Last week I had the pleasure of cooking for a group of professionals that were meeting to discuss the student nutrition programming at Six Nations schools. Inspired by what they were talking about I prepared a menu that I feel reflected the content of their discussion. I hope the locally grown food helped root their aspirations in love of life and land that good food can nourish.
I am always amazed at the responses I receive when serving food that seems more complicated than it actually is. One person was intrigued by my dessert offering, she was appreciative that each ingredient in the dish contrasted in flavour yet resulted in a harmonious experience. The dessert I served was simply fresh sweet, sour cherries, apricots, fresh cheese and maple syrup. I added some sunflower seeds as a garnish for a variation in texture.
I’ll be cooking again this Wednesday night, July 22 at Six Nations Polytechnic. The event starts at 5pm. It is a community event about food and nutrition programming for elementary and secondary school students. I’m looking forward to hearing what families have to say about food served in schools. Also, curious to explore the relationship of feeding good minds with good food for future generations.
- Stone Fruit with Maple Syrup
- Any stone fruit, pitted
- Maple Syrup
- Fresh Cheese
- Optional: Mint, Nuts or Seeds
Pit the fruit and place in a bowl. Cover with maple syrup and let sit in syrup for several hours. This process can be referred to as maceration. This will slightly alter the texture of the fruit, making it slightly more tender. Also some of the flavours will be exchanged between the fruit and syrup.
For some fruit like apricots or peaches, I may remove the skin from the first with a plunge in boiling water and an immediate shock in ice water. Then I will cut them in my desired shape and size and let sit in the syrup.
Before serving I may reduce the syrup to a thicker consistency and then once cooled slightly, spoon it onto the plate. To serve I simply place the syrup on the plate, add the fruit and garnish with the fresh cheese and my other garnishes.
Variation: Try grilling or charring large stone fruit immediately before plating the dessert without letting them sit in the syrup first.
