On Monday, Nov. 12, top regional chefs crafted an edible five-course journey for public radio listeners during the Courthouse Creek Cider CulTerra Dinner Series held at WCVE, Richmond's local NPR station.
Food tells a story, and so does radio, each embedded with traditions that bring people together, spark interest and encourage discussion. Add local foods advocate Slow Food RVA and Courthouse Creek’s cider to the mix, along with the cidery's philosophy of CulTerra — a connection to the community through culture and land — and the result was a unique culinary collaboration.
Andrew Manning, chef and co-owner of Richmond's Longoven, was the first to hop on board when John Haddad, founder of Slow Food RVA, reached out. Manning called upon fellow local chefs Michael Stotler, Justin Burchill of Rappahannock, private chef James Frank and chef Bobo Catoe of Southbound and Alewife to craft a story that connected diners to the food on their plates.
Chefs work together to plate the five-course, 50-person dinner. Liza Cioffi, co-founder of Courthouse Creek Cider, sparked the idea for the dinner, then combined forces with WCVE and John Haddad, founder of the Slow Food RVA chapter. The nonprofit, with over 200 chapters in the U.S. alone, focuses on connecting people to food and preserving shrinking foodways.
Justin Burchill of Rappahannock plating the second course
Courthouse Creek Cider served WVCE cider, a special release brewed specifically for the radio station using pawpaw, a local ingredient on the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste list, a catalog of fruits, vegetables and animals on the brink of extinction. Extremely seasonal, the “hillbilly mango” is bountiful in our area — keep an eye out along the banks of the James between August and September — and exudes creamy, tropical notes of banana and melon. A celebration of native, accessible food, the pawpaws used in the cider were harvested from Ashland.
“I’d rather pay the farmer than the doctor,” Haddad said to the crowd at WCVE. The Slow Food movement began in the 1980s, because of McDonald’s, interestingly enough. The fast-food chain wanted to bring its Happy Meals and Big Macs to Italy, and the Italians revolted, bringing bowls of pasta from their homes and making a declaration to preserve their food heritage. A movement was born, and Haddad, who was living in Italy at the time, took notice and eventually founded the Slow Food RVA chapter after moving to the city.
The goal of the event was to champion the oftentimes forgotten foods of the area, tell stories of the history behind them, and highlight the importance of sustainability and biodiversity. The dinner was the first of its kind held at WCVE. All proceeds from ticket sales benefited the station.
First course, prepared by Michael Stotler of Stotler Home Cooking
Food: Chicken liver pate with allspice, nutmeg and clove, served on an arepa and topped with pickled red onion and a cilantro-lime crema
Cider pairing: Rustico (7.5 percent ABV), a flagship cider made with seven types of Virginia apples and aged for six months; Courthouse Creek ciders embrace fermentation, are aged in barrels and foeders, use no preservatives and are typically dry.
Second course, prepared by Justin Burchill of Rappahannock
Food: Grilled figs with smoked beet puree, shaved parsnips and fennel fronds dusted with citrus ash
Cider pairing: Amuse Bouche (6 percent ABV), an effervescent cider fermented with Viognier skins from Blenheim Vineyards in Charlottesville; it’s named amuse bouche because it opens the palate and offers a light finish.
Third course, prepared by Andrew Manning of Longoven
Food: Hay-roasted onion, stuffed with pheasant foie gras atop pheasant broth and mentuccia oil and served with a roasted koji cream; the onion was roasted in hay for three and a half hours to help retain moisture and flavor. Manning says he used a lot of vinegar in the broth and he’s a “huge fan of acid.”
Cider pairing: Heretic (8.5 percent ABV), made up of 90 percent Harrison apples and aged in maple syrup barrels to complement rich, savory dishes
Fourth course, prepared by J. Frank, family chef for Frances and the late Sydney Lewis, and former chef at The Commonwealth Club and The Berkeley Hotel
Food: Cider-braised lamb neck pulled from the bone, then shaped and braised again in a pistachio and mulberry molasses, a process Frank described as “a little bit involved”; served with vadouvan labneh, freekeh, Romanesco and apricot puree
Cider pairing: Hoppy Girl (6.9 percent ABV), a dry-hopped cider bottle conditioned with unsulfured molasses; Courthouse Creek co-founder Eric Cioffi described it as “a really good crossover cider for beer people.”
Fifth course, prepared by Bobo Catoe of Southbound and Alewife
Food: Gingerbread cake, apples poached in oak-barrel-aged Virginia sorghum, served with cider caramel sauce, peanuts and buttermilk
Cider pairing: Blackberry Lavender (6.9 percent ABV), a light bourbon barrel-aged cider, infused with blackberries from Agriberry Farms and lavender from Liza Cioffi’s mother's farm, the only non-Virginia product used in Courthouse Creek ciders
