Table Talk: Local hunger benefit dishes up a Brazilian beat

By CLAIRE HOPLEY

Published on June 15, 2007

Ron Kempe, team leader of the Prepared Foods department at Whole Foods Market in Hadley, has developed a new dish called Mango-Manchego Sirloin Lollipops. They're made by mixing mangoes, Manchego cheese, ginger, cinnamon and coriander into ground sirloin, forming the mixture into meatballs, then cooking them, glazing with red wine and pomegranate juice, and finally serving them lollipop-style on a stick perched on a bed of slaw made from jicama and pepperdew peppers.

"I like doing stuff like this because it let's me be creative," Kempe says. "It's a change from routine."

One day customers at Whole Foods deli counter may be able to buy the sirloin lollipops to take home.

But for now, the only people who will get to eat them will be those who attend the upcoming Taste of the Nation fundraiser in support of Share Our Strength's campaign to end hunger by 2026.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Ann Walsh-Sullivan, Whole Foods' marketing team leader, has been spearheading this fundraiser, which will be held at The Log Cabin restaurant in Holyoke starting at 6 p.m on Monday, June 25.

Each year she and the chefs she works with have come up with a different theme. Once it was the Moulin Rouge. Another year it was a Night at the Opera that inspired the evening of eating, dancing and music. This year's event is billed as a Carnival Estravaganza, and it takes wing from Brazilian culture and music with performances from the Boston-based Brazilian dance troupe Samba Tremeterra and the local group Omulu Guanabara, which specializes in capoeira - dances originally developed by Brazilian slaves.

In addition to the dancing and the music, the food will also pay homage to Brazil, with 14 chefs from local restaurants using Brazilian foods or images as the starting point for the special dishes they will offer to participants.

Ron Kempe explains, "Because of this being a Brazilian night, I wanted to come up with a dish that uses some tropical fruit, so I picked on mango. And I wanted to get some spice in there too, so I am using the peptides, which are a small sweet pepper with a little bite at the end, in the slaw."

John Winn, sous-chef of Chez Albert in Amherst, says that he and chef/owner Paul Hathaway will do a ceviche, a South American dish of fish that is cooked by marinating it in lime juice rather than exposing it to heat.

"We're not quite sure what fish we will use," he said. "It will depend on what's best on the day. We'll serve it with taro chips."

Adrian d'Errico, owner of Tabella in Amherst, is planning to serve flambeed scallops skewered with local garlic scapes.

"We will serve them over roasted cassava mash to pick up the Brazilian theme," he said. "I am not sure what we will flambe them in, but we may use cachaca, which is a pure sugar cane liquor."

Max Brody chef/owner of The Night Kitchen in Montague said that he is delighted to be asked to contribute to the event. One reason is that out in Montague he is separated from the restaurant scenes in Northampton and Amherst.

"The Taste is a chance for me to take part in culinary community," he said.

The dishes he has proposed include a ceviche of bay scallops, shrimp and octopus in lime juice, palm sugar and garlic, and a pulled-pork empanada with a green chili chutney, using chili peppers grown on a neighboring farm.

"They make a great chili sauce with them," he said. "I can tell you it's really addictive."

Another reason that Brody is glad to be involved is that he understands the problems of poverty and hunger. "I've traveled extensively in Third World countries, so I've seen poverty and things that go along with it," he said.

"But I know it doesn't just happen there. People think it doesn't happen here, and especially that it doesn't happen anywhere near where they live. They don't realize that a lot of children just don't have a full meal.

"Obesity gets attention but the other side is that kids get quick-fix meals that satiate for just an hour or so."

One cause of this, he believes, is that sometimes there doesn't seem to be enough time to cook. He has therefore offered classes to show that it's possible to make quick and well-balanced suppers.

The beneficiaries of the Taste event are Project Bread and The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

They need the money. The Food Bank reports that 64 percent of the clients seeking emergency food assistance in western Massachusetts are living below the federal poverty line. A third of them have at least one adult working in their household; only 7 percent receive transitional assistance, commonly known as welfare.

Over half those who receive help are "food insecure," that is, they don't have adequate and safe food, and many have had to choose between buying food or paying rent, utilities, or health care bills.

The Food Bank helps this client population by acting as the central clearing house for the emergency food network of western Massachusetts, distributing about six million pounds of food a year to local food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other nonprofit programs.

Project Bread, the other beneficiary of the Taste of the Nation, is a Boston-based charity that works to alleviate and prevent hunger throughout Massachusetts by making emergency food accessible to the hungry, by educating and mobilizing people, and by researching and developing innovative solutions to end hunger.

In previous years the event has netted around $20,000, said organizer Walsh-Sullivan.

"This is made possible by the many generous in-kind contributions from local business," she said.

"For example, the amazing support we receive from Tiger Press that handles all the printing, the generosity of the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House and also public relations assistance from CBS 3."

All the money raised by ticket sales goes directly to the cause. The participating chefs boost the funds even further by getting sponsorships for their participation in a pre-event pool tournament.

To join in this year's Carnival Estravaganza you can buy tickets at Whole Foods Market in Hadley, Sierra Grill in Northampton, the Night Kitchen in Montague and Chandler's restaurant in South Deerfield.

Tickets can also be reserved at (413) 732-1445 or by visiting www.tasteofthenation.com/pioneervalley.

Tickets are $75 each for general admission or $100 for a VIP ticket that includes admission to a pre-event tasting of rare wines. Wine lovers will also get the chance to bid on excellent wine lots in the silent auction that takes place during the evening.

Other tempting lots in the auction include chef-hosted dinners in your own home, and even a complete Thanksgiving dinner for eight.

To sample something of what will be offered at the Carnival Estravaganza, here are Ron Kempe's recipes.

MANGO-MANCHEGO SIRLOIN LOLLIPOPS WITH GRILLED JICAMA SLAW

For the Sirloin Lollipops:

1 pound sirloin, ground

8 ounces Manchego cheese, shredded

2 ounces mango, diced small

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup Panko crumbs

1 ounce powdered ginger

1 ounce cinnamon, ground

1 ounce coriander, ground

salt to taste

For the Pomegranate Glaze:

1 cup white wine 1 ounce pomegranate molasses

3 ounces olive oil

For the Grilled Jicama Slaw:

1 jicama root, sliced into ¼-inch rounds

3 bell peppers of assorted colors

8 ounces pepperdew peppers

2 cups mayonnaise

olive oil for grilling

2 ounces honey

2 ounces sherry vinegar

1 ounce poppy seeds salt and pepper to taste

For the lollipops, combine all ingredients into a meatball mix and form into 2-ounce meatballs. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes (until done). Cool. To make the lollipops, heat the olive oil in a saute pan, heat meatballs till almost heated through, then deglaze with red wine and reduce. Finish with pomegranate molasses, and stick with skewers creating the lollipops.

For the jicama slaw, Toss jicama and bell peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill the sliced jicama, and bell peppers till cooked through and then cool. Slice them into julienne strips and set aside. In a food processer, puree the pepperdew peppers. Add the mayonnaise, honey, vinegar, and puree till thoroughly mixed. Empty in a bowl and mix in the poppy seeds and season to taste. Combine the julienne vegetables and dressing and serve cold.