It’s a Maine Thing - Hezzy’s Sidewalk Talk

Maine is alive with artisanal, specialty food purveyors who create an impressive array of interesting and delicious foods. They are the farmers, bakers, microbrewers, vitners, fisherman, cheesemakers, meat and fish smokers and foragers who work tirelessly in Maine to create delicious, handcrafted foods. Then there are those creative and dedicated souls, the chefs, who create the memorable restaurant meals where many of us have an opportunity to enjoy these wonderful foods. It is the commitment and respect that these chefs foster that has helped the artisanal food movement in Maine grow and gain respect from chowhounds all over. At the recent annual James Beard Foundation Awards the camaraderie, unity and spirit of Maine produced, artisanally, handcrafted foods was given their day where a number of “Maine’s best” in the food world were recognized for their talent, passion and understanding of the foods that they create.

June 8 in New York was the location for the annual James Beard Foundation Awards Ceremony dinner held at Lincoln Center. Known as the Oscars of the cooking world, Maine was well-represented with a repertoire of several dishes prepared by some of the state’s outstanding chefs using artisanally foods made by specialty food purveyors here in Maine.Melissa Kelly of Rockland’s Primo Restaurant and Sam Hayward of Portland’s Fore Street and Street & Co. fame with their staffs served up their signature dishes to the eager attendees. Chef Melissa dazzled the 1400 in attendance with her stuffed zucchini flower fritter recipe. Chef Sam put together Maine ingredients to make his brilliantly prepared, silky and rich Finnan Haddie chowder using smoked haddock produced by Stonington Sea Products of Stonington. The appreciative audience was made up of celebrities like Kate Cattrall, Samantha of “Sex & the City” fame, Food Channel chef Bobby Flan, respected food writer Vogue’s Jeffrey Steingarten and family & friends of the James Beard recipients. The annual event was staged as an honor to feed last year’s James Beard Recipient, Danny Meyer of New York’s famed Grammercy Tavern, which this year won the James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant category.The wine was flowing, the portions generous and the well-deserved accolades for these food luminaries endless. For all of us chowhounds here in the Dirigo state it is another seagull feather in our caps where we can lay claim to the Gold Standard when it comes to fabulously prepared food. Great food in Maine is no longer about fried clams, boiled lobster and over-sweetened blueberry pie. It is now about artisanal food, produced by small, specialty food purveyors who pay exquisite attention to detail in all aspects of food production. Quality is never compromised and that is reflected in their award-winning products. Kudos to all of the Maine businesses recognized at this prestigious event. In New York, on the day of the James Beard Foundation Annual Awards event, outside temperatures reached close to 100 degrees. Sam Hayward and his team had traveled from Maine with artisanally produced foods that were used as the main ingredients for his outstanding Finnan Haddie chowder. Vats of thick, raw cream from Turner Family Farm in Turner, vacuum sealed packages of Stonington Sea Products Finnan Haddie and fresh herbs, hand-selected from Laughing Stock Farm, were brought into the kitchens where the preparation for the awards dinner began. The rich, silky texture of the Finnan Haddie Chowder, exquisitely seasoned with fresh herbs, made this dish the darling of the show. Many of the attendees commented that it was their favorite dish of the evening.Other notable Mainers who are regulars on the food scene were also recognized at this prestigious event. Nominated as Best Chef of the Northeast was Rob Evans of Portland’s Hugos, and other nominees were Mark Gaier and Clark Fraser of the amazingly beautiful Arrows in Ogunquit. Another Maine restaurant that received accolades by the James Beard Foundation for their Classics Award was bestowed upon Bagaduce Lunch in Brooksville. This is the traditional, understated picnic table, dependable food kind of place that sits at the waters edge, next to the reversing falls. A classic that Mainers understand and identify with. Kudos to the owner, Judy Astbury and all the other Maine businesses and individuals who were recognized at this fabulous event.Chowhounds, New York Times readers and disciples of this blog already know that a recipe for the traditional, Scottish Finnan Haddie, using Stonington Sea Products, was recently published in the New York Times and on this blog. Visit www.chowmaineguide.com for Chef Sam Hayward’s Finnan Haddie Chowder recipe.See more information about the James Beard Foundation Awards 2008…