Take chefs from 13 Saskatchewan restaurants, add produce from 17 organic farmers, and stir until meals are ready. Film from start to finish.
Dining with the Stars,a project of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate with Smart Ideas Creative Communications, took about a year from gathering the ingredients to producing a 13-part television series now airing on Access and Shaw cable channels.
Sheldon and Gerry Scheck supplied organic Highland beef to Regina’s Beer Bros. restaurant, which served beef cakes for the recent gala launch of the TV series.
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A relatively new venture for the family at Cactus Lake, Sask., the opportunity to sell whole animals to chefs who will be able to use the entire carcass is a goal reached.
“That’s kind of what we’re working toward,” said Sheldon Scheck. “They get it in quarters. They know what they want and they’ll figure out how to use it.”
The chefs’ creativity was on display at the gala. Chef Anthony McCarthy of The Saskatoon Club showed off shrimp, squash, cocktail sauce and sunflower seeds on a lettuce leaf.
Not all the ingredients were from Saskatchewan, he said, but the creation displayed what is possible.
Milton Robello, executive chef at Regina’s Hotel Saskatchewan, worked his magic with beets and goat cheese.
The celebration and launch took place during national Organic Week.
Marion McBride of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate said it was a year since she first had the idea to pair chefs and organic produce and showcase the result.
She wanted to create awareness of organic and local food, but when she took the idea to Aj Thakker at Smart Ideas, it became a TV series.
“I hope that we can take this movement forward,” she said.
