sabrosito » Fundraising

Sabrosito at the Bricks works Picnic

Carlos — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:05:47 +0000

This year’s event was all about ‘world cuisine’ using local and
organic products.

It was an honor for me and my crew, to have been invited to the
picnic, thanks to the event organizers decision to recognize cultural and
ethnic groups from around the world that make Toronto home.
Connecting the global palate using foods grown locally is a great
opportunity to bring environmental and cultural traditions together,
which at the same time makes our city more beautiful in the eyes of
the world.

The crew, from right to left, Adrian Marquez, Marc Lukacs and Eduardo Lee, thanks for your help guys!!

There were food stations from Central and South America, Africa, the
Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asian and India.

With that spirit of global food, I decided to make a “Guiso de
Calabaza, queso y Siqui-siqui” (Organic Delicata squash stew and fresh
cheese). I got all my food products from Pfennings Farms and the queso
fresco from Local Dairy Produce (Ingersoll, Ontario) and the
Portuguese Cheese Company, which is based in Toronto.

It was great to see people enjoying the food, particularly the groovy
organic vessel I designed to carry the guiso to avoid plastic or
unnecessary paper.

To make the containers we cut squares of plantain leaf, wrapped them
into the shape of a cup and then held them together with small,
sturdy wooden skewers from Chinatown. All of it will become beautiful
compost.

Happy to report that it was a hit with all my new vegetarians friends.

Yours from the 2009 Bricks Works Picnic
Carlos

Ola; Of Latin America

Carlos — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:36:43 +0000

Nothing is sweeter than realizing a dream, and another one is coming right up. Thanks to the visionary Mary Luz Mejia and her partner Mario Stojanac of Sizzling Communications, an evening of Latino cuisine is set to blow your mind.
We all decided to call it OLA, which stands for Of Latin America. And in that spirit, on October 26, at Caju, this is what’s in story for you.

Front Row- L-R: Steve Gonzalez, Liz Rumebe and me

Back Row L-R: Jose Hadad, Luis Valenzuela and Mario Cassini.

Marina Queirolo is currently traveling in Argentina

Mario Cassini, Caju
Jose Hada, Frida
Luis Vanlenzuela, Torito
Steve Gonzales, Latino 5-Spice
Marina Queirolo, Sûrkl Empanadas
Elizabeth Rumebe, Alpine Bakery

Plus Sommelier Drew Innes pairing Spanish, Chilean and Argentine wines by course.

Seats are limited.
Don’t miss out.
Get in touch w/Mary Luz Mejia for tickets at 416. 992.2644
maryluz@sizzlingcommunications.com

Proceeds from the event will be donated to Youth Link
See you there.

Yours on a very exiting night
Carlos

The Miracle Kitchen In High Park

Carlos — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:01:23 +0000

My cool good friend Jane Hayes [aka Garden Jane] introduced me to this exciting thing that’s been going on in High Park, just a couple of blocks from my house.
For the last 11 years, what Jane and some of her cohorts did was to establish The Children’s Garden, a program that provides kids and families an opportunity to learn how to grow organic fruits, vegetables and flowers from seed.

And we’re not talking small potatoes. The garden grows 110 fruits and vegetables, including tomatillos, okra and 10 kinds of Latino beans. That’s fantastic in my books.

Last summer harvest

Grand forces of good have also recognized the garden. Last year, the garden won the “David Suzuki Digs my Garden” award, beating out nearly 600 gardens from across the country.

For the last four years, Jane, city staffers Robin Salt and Keely Forth, and devoted volunteers like, Michael Nevin and Frank Iacobucci, have all been lobbying the city for permission to build a teaching kitchen, because they don’t stop at planting, growing and harvesting. There’s a Youth Cooking Program for 11 to 16-year-olds in July, and in August and October the garden hosts a feast bounty from its garden, cooked at the Masaryk-Cowan Centre and then schlepped over to the park and served to the community.

Showing up some tomatillos

This is where the teaching kitchen comes in. Putting it right next to the garden will open up a lot of new opportunities for connecting kids to where their food comes from and what it’s like to grow from seed and what to do with it once it’s ready for picking. It would also help with hosting the community festivals where the food picked from the garden will be cooked and served.
It’s important to note here that extra food harvested in the garden is given to shelters and soup kitchens all over the city.

The building is going to be as eco-positive as possible, beginning with the structure itself, to be made of straw bales, which get plastered and become great insulators. Solar panels will provide heat for water and running energy- efficient appliances and lighting. Fall 2010 is the projected unveiling, but in the meantime, the garden is campaigning for community support with their Adopt a Bale program.

Beautiful spring asparagus

But don’t wait to introduce your kids to the garden. It’s a perfect time to bring them to the park to see the beginning of a magical experience.You cant also check their website for dates and activities.

For all the staff and volunteers it’s like a miracle after all these years. The kitchen is finally opening here!!

Yours from High Park
Carlos

Running, Fetching, Gathering, Clearing

Carlos — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:30:59 +0000

Celebrating my 10th year of involvement with Toronto Taste for Second Harvest, I teamed up with a great entrepreneurial team — Esther Benaim and Maggie McKeown of Great Cooks on Eight. We had a great time putting out stuffed dates with blue cheese and wrap with prosciutto di parma and catching up with fellow chefs and other socially conscious foodies who stopped by.

The Great Cooks team, Executive Chef Maggie McKeown, Vanessa and Jenna

Happy guests enjoying the food

AGO’S Executive Chef Anne Yarymowich and her crew

Jemie Kennedy’s Wine and Bar Executive Chef Tobey Nemeth

Michael Tkaczuk of Serrano Imports serving jamon Iberico and it was muy sabroso

Pastry chefs Bonnie Gordon[center], Charmine Baan[right] and friend[left]

For those of us who produce high-end food for a living, it’s gratifying to contribute to Second Harvest and their work to feed the city’s hungry.

What also gets my heart pumping when I work Toronto Taste is the rank and file of volunteers, literally hundreds of them, who come from all walks of life, all ages, all ethnic backgrounds, cheerfully ready to do whatever needs to get done.

Last year I worked with four Japanese exchange students who knew five words of English between them. With hand gestures, as if we were playing charades, we got a lot of great work done, fetching, collecting, running, gathering, clearing. Amazing. None of it was glamorous, but the spirit was inspiring.

My favourite Toronto Taste scene is the volunteer’s mess hall. While the guests eat their way through the great tables of the city’s best chefs, the volunteers work up an appetite, too.

Some volunteers having a break and refueling them selfs.

A special team of volunteers is designated to feed their own, to nourish them, revive them and prepare them for heading back out to do their work.

Everyone needs to eat, which is the point.

Give Second Harvest a bit of your good fortune.

Enjoying a wrapping up drink with Great Cook’s Vanessa Arbulu

Yours in good food at Toronto Taste
Carlos

Dinner at Avril’s House

Carlos — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:14:10 +0000

Avril Benoit, journalist and humanitarian extraordinaire, bid and won a gift certificate that I donated to Romero House for their January fundraiser at Lula Lounge.

Finally, after finding an opening in her busy schedule working with Doctors Without Borders, Avril booked the day and what an honour and pleasure it was to meet her and cook in her home for her family and friends.

On the menu â€¦

*

Green pea soup w/ paprika cream

Exotic mushroom salad w/ baby arugula & cider vinaigrette

Pan seared sea bream w/ sauce vierge

Roasted Chilean winter fruits w/ pressed yogurt & honey

*

Yours in good food,
Carlos