Ephraim Malag of Tournament
Club of Iowa in Polk City
made this whole hog (smoked
with maple and mesquite
and served with lily suttong
relish). |
Swine
The second SWINE festival, held
lakeside at Des Moines Area Community
College (DMACC), was a smash hit.
Attendance doubled from the previous
year to more than 1,500. At $35
a ticket, that’s stunning in a
year of inflation-ravaged budgets.
Top area restaurants offered specialties
to showcase the pairing of Iowa
wines with pork dishes and to
benefit DMACC’s new viticulture
and enology program. Most restaurants
were represented by their owners
and top chefs, so SWINE also served
an opportunity to assess the state
of Iowa culinary business in this
most difficult of years.
Shad Kirton of Absolute Flavors
and Smokey D’s brought his bourbon-glazed
rib tips and triple pork hash,
the same menu that landed him
a spot in the Taste of Elegance
national finals (top eight from
more than a thousand professional
entries) in San Diego this spring.
Kirton and restaurant partner
Darren Warth are Iowa’s top competitive
chefs. Together, they won reserve
grand champion honors at the Great
American cook-off this year, just
.006 of a point from the $50,000
top prize. Kirton smoked his rib
tips, instead of braising them,
for the outdoor event at SWINE.
His hash was made with a confit
of pork shoulder, homemade sausage
and slab bacon, three potatoes,
chives and tart cherries. An accompanying
relish was made with Granny Smith
apples, lightly toasted walnuts,
blue cheese, cider vinegar and
sugar. He said this dish is available
by special order at the restaurant
and that their new skywalk café
is “outperforming our own expectations.”
Ephraim Malag of Tournament
Club of Iowa made the most dramatic
presentation at SWINE. His whole
hog (smoked with maple and mesquite
and served with lily suttong relish)
dazzled visually. Malag even accommodated
specific anatomical orders. There
are only two counties in the entire
continental USA where diners can
still order pork middlins, jowls,
trotters, skin, etc., at a barbecue,
so I took full advantage. Malag
said his restaurant is actually
serving more meals than it was
a year ago. but that he has lowered
prices considerably to encourage
diners to make the drive to Polk
City this year. “All entrees are
under $18 now.”
Troy Trostel of Greenbriar,
Dish and Chip’s, brought firecracker
egg rolls and mango salsa. He
said that business is up at Chip’s
and down at Greenbriar and Dish
this year, noting that it’s probably
no coincidence that Chip’s menu
has the lowest price points of
the three.
Cyd Mull of Cyd’s Catering brought
a prize-winning recipe of fennel-brined
tenderloin with pear and brandy
sauce, paired with pear and fennel
salad. She said that catering
has become speculative this year
because more people are booking
earlier and locking-in prices
because of anticipated inflation.
“I buy all fresh foods for events.
There’s no way of knowing what
things will cost six or nine months
down the road,” she explained.
The Iowa Culinary Institute
served another prize winning recipe
— “braciollatini” (stuffed loin
rolled in prosciutto, braised
and served in reduction of chicken
stock and red wine). Dean Richardson
of Phat Chef’s (grilled loin in
Mongolian au jus) and Scot Stroud
of Dos Rios (whole suckling pig
tacos) brought superb dishes and
said business was steady at their
restaurants. Steven Britton of
Iowa Machine Shed served the sweetest
dish (bourbon sauced tenderloin)
and said that business was raging.
“We have over 400 seats and there’s
almost always a wait list at prime
time. We are pretty sure we’re
now the biggest restaurant in
Iowa.”
Among Iowa vintners, Sutliff
starred with their champagne style
hard cider, made from their apple
orchards on the raging Cedar River.
Two Le Crescents, from Jasper
and Park Farm wineries, won the
most kudos from wine experts I
interviewed. Names of Iowa wines
still confound me. This local
industry wants badly to be taken
seriously, yet seems to be targeting
an immature demographic with titles
like Barn Dance, A Real Sweetie,
Outback Zak, Paint the Town Red,
Front Porch, Sweet Willey, Ditchweed,
etc. …
Side dishes
The King & I served free meals
this Tuesday, asking diners to
contribute something to Iowa flood
victim relief instead of paying.
… Plans are being made to merge
the menu of flood victim Buzzard
Billy’s into Hessen Haus, creating
“Iowa’s first Cajun Creole German
restaurant.” CV
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