Terra Madre dinner set for Saturday

Amidst a riotous palette of flowers and overlooking lush organic vegetable gardens and livestock fields in the picturesque mountains bordering Pisgah National Forest, it’s easy to imagine life in another era – life when there was time to savor beauty and family; time to grow your own food, make hearty dinners from scratch, and appreciate the scent of lilies on the breeze.
Slow Food Asheville’s September Terra Madre fundraiser, entitled “Mountain Fire,” will offer an opportunity to taste for oneself this intentionally slower lifestyle centered around the sustainable farming and heirloom production techniques being reclaimed by environmentally minded folks worldwide.
It is these qualities the Slow Food movement has been promoting since it formed in 1986. And the organization’s origins in Italy are why delegates from Slow Food chapters around the world still gather every two years in Turin, Italy, for its Terra Madre conference.
The Asheville Slow Food chapter sponsors several WNC farmer and food producer delegates to travel to Turin where they can share their own knowledge while learning new techniques that will make their small businesses as well as their communities more economically viable.
This year’s Terra Madre fundraiser will be held at Sunswept Farm Conservancy in Spring Creek, Madison County, on September 18 and will include a scratch-made, home-grown, gourmet feast as well as a silent auction of fine, local products and services.
Arrive early to tour Sunswept Farm – a small family farm at its heart, predominantly powered by water and sun, and surrounded by 68 acres of Forever Wild forest land. Try your hand at the antique cider press, preview the crafts and services offered for silent auction, or just relax dangling your feet off the pond dock while enjoying the mountain views.
Two of the eight 2010 WNC delegates, Lalasa Mohr and Vanessa Harbin, will travel as
representatives of Sunswept Farm. Other delegates are Julie Mansfield of Mountain Harvest Organics; Dave Bauer of Farm and Sparrow Bakery; David Kendall of Elk Knob Farm and Gardens; Lady Spirit Moon Cerelli of Bee Healing Apiary; and Chuck and Jeannie Blethen of Jewel of the Blue Ridge Vineyard.
Each delegate is contributing their own time and materials in support of the fundraiser.
In addition to the venue, Sunswept Farm will provide organic, free-range pork, chicken, and eggs plus use of their antique cider press and commercially licensed kitchen. Conservancy director, Dory Brown, an acclaimed metalsmith, will donate several pieces of her handcrafted jewelry for the silent auction.
Mountain Harvest Organics will contribute a cornucopia of seasonal, organic vegetables and coordinate event decor.
Farm and Sparrow Bakery will supply artisanal breads baked in their wood-fired ovens and offer a certificate for a dozen loaves for the auction. They will also make sumptuous apple tarts using apples supplied by Elk Knob Farm and Gardens.
Elk Knob’s apples will likewise be used for fresh-pressed cider and autumn-spiced apple sauce to accompany the meal along with their wild fruit dipping sauces for the pork.
Bee Healing Apiary will provide honey for the desserts as well as scratch-made cannoli.
Several types of honey and Lady Cerelli’s wonderfully healing Bee Lotion will also be on auction.
Jewel of the Blue Ridge Vineyard is organizing the auction. Their contribution to the auction is a two-hour Wine Evaluation/Wine Etiquette seminar for up to eight people.
Event collaborator, Chef Mark Rosenstein, who founded The Market Place restaurant and has been dedicated to local, seasonal ingredients for the entirety of his 40-year professional cooking career, has designed the menu to be a medieval fantasy of fire-kissed offerings.
Visit SlowFoodAsheville.org for tickets and further information. To donate for the auction or to volunteer event help, please email MountainFire@charter.net.