Truck driver has big plans for mini muffins
He is a ‘rough and tough’ kind of guy, but the 56-year-old says ‘macho guys cook, too’
KITCHENER — Peter Maltais fits the trucker image.
He’s a burly fellow with a salt and pepper goatee, and he loves to ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
These days, the 56-year-old Kitchener truck driver has a different interest — one that’s consuming him.
He’s cooking and he’s pretty good at it. He’s among 21 home cook finalists competing in the TV show MasterChef Canada. This year’s season kicks off Tuesday on CTV.
“I’m a rough and tough kind of guy, the macho guy. But macho guys cook, too,” he said.
His first audition was last fall and he wowed judges with his seven-course mini muffinsized meals.
He made an appetizer, salad, soup, a palate cleanser, an entree and dessert — all the size of a mini muffin.
That’s his shtick — making 1,000 different mini muffin recipes. He’s at 434.
They range from sweet mini muffins, such as oatmeal and banana with cream cheese icing, to General Tao chicken and havarti.
A recent trip to the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory led to a creation of chili lime mealworm muffins.
His inspiration for the mini muffin is his two granddaughters, Kaia and Lillie, both nine.
Every Wednesday they come for dinner and help grandpa, affectionately known as “Grumpe,” to make dinner and his next mini muffin recipe.
“They are getting into it and enjoying cooking,” said Maltais, who has the girls guess the ingredients in the mini muffin dish.
He worked as a labourer at BF Goodrich for
28 years until the tire plant closed. He drove trucks on the side and then started his own hauling and delivery business.
Maltais said he’s always enjoyed cooking. He’s the main cook and grocery shopper in the house, but when he quit drinking and smoking almost three years ago, his passion grew.
“I had all this energy and desire to do stuff,” he said.
He was always the guy at the barbecue and the smoker having beers.
“I had the coldest beer in town,” he said. “I haven’t really changed, but now I’ll offer you a muffin and not just a cold beer.”
Maltais loves making dishes involving meat. He’s made his own corned beef and seven-critter chili — with chicken, beef, pork, duck, lamb, rabbit and venison.
Next Thanksgiving, he wants to deep-fry turkeys in the neighbourhood.
But there are occasions when some of his creations aren’t always a hit — like the sardine mini muffins.
He tries most of his creations on his 82-year-old father and his two retired brothers, who meet at a local Tim Hortons for coffee each weekday.
On Tuesday, about 30 family and friends are coming over to watch the first episode of the season in which Maltais will be preparing beef Wellington with a basil chestnut purée, roasted carrots and mushroom gravy.
Maltais is making about 150 mini muffin recipes for guests.
If he wins the Canada-wide contest, Maltais receives $100,000 and a new kitchen.
Although he gutted his kitchen five years ago and put in new cupboards, granite counter tops and an island, he says he could use a double oven and a bigger pantry.
If he wins the big prize, he’d like to start a food truck business with a mini muffin theme.
“Just the thought of it is incredible,” he said. “The thrill of getting ready for it (the competition) and the enthusiasm from my family and friends.”