Thousands celebrate Taste! of regional cuisine

Administrator | Sep 24, 2010 | Comments 2

Taste the County Executive Director Kathleen Kennedy gives two thumbs up for this year’s Taste! Celebration of Regional Cuisine event which attracted thousands of visitors Saturday to the Crystal Palace, Picton Fairgrounds.

Taste! off-site events celebrate region’s best wine, food and art

Mel Wilder, of Bloomfield Studios, is demonstrating the art of forming liquid glass into works of art and discussing the fascinating history of glass blowing this weekend and Monday as part of the many new TASTE! Off-Site Events being held this year.

The Bloomfield Studios area where the fascinating history of glass-blowing is explained and demonstrated by Mel Wilder. "The principles of everything we do are 2,000 years old," says Wilder. "Glass blowing actually goes back 3,000 years but all that's changed really is the quality of the tools, the furnaces and the glass itself."

The main furnace holds 200 pounds of clear liquid glass kept at 1100 degrees C. "It's like a big soup bowl where we gather the glass - it's like liquid honey."

Mel using a pipe extension to blow the glass while he controls its shape with various tools.

Thousands filled the TASTE! Celebration of Regional Cuisine Main Event Saturday at the Picton Fairgrounds. Named a Top 100 Festival by Festivals & Events Ontario, Prince Edward County’s annual TASTE! continues its ninth celebration with Off-Site Events until Tuesday.

The glass is turned constantly in a re-heating chamber during its creation period from glass to art. Temperature in "The Glory Hole" is 500 degrees C.

Voila - The newly created piece now goes to an Anealler where temperature starts at 500 degrees C and is cooled in stages to 100 degrees C by the next day.