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OPENING DAY, June 1... it's almost
here! Did you see the market on TV?
We've been selected by the BOSTON GLOBE!!
In the news...
Our HOMEGROWN BREW FEST was a rocking success! With less than a $100 investment in equipment, homebrewing a five-gallon batch of beer takes minimal household space and only about two hours of time. Bryan Peretto of The Knights of the Mashing Fork, a Hartford-area homebrewing club that demonstrated and sampled their craft at the Brew Fest, said the best thing about brewing at home is being able to make beer the way he wants it. “If I like Sam Adams White but think it needs to be more tart or less alcoholic, I can do that. Not counting labor and initial equipment, I brew beer for about 10 cents a bottle; so there's an economic advantage. Plus, you know exactly what is going into your beer.” Beer consists of four principle ingredients, malted barley, hops, water, and yeast. In colonial New England, beers contained a good proportion of rye and sometimes oats, corn, and molasses. While hop growing was prevalent, colonists also used nettles as a bittering herb. “Most of the New England region's beers are a still hybrid of American and English ales,” explained Peretto. “Shipyard in Maine, for example, uses an English strain of yeast called Ringwood.” Lucky Connecticut homebrewers can find old-growth hops around abandoned house sites, in old barnyards, and in similar forgotten areas. Many brewers, like Rich Rosen of the Hop River Brewers, grow their own hops. All that is needed is a half-barrel of soil on the porch to grow a single vine or a few square feet of appropriate garden space for a more substantial planting. Local ingredients available at farmers’ markets make each batch a seasonal experience. “We have used fruit, honey, and maple syrup. You can also use a wide variety of herbs and spices. Perhaps a dill and basil saison. Come fall, a pumpkin brown ale with nutmeg and cinnamon is always a favorite,” said Peretto. A live performance at the market by Fritz OktoberFest, a traditional five-piece German Oompah band, and a lunch of sausages with sauerkraut rounded out the Brew Fest experience. The Brewers Festival was sponsored by the CT Department of Agriculture, NewAlliance Foundation, Rockville Bank, and Northeast Beverage of Connecticut.
Were you one of over 3,000 people at our VINEYARD FESTIVAL ?
A year ago: It was an opening day
to remember...
NEED DIRECTIONS?
Dimitri's Restaurant |
June through October
2007's OLD-FASHIONED CORN ROAST The smoky aroma of roasted Connecticut sweet corn tempted visitors to this vibrant and diverse outdoor market. “Corn is uniquely native to the Americas and was grown here by Native Americans thousands of years before Columbus arrived in the New World,” explained market organizer Jean Nelson. Nelson and her crew roasted ears of corn and gave them out free to market-goers who brushed on lime-chili-cilantro, sundried tomato and basil, or locally-churned sweet butters. “It was the Colonists who began adding butter to corn on the cob; they brought the first dairy cows to New England. We’ve definitely added a twist to the butter tradition, though!” said Nelson. Many Native American tribes had legends telling how corn was given to humankind by woman, a symbol of Mother Earth, the guardian of all that walks or grows upon the land. Corn was so important to 18th century New Englanders that nothing from the plant was wasted. Kernels were eaten raw, dried, cooked, parched, popped or ground into flour. Cobs were fed to the livestock. Stalks were used to build shelters, roofs and fences. Dried silk was steeped in water to make medicinal teas. Husks were wrapped around other foods for cooking purposes, woven into mats, baskets and clothing or tied up as brooms or dolls for the children. Today, corn is the largest crop in the US, which grows about half the world’s supply. Willimantic’s Thread City String Band played traditional, French-Canadian, and Irish 3-tune sets live beginning at 11:00. The band includes Chuck Morgan and June Bisantz-Evans on fiddle, Noreen Morgan on guitar, Larry Boisvert on harmonica, and John Soltys on bass. At 12:00, the band was joined by contra dance caller Jim Gregory. Gregory was the guiding force behind twenty years of lovely summer evenings in Elizabeth Park at the Concert & Country Dance series. Morgan called the market’s lively High Noon Contra Dance, to which everyone in attendance was invited to participate. “Contra Dances are an enduring traditional New England dance form, are fun to do, and can be learned by all, young and old alike, with no special training required,” said Winter Caplanson, also on the market’s organizing committee. “Most of the dances were done to the jigs and reels of the British, Irish and French Canadian traditions. Names of contra dances like ‘Jefferson’s Victory,’ ‘Washington's Quick Step,’ and ‘Ethan Allen’ give you a sense of how far these go back in our history.” At 12:30, Chef Steve Rosen, head chef at the Octagon Restaurant at the Mystic Marriott and Spa led a session in the markets “Cook Fresh with a Chef” series. Rosen, a former Food & Wine Magazine top ten new chef and has had feature articles in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Cooks Illustrated magazine and Boston Magazine. Additionally, The Food Network showcased Rosen in its "The Best Of" series. Rosen let inspiration lead his culinary decisions as he perused the fresh produce, meats, cheeses, and breads available at the market. He capitalized on the goat chevre, flat iron grass-fed beefsteak, local peaches, native corn and organically-grown fresh herbs the market is known for. The Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market Old Fashioned Corn Roast and Contra Dance was funded through the support of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture and Dimitri’s Restaurant.
COVENTRY FARMERS'
MARKET SPROUTS CHEF CONNECTION Funded by an Agriculture Viability Grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market’s “Buy Local, Eat Fresh” campaign highlighted the benefits of eating locally-grown foods. “Chefs are eager to come to the market and show our patrons how they select seasonal produce and combine them to prepare simple, delicious dishes,” says Roberta Wilmot, market chair. Steve Rosen, executive chef at Octagon restaurant in Mystic, and Chef Andrew Barbuto of Vivo Restaurant in downtown Hartford will conduct cooking demonstrations, as will nutritionist and author Cynthia Baker and Lynne Forte, a personal chef from Fairfield County. In addition, every month the market offered consumers the opportunity to sample Connecticut-grown foods and pick up delicious, easy recipes posted throughout the market. “We have realized that once market-goers taste local, fresh fruits and vegetables and know how to prepare them at home, excitement about eating local food grows,” explains Wilmot. Jean Nelson, market organizer, notes, “In the U.S., grocery store’s produce travels an average of nearly 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator. Even though broccoli is grown right here in our region, the broccoli bought by most Americans at the supermarket travels 1,800 miles to get there. Our ‘Buy Local, Eat Fresh’ campaign is a celebration of the virtues of seasonal, local foods.” Connecticut’s family farms tend to be run by farmers who live on their land and work hard to preserve it. Buying local means consumers can talk directly to the farmer who grows their food and find out about their growing practices. Many small farms utilize sustainable or organic farming methods that help protect the air, soil and water. “It makes sense that food grown in healthy soil tastes better,” says Nelson. “Buying food from local farms means getting food when it’s at its prime. Fresh food from local farms is healthier than industrially-farmed products because the food doesn’t spend days in trucks and on store shelves losing nutrients.” None of this is lost on those who make their living in the kitchen. Through ingredient choices reflected in their menus, chefs have created a demand for such "new" foods as heirloom tomatoes, grass-fed beef, and artisan cheeses. “Most people don’t spend a whole lot of time cooking or gardening anymore,” says Nelson, “chefs have become our culinary role models in their attention to food quality and taste.” |
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