“It’s special.”
That was Linda Doiron of Keswick, describing the 10th annual Holland Marsh Soupfest, a festival celebrating soup and local produce.
Held in the tiny village of Ansnorveldt, on the King Township side of the Holland Marsh, the event attracted thousands of visitors on Saturday.
Doiron has attended Soupfest for the past four years, and this time she was accompanied by Anne Neal of Belleville, a first-time attendee.
“This is the perfect time of year,” Doiron said.
The Holland Marsh grows more than 60 types of vegetables and herbs, and soup makers were encouraged to use those ingredients, including meat provided by local suppliers like Cericola Chicken, King Cole Duck, and Dingo Farms.
Once again, guests were invited to sample soups created by home and farm chefs, restaurants and caterers, hospitality programs at local colleges, and politicians.
MPP for York-Simcoe and Attorney General of Ontario Caroline Mulroney brought a team and a soup to the event; King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini and Coun. Avia Eek were among the participants; and local farmer Jason Verkaik, pursuing the federal Conservative nomination in the riding of York-Simcoe, made his famous purple carrot soup, a past winner.
This year, the winners included: Humber College (Best Culinary Institution), Richmond Hill Community Church (Best Home Chef), CHEFIES Eatery (Best Restaurant/Caterer), and Verkaik (People's Choice).
There were long lineups for some soups — including the bun bo hue created by student chefs from Centennial College, a take on a Vietnamese staple.
The college had a large international contingent of students this year, said Chef Rene Chauvin.
He said he told his students, most from Vietnam, Korea and China, “Let’s do something that’s native to the regions you’re from!”
The students were the ones who came up with the recipe, combining “beautifully braised beef and pork in a ginger sauce,” handmade noodles, a broth flavoured with lemongrass and cilantro, and topped with a skewer of lime and pineapple, Chauvin said.
It took “about a day — the meat was cooking for about 12 hours,” he noted. At Soupfest, the students set up an assembly line to put together each bowl.
A total of 22 soup makers signed up for this year’s festival, including Don Cherry’s Sports Grill from Bradford West Gwillimbury, which brought two soups, including a classic comfort food: chicken pot pie soup. There were also more vendors than ever set up in Ansnorveldt Park, including at a farmers’ market.
If there was an issue, it was the success of the festival: By noon, many of the soup makers were out of soup.
