The invite was simple: come as my guest and you get a sumptuous vegetarian banquet including entertainment. I RSVP'd and boy, did it ever surpass my expectations.
Culinary artist Jackie Liew runs a business through her Girl + the Kitchen (GTK) company, showing people how to cook delicious Asian-style veggie meals. Liew is also a musician who learned the benefits of "peaceful eating" through Buddhist experts.
She's bringing that knowledge to Peak Top Cuisine located just behind the Vaughn Mills mall in Toronto. For a restaurant that specializes in suckling pig and roast duck, it's quite a surprise that it would offer a vegetarian menu every Thursday.
If you're into greens, you can check out my previous pieces on Asian veggies and some vegetable dishes, too (Bean Sprout & Green Bean Salad, Fuzzy Melon and Malaysian Cabbage, Chayote and Jicama Recipes).
YUMMY APPETIZERS AND "SALMON" SASHIMI
Our fete began with a soothing drink of lemon honey with basil seeds "touched by Geranium essential oil" and moved onto a scrumptious set of vegetarian BBQ appetizers – little "sausages" and brown half-moons that reminded me of a combo of meat and mushrooms.
Next came a purple yam croquette swimming in chickpea puree – a silky, salty blend that went down smoothly. Soon came the piece de resistance – a salmon "sashimi" and fried taro/King oyster mushroom platter cloaked in a mysterious fog of dry ice!
The vegetarian salmon was an astonishing item to behold: it had the white veining and salmon-colour, the texture and an almost-salmon taste that defied description. Unbelievable to this carnivore. (Apparently, it's made of reconstituted yam) Equally great was the mushroom and taro which tasted perfectly fried and still moist and flavourful.
Liew hopped to work at this point by doing a mini-demo. She tossed some basil sesame seaweed into a wok with buckwheat noodles. What came after was also a nice surprise: pumpkin dumplings in ginger mushroom broth topped with Goji berries. I couldn't get enough of the wonton-wrapped delight and dove in for more.
Liew's last main was a Tom Yam lasagna with flax seed oil – filling and good, but tasted like any other veggie lasagna I've had in the past.She finished off our feast with wine glasses filled with rose tea jelly topped with soy yogurt and strawberry compote. Yum.
A MUSICAL FEAST, TOO
The evening just kept getting better all night. I sat next to a soprano with the Canadian Opera Company whose in-laws were also there – they were members of the Canadian band from the 1970s, Lighthouse.
Expert flutist Ron Korb provided beautiful entertainment and the big surprise of the night (besides the fabulous food) was the introduction of Jim McCarty, a member of Brit Invasion band The Yardbirds!
McCarty got up and introduced a new song he had been working on with Korb – a composition that had never touched the ears of the public. The band finished off the night with a Yardbird classic, For Your Love.
It was a spine-tingling night of music and food. To borrow a lyric from the song, Liew's dishes will "thrill you with delight."I encourage you to take your adventurous stomach to Peak Top on Thursdays for its set vegetarian menu. Liew is providing group classes every Mondays, too. Check her website for more information.
"Recipes will encompass a wide variety of vegetarian ingredients from all over Asia. The dishes are a fusion of different cooking styles including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, South Indian and Malaysia," says Liew.
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