The birds went quiet, like in the movies when a great predator is on the loose. But this was a herd, eating everything in its path.

It was the Autumn Stroll, gastronomic grazing through the Dundas Valley Conservation Area to benefit various charities of the Rotary Club of Ancaster. The event last Sunday drew a horde of people at $110 a pop to negotiate 16 eating spots and 22 stops for libations.

And you could tell the veterans from the first-timers, rookies who were groaning by the turn for the last leg of the munching march.

"I shouldn't have eaten that whole bread pudding," lamented one 200-pounder.

Pacing is everything in these things and kudos to the gamers who lapped the field.

The aforementioned pudding was the fourth of 10 food booths I got to, Liaison College. The apple bread pudding with bourbon sauce was a mildly sweet and palate-pleasing change of pace as I neared the midway point. And it was substantial.

You have to make allowances with these kind of events, of course. Trucking food and equipment into a forest setting is scarcely perfect for food preparation and presentation. In fact a couple of advertised eateries didn't show up.

The ones that did ranged from the small and creative to the massive and simple. Chef & Wife caterers of Dundas, for instance, had a right-sized and interesting item while Emma's Backporch offered a fit-for-a-caveman rib on a lettuce leaf.

Chef & Wife showcased some local product, slices of medium-hot green pepper with elk pate and a daub of wild blueberry merlot compote. The bite of pepper, silky pate and intense blueberry flourish really rang up the flavour scale.

Faloney's of Ancaster offered an interesting combination, nice medium-done chunks of Sterling Silver filet mignon with a Shiraz veal reduction, and tuna tartare. The sesame-scented yellow fine tuna rested on a curl of homemade potato chip.

I had started the Stroll, which was staged from the parking lot of The Rotary Centre on Jerseyville Road, at the Ancaster My-Thai booth. The cashew chicken with mango salad was a warm and cool opening, the moist chunks of chicken and rich nuts over rice in a hot and sweet sauce with the sticks of lively mango as contrast.

The Whistling Walrus was next up and settled on pub grub, pulled pork on mini baguettes that was good if not too original.

Rousseau House also offered pulled pork, but on mini pitas, which were nice, along with tiny ground sirloin burgers that won favour. Squares of chocolate-pecan tart with buds of whipped cream completed the most generous booth along the trail.

It is about here, in a clearing through the stroll, that folks pulled up for a break and a halftime assessment. But the Brassie Pub was not letting us off lightly, not with fat Yorkshire puddings stuffed with cubed beef and gravy. And samples of Harp lager, too.

The caterer Saving Thyme stepped up after this with a bright combination of celeriac soup, a thick and fresh-tasting creamed turn with the humble and unheralded root veg, and bits of crostini with four-year-old Ontario cheddar and a dollop of spiced apple chutney. That trio prompted some "oohs."

The Ancaster Old Mill didn't stint, either, with a choice of toppings for excellent focaccia, a corn and mushroom mix and heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Tired trekkers washed this down with strawberry chocolate champagne shooters.

The Mexicali Rosa's sample which followed, taquitos with chicken and a choice of sauces and sour cream, was crunchy and fresh.

Finally there was Acclamation and your agent gamely accepted a brochette of pork and butternut squash, a mixed blessing with the big and moist chunks of flesh fiery with chipotle sauce and the squash underdone.

We staggered to the wagons for transport out of the valley, fully bovine at the end.

jkernaghan@thespec.com

905-526-3422