The Canadian Culinary Championships will see more than 30 Canadian wineries represented at the 2018 Competition in Kelowna Feb. 2 and 3.
And this year, in addition to the Gold Medal Plates competition, it has added a new event, Gold Medal Pints. Five finalists will be showcased at the first Gold Medal Plates competition, the Mystery Pairing event on Friday, Feb. 2.
“We are pleased to see such a great representation of Canadian Wines at this years event,” comments David Lawrason, national wine advisor for the Canadian Culinary Championships.
“Of our 11 competing chefs, nine of them will also present a dish during the grand finale competition that is paired with a Canadian wine. These wine pairings contributed to their success in winning in their home cities to compete at the Championships in Kelowna.”
One chef is paired with a Canadian beer out of Newfoundland and one with a Canadian made sake out of Ontario.
Prior to the the The Mystery Pairing event, the chefs receive a bottle of the selected Canadian wine during the chefs’ welcome reception on Thursday evening. Competitors are then tasked with creating a dish that pairs with the wine.
Guests attending the event will enjoy the wine during the evening as part of the evening’s blind tasting so that they too can judge in the People’s Choice category. The wine will be announced at the end of the evening.
The two-day, three-event championships will showcase the Kamloops Wine Trail, including Monte Creek Ranch, Privato Vineyard and Winery and Harper’s Trail Estate Winery during competitions I and III; and Mission Hill Family Estate and Arterra Wines Canada, including Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, SunRock Vineyards, See Ya Later Ranch and Black Sage Vineyards, will also be showcased during competition III.
The Canadian Culinary Championships will also name its Wine of the Year. Judges will select the winning wine from the 11 finalists that were named Best of Show in individual cities across Canada. This years’ competition includes seven wines from B.C., three from Ontario and one from Nova Scotia.
In addition to showcasing more than 30 wineries during the three-day event, on Friday evening the inaugural national Gold Medal Pints Competition will take place.
The five finalists in this beer competition have been selected from 47 beers across Canada by a panel of judges. The winner of Gold Medal Pints will be determined during the mystery pairing competition Feb. 2.
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The chefs competing at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna this year include:
Alex Chen – Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, Vancouver, representing British Columbia
Shane Chartrand – SAGE, representing Edmonton
Blake Flann – BLAKE from Canmore, representing Calgary
David Vinoya – Wild Sage Kitchen & Bar, representing Regina
James McFarland – University of Saskatchewan, representing Saskatoon
Mike Robins – Sous Sol, representing Winnipeg
Lorenzo Loseto – George Restaurant, representing Toronto
Briana Kim – Café My House, representing Ottawa
Éric Gonzalez – L’Atelier Joël Robuchon, representing Montreal
Barry Mooney – Gio, representing Nova Scotia
Nick Jewczyk – The Fifth Ticket, representing St. John’s
Net proceeds from the Canadian Culinary Championships will go to the Canadian Olympic Foundation, which supports Olympic athletes and high-performance programs. Since 2004, Gold Medal Plates has raised more than $12 million for Canada’s Olympic athletes.
Tickets to the 2018 event are now on sale. Attendees can choose from three-event package options to include the Friday Mystery Wine Pairing competition that will include Gold Medal Pints, the Black Box competition or the Saturday Grand Finale, featuring musical entertainment by Neil Osborne of 54/40 and MC, Olympic gold medalist in Ski Cross, Ashleigh McIvor.
Tickets can be purchased online at goldmedalplates.com.
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