Fire, Flour & Fork Event Recap

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend Richmond's first Fire, Flour & Fork event for their Saturday culinary and cultural tracks, as well as the Artisanal Tasting Tent. I already had my specific seminars picked out weeks prior, and was really looking forward to learning and eating. Most of all, though, I was looking forward to hearing people talk about living out their (food related) passions!

Session 1: Flavor Flours
This first session started at 10AM, which was difficult for me to make since I was coming from a training run. I slid in back just as Alice Medrich started to mix the ingredients for a lemon chiffon cake, made with a combination of corn flour and sweet rice flour---YUM! Alice is a famous dessert chef and James Beard award-winning author. She recently published a cookbook named Flavor Flours that focuses on alternative flours for flavor, not just to be "gluten-free" and thus the focus of this particular seminar. We were served samples of both this cake and another that I didn't catch the name of but was made of brown rice flour. The chiffon was fluffy and nothing like the grainy texture I've come to expect from gluten-free baked goods! This session really had me thinking about how I can add different flours into my own recipes moving forward. (And I couldn't stop thinking about my cornmeal chocolate chip cookies!)

Session 2: Flour-less - Raw Desserts That Aren't Half-Baked
I've come across Nettie's Naturally granola bars and "friands" in local coffee shops and was curious about the backstory, since they advertise using low-glycemic and good-for-you ingredients. What I was not expecting was for the owner, Lynette Potgieter, to be South African! She had the greatest accent! She was also an incredibly sweet person; listening to her during this session was a pleasure. Her story starts after her move from South Africa to England, when she discovered her insulin resistance. From there she moved to Australia and began developing recipes in free time that met her dietary needs. Lynette ultimately decided to turn it into a business when she realized that people with low-glycemic diets weren't catered to as much as other dietary groups (like vegans and gluten-free). Now she offers a whole line of treats that are all low-glycemic, gluten-free and mostly raw. Coconut sugar is the primary sweeter, which I've honestly never tried (mostly because I assumed it was expensive and had heard it wasn't sustainable). After sharing her story, Lynette walked us through how to make vegan raspberry cheesecake. The "cheesy" part is made with a combination of cashews, water, coconut oil, lemon juice, coconut sugar and raspberries. When blitzed together in a high-powered blender, the mixture emulsifies, making it silky and incredibly smooth. And once chilled, the coconut oil firms up the mixture to mimic a cheesecake consistency. They were topped with white mulberries, that she said have 2x as much vitamin C as oranges. I'm typically a chocolate girl, but I LOVED THIS DESSERT! As a result, I've officially put a Vitamix on my wish/dream list!

Meet-the-Makers Artisanal Tasting Tent
The tent was convenient situated in between the two seminar venues (Hilton Garden Inn and the Library of Virginia). Saturday wasn't exactly beautiful weather but upon walking inside the tent, that was easily forgotten. It was glamorous in there! My top three favorite vendors were Virginia Wine Board (duh), Barefoot Bucha and Crunch Dynasty. Barefoot Bucha had a chai kombucha that was surprisingly refreshing (and most of y'all know I love chai!). Crunch Dynasty had what I'd refer to as spicy, savory sprinkles that you could put on anything and everything---pasta, hummus, avocado toast, etc. The break in between the morning and afternoon session was about 2 hours, which ultimately seemed a little long but fitting if I'd chosen to go to one of the lunch events associated with FFF. I was perfectly full from all of the samples, though! On top of the above vendors, there were booths with oysters, sausage, chocolates, grits, greens, peanuts and more!

Session 3: Smoked and Charred Cocktails
Thomas T Leggett runs the bar program at The Roosevelt in Church Hill. He's actually a graphic designer turned bartender mastermind! One of the most popular cocktails at The Roosevelt features a charred lemon ice cube. Smoke is a versatile addition that has the unique ability to compliment most types of drinks: sweet, tart, dry. In addition to grilling fruit (he's had the most success with lemons, watermelon and pineapple), Thomas talked to us about a few other ways he has incorporated smoke/fire flavors into his drinks. Mescal, a Chinese tea called "lapsang souchong" and burnt sugar syrup were the three other ingredients he recommended---one of which we got to try in a mixed drink he made for us! It tasted like a smokey whiskey sour and paired well with the pizza they were serving in the tasting tent.



Session 4: Burning Desire
The final session I attended was about Gearhart's Fine Chocolates, a business that started in Charlottesville, by a man named Tim Gearharts. Tim began his career as a cook in the marines, went on to work as a pastry chef and ultimately ended up in chocolate! He thanks the military background for his attention to detail and being ale to thrive in the repetitive chocolate-making environment. While they don't make the chocolate bean-to-bar, they have a strong focus on quality and have fun with flavors/presentation---like these peanut butter pups and their new miso caramels (a twist on salted caramel). Tim broke up the talk by giving us samples of their mint julep truffles and Michigan cherry truffles, which was a perfect end to the day!

Overall, the event was very well done from my point of view. It was a comfortable size, compared to other events/festivals you may attend in Richmond, not too big and not too small. Although the sessions were spread out in different venues, directions and the event areas were easy to find and walk to. I also loved how they took the extra step to add monitors in rooms where there were cooking demos! It was fun to see it in the two perspectives. Everyone in attendance and working the event was clearly excited to be there and extremely friendly...but I guess that's Richmond for ya! I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to attend and can't wait until next year!