For a second year in a row, the Canadian Food Championships is drawing fierce but friendly competitors.
There will be about 20 competitors in each of the six categories: bacon, burger, dessert, sandwich, seafood and steak, a new category. The championship is held in conjunction with the annual Taste of Edmonton event.
Professional chefs and amateur food lovers alike will compete at Edmonton’s Sir Winston Churchill Square from July 22 to 24 for more than $50,000 in cash prizes.
In addition each first and second place winner in all categories receives a berth representing Team Canada at the World Food Championships from Nov. 9 to 13 at Orange Beach, Alabama.
Returning for another crack at the title is Lindsay Porter, executive chef at El Cortez and the newly opened Have Mercy, a southern comfort-inspired restaurant.
At the inaugural Canadian Food Championships (CFC) last year, the St. Albert home-grown chef won first place in the pasta category and received a seat at the 2015 World Food Championships in Florida.
Porter noted that although the championships were held in November, Florida was remarkably hot and humid leading to last-minute recipe adjustments.
“We had no potable water and had to bring our own. It was so hot the butter melted. We made it through the first round, but in the second round we had an issue with the stove and the pasta got overcooked.”
Her team dropped to eighth place. But that did not deter her from planning for a subsequent competition.
“For the past couple of months, I was thinking of all the pasta dishes I could make. I was a bit disappointed they didn’t have a pasta category this year because I thought I had an edge. But if I go to Alabama a smoky steak might well be the answer.”
Experience has taught her one thing.
“Be very precise with the recipe and stick to your plan. If you get nervous and drop something, it probably won’t work. Stay calm and stick to your plan.”
Watch for Porter competing in both the bacon and steak category.
Tu Le of St. Albert’s Jack’s Burger Shack has also sharpened his knives and is ready for a showdown. Together with fiancĂ©e and sous chef Jennifer Pulham, Le will compete in the sandwich category.
At the inaugural competition, Le forgot an ingredient and that threw his dish into disarray. The team did not even place and at the time Le refused to consider entering again. Fortunately, the self-proclaimed food lover changed his viewpoint.
“I was sorely disappointed. I was upset with the process. I was upset with myself. I’m still sitting on the fence about it, but I owe it to my myself and to my staff.”
A cook who likes to tease the palate, Le is creating a Chinese style shrimp salad sandwich.
“It’s outside the box. I want your mind to think it’s one thing and when you bite into it, it will be completely different.”
A third St. Albert cook picking up the tongs is Miroslaw Kolasa of Wind Rose Catering, also entered in the steak category.
A first-time entrant, Kolasa received his culinary education at Poland’s Merchant Navy Academy and after immigrating to Canada worked in food and beverage management.
He was banquet manager for both Hotel MacDonald and Delta Inn and served as kitchen manager at the Olive Garden.
Although Kolasa stepped away from restaurant kitchens several years ago, he is re-entering the market and the competition is a way to test his mettle.
Influenced by Auguste Escoffier, a French chef and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods, Kolasa plans to cook his prime cut in the classic French style enhanced by “wild grown ingredients.”
“I will focus on what the average Albertan will like and what they are familiar with,” Kolasa said.
Assisting him as sous chef is wife Malgorzata, “a very good craft cook” and partner in Wind Rose.
Both preliminary and final events will take place at Sir Winston Churchill Square. A complete schedule of varying rounds as well as a biography and photo of competitors is available at canadianfoodchampionships.ca.
May the best chef win!
