Photos and Story by Gillian Guilmant-Smith

Savour Canada International Breakfast celebrated Canadian food and agriculture products at the Pan Pacific Hotel on February 11, 2010.  Six of Canada’s top chefs were on hand to create signature breakfast dishes that highlighted the bounty and diversity of Canada’s unique food products and ingredients. 

Despite the early start, chefs cheerfully demonstrated how to put together their delicious offerings and took the time to describe their technique and answer questions about the ingredients.

Tasty treats included French toast, prepared by celebrity chef Michael Smith, and stuffed with blueberry, mint and fluffy cream cheese, drenched in Canadian maple syrup and garnished with brown butter and Haskap berry compote.  Other items on offer were equally appealing, especially the Maritime Lobster and Yukon Gold Eggs Benedict, topped with summer savoury hollandaise and sturgeon caviar.

For more info on Canadian food products and ingredients visit www.eatcanadian.ca

Menu:

 Cheese-stuffed French Toast with Cider-Braised Canadian Pork Sausage

Chef Michael Smith – PEI

Oatmeal-crusted French toast stuffed with blueberry, mint & cream cheese served with Canadian maple syrup, brown butter and Haskap berry compote, and a side of apple cider-braised pork sausage

West Coast Smoked Salmon with Slow-Scrambled Eggs

Chef Michael Smith – PEI

Smoked salmon served with slow-scrambled eggs, Canadian Gouda and brown butter hollandaise, with a side of pickled red onions and a Canadian oyster

Maritime Lobster – Yukon Gold Eggs Benedict

Chef Chris Aerni – New Brunswick

Yukon Gold rösti, served with Bay of Fundy lobster and poached Omega 3 eggs, topped with summer savoury hollandaise and short nose sturgeon caviar

French Canadian Pork Cretons on Maple Brioche

Chef Alain Pignard – Quebec

A modern interpretation of old-fashioned pork cretons served with wild lingonberry (airelles sauvages) chutney, Canadian mustard and maple sugar-dusted mini brioche

Canadian-style Dosas with Sweet Potato and Roasted Onion Curry

Chef Donna Dooher – Ontario

Cumin-scented dosas made with Canadian chickpea and buckwheat flours, wrapped around sweet potato and roasted onion curry

Prairie Steak and Eggs with Wild and Cultivated Mushroom Bread Pudding

Chef Rémi Cousyn – Saskatchewan –

Prime 32-day aged Canadian beef rib-eye medallion, fried quail egg and crisp bacon lardons with a spoonful of intensely flavoured mushroom bread pudding

Pacific Rim Congee with Beef –

Chef Daryle Nagata – British Columbia

Three savoury congees – rice, cornmeal and barley, topped with an array of Canadian products: Oven-browned beef short ribs with Asian flavours, braised pork cheeks, geoduck, sea urchin, pine mushrooms, wild rice, lentil caviar, marinated tofu, soya beans, salted duck eggs, peanuts, scallions, fried garlic and Chinese crullers