Of its 14th year the Canadian Culinary Championships moved homes. For most of the life of this prestigious event, the `CCC' has been a western Canadian cooking competition and fundraiser. For the last nine of those years, it was hosted, happily, in Britis
I admit some bias. As the Ottawa judge (one of a 13-strong panel of over-eaters) I am partial to this town. I know well its inspired food scene, its collegial chefs' community, engaged dining out citizens, and first class culinary schools. Having apprentice cooks be part of the national championships is a marvellous boon for both the competitors and students, and both Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Program and Algonquin College's Chefs School brought their sharpest games to support these champion chefs.
Despite the big move, the format of the competition remained much the same. The twelve chefs (victors, all, in their respective regional competitions) were put through their paces over three days with three contests: the Mystery Wine Pairing event, the Black Box, and the `Grande Finale' (which has the chefs recreating the dish that won them gold medals in their own city.) The Mystery Wine competition has the extra trial of being a `frugal chef's' competition. In addition to being handed a label-less bottle of wine with blank cork and being tasked with creating a dish that would match it splendidly, the chefs are given a wad of cash with which to buy provisions for said dish. The math worked out to about a $1.50 per plate. Their resourcefulness with that paltry sum astounded me, and this year's roster of Mystery Wine dishes was, in the 14 years I've had the honour of adjudicating this event, the most impressive yet.