes A Cab”, a chocolate export stout brewed by Kellye Robertson, “Dubbel Fisted”, a Belgian Debbel, brewed by Jennifer Nadwodny, “Coco Cayenne”, a Belgian chocolate stout brewed by Kyle Wilson; “Ice Ice Baby”, a barrel aged ice beer brewed collectively by the 2012 First Year Team and “Weisse Ice Baby”, a Bavarian weissebier brewed by Ryan Hethrington, Tanner Hinrichsen, Steven Harold and Pete Achilles.

The ingredients in each of these brewed beauties is complex to say the least and beautifully paired with such plated samplings as lait cru triple cream cheese, peach chutney, hot, sweet and salty glazed chicken wings, pan-seared Atlantic scallop, Thai green curry, Korean beef short rib braise, sweet cheese arepa, slow roasted Berkshire bell, sauerkraut pureee and crispy chicharone. The end result for each of the five individual were nothing short than surprisingly delicious.

The weekend of Decadence wrapped on Sunday with an elaborate Decadence Brunch held at the College’s Benchmark Restaurant. On the a la carte menu were poached eggs with pingue prosciutto, arugula and icewine hollandaise; confit of trout with icewine candied bacon and caper fried potatoes; spinach and feta fritatta with oven dried tomatoes and olive oil; icewine apple and pecan stuffed pork loin with cauliflower Yukon potato hash; and thyme roast chicken breast with hand-rolled gnocchi and dark chocolate mole. The dessert was an icewine and chocolate trio comprised of white chocolate trifle with caramelized apple cake, milk chocolate tiramisu and raspberry icewine poached pear with dark chocolate anglaise. What a way to start a Sunday in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Aside from all the culinary delights and activities for visitors, the Decadence event was primarily created to showcase the culinary talents of  students enrolled in culinary institutes.

The Decadence Gala featured the BATTLE OF ONTARIO, which saw students from the USA and CANADA enrolled in culinary courses compete for some impressive prizes. This year’s competitors included teams from Niagara College, Humber College, Canadore College, Sanford Fleming College and Fanshawe College. The People’s choice award went to Humber College for their exquisite duck creation.

Judges for the Grand Prize presented during the awards ceremony once again went to Humber College – a clean sweep. Judges for that category were celebrity chefs Anna Olson, Carl Heinrich, Ted Reader, Chef Richard Braunauer and winemaker Sue-Ann Staff. The National Student Competition showcased the best and brightest pastry students from across the country for a competition that showcased two main ingredients – Chocolate and Icewine. Representing Humber College were Shaynn Corrigan and Sherry Yeh who walked away with the Grand Prize, Victoria Stroh and Megan Proper from Niagara College and Rachel Schmidt, Jillian Kuncas and Courtney Staiano from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island USA.

Great value, great location, great fun! Mark it on your calendar to visit DECADENCE 4 next year.

Review and Photos by Joey Cee