The second instalment of the Gold Medal Plates culinary competition welcomed Regina to the national roster. James Chatto travels to every city to be joined by regional food personages like C. J. Katz (pictured here). His report follows!
October 12th The Gold Medal Plates team did it again, creating an amazing evening at the Queensbury Centre, Regina and delighting the sold-out crowd of 500. The city came to party and to play and, according to our vigorous and persuasive auctioneer, to set a target for Saskatoon to meet. Jim Cuddy, Kendel Carson and Dustin Bentall provided brilliant music and Adam Van Kouverden (at right) was the energetic and witty master of ceremonies. Bidding was brisk during the auction as the crowd was inspired by films of highlights from the summer games and of the trips on offer. The dishes, without exception, were inventive and original and featured an unusually broad range of proteins
from pickerel cheeks to beaver (the first time beaver had ever been served at a GMP event). In the end, only one and a half percentage points separated first and second place.
The bronze medal went to Chef Jonathan Thauberger of Crave Kitchen + Wine Bar. He chose to work with goose from a local source – Cool Springs Ranch – treating the meat three ways. First he hot-smoked the breast, slicing it fairly thickly, leaving the meat succulent and juicily sweet with the gentle smoke. He turned other parts of the bird into a firm chorizo-style sausage and sliced it obliquely alongside the breast. The tour de force of the dish was a cube of rich goose confit held together with a jellied consommé, crusted with a mix of cornmeal and lentil and chickpea flours. Crunchy, slippery local chanterelles were strewn about the plate, there was a little salad of organic lentil greens and a tangy Saskatoonberry glaze. The beverage pairing was brilliant – a malty, sweetish Baltic porter beer from Bushwakker Brew Pub that created a bridge between the smokiness of the breast and the sweet glaze. The judges loved it.
The silver medal was awarded to Leo Pantel of Conexus Arts Centre. His presentation was decidedly dramatic with inverted wineglasses rising from the plates. Chef had filled them with applewood smoke, using an antique bee smoker and, when the food runners removed the glasses, a sweet smoky aroma began the judges’ experience of the dish. Beneath the glass was a cube of belly pork, barely touched by the smoke but glazed with cider and flattered by a sweet, woodsy birch syrup. The meat was a nicely judged balance of tender lean flesh and unctuous fat, refreshed by a delectable, loose-textured mash of apple and Jerusalem artichoke. A crisp Jerusalem artichoke chip was the jaunty garnish. Chef Pantel chose a red wine for his match – the light, subtle 2010 Gamay from Desert Hills Winery in B.C.
Our gold medal winner was Chef Milton Rebello (with his family at left) of the Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza. He decided to prepare local lamb, setting a perfect pink chop on each plate, the tender meat full of flavour from time spent in a ginger marinade, enhanced by a crust of mustard and crumbled pistachio. Beneath the chop we found a streak of minted pea purée and beside it a soft-textured corn and potato hash. On the other side of the plate, Chef Rebello set a sweet lentil tuile biscuit shaped like a curling maple leaf and dotted with a single lentil. In the leaf lay a ball of soft, mild goat cheese crusted with a powder formed from vegetables cooked with South Asian spices garnished with a refreshing pear chutney. The final touch was a stripe of tangy, pungent sauce made from ginger-infused cherry port. The wine match was most effective, See Ya Later Ranch’s 2010 Pinot Noir flattering the lamb but sturdy enough to stand up to the sauce and the chutney.
*****
Gold Medal Plates is a national culinary competition & celebration of the finest cuisine in 10 Canadian cities. Chefs are invited to participate and the Gold Medal winner in each city is flown to Kelowna to compete in the Canadian Culinary Championships ( February 8/9, 2013). Gold Medal Plates captures much of the spirit and camaraderie of the Olympic Games with dozens of sports and music stars participating, from Adam Van Koeverden Canadian Olympic gold medallists Jamie Sale, Kyle Shewfelt and Cassie Campbell (usually between 20 and 30 Olympic medallists attend) to Jim Cuddy, Alan Doyle, Jim Robertson, Colin James, Anne Lindsay and Sara Slean to name only a handful.
Proceeds go to the Canadian Olympic Team’s efforts to Own the Podium!
Photo credits: Artec Photographic Design and Mark Greschner Photographer
