Calgary Culinary Report

By James Chatto

Wow, Calgary! That was an incredible evening! Our crew of athletes, musicians, chefs, judges, technicians and volunteers can create an amazing event but it only really soars when the guests bring their own high-octane energy and enthusiasm. Then things start to rock! That’s what happened last night in Calgary. The Kitchen Party whacked it out of the park. George Stroumboulopoulos was our emcee, keeping everything humming along like clockwork, the crowd hanging on his every word as he introduced over 40 local and nationally based elite athletes from the professional, para- and Olympian worlds, including Simon Whitfield, Melisa Hollingsworth, Cindy Klassen, Curt Harnett, Colin Patterson, Mark Arendz… There were so many medals up on that stage! And our second pillar – music – took the event to a new level. A brilliant line-up was led by Jim Cuddy, Barney Bentall and Danny Michel, with the awe-inspiring Bill Henderson from Chilliwak bringing the entire crowd to its feet, and Anne Lindsay on violin keeping them there, very ably abetted by Devin Cuddy and Sam Polley, with Geoff Hicks and Rob Becker on drums and bass. The new emphasis on music has electrified our evenings and people love it!

But none of this (and I hear I will admit to a certain bias) could eclipse the culinary side of things. This was the strongest showing of the campaign in terms of gastronomical imagination and quality of execution. Opinion about who should win gold and who silver was divided among the judges but after much discussion we reached a consensus. Who were these judges, you ask? It was a high-powered group led, as ever, by our Senior Judge for Calgary, author, teacher, restaurant critic, broadcaster, John Gilchrist. Judging with us was chef, culinary instructor and television star Michael Allemeier; writer, traveller, editor and publisher of City Palate, Kathy Richardier; former Canadian Culinary Champion Chef Ryan O’Flynn of The Guild; another former Canadian Culinary Champion, Chef Jinhee Lee of Foreign Concept; and last year’s gold-medal winner, Chef Blake Flann.

There was also a close fight for bronze with Chef J P Pedhirney of Bridgette Bar just pipped at the post by Roy Oh of Anju. Chef Oh gave us a “deconstructed Korean beef Wellington” of wagyu short rib that he grilled, marinated in sweet soy, then cooked sous vide for 48 hours until it had that almost gelatinous texture that Cantonese beef dishes often acquire and tasted a little like char siu. On top of the delectable meat was a quenelle of king oyster mushroom enriched with foie gras. A hoop of buttery puff pastry stood upright in a mound of pommes aligot flavoured with gruyère, buffalo mozzarella and shaved white alba truffles. A dot of carrot purée added more sweetness while a brittle shard of smoked truffle-scented bacon brought crunch to the dish. Chef added beef jus and emphasized the Korean interpretation with a small, crunchy wand of daikon kimchi that carried real chili heat. It was a great dish and Chef Oh boldly decided to pair it with a white wine, not a red, choosing the oak-kissed 2017 Chardonnay from Upper Bench on the Naramata Bench in BC.

Chef Matthew Batey of the Teatro Group (a past gold medallist) won the silver medal with a dish he called “Two Oceans, One Prairie & a Valley” and served in a broad bowl. All the components of his dish were set on top of each other to form a multi-layered pillar, then Chef poured on a piping hot consommé made of pork bones and lobster shells. At the base of the pillar was a tender and delectably flavourful braised pork cheek, subtly scented with vanilla and set inside a ring of juicy poached honeycrisp apple from the Okanagan. A touch of creamed corn gel separated this from the second protein, a roulade of Nova Scotian lobster, cooked so rare it almost trembled, glazed with Chardonnay and wrapped around tiny amounts of tarragon and squash. A dab of sturgeon caviar and three more dots of Taber corn gel had been piped onto the lobster and they supported a translucent potato crisp shaped like a hollow circle. A second crisp was set in the hole of the first, this one like a fragment of an orange veil and made from the lobster’s roe. The dish was lightly seasoned with Vancouver Island salt, representing the second ocean in its title. The textures were so refined, the details so harmonious that we judges were completely seduced, as we were by Chef’s wine match, the subtly complex 2014 “Queen Taken” Chardonnay from CheckMate winery in the Okanagan.

We awarded our gold medal to Chef Dave Bohati of Murrietta’s, who has also won gold with us before. He chose to work with Brant Lake wagyu beef cheek, first brining it like pastrami for 72 hours then smoking it, crusting it, slow-cooking it sous vide and finally braising it. The result was astonishingly tender meat that fell apart at the touch of a fork, subtly flavoured with sweet smoke and spices. Chef paired it with four different preparations of Jerusalem artichoke – a rich purée, small roasted nuggets of the root, crunchy crisps and dime-sized slices of raw sunchoke that he briefly acidulated and vacuum-packed to keep them fresh and firm. Kabocha squash was the other major ingredient, used as a second purée, as a tender brunoise and also to make lovely little gnocchi, finished in a sauté pan with some roasted bone marrow and shaved fresh Burgundy truffles. Saskatoon berries served as a condiment, macerated in Chef’s chosen Pinot Noir but still whole and juicy. A little green herb oil was the finishing touch, bringing colour to the plate. That Pinot Noir, the 2016 Tantalus from Kelowna, BC, was an inspired choice made, Chef Bohati explained, because of the wine’s peppery notes and unusually high alcohol.

So Dave Bohati will return to Kelowna in February to compete in the Championships while the Kitchen Party team, still exultant after the triumph of Calgary, prepares for our final event next week in Winnipeg.

Luminaries and Newcomers Shine Calgary

by David Lawrason

As James Chatto reports above, the wattage was turned up in Calgary – and this included the list of luminary (and expensive) wines, with the likes of Checkmate 2016 Queens Taken Chardonnay and Foxtrot 2015 The Waltz Pinot Noir. It also included spiffy, layered whites from The Chase, a rising star in the Okanagan, and a brilliant Viognier from Play Estates.

This night it was a newcomer that stole the show – The Chase 2016 Chardonnay – a very elegant, layered wine that garnered two first place votes, a third and a fourth – the only wine to place among all four judges. The Chase, is an ambitious new project in the north Okanagan’s Lake Country that opened in 2017, with New Zealand trained winemaker Adrian Baker at the helm.  A big sister winery called O’Rourke Family Vineyards will open in the next two years amid impressive new plantings overlooking Lake Okanagan.

Second place was decided by a much narrower margin.  In fact three wines actually tied on points weighted by ranking.  So I defaulted to the number of votes within the top five each wine received.  And as it turned out Tantalus Vineyards 2016 Pinot Noir took second place with one first place vote and two other top five votes. Tinhorn Creek 2016 Chardonnay took third place, with a second place vote and two other top fives.  And Play Estates 2016 Viognier took fourth with two top five votes.

More on the other wines presented in a moment, but first an explanation of the judging.

Within each city event we conduct a separate Best of Show competition for wines, ciders, beers and spirits to highlight the generous donation of the producers. We gather local wine media, sommeliers, retailers and aficionados to taste all the wines and rank their top five. The winning wine goes on to the Canadian Culinary Championship in Kelowna to compete for Canada’s Great Kitchen Party Wine of the Year.

Each chef is responsible for selecting their wine and soliciting a donation, as the wine and food pairing is very much part of the culinary judges’ considerations. The wines served afterwards on tables during the Celebration are donated to the Kitchen Party by winery sponsors.

The other wines enjoyed during the VIP reception and on the Celebration tables were courtesy of some very generous sponsors who have and recognized that Canada’s Great Kitchen Party is the most important showcase for Canadian wine in the country.

Mission Hill Family Estate winery from B.C.’s Okanagan Valley is our national sponsor this year, donating to seven cities, including Calgary.  This is one of the largest, most dynamic wine companies in Canada, and from their Five Vineyard wines, through their Reserves, the portfolio of Cedar Creek and new super-premium wineries like Checkmate and Martin’s Lane, they are making some the best wines in B.C. under the direction of new winemaker Darryl Brooker.  This night three different Mission Hill Reserve Reds – 2016 Merlot, 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2015 Shiraz – garnered good support from the judges. If it had been one wine with the equivalent number of votes,  Mission Hill would have captured Best of Show

For the first time this year The Chase stepped up as city sponsor. Its 2016 Chardonnay took top prize, but the Chase also donated its 2016 Gruner Veltliner, an Austrian white grape making some inroads in B.C.   And speaking of new wineries, a Calgary-based company called City and Country was pouring wines made from B.C, regions but bottled in Alberta.

Three Calgary wine authorities assisted in judging. Jackie Cooke is a long-time wine judge, proprietor and sommelier at Avec Bistro and Provision.   Shelley Boettcher is a busy wine and food writer whose work often appears in the Calgary Herald and on CBC Radio.  And Tom Firth is wine judge and contributor to Avenue and Culinaire Magazine

Elsewhere among the chef’s competition wines, Foxtrot presented an intense, edgy and ultimately controversial Naramata Pinot Noir called the Waltz. Malivoire from Niagara donated its lively, fresh 2017 Small Lot Gamay. Upper Bench from the Okanagan’s Naramata Bench poured a vibrant, almost tropical 2017 Chardonnay. And then there was the rich, ripe if rather heavily oaked Checkmate 2014 Queens Taken Chardonnay.

Among non-wine offerings, Calgary’s cidery called Uncommon offered a sweet, spicy and delicious Mulled Cider and the dry, tart and intense Great Northern Wild Cider.  At the Brewery Showcase, three Calgary Brewers presented their range of wares – Annex Ale Project, Zero Issue Brewing, and O.T. Brewing

Many thanks to all the wineries, breweries, pourers and other volunteers who made Calgary such a successful evening.