Chef Brian Luptak of Acorn
As one of the EAT! Vancouver Ambassadors, we’re catching up with the chefs who will be at this culinary festival and here’s the scoop from Brian Luptak of Acorn! EAT! Vancouver takes place from November 4 to 9, 2019 and features culinary collaborations between award-winning local and special guest chefs from across Canada and the United States. Experience a culinary experience like none other from this year’s events including: EAT! Dinner Series, EAT! Harvest, EAT! Pastry Day and EAT! Expert Classes.
Tell us a little bit about your restaurant and/or style of cooking.
We are a restaurant devoted to serving the best of what British Columbia has to offer. Creativity and flavour is never compromised and our style is to create dishes that focus on creating new ideas of using everything each vegetable has to offer; from the seeds, roots, stems and rinds.
Where do you eat in your city?
My favorite place to eat is definitely Fassil Ethiopian on Broadway at Fraser
What would be your ideal food day?
I’ll start off with coffee and baileys, I never was a big breakfast person. For lunch, I’ll have a Cochinita Pibil burrito and beer at Sol Y Limon, then get into Fassil’s for some super tasty Ethiopian.
What trend do you wish would die?
Beets and Goats Cheese
What trend/s do you wish would be next?
Zero waste. Creating menus using what others would call scraps.
What ingredient do you always have on hand?
Salt
What’s your go-to recipe when you’re eating at home?
Ribeye steak with Caesar salad
What equipment do you wish you had in your kitchen?
A walk-in fridge
What cookbook do you suggest every cook should have?
On Food and Cooking by Harold Mcgee
What is one of the dishes you will prepare for Eat Vancouver?
That will depend on the season
What are you most looking forward to about Eat Vancouver?
Getting to work alongside Christine Sandford from Biera restaurant in Edmonton, Her food its Dynamite!
Poona Kheera Cucumber Salad, Shishito Pepper & Plum Relish, Charred Shishito Pepper Vinaigrette, Cucumber Hazelnut Cream, Purslan (Serves 6)
What is better than a fresh summer cucumber salad? We love this heirloom variety with its crisp, sweet, and hardy qualities. This salad gets an extra kick from the heat of the shishito peppers laced throughout the dish. Wash it down with your favourite summer beer.
Shishito Pepper & Plum Relish
3 Amber Plums, pitted
2 Shishito Peppers, seeded
½ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Pepper
1 tablespoon Plum Vinegar (or white balsamic vinegar)
Dice the plums and shishito peppers finely and uniformly into a brunoise
Even mix together with the salt, pepper, and vinegar
You can store this in the fridge for up to 2 Weeks
Charred Shishito Pepper Vinaigrette
3 Shishito Pepper
1 Shallot, peeled whole 1/8 cup Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
¼ cup Lemon Juice 2 teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoon Pepper 1 cup Grapeseed Oil Yield: 2.5 cups
Over an open flame char the whole shishito peppers and the shallot until you’ve produced a nice charred crust over the vegetables. Allow to cool.
Remove the stem and seeds from the peppers. Give the peppers and shallot a rough chop so they are easier to
Add the peppers, shallots, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper to the blender and blend on high until smooth. Turn the blender to medium speed and slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil until it is completely
Cucumber Hazelnut Cream
¾ cups Hazelnuts
2 litres Water
½ teaspoon Probiotics
1 cup Cucumber Juice
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Salt
Soak Hazelnuts in 2 liters of water and keep refrigerated for 8 hours
Strain and rinse the Hazelnuts then add them to the blender
Blend the hazelnuts with the probiotics, cucumber juice and salt until you’ve reached a silky- smooth
Pour the mixture into a large mason jar. Cover with a towel or a piece of cheesecloth and secure with an elastic band or string
Keep the mixture at room temperature ( 72°F) for 48 – 72
Remove the mixture from the jar and whisk in the maple syrup until it is well
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days
Poona Kheera Cucumber Salad Plating
Poona Kheera Cucumbers, washed and thinly sliced with the peels on
1/4 cup Charred Shishito Pepper Vinaigrette
1 cup Shishito Pepper & Plum Relish
¾ cup Cucumber Hazelnut Cream
2 cups Purslane, washed and dried
Add the sliced cucumber to a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette
Distribute the dressed cucumbers evenly along the bottom of your plates.
Add dollops of the cucumber hazelnut cream to each plate.
Spoon the Relish around the cucumbers.
Garnish with Purslane on top.
