Estrella Damm Tapas Journey Toronto

Between August 14-23, Estrella Damm beer is partnering with 20 awesome restaurants in downtown Toronto for the “Tapas Journey.” Each of these restaurants will be featuring a special Tapas Journey menu with 3 signature tapas dishes. For $20, you get three tapas dishes and a pint of Estrella Damm beer too! For a fun night, pick three of the restaurants that are close to each other and order the Tapas Journey deal at each restaurant.

I had the chance to check out the Tapas Journey menus at three restaurants: Los Colibris, Raca Cafe and Bar, Mata Petisco Bar. The food was creative, delicious and portions were quite generous for $20. I met up with a few of my Instagram friends (@bluntfoodreview, @doctornom, @hypebelly) at Los Colibris, an upscale Mexican restaurant at King West. We had a few extra Estrella beers there after the tapas meal and then headed over to parkdale to visit Raca Bar and Cafe for some of Chef Ivana Raca’s delicious creations. Raca had a beautiful outdoor patio in the back where we enjoyed more tapas and beer. Our final stop was the nearby Mata Petisco bar, a South American spot with the largest portions of the night! One of their tapas dishes was a plate of 4 cheese bread sliders! Check out everything we ate at these 3 spots. Beer is the perfect pairing with these small savoury dishes and a full pint of Estrella Damm Beer is included in the menu! Estrella Damm is also giving away 3 trips to Miami to attend the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress and meet Chef Ferran Adrià.  Contest details at end of article.

Los Colibris “Tapas Journey” Menu ($20 for all three dishes + a Estrella Damm Beer) 

Jalapeno Relleno- Picadillo-stuffed pickled jalapeno made with 32 different ingredients including pork, nuts, seeds, dry fruits, aromatic spices, herbs. A dish with a crazy amount of flavour!

Camarones A La Diabla- Corn puree, guajillo/arbol adobo, avocado, shrimp, grilled corn. 

Pipian Verde- Chicken meatballs with pumpkin in based pipian verde 

Raca Cafe and Bar “Tapas Journey” Menu ($20 for all three dishes + a Estrella Damm Beer) 

Bone Marrow Arancini- Veal bone marrow stuffed arancini garnished with fresh herbs and Parmigianno Reggiano served with house-made pear jam. WOW! Bone marrow inside crispy rice balls pairs nice with the pear jam. 

Bacon Wrapped Medjool Dates- Bacon-wrapped medjool dates stuffed with stilton and aged balsamic 

Spiced Peruvian Pork Meatballs- Spiced pork meatballs covered in a Peruvian tomato pepper sauce 

Mata Petisco Bar “Tapas Journey” Menu ($20 for all three dishes + a Estrella Damm Beer)  

Coxinha Chicken Balls- Shredded chicken filling covered in milk buttered dough served with a malagueta pepper aioli 

Cheese Bread Sliders- Brazilian cheese bread bun topped with catupiry-style cheese and smoked beef cheeks. Huge portions and a totally gluten free slider as the cheese bun is made with Cassava flour! 

Tapioca Dice- Tapioca crumbles with coalho cheese served with a cumari pepper aioli 

Participating Restaurants for the Tapas Journey from Aug 14-23: Barsa Taberna, Beast, Byblos, Carmen, Cava, East Thirty-Six, El Catrin, Kanpai Snack Bar, Los Colibrís, Mamakas Taverna, Marben, Mata Petisco Bar, Nota Bene, Patria, Raca Café & Bar, Salt Wine Bar, Taverna Mercatto, The Good Son, Valdez, Weslodge

Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress Contest
Estrella Damm beer is giving away 3 trips to Miami, where winners will attend the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress and see Chef Ferran Adrià.  For a chance to win, you need to visit any #TapasJourney restaurant between August 14th and 23rd and snap a photo of your passport stickers. You can ask your server for a Tapas Journey passport and they will give you a sticker when you order the #TapasJourney menu. Full contest details here.

Turducken!

turducken... What is a turducken? It's exactly as it sounds- a turkey stuffed with a duck and chicken! A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to try one of these beasts.  I was contacted by Echelon Foods to try a frozen store bought version of the turducken!  The one I got was 12 pounds and also had italian sausage stuffing- you could call it a TURDUCKENAGE! I was originally delayed in eating this because of the ice storm/ power outage in Toronto this year, but finally cooked it to share with some friends.  

I followed the instructions on the package, and defrosted it overnight in a bucket of water.  I've never made a turkey before myself, but these instructions were easy!  I then baked it in the oven for ~8 hours (took it out and basted it with some chicken stock a few times during the process).  It smelled great coming out of the oven and looked like a meat lovers dream.  The skin was nice and crispy, and when we cut it in half, you could see a bunch of layers of duck, chicken, sausage inside a deboned turkey!  You could taste the different meats and flavours with each bite.  I found the turkey a little drier compared to the other meats (the sausage was nice!), and the turducken goes quite well with gravy!  

This massive turducken was almost too much to handle.  There were 5 of us in total and 3 of us were passed out with food coma with 1/4 of the turducken remaining! This is a pretty cool meal that can be shared among many people or if you're up to the challenge, do it up big and tackle a whole turducken yourself!  I got mine from a Longo's supermarket in Toronto.  The frozen turduckens from Echelon Foods also comes with apple chicken stuffing, and also roast versions of the turducken, where the wings and drumsticks are removed.  The turducken we had said it was recommended for 12-16 people, so it's perfect for a big party!.... or a small 5 person meal if you're hungry like me and my friends!


Original Turducken with Italian Sausage Stuffing
http://www.echelonfoods.com/products-Original-Turducken.htm