In a belated celebration of my brother’s birthday, we did a tasting menu of very fresh lake pickerel, paired with Tuborg and a 2006 Zind Humbrecht Turckheim Gewurztraminer [favorite white varietal of the birthday boy]. It was a heady lovely wine on the nose – showing honeyed apricot and pear. But it lacked in the palate department, both in structure and in concentration, so most dishes paired well with the beer better than the wine. The first dish on the left was pan fried, intentionally raw inside – which didn’t end up working out on the texture side – a bit ‘stringy’ and dense. Knowing that, the following dishes turned out very, very nicely.
pickerel ceviche on spinach leaves
wild onion grilled side of pickerel with crispy skin 
pickerel stuffed with herbs en papillote
beer battered deep fried pickerel
pickerel ice cream with pluot sauce [kidding]A memorable night as the food was particularly solid, and after a few drinks I was in a ranty, ‘assertive’ [read 'confrontational'] mood. Always good for some lively discussion.
[...] I recently was invited to attend a culinary competition at NAIT. On the menu were local lake fishes, elk, bison, and pulses [legumes] from our province. Pretty cool to see pickerel starters done 12 ways by 12 teams – reminds me of home. [...]