VICTORIA CHEFS GEAR UP FOR FUNDRAISER’S COLOURFUL CONTEST

I was inspired to create recipes rich in colour today after learning that this year will be the 10th anniversary of Colour Your Palate.

The event is a fundraiser for the artsREACH program, a Victoria-based, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide high-quality visual and performing-arts training to young children, regardless of their financial means.

Colour Your Palate is also one of Victoria’s best culinary events. This year it is taking place on April 11, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at the Victoria Conference Centre.

Organizers describe the event as Victoria’s version of Iron Chef with a twist.

That twist is that a month before Colour Your Palate, a dozen or more incredibly talented chefs, from some of Victoria’s top eateries, are asked to randomly pick a colour from a selection that could include yellow, blue, red, purple, orange or green.

Once the chefs know what their colour is, they begin to create a canapé using ingredients rich with that colour. Unlike the simple recipes I published today, though, what the chefs will prepare will be much more complex, visually, texturally and in flavour.

They have to be, because this is a competition in which a panel of judges, including me, will choose winners in three categories: Best Tasting Savoury Creation, Best Tasting Sweet Creation and Most Colourful Creation.

Those attending the event also get to vote for the People’s Choice Award.

During the evening, at various stations set up around the Conference Centre, the chefs who created the canapés will be serving them up for you to try. While you sample them, you’ll also be able to sip B.C. wine from up to 21 members of the highly regarded Naramata Bench Wineries Association.

Tickets for Colour Your Palate, which usually sells out, are $95 per person. You can buy them at artsreach.ca/colour-your-palate or by calling 778-678-6282.

The event also includes a silent auction and a fabulous door prize.