The Voltaggio Brothers and More from the KY Incredible Food Show

Thanks for bearing with my circuitous series of Lexington trip reports. The impetus for my weekend getaway, as you may recall, was the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show. It led me to dinner at Jonathan’s at Gratz Park and brunch at Jean Farris Winery and Bistro, but the food show itself was such a full day of inspiration that I’m doubling back to share more. I wrote about a few of the 100+ vendors and their products here, but there were so many activities and demos going on concurrently I sometimes had trouble choosing.

This is just the schedule for the “Culinary Seminars,” in the smaller break-out room.

The Kids Craft Café offered youngsters the opportunity to create their own artwork with painted toast, eggshell mosaics, pumpkin painting, and other activities. “Exhibit Space H” featured cooking demos by Chef Tom Mackinnon of BlueFire Grill at the Lexington Regency Hyatt.

Barnes + Noble turned a section of the show into a cookbook store, with food titles by lots of Kentucky authors and this huge display of advance copies of Volt ink., set for wide release tomorrow, by headliners Michael and Bryan Voltaggio of Top Chef fame, performing at 11:00 and 3:00 in adjacent Rupp Arena.

B+N held book signings by local authors throughout the day, as well as one by the Volt Bros. Yes, I walked away with an autographed copy.

And then there was the jam-packed schedule for the demonstration stage sponsored by Sullivan University’s Lexington culinary program, where I spent a good chunk of my day getting my food geek on.

I decided to skip the potential mayhem of the Voltaggios’ morning show in favor of the Heritage Meats Master Class. “I’m glad you’re here instead of watching those foodie chefs,” said the Sullivan University chef-instructor leading the demo, nodding toward Rupp Arena. “You can see them anytime on TV, but what we’re going to show you here you can see only once a year.” Not quite accurate, but it drew an appreciate chuckle from the crowd.

As three students broke down a Katahdin lamb raised in Lincoln County, KY, before us, I learned that Katahdin, also called hair sheep, is a heritage breed developed in Maine in the 1950s. Rather than being covered in wool, which requires shearing, these sheep develop a heavy coat of hair during the winter, then shed it in spring. Absent the lanolin in wool, which can impart a gamey taste, this breed produces a fine-grained, well-marbled meat that is mild in flavor.

The instructor discussed the different cuts of meat, their best uses, and how to make sausage and stock to utilize every part of the animal. Thanks to the large-screen monitors, we also got to see knife techniques demonstrated, like Frenching the bones of a lamb loin.

A later highlight on the Sullivan University Stage would be a live-taping of a TV program called “Secrets of the Bluegrass Chefs.” While the crew was setting up for that, three Sullivan graduates did a Q+A session spotlighting their different paths in the culinary profession.

Natalie Blake (left), who appeared on “Hell’s Kitchen,” is presently sous-chef at the Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and dreams of eventually having a food truck she can take throughout the state of Kentucky. Allison Davis (center) is the owner of Wild Thyme in Lexington, which does catering and offers cooking classes. The fellow on the right, whose first name is Ryan (alas, I didn’t catch hear his last name well enough to be able to figure out how to spell it), is the director of a school food program. He said the tack he takes is to look at the typical food choices made by kids, throw them out, then figure out how to replicate them more healthfully, like offering panko-breaded chicken tenderloin in place of chicken fingers. He also talked about getting kids involved in the edible garden on the school grounds, which has gotten his students to be more willing to try different foods and is helping them learn to think more seasonally about food. And he touted the advantages of having a culinary position that follows an academic schedule, compared to the hours worked by most restaurant chefs.

Next up was the actual taping of “Secrets of the Bluegrass Chefs.” Host Tim Laird travels throughout the state spotlighting fine-dining as well as casual restaurants. The first segment showed Sullivan chef-instructor John Foster preparing gnocchi (from local Lexington Pasta Company, who’d done a demo earlier showing how to make gnocchi from scratch) with a fresh tomato sauce.

The second featured Chef Jeremy Ashby of Lexington’s Azur Restaurant and Patio preparing braised short rib wrapped in caul fat around goat cheese from nearby Capriole Farm, with maitake mushrooms (found by one of his foragers, he said), mashed potatoes with porcini powder, and corn pudding garnished with pea shoots and “onion glass.”

I was intrigued by Chef Ashby's commitment to local ingredients and his inventive preparations. He joked that “Azur” stands for come “as you are,” saying that while his restaurant offers dishes that may be upscale, it’s a casual environment. Azur is definitely on my list to visit next time I’m in Lexington.

“Secrets of the Bluegrass Chefs” airs on two Lexington channels and, I’m guessing, stations elsewhere in Kentucky too. Videos of prior shows can be found on the Kentucky Proud website here, and here are Part 1 and Part 2 of a 2009 episode that will give you a favor of the show, Azur, and Ashby’s culinary style. What can I say? I was intrigued enough to go google this stuff.

As if all of this wasn’t tantalizing enough, I still had the Voltaggios’ afternoon demo to look forward to. Check out my post on All Top Chef for that report.

All in all, I found the Incredible Food Show to be an impressively well organized event that was fun, informative, and well worth the admission price. It’s great to meet the people who produce your food, and the vendors were very outgoing. The Sullivan University staff and students shouldered a huge role in the day’s events and did the school proud. The organizers also did a great job of enlisting sponsors and making this a very professionally produced event. I came away inspired, and with a long list of Kentucky food producers to keep an eye out for – on restaurant menus, on the web, or to visit in person when I travel through the state. Regardless of who the headliners are next year, I plan to be back.

Lexington Trip, Part 1: The Incredible Food Show

I hit the road early last Saturday morning for the Incredible Food Show 75 miles south in Lexington, Kentucky, so early the Ohio River was swathed in fog as I headed south. But once out of the river valley, it was all blue skies and sunshine. The show opened at 9:00 a.m., and my ticket ($13 with the $2 off coupon I found online) promised free breakfast to the first 300 paying attendees. This was the first year I’d heard of this event, and I had no idea if lines would form outside the Kentucky Center/Rupp Arena venue before the doors opened – after all, the Voltaggio brothers, who placed 1st and 2nd in Season 6 of Top Chef, were headlining.

I managed to park and wend my way through the massive convention center to the Incredible Food Show on the bottom floor before 9:30, and yes, breakfast was still available, prepared and served by students of Sullivan University’s Culinary Program in Lexington (there is also one in Louisville). I was grateful to have something to take the edge off my morning hunger. The smiling Sullivan students and this festive arrangement on the breakfast buffet table set the tone of Southern hospitality I would find throughout the show.

One of the things that sets this event apart from other “fancy food” shows is its emphasis on local foods. Now in its third year, the Incredible Food Show is sponsored by Kentucky Proud, which promotes farmers, wineries, farmers markets, and local food retailers across the state. Under the auspices of the state’s agriculture department, the program also offers incentives to Kentucky restaurants for using Kentucky Proud products, and its outreach efforts include getting local food into schools. Kentucky State Parks also participate in the program by offering local produce and meats in their restaurants.

The 100+ Kentucky businesses with booths at this year’s Incredible Food Show showcased a wide range of locally raised and produced foods, and nearly all were giving out free samples.

There was a quite a line for the goetta sliders from Glier’s, based in Covington, Kentucky, just across the bridge from downtown Cincinnati.

The applewood-smoked bacon and country ham freshly fried up by Browning’s (from Dry Ridge, Kentucky) were so delicious I bought some to bring home.

Not surprisingly, bourbon and barbecue were big themes. There were lots of purveyors of rubs and sauces, including Hillbilly Specialties, whose stall took “Best Decorated Booth” honors. Although based in the city of Lexington, Hillbilly Specialties isn’t afraid to flaunt its country side.

They served up their Moonshine Marinade on chicken and mushrooms fresh off this rig, and it was mighty tasty, y’all.

Louisville-based Bourbon Barrel Brewing does something a little different in the bourbon vein. It micro-brews soy sauce made with non-GMO soybeans from a farmer in southern Kentucky, letting it naturally ferment in bourbon barrels. Its Bluegrass Soy Sauce and Bourbon Barrel Smoked Salt would also be used in the Voltaggio brothers’ demonstrations inside Rupp Arena.

Several booths featured local honey, and there were a number of candy makers in attendance. Lexington Chocolate Company, which earned an Honorable Mention in the show’s Best Sweet category, offered its Bourbon Barrel Fudge (semi-sweet chocolate infused with premium Kentucky bourbon and toffee pieces).

The Sweet Shoppe, which also specializes in fudge and sets up at lots of festivals throughout Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, brought an astounding array of caramel apples from its Hodgenville, KY shop.

I’ve seen Weisenberger grits mentioned on menus of a number of restaurants in Kentucky, and was pleased to find they had a booth at the show.

Turns out Weisenberger Mills, in Midway, Kentucky, also makes mixes for yellow corn muffins, white cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, spoonbread, and more.

With both white and yellow grits available, I asked about the difference. Yellow grits have a more distinctive corn taste, I learned, and white are more commonly used in dishes (especially at restaurants) where they’re combined with other ingredients and flavors. Itching to experiment at home, I bought a package of the white.

I didn’t realize beer cheese was such a big thing in Kentucky, but five different vendors offered it. Other surprises included a bubble-tea booth from Lexington’s Honnah-Lee Bubble Tea . . .

. . . and flavored teas from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas of Perryville, KY, which somehow publishes books too. The chocolate mint variety smelled heavenly.

One of the busiest aisles was dedicated to Kentucky wineries. Tastes were free or at a nominal charge (25 cents); you could also sample a glass or buy a bottle to take home.

If you've been following this blog, you know how much I love cheese. Bluegrass Dairy and Boone Creek Creamery were just two of the cheesemakers present at the Incredible Food Show.

With production facilities in Springfield and Glasgow, KY, Bluegrass Dairy’s cheeses have won awards, at the KY State Fair and the World Championship Cheese Contest. Their smoked cheddar took Best of Show in the Savory category at last year’s Incredible Food Show.

Boone Creek Creamery debuted a new cheese called the Sassy Redhead (a spicy Old English Cheddar) at the show, adding to its impressive line-up of artisan cheeses. The company also offers monthly cheese-making classes (which may provide the perfect excuse for my next trip to Lexington).

In addition to hosting a booth, Good Shepherd Cheese, home of Kentucky’s first sheep’s milk dairy, in Owingsville, KY put on one of the culinary seminars, sharing a slide show of its farm and animals and explaining the process it uses to makes sheep’s milk cheese. I couldn’t resist buying a chunk to bring home.

Other seminars, in a smaller break-out room, covered rubs and marinades, sauce techniques, the basics of home brewing, and jam making without pectin.

More to come from the Incredible Food Show, and about the Voltaggio brothers. Stay tuned.