Maine Chefs unveil Taste of the Nation menu

I recently posted a blog about Steve Corry from 555's soup. The one he will be serving at Taste of the Nation next Sunday, June 22, on Cow Island. Now let me tell you about the entire menu.

Chef Sam Hayward of Fore Street, with his Pastry Chef Brant Dadaleares, will be preparing roasted morels with sheep ricotta and crisp brioche. (I heard that Sam and Brant intend to roast their morel mushrooms underground in a fire pit, which they plan to dig out on Cow Island.)

Harding Lee Smith and Joe Boudreau, from the newly opened Grill Room, will be making something wonderful.

Lawrence Klang, from Camden Harbor Inn, will be preparing a Tartine of Marinated Pear Tomatoes, Cured Foie Gras, Banyuls and Summer Truffle Foam.

And then the meal begins -- The first course, from Steve Corry’s 555, will be a chilled cucumber soup with crème fraiche, salmon tartar, and fragrant fresh dill oil.

The second course, prepared by Hugo’s owner Rob Evans, will be organic Maine asparagus spears with farm fresh egg and parmesan vinaigrette.

For the third course, Back Bay Grill owner and chef Larry Mathews will prepare olive oil poached hybrid striped bass with preserved lemon, fennel confit and piccholine olives.

A fourth course, roast loin of lamb with Maine white beans in a red wine sauce, served with seasonal vegetables, will be prepared by Cinque Terre’s chef, Lee Skawinski.

From there we move to the walking dessert reception. Jeff Landry of Eve’s at the Garden, will make a potato and coconut blini with vanilla crème fraiche and fresh tangerine caviar.

Finally, Bryan Dame, from The Edge in Camden, will be making two desserts: an Allen’s coffee brandy flavored whoopie pie and a version of the camp classic s’mores, using a homemade marshmallows and fudge made with Andrews Brewing Company’s porter.

OK, so, you see why I get so excited about Taste of the Nation. Portland's and Camden's world-class chefs team up to produce a one-of-a-kind Maine culinary experience. These folks work hard six days a week and then agree to spend a day volunteering for Share Our Strength Southern Maine. It's amazing, really. Huge hearts, gigantic creative genius. These chefs are wonderful, caring people.

The good news is as I write this there is still a handful of general admission tickets available to Taste of the Nation. The VIP option has sold out. If you would like to become a guest of the 2008 Taste, please visit www.sosportland.org and click on "buy tickets."

MORE ABOUT THE TASTE
Share Our Strength Southern Maine 2008 funds will go to Cultivating Community, East End Kids Katering, Maine Equal Justice Partners, and Preble St. Resource Center.

Locally, Taste of the Nation is sponsored by Stonewall Kitchen, Whole Foods Market Portland, L.L. Bean, Time Warner, Weichert Realtors, FairPoint Communications, and Curtis Thaxter. The Taste of the Nation is sponsored nationally by American Express. 

The late afternoon event begins with a specially chartered boat ride from Portland to Cow Island, which is included in the ticket price for Taste of the Nation. In addition, the tickets for the event include specialty cocktails made with Diageo Reserve Portfolio spirits, live entertainment and wines from Wente Vineyards. Wente Vineyards is California's oldest family owned and continuously operated winery. Founded in 1883 by C. H. Wente, the winery is now managed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Wente family. The winery farms nearly 3,000 acres of estate vineyards in the Livermore Valley, San Francisco Bay, and Arroyo Seco, Monterey appellations, two premier Central Coast winegrowing regions.

Detailed event information about Taste of the Nation, tickets and Share Our Strength are available through www.sosportland.org. GA tickets will also available at the customer service desk at Whole Foods Market in Portland, until the event sells out.

100% of the funds raised at this event will go to organizations fighting to end childhood hunger.