It seems like the term “farm-to-table” is seen and heard everywhere nowadays, and nothing epitomizes the forward-thinking food movement quite like Farm to Chef Maryland.
Now in its seventh year, the annual cooking competition brings together chefs and farmers from across the state to raise funds for TasteWise Kids, an organization offering interactive programs that teach elementary school students about the importance of urban agriculture and healthy eating.
At this year’s event on Monday, September 26, hundreds of attendees will pack into the roundhouse at the B&O Railroad Museum to taste cuisine from 30 chefs who will all create dishes inspired by ingredients donated by local farms.
Event chair Wendy Jeffries, who is also the executive director of TasteWise Kids, says that the evening’s list of participants has grown exponentially since its inception.
“We always envisioned an event that allowed guests to get a similar experience as the students who participate in our programming,” Jeffries says. “The whole idea is to get kids to appreciate the value of fresh food, and Farm to Chef was built on that same concept.”
Each year, Farm to Chef’s organizers randomly match restaurants with local farms. The chefs then dream up a sweet, savory, or vegetarian dish that showcases one of the farm’s seasonal ingredients to be submitted to a panel of judges.
“The food is really above and beyond what you would expect at a typical fundraiser,” Jeffries says. “It’s not rubber chicken or a paté with a peanut sauce. The dishes are limited as far as the main ingredient, but in a good way. That really forces the chefs to get creative.”
Among the seasoned chefs returning to the competition this time around are sustainability champion Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen, who will collaborate with Bel Air’s Grand View Farm; Josh Hershkovitz of Hersh’s Pizza & Drinks, who is partnering with Ellicott City’s Savory Farm; and Kristina Sciarra of Laurrapin Restaurant in Harford County, who will create a vegetarian dish highlighting beets from Havre de Grace’s Third Way Farm.
Farm to Chef veteran Jerry Edwards of Timonium’s Chefs Expressions Catering—who is also a TasteWise Kids board member—is excited to be teaming up with local urban farming pioneer Joan Norman of One Straw Farm this year. He plans to serve sausage-filled tortelloni that incorporates the farm’s ground pork, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes.
“Joan understood a long time ago that this movement was going to continue to grow,” Edwards says. “She’s worked hard, and she’s never given up on it.”
Norman has been a stalwart supporter of TasteWise since it began, and continues to host the organization’s student programs at One Straw Farm. In fact, her son, Andrew, was a part of the first class of fourth graders to participate in the program when it originated as Days of Taste in 1998.
“I have kids come and tell me, ‘I’ve never been this far from my house before,’” she says. “Once I let one of the boys run across my yard and he said, ‘I’ve never run in a straight line until I got tired.’”
In addition to its expanded food lineup, the fundraiser has also evolved in its drink offerings. For the first time this year, Farm to Chef will feature an entirely locally sourced beverage menu featuring products from the likes of Basignani Winery, Lyon Distilling, Manor Hill Brewing, and Templeton Rye.
Members of the Baltimore Bartenders’ Guild will get in on the fun in the event’s cocktail competition, which challenges bartenders to create their own drink recipe fusing local spirits and ingredients (think fruit, herbs, and honeys) from the farms.
Jeffries is also excited to reveal the event’s “local vendor fair” this year. In keeping with the local feel, guests will be able to stock up on homegrown goodies including Michele’s Granola and Tessemae’s salad dressing as they leave the museum.
“Anybody can buy tomatoes,” says Norman. “But it’s the magic that happens in the kitchen that makes it fun.”