On the final weekend of F&W Festival, Matt and I finally attended our first Culinary Demonstration of the year. The past two years we’ve seem Andrew Zimmern, but he wasn’t hosting one this year. Last year we saw Robert Irvine as well. Looking through the chefs, I decided to get us tickets for Suvir Saran. For those of you who watch Top Chef Masters, he competed on Season 3 of the show. We met up with Andy Jackson of Eating (and Drinking) Around WDW and his girlfriend Bonnie. We were running late from sampling a freshly tapped beer over at Big River, but fortunately we got there in time and they were able to secure us seats at a table up front (thank you, thank you, thank you!).
The demo started out with a wine tasting from Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, where we were given a sample of their 2010 Fumé Blanc. It was a bit fruity and sweet for Matt and myself, but it was one of the better wines I’ve sampled during the festival.
For our dish, we were served Shrimp Balchao Bruschetta. Matt got a bit nervous when he saw the dish had shrimp, and he was surprised Suvir didn’t prepare a vegetarian dish. Suvir informed us that although he considers himself a vegetarian, being a chef does require him to taste what he is cooking. Here, we saw Suvir as himself, not as what producers of a television show edit him to appear.
I tasted the shrimp and found it didn’t really taste too shrimp-y to me until the very end, plus the chutney had a lot of heat, so I was hoping Matt would appreciate the other flavors with it. He went for it and popped the whole shrimp in his mouth and ate it, but it wasn’t for him. Perhaps it because these shrimp were much larger than Australia’s Shrimp on the Barbie that it was too much for him, but I’m happy he’s willing to keep trying it in different ways! We both thought the chutney was fantastic; it’s probably one of the hottest, spiciest foods I’ve ever eaten on property. I know I’ll be making it at home, perhaps with chicken so it’s more enjoyable for Matt.
We had a great experience watching Suvir, and would certainly love to see him again next year. He was engaging, informative, and a pleasure to watch. Suvir, thank you for visiting the Festival!
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