What I Learned at the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival

The San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival is a five-day+ event which includes parties, classes, wine dinners, tasting seminars, and plenty more. The Grand Tasting Event is the piéce de résistance, but the Silent Auction and Reserve Tasting the night before is just as much fun!

We drove in Friday morning to the San Diego Wine & Culinary Event Center to take advantage of some classes being offered. The classes aren't that grab-an-apron-and-go type...they're more cooking demonstrations with recipes and tasting. There were three we took that day: A Taste of the Middle East with Chef Billy Strynkowski ($65), Master Sommelier Blind Tasting with Master Sommelier Joseph Spellman ($85), and Super Chef All Stars presented by Alaska Seafood featuring three former Top Chef Contestants ($85).

Each class catered to different crowd, but we found that the best bang for your buck was A Taste of the Middle East. Billy Strynkowski is the Executive Chef for Cooking Light, and packed a lot into our hour-long class. What I loved most about him was the profusion of general cooking tips that he shared while showing us how to prepare the delectable dishes placed in front of us. He also just threw a couple of simple recipes at us that weren't part of the course, and expounded upon the virtues of having aleppo pepper, sumac, and za'atar in our pantries.

The vegetarian sides/starters were, in both taste and texture, delightful. Get those recipes by clicking here. The lamb kebabs and turkey patties were seasoned PERFECTLY, and nearly melted in my mouth. It was actually some of my favorite food we tasted at the whole festival.

We then ran to the next room for the Master Sommelier Blind Tasting. According to the Court of Master Sommeliers, there are only 112 who hold that title in North America. When Joseph Spellman was certified in 1996, there were only around 30. As interest in wine grows, so does interest in becoming a sommelier, and the numbers are growing exponentially. Mr. Spellman was joined by three local sommeliers (Megan Yelenosky of Hilton Bay Front, Will Costello of Addison at Grand Del Mar, and Myres McDougal of Market in Del Mar) all of whom will be attempting master sommelier status.

The purpose of this class was to share with us the criteria used by sommeliers to identify the varietals of wine during a blind tasting. Joseph Spellman picked 6 wines (3 white, 3 red) that were on the table in a particular order when we walked in. He took us through the steps of looking at the wine, then smelling it, and led us in a discussion about what the visual and aromatic cues might tell us about the wine. After finally tasting and narrowing down the possibilities even more, class members ventured to guess what we were drinking, as did the sommeliers.

It was an interesting class which I enjoyed, but to get the most out of it you really need a pretty extensive knowledge of wine from all over the world to begin with. I was also hoping for some sort of basic instructions or helpful tips to take with me, but there was only one copy of such a sheet per table, and the person that got there first snatched it up, so not everyone could benefit from it. The main thing I think we all came away with was this: If you want to develop your palate as the sommeliers do, drink a lot of different wines, and really pay attention to what you're drinking.

We then went across town to Macy's School of Cooking for the Super Chef All Stars. Chef Brian Malarkey (finished 4th in Top Chef, Season 3) hosted and was joined by Chef Eli Kirshtein (finished 5th in Top Chef, Season 6) and Chef Kenneth J. Gilbert (finished 8th in Top Chef, Season 7).

Brian is an energetic host who literally ends up running up and down the aisles for a Q & A at the end of the demonstration. This class definitely caters to fans of the show, and the price and popularity are more about Top Chef than anything. It's very entertaining, but it's really just watching the chefs cook and talk...no real cooking tips or culinary epiphanies.
As a recipe, Chef Brian shared a simple Salmon "Pizza" with Tomato, Basil Pesto, and Goat Cheese in which the salmon served as the "crust". It tasted fine, but it's similar to things I've done on my own with fish, so I didn't feel like I got a new recipe or learned anything new.

Chef Kenny shared a Milk Poached Cod, Dukkah Tomato Broth and Squid Spaetzle, with Ricotta Salata Cheese and Toasted Hazelnuts recipe. There were many components to the dish, but only some of them worked for me. I LOVED the cod, and the spaetzle was really creative and tasty, but I didn't love the tomato broth that covered it, and found the bitterness of the rapini was overwhelming.

Chef Eli shared a recipe for Cured Alaskan Salmon, Beet Salad, and Tahini Cream, which was a nice appetizer. The beets were extremely simple, but quite glorious.

Click here for Beet Salad, Squid Spaetzle, and Milk-Poached Cod recipes.

Next week: The Reserve & New Release Tasting, and The Grand Tasting Event!