Canadian Artisan Tasting Fair

In a city with as much happening as Toronto, it's often difficult to get in on the ground floor of any event. More often than not you hear about them after the fact and say "Awww man!", while making a mental note to go next time. However! On occasion you have the good fortune to hear murmurings of a new event before it takes place and you get to be part of the first group to give it a try. Or, in this case, a taste. MANY tastes in fact. Today was the inaugural edition of the Canadian Artisan Tasting Fair (CATF), a sampling event showcasing recent award-winning cheeses from across Canada, which took place at Artscape Wychwood Barns (a well-noted favorite spot of mine).

It was a pretty gross and rainy day outside but the mood inside the barns was quite festive as people began to arrive and check their wet coats. It didn't hurt that right off the bat your ticket (adults $35/door, $30/advance) nabbed you a CATF tote-bag, containing a tea towel, coupons and, most importantly, a plate and fork. Unlike other events where light sampling is allowed, heavy sampling was expected (and encouraged), without any of the stern faces that sometimes accompany over-indulging. Plate and fork in hand, patrons sauntered casually from booth to booth, sampling along the way.

The star of the afternoon was cheese. So. Much. CHEESE. Interestingly enough, my relationship with cheese is a relatively new one. I wasn't a fan of cheese as a child and only a few years ago the door to fromage fandom was blown wiiiiiiiide open by my first taste of goat cheese. Since then, I've been keen to try as many different kinds as possible, to get a better sense of the variety that's available. With that in mind, this was a truly wonderful event for a cheese novice, such as myself. I lost count of how many different kinds I sampled at CATF, but I would estimate it in the dozens. My favorite cheeses are either very creamy and mild or very hard and sharp. I'm a gal of extremes, what can I say? The biggest spread of cheese samples was courtesy of the mighty Leslieville Cheese Market, featuring many local Ontarian and Québécois cheeses.

Cheese wan't the only thing on the menu at CATF. There were also beautiful mountains of freshly baked bread that smelled criminally good. These too were there for the sampling and I tried many wonderful varieties. My favorites of the afternoon were the multi-grain and the sourdough loaves from Dough Bakeshop, which made a fantastic case for plain bread, no toppings needed. I was also very happy to see my favorite local bakery Mabel's in attendance. I was even happier to taste their black bean dip, knowing how easy it will be for me to add it to my regular shopping list after the fact. Yummy!

The cheese and bread parts of the afternoon were of course my personal favorites, but there were also several local charcuterie butchers and craft breweries present. Unfortunately I am unable to write these exhibitors up with any kind of authority because I do not eat red meat or drink alcohol. I know. Super lame. Normally I try to bring a companion along who is into these things so that they can report back to me but today I was flying solo so I had to gauge the quality of these offerings by the attitudes/reactions of the crowds. After loitering creepily around the meat & beer stations for a few minutes, I can say with confidence that everyone seemed extremely satisfied with everything being consumed.

I should mention that there was one meat dish that fell within the limits of my dietary restrictions and fortunately for me it may have been the most delicious thing I tasted at CATF. Sanagan's Meat Locker was serving a chicken liver mousse topped with a sweet jelly on crusty bread and it was spectacular. I definitely sampled this dish more than once. Or twice. Oh! And I also wanted to mention that I was especially charmed by the pig tap at the Hogtown Brewers station (who were gracious enough to let me photograph it without a beer purchase). Awesome.

You know what makes perfect sense after turning yourself into a human cheese puff? Dessert. No seriously, it made a lot of sense to me at the time. Especially after seeing that some of my favorite sweets-peddlers in the city were present. My vote for #1 chocolate-chip cookie in the city would hands down go to Sweet Flour Bake Shop, who were offering samples of that very cookie, along with cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, sandwich cookies... so good! At the other end of the barn, Glory Hole Donuts were making a mockery of the word "sample" by giving out whole donuts AND topping them with your choice of whipped cream and/or chocolate sauce. A perfect way to end the day. But wait! There's more! On my way out I stopped at the Indie 88.1 booth (who provided killer tunes for the event) to play a quick game of Plinko. My prize? A high five. Now THAT was the perfect way to end the day.

HIGH FIVE!