Jasperites are invited to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Aug. 5, for a dinner as fresh as they come.
For the second year in a row, the lodge has partnered with McBride’s Twin Meadows Organics to provide an evening filled with delicious treats grown right here in the region.
As well as dinner prepared with local food—including Alberta pork and B.C. salmon—Meadows to Menu will also include cooking demonstrations, to teach dinner-goers how to prepare dishes using local organic vegetables, as well as local meats.
Leading the demos will be Wendy Lowe of Twin Meadows and Paul Shewchuk, JPL’s executive sous chef.
“We’re going to do our summer gazpacho with Twin Meadows vegetables and we’re also going to do our salmon dish with our quinoa and summer salad, with a little parsley and mushrooms on top, and a hempseed crepe,” said Shewchuk, who is excited to cook outside and mingle with Jasperites.
“This event is for the locals. We’re not advertising this to our guests. This is strictly for people in town and [recipients of] the box program, and we want to keep it that way,” he said, referring to the vegetable boxes Wendy and Garry Lowe deliver to Jasperites each week.
“Normally they deliver on Thursday’s but because we want to make this farm to table, they’re delivering everything to me on the Sunday,” said Shewchuk.
“So it’s picked in the morning, brought to me in the afternoon, I start processing it in the afternoon and then we serve it on Tuesday, so it’s out of the ground for a day and a half before people eat it. That’s pretty fresh!”
Twin Meadows has been providing vegetables to JPL for three years, and the two partnered together to create the Meadows to Menu dinner last year, bringing more than 100 community members to the hotel for an outdoor feast and petting zoo.
“I think the biggest thing is there’s some longevity to this,” said Garry Lowe. “It puts more foundation to the relationship and to what everybody is trying to achieve.
“The relationship is everything for us. If it works and it lasts and it grows, there’s something that’s resonating with people and the collective effort is going to sustain itself.”
In recognition of the importance of sustainability, Lowe noted that as well as using sustainable food, the event will also be donating money to both the Jasper Local Food Society and to the Jasper Food Bank.
“This is kind of the chemistry that really is motivating for us,” said Lowe, noting that members of the box program also have the opportunity to donate funds to the food bank each time they put in an order for additional vegetables.
To reserve your spot at the Meadows to Menu community dinner, call 780-852-6052.
Tickets are $60 for adults or $50 for Twin Meadows box members. Children ages six through 12 are $20 and children five and under are free.
Nicole Veerman
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