FOOD MEDIA WORKSHOP AT THE POMEROY KANANASKIS MOUNTAIN LODGE

We were lucky enough to be invited to Chef Eric Beaupre's behind-the-scenes food workshop on Sunday at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge! Unfortunately, only one of us was able to go since it's midterm season right now. It was such an amazing experience! There were so many food bloggers at the event! When we first arrived at the lodge, we were led to the Forte Italian Restaurant where Chef Eric and his team were giving introductions while serving everyone freshly made pizza ,and it was delicious! Unfortunately, we arrived late so when we got there we had already missed the behind-the-scenes on how their pizza is made.

Chef Eric Beaupre pictured in the middle with his sous chefs on either side of him

A little background on Chef Eric Beaupre: Chef Eric just started at the Lodge this year in January. He has 24 years of experience with him, previously working at some of the highest ranking restaurants in Alberta. He was telling us that every morning he wakes up at 4:30am to drive all the way from Cochrane! No complaints from him though as he loves his job and nothing will stop him from doing what he loves.

The event started with explaining how all of their meat is made and where it comes from. Turns out their meat plant is located in Calgary and they have an open door policy there, so anyone that is interested in seeing the process can make an appointment for a tour of the plant. Chef Eric prepared a plate of different meats for us to try. Our favorite was the beef jerky. It was honestly the best beef jerky we have ever tried and we are not exaggerating! We just wish we had the chance to taste the buffalo as well but since we were late, we didn't have a lot of time.

Cocktail Masterclass with Head Bartender Beauden McQueen

Next was the Cocktail Masterclass with Head Bartender Beauden McQueen at Blacktail Bar! Beau's journey was an unexpected one prior to becoming a bartender. Born in Ontario, he received his Bachelor of Psychology and then worked as a personal trainer. He first started as a server at the Lodge before joining the beverage team and making his way up to become head bartender. He started off by letting us sample a few of the drinks offered on their menu. One of the drinks we tried was called the Big Gin Rummy Daquari. It seems as though this was meant to be a shot and as the name suggests, there was a lot packed into this so it was quite strong. We also got to try the BT Refashioned and the Cucumber Gimlet. Out of all the drinks offered, the Cucumber Gimlet was our favorite. Throughout the class we were offered several canapés including elk meatballs, smoked BC salmon brandade on a bannock slider, and Alberta bison tartare on a homemade brioche crostini. We highly recommend the smoked salmon brandade!

We then watched Beau in action as he showed us how to make some of his signature drinks. Some of the drinks he showed us were the Campfire Manhattan, Walk Among the Alpines, Bacon Old Fashioned, and the S'mores Old Fashioned. The drinks looked so beautiful and it was quite interesting to watch how they were all made. We only had a chance to taste three of them, but the S'mores one was definitely the highlight. For this one, Beau actually makes the Cedar smoked honey cinnamon syrup himself. If you want to learn how to make the S'mores Old Fashioned, I attached the recipe at the end of this post.

After downing our drinks, we headed outside for our Fireside Moments session where we gathered around the fire and made some actual s'mores!!! They were so delicious! We wanted to eat so many but we had to leave room in our stomachs for dinner right after.

Dinner was the best part! Chef Eric prepared so many dishes for us to try in The Cedar Room. We were so stuffed by the end! We were given an introduction to the different wines offered and were given three different wines to try. We only remember the names of two wines, Cabernets and Perpetua, but obviously our favorite is the one we don't remember. For the appetizer, we were served harvest vegetable soup, the tuna stack (our ALL TIME FAVORITE out of everything served that day), and beet & fennel salad (pictured above). Then for the main meal we were served so many different items! Carved Alberta beef in red wine jus, Athabasca river trout with lemon and thyme sauce and smoked free range Cornish hen with Grande Prairie grain pilaf, root vegetable succotash, Yukon whipped gold potatoes, and maple bacon carrots. The steak was to die for! It was so juicy and tender and melted in your mouth! The creamy mashed potatoes were also a huge hit with everyone!

After dinner was the Pastry Workshop with Chef Gyanendra and the pastry team! We basically trashed the table with a bunch of sweets and syrups before digging in. It was quite a unique experience. The macarons were the best part! They were so delicious and full of flavor that we couldn't help but take several when no one was looking.

Once we finished with desert, we were given after hours access to Knordic Spa at the end of the night to distress and relax. There were different pools all with different temperatures and several different saunas, ending with an exfoliation sauna that left your skin feeling so soft and smooth.

This was such an amazing experience and we are so grateful to Chef Eric Beaupre (@chef_ericthered), Knordic Spa (@knordicspa) and Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge (@kananaskislodge) for inviting us to this behind-the-scenes food media workshop. We were treated like royalty by everyone and will never forget our time here! We will definitely be back again!

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S'mores Old Fashioned Signature Cocktail:

Ingredients:

graham crackers

marshmallow

cedar smoked honey cinnamon syrup (recipe below)

Aztec chocolate bitters

Angostura bitters

Makers Mark

Highland Park Scotch 18 year

Preparation:

>2 dashes of Aztec chocolate bitters

>1 dash angostura bitters

>0.25 oz cedar smoked honey cinnamon syrup (or to taste)

>1.75 oz Makers Mark

>0.25 oz Highland Park Scotch 18 year

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass and strain into a brandy snifter over an ice sphere

Garnish:

Graham cracker with a Highland Park Scotch 18 year spritzed torched marshmallow on a cedar plank. Light the marshmallow on fire with the graham cracker base and while still on fire, put the graham cracker marshmallow combination upside down over top of the brander snifter glass.

Cedar smoked honey cinnamon syrup recipe:

Ingredients:

honey

water

cedar chips

cinnamon sticks

Preparation:

>Make honey syrup: 100g honey to 64g water. Put in a pot until it simmers then stir and remove from heat

>Infusion of honey syrup with cinnamon: Break the cinnamon into pieces. Warm the cinnamon in a pan to extract the oils for a few minutes and "wake it up". Put 600g of honey syrup to 100g cinnamon sticks in a vacuum seal bag and infuse in a sous vide machine for 2 hours at 58 Celcius. After 2 hours put the vacuum seal bag in an ice chilled bath to cool and then fine strain

>Infusion of cedar smoke in honey cinnamon syrup: Using a smoking gun, fill half a mason jar with the honey cinnamon syrup and the rest with the cedar smoke then seal it. Give it a few shakes every few minutes until the smoke has infused into the syrup.