Presentations
Good Garlic Grows in Ontario. Bart Brusse, Sheridan Nurseries
Garlic is the Celebrity. Authors Liz Primeau & Peter McClusky
The Science Behind the Magic of Garlic. David Sugarman, Ontario Science Centre.
To Press, To Mince, or To Chop. Food chemist Irwin Adam & Chef/Comedian Ben Miner
Speed Sketching Workshop: Still Life with Garlic. Artist/ Instructor Marilyn Bercovich
Garlic Brading
Farmer Al Cowan
Musical Guest
The Adriaanse/Stanley Duo & Astrosurf
Face Painting
Jackie Face Paints
Film
Food Fighters (55:01), Onions & Garlic (4:02) and The Lunch Box (1:05:00)
Cooking Demos
Wood Oven Pizza. Chef Marco Zambri with Andrea Tramonti (Sarafino)
Garlic is the “Meat in the Pot.” Chopped Canada winner Chef Anne Sorrenti
Contests & Activities
Garlic Breath Contest – officiated by the Ontario Science Centre (gas chromatograph provided by Oral Chroma)
Garlic breath Superhero. Photo ops
Speaker/Presenter Bios
Irwin Adam. Combining a passion for eating and design with a background in engineering and biology, Irwin Adam (PhD, Biomedical Engineering, MEng, Chemical Engineering) leads a team of designers, architects, engineers, educators, and food & beverage specialists at Toronto based BevLab on an exploration of the future of food. Irwin, in company with Ben Miner, will participate in a discussion: To Press, To Mince or, To Chop: Discussion & demo on different prep techniques and the chemistry of garlic.
Bart Brusse. As a boy Bart could never stay still (it wasn’t a psychiatric disorder back then) and had to have his hands in the dirt. This developed into a long career growing plants. After graduating from the University of Guelph he worked at several nurseries across Canada before finding his place at Canada’s largest combined nursery and garden center – Sheridan Nurseries. For the past 12 years he has led a team that grow over 1 million trees, shrubs and evergreens at the farm in Georgetown, ON. At home a neighboring farmer gave Bart some garlic to try growing in 2005 and he was hooked. Giving away fresh garlic in the fall to family and friends turned into an annual tradition and now for fun Bart and his family grow 1/2 of an acre near Hillsburgh, Ontario.
Peter McClusky. After working for several years in New York in marketing-related ventures, Peter McClusky moved back to his hometown, Toronto. His work and volunteerism in small-scale agriculture includes interning on an organic farm; fundraising for, starting and managing farmers’ markets (Aberfoyle, Regent Park); developing a corporate-sponsored farmers’ market buck; and starting the Toronto Garlic Festival. Every year, he plants several thousand garlic plantss. He lives in downtown Toronto. Peter holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Toronto. His blog is at www.peteronthefarm.blogspot.com.
Ben Miner. Ben Miner has been a stand-up for nearly half his life. He’s toured coast to coast, having made stops at just about every club in Canada as well as festivals such as Just for Laughs in Montreal, The Vancouver Comedy Fest and NXNE in Toronto. When he’s not on stage Ben is still behind a mic as the host of Comic Stripped on SiriusXM’s Canada Laughs with guests who’ve included Cheech & Chong, the cast of Family Guy, Eugene Levy and many more. Ben’s also worked with heavy-hitters Lewis Black, Russell Peters and Jim Jefferies. And if Ben just looks familiar to you then you probably watched him on the first season of Masterchef Canada where he made the top 16.
Liz Primeau. Liz Primeau spent more than 30 years as a writer and editor for many Canadian magazines including Toronto Life, Chatelaine and Canadian Gardening magazines. For three years in the late ’90s she also hosted HGTV’s “Canadian Gardening Television”.
Liz is a lifelong gardener and garlic eater, but growing it gave her new respect for the humble orb and resulted in a book, In Pursuit of Garlic: An Intimate Look at the Divinely Odorous Bulb, published by Greystone Books in 2012. Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass, was first published in 2003 by Firefly Books, and an updated version came out in 2010. Her gardening memoir, My Natural History: the Evolution of a Gardener, was released by Greystone Books in 2008.
Liz Primeau joins festival founder/garlic grower Peter McClusky at 11:00 in the Ma Belle Kitchens Speakers’ Corner to discuss ‘garlic eaters’, garlic prejudices, and the British secret love affair with garlic.
Anne Sorrenti. Chef Sorrenti is often asked where she got her “training” the answer would be many hours learning from the best cooks – her Nonna, Oma, Trini mother in-law and mother. Their ability to grow, can, preserve and prepare what was local and availble to feed their families is what inspires her cooking everyday. The rest of her experience volunteering as Market Chef for The Stop at Wychwood Barns, teaching kids cooking and working in the industry from age 15 just helped to solidify her view to buy seasonal and local when available, preserve if you can and teach kids to care about what they eat
David Sugarman. Mr. Sugarman has been providing scientific expertise to the Ontario Science Centre for over 30 years. With an honors degree in biology and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Toronto, Mr. Sugarman offers a great depth of knowledge in human biology and medical science. He is frequently interviewed by the media providing answers to general scientific queries and curiosities —from “why do sandwiches get soggy?” to “how to combat fruit flies” to “is there life on Mars?