by Mary Bailey
Canada’s Great Kitchen Party Edmonton:
Thursday, October 2, Edmonton Convention Centre
greatkitchenparty.com
A new crop of chefs compete at Kitchen Party events across the country every fall; all vying to reach the podium at the Canadian Culinary Championships.
THE NEWBIES
Abigail López Velasco, Everyday Food Co.
Chef’s dish is locked in. “We are making a beet-cured salmon gravlax with halibut. The sauce has celeriac, fennel, tarragon, shallots and a mix of beautiful funghi from Mona Mushroom.
“I love competing, to show my passion and love for food and to share my love of cooking” – chef Abigail López Velasco
“Gravlax is one of the first dishes I learned to make in Canada; it doesn’t exist in Mexico,” says Abi. “I love competing, to show my passion and love for food and to share my love of cooking. I competed at the PEI Seafood Championships last year. It was an amazing experience, challenging, I bonded with several other chefs and we had great ingredients to cook with—what a learning curve. I’m also excited to represent the company I work for, a Canadian company with good food and fair prices.
“The most important thing for me is that we celebrate Canada using Canadian ingredients and wine.” Abigail is still debating the pairing though. Will it be a Niagara Gamay or a BC sparkling? We’ll find out October 2.
Tyson Wright, The Old Red Barn
“I’m feeling good,” says Tyson. “We did a tasting last night with most of the team and chose the wine, Dirty Laundry’s Que Syrah, to go with the bison dish I’ll be preparing, I’m Metis so I think Syrah ties into my French roots.
“My dish pays homage to the prairies. What we have to offer here might be lean, but it’s brave and bold. I love living and connecting with the farmers and hearing their stories. My idea is to source everything from within 50km. The bison is from Sych Family Farms, 10k from my hometown of Camrose. The veg is from Grey Arrow, we get their weekly box. There will be Saskatoons to remind me of family berry picking expeditions.
“At the Old Red Barn we cook without electricity. Everything is in cast iron, on the fire. I’ll be doing all the prep the same way.
“Super excited to be competing,” says Tyson. “I think I might be the first Edmonton Kitchen Party contender to be from a rural area.”
Sophie Brousseau, The Alfred
I caught up with Sophie just after she had come back from the test kitchen at Sysco. “Bouncing some ideas off them, just figuring it out as I go.” She is thinking pork belly but hasn’t fully decided.
“The beverage pairing? That has been some drama. I am not a wine drinker, I’m a beer lover, beer through and through, I have a tattoo about beer, I love beer, so I’m going with a Japanese rice ale from Ole Beautiful.
“I’m excited to learn new things, to work with my team, and to make some great food. The goal is to make great food, it’s as simple as that.”
Rose Colangelo, TULIP Sandwich Shoppe
Chef Rose Colangelo is the head chef at TULIP Sandwich Shoppe, which is within Otto on 95 Street.
“I can’t wait to see what the other chefs come up with. It’ll be incredibly humbling and such a concentrated learning experience.” – chef Rose Colangelo
Although not new to cooking or restaurants, Rose did just graduate from NAIT Culinary Arts this year. Brava! This is her first Kitchen Party heading up a team, but not her first experience at the event. “I worked with chef Brie a few years back, I volunteered and, at the time thought, wow, what an undertaking. But I think I’m here for the right reasons. I love to take care of people with food and here’s an opportunity to do this on a much larger scale.
“My Dad was a chef, so yes, there were many lovely Italian dinners. But the Costa Rican side of the family is where I learned food is fun and brings people together.”
Rose’s dish is not 100 per cent decided. “I know I want to represent my cultural background. The ingredients might be humble, but every meal felt like a party. I want to bring that energy. I’m leaning towards barbecue meats or ceviche with beer. Costa Ricans, that’s our jam, great food and cold beer—you know that saltiness when you lick your lips? Bentstick has a beer called Salinity Now, I’m leaning towards that.
“I can’t wait to see what the other chefs come up with. It’ll be incredibly humbling and such a concentrated learning experience. I want to make my mom and my family proud. I want all the staff who work with me to have a phenomenal experience—have a really positive fun time and serve a really delicious plate of food.”
THE VETERANS
Jason Greene, Braven
Chef Jason Greene took bronze last year and he’s back for a second time. “I feel really good about it,” he says. “We learned some lessons last year, especially about set up and execution. We are feeling confident.”
“The idea for this year’s dish is more classically French, incredibly technique heavy, served at room temperature, with an unconventional pairing. Yet the style is very Albertan. Don’t have all the flavour complements nailed quite yet but we know we’re pairing with Blind Enthusiasm. I have loved their beer for a really long time and it will be exciting to work with them.
“I’m thinking along the lines of not only what I can do as a chef, but how beer can be paired with food if treated with the same respect. The intention is to find a beer that has the complexity and ability to enhance a dish like wine does—that hits the palate in a similar way. I think we’ve found that.”
Levi Biddlecombe, Backstairs Burger
Chef Levi Biddlecombe is a popular Kitchen Party competitor, back again this year. “As soon as I finish the competition I’m thinking about what I would do the next year, so I’ve been thinking about this for two years now.
“As soon as I finish the competition I’m thinking about what I would do the next year, so I’ve been thinking about this for two years now.” – chef Levi Biddlecombe
“Feeling good about the dish, still tweaking, little details mostly, and figuring out the pairing. This dish has Japanese breakfast vibes and it needed to have a lot of technique. I decided on side strip prawns; toast the shells with miso and build that into a sauce. Lemony yuzu notes, micro salads, textural components like a tapioca prawn cracker, tamago. We’ll make sure the prawn is poached properly, so the texture is right. The key to the dish is the right balance of acidity; to match the richness and acidity with similar flavours and textures in the wine—thinking a nice buttery oaky Chard with higher acidity.
“Our team is a mix too, with some young cooks who are ready for the experience, to show what they can do.”
Robert Wick, Workshop Eatery
Robert Wick is the food director at Robert Spencer Hospitality and the head chef at the Workshop Eatery. It’s his second Kitchen Party.
“I’m nervous, always nervous about everything like this. Last time I overthought it. This year I’ll keep it simple.”
But as every good cook knows, simple isn’t easy.
“Food for me is very much connected to memory, especially of my grandfather’s house. It’s always present when I’m thinking about a dish, and I want to evoke similar feelings and flavours. The dish will showcase the local farmers and producers we work with, Nonay Beef and Erdmann’s Farm for vegetables.
“We loved working with Bella Wines and showcasing a small winery, but they have very little production this year. We are probably going to be pairing with a wine from Mission Hill. Beef with a red that will stand up beautifully.
“This competition is wonderful, it really is one of the notches every chef should try to get on their belt. And it gets better every year.”
Joseph Vuong, Café Bicyclette
Chef was in the middle of Fringe prep when I called to ask how he was doing. So, yeah, busy.
“I’m choosing between two Okanagan Pinots and then I’ll decide which flavours I want in the dish and the wine.” – chef Joseph Vuong
“For many of my colleagues at different restaurants August is dead, but for us it’s super busy with events, especially Fringe. I worked at Northlands for 11 years. Between K Days, The Derby and the racetrack, I’m used to a busy August.
“A little bit nervous, this year I have writers’ block, don’t quite have a plan yet. By this time last year, we had three practices already. Kitchen Party is a week earlier this year, feels like it’s coming up soon. Gotta roll with that, I know I’ll get it.
“I’m choosing between two Okanagan Pinots and then I’ll decide which flavours I want in the dish and the wine. I do know haskaps are a component of our dish, we get beautiful berries from Rosy Farm, and use them in our duck dish and compote. The team this year is essentially the same, so they know what to expect. We’ll be ready!”