Top pick Omar Salgado cleared to join Whitecaps

Published Friday, Mar. 25, 2011 12:53PM EDTLast updated Friday, Mar. 25, 2011 1:20PM EDT

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Vancouver Whitecaps FC, after thumping Toronto FC in their Major League Soccer debut, has just scored the most important goal of its young and increasingly promising season.

In a surprise move, international soccer officials have approved a special exemption to let 17-year-old Omar Salgado play for the Whitecaps before he turns 18 in September.

The addition could significantly bolster the Whitecaps already-seemingly impressive offensive, which netted four goals at home against TFC last Saturday. Salgado scored the first goal for the Whitecaps in a March 6 exhibition win against the Seattle Sounders.

Salgado’s official Whitecaps debut will probably be at home at Empire Field in east Vancouver on April 16, against Chivas USA in the Whitecaps’ sixth game of the season.

Until then the young striker is on international duty, training with the United States U-20 national team in preparation for regional championships in Guatemala, which end April 10. The U.S. is favoured to advance, which means Salgado will be away for the U-20 World Cup, missing as many as a half-dozen Whitecaps matches in July and August.

Still, it’s a big boost for the Whitecaps to have Salgado in their arsenal earlier than expected. He had otherwise been set to play on his 18th birthday on Sept. 10 on the road against the New York Red Bulls.

“Omar is a great talent and will be an important player to the club,” coach Teitur Thordarson said in a statement on Friday morning. “To have the news that he will be able to play from this point on is great for us, as Omar has already showed us that he can play on this level.”

International soccer rules prohibit the international transfer of players younger than 18 to professional clubs outside their home country. Salgado is from El Paso, Tex.

In January, Salgado became the unlikely No 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft. The Whitecaps, ahead of the draft, made it clear they were looking to pick Darlington Nagbe, a college star in the United States. But Nagbe, a Liberian, was concerned about playing in Canada and how it could affect his application for U.S. citizenship. So the Whitecaps picked the raw yet intriguing Salgado first, and Nagbe went No 2 to the Portland Timbers, the Whitecaps’ expansion rivals.

Salgado will be paired on offence with Eric Hassli, who was imported from FC Zurich in March to add scoring firepower- and in the game against TFC delivered immediately, scoring the first goal in the 15th minute to put the home team up 1-0 and again in the 72nd minute to extend the lead to 4-1.

Salgado, who like Hassli stands 6 foot 4, has been antsy to play official games for the Whitecaps. “It’s very frustrating for me,” he said on the wait in an interview with The Globe and Mail in early March after a practice.

On Friday, in a statement, Salgado said: “I am excited for the opportunity to contribute to my club on the field and I will continue working hard, so that I am ready when that day comes.”

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More News on a Farmers Market in the City's Southwest

A committee of farmers market advocates, community members and producers has been working on the development of the Southwest Edmonton Farmers Market for quite some time. Now, it looks as though the new market will be held on Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the parking lot of the Lillian Osborne High School at 2019 Leger Road. The tentative start date is May 19th.

This is excellent news, as people in the southwest have had to drive a long ways to get to fresh, farmers market produce.

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Reports on the Raw Milk Movement around Edmonton

Michael Schmidt, an Ontario dairy farmer and advocate of raw milk, was in town this week, speaking to a group of Slow Food Edmonton members at the Edmonton Public Library. Valerie Rodgers Lugonja, a local blogger who also runs cooking courses, was at the event. Here is her report.

Also, here is a link to a Global Television report on the same issue. Another source for this story is Michael Schmidt's own blog, The Bovine.

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Time to Clog the Blogosphere!

Just home from holidays, and right into the frey. Yesterday, I observed and interviewed the warm and wise likes of celebrity Chef Susur Lee (check out Brian Gavriloff's photo gallery of the event) and today I wrote a couple of stories about his visit to NAIT. Now I'm ready to bash back into the blog. Lots of things are happening and I'm going to tell you about them, but remember, sometimes I cleverly plant mistakes in my blog, just to tease the readers who are incensed by this, and feel the need to blast off blustery missives. I love you too!!

So, without further ado:

* Local home economist and cookbook author, Deb Anzinger, is hosting a free session on cooking with fresh herbs at the southside Planet Organic on Tuesday, March 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.* There will be an indoor farmers market underneath the pyramids at City Hall, running Saturdays until the 104th street  outdoor City market opens in May. I love this idea, having attended the Christmas season market at city hall in December. It's warm and cosy and fun down there, and there are lots of great vendors. Here is a Journal story about this new market, which runs until May 14th.
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Downtown Dining Week Goes On, even though I'm on holidays...

Downtown Dining Week, sponsored by the Downtown Business Association, starts March 4 and runs through to the 13th. More than 30 restaurants are taking part in the event, which sees reduced prices on lunch and/or dinner menus. This is a great time to check out restaurants you've always wanted to see, or just to give yourself a winter treat.

The DBA has donated four certificates to four downtown restaurants - Niche, Khazana, Tzin and brunch for two at the Sutton Place Hotel. The gift certificates run from $25 to $60 in value.

If you'd like to enter a draw to win one of the certificates, please send an e-mail to livingwell@edmontonjournal.com. Put Downtown Dining Week in the subject line. Include your name and day time phone number in the body of the e-mail. The names of the winners will be published on the Downtown Dining Week website, and winners must claim their prize at the downtown office of the Edmonton Journal. The deadline for the draw is February 28th. Winners will be drawn on March 1.

I'm off today - YAY - for a two-week period. See when I return!

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Chef Susur Lee is in E-town from March 14th to 18th!

There is high excitement in the culinary community as Chef Lee, one of the most acclaimed chefs in North America, begins a five-day intensive teaching program at NAIT, where the master chef and restaurateur will be teaching students in the culinary arts program.

The program is part of the Hokanson Chef In Residence program, which kicked off in 2009 with Vancouver chef Rob Feenie, and then again in 2010 with Toronto chef David Adjey.

Chef Lee's resume is exhaustive, beginning at the age of 16 when he was an apprentice at Hong Kong's  renowned Peninsula Hotel. He later moved to Toronto, opening his first restaurant, Lotus, in 1987. Since then, Chef Lee has been an international culinary consultant, and is at the helm of several restaurants in Toronto,  Washington, New York and Singapore.

The restaurant and travel guide, Zagat, has dubbed Lee a "culinary genius." Food and Wine magazine, which calls Lee one of the Ten Chefs of the Millennium, alongside other food artists such as Ferran Adira of Spain's Bulli restaurant.

I have the great good fortune to be observing Chef Lee this afternoon as he instructs students at NAIT. Then I get to interview him! If you've got questions for him, tell me right now and I'll try to slip them into the conversation. Check the Journal website Tuesday for my story, along with a photo gallery from this afternoon's demo.

The picture at right is from the cover of Lee's cookbook, co-written with Jacob Richler.

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Here's a classic Susur Lee Recipe - watch for more!

This recipe is found in Lee's cookbook, Susur:  A Culinary Life (10 Speed Press, 2005). It has been adapted by StarChefs and yields four servings. In Wednesday's Journal, we'll have something a little less ambitious for those among us who quiver at the thought of making our own squid ink dough.

Lee is in Edmonton at NAIT until Friday, teaching students in the culinary arts department. Wednesday, the school hosts a lunch with Lee, and, yes, I'm going. Yay! I'll be tweeting about it, and posting some photos with those tweets. Can't wait.

Lobster-Filled Squid Ink Ravioli in Lobster Consomme
Ingredients:
Lobster Ravioli Filling:
2 sheets gelatin
1 cup (250 mL) lobster consommé
4 shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
1 (1 ½ pound) boiled lobster, tail meat diced
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon (2 mL) cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

Squid Ink Dough:
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (50 mL) hot water
3 tablespoons (50 mL) squid ink
3 large eggs

Additional:
1 egg white
1 cup (250 mL) lobster consommé
2 tablespoons (30 mL) shao hsing wine
Pinch sea salt
Pinch ground white pepper
Onion oil
4 ounces lobster claw meat, for garnish
4 lobster tentacles, for garnish
4 chives, for garnish
1/4 cup (50 mL) cooked lobster roe, for garnish
Spirulina powder

Method:
For Lobster Ravioli Filling:
Soak gelatin leaves in water. Remove leaves and squeeze out excess water. Place in stainless-steel bowl over pot of simmering water and melt. Add cold lobster consommé and mix well. Transfer bowl to refrigerator and chill for 1 hour to set. When set, remove and dice. Toss with mushrooms and lobster tail meat. Season with salt and peppers and return to refrigerator until ready to use.

For Squid Ink Dough:
Using a stand mixer with dough hook, combine the flour and water and mix until dough forms. Continue mixing while adding squid ink. Add eggs, one at a time, until dough is smooth and almost black. Transfer dough to a work surface dusted with flour and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Divide dough into 2 balls and roll out each to make a rope. Flatten each rope into a strip and, using a pasta machine, run each strip through decreasing settings until setting 4 is reached. Let noodle sheets dry for at least 45 minutes before cutting (if sheets are sticky, dust with flour).

Once dried, lay each sheet out on flour-dusted countertop. With a 4-inch (2.4 centimetre) cookie cutter, cut out 4 ravioli tops. With 3 ½-inch (2 centimetre) cookie cutter, cut out 4 ravioli bottoms. Dust with flour to prevent sticking. On baking sheet, arrange bottom ravioli rounds. Spoon 1/4 cup (50 mL) of ravioli filling in center of each. Brush egg white around edges of ravioli and place each top over filling. Enclose filling in ravioli circles, making sure there are no air pockets, and pinch to seal.

In medium pot, bring lobster consommé to a boil with wine. Season with salt and pepper. Place each lobster ravioli in soup bowl oiled very lightly with onion oil. Pout hot consommé, about ¼ cup each, over ravioli. Transfer bowls to steamer and steam ravioli in consommé for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

To Serve:
Slice lobster claws into 4 portions. Use lobster tentacles to skewer lobster claw slices. Insert ends of tentacles into chives. Garnish each bowl of ravioli and consommé with lobster roe, skewered claw slice, and sprinkling of spirulina.

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