The Yum Yum Factor

Last night was the San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Regional Competition and we now know that Canada will be sending   Jean-Christophe Comtois of École hôtelière de la Capitale in Quebec City to Napa in March. There he will compete in the 11th Annual Finals Competition along with competitors from 75 other culinary schools across North America. His winning dish was one of my favourites and was causing quite a bit of rumbling and happy noises on bloggers row. The little square of deep fried, crispy polenta provided such a nice crunch to balance out the silkiness of the veal and the puree. I also really enjoyed Kellie Callender's dish of salmon with a beet infused quinoa, voted People's Choice. For now, go and download the Almost Famous Chef Recipe Ebook  for lots of other great dishes from contestants, past and present. It was a stressful, pressure filled night of cooking, plating, presenting and then justifying their dishes to the panel of judges in front of ...

I have been fortunate enough to be invited to watch the Almost Famous Chef competition for three years in a row. The S.Pellegrino Almost   Famous Chef Competition is a cooking competition that brings together students from over 75 culinary institutions across the United States and Canada. During the competition they battle for a chance to compete for all kinds of great prizes and be judged by nationally renowned chefs at the finals competition in Napa this March.  This whole thing is a kitchen smack down between over 75 culinary students from across North America. Each region sends it's winner to a final contest that takes place in Napa Valley in March. They are judged on their cooking skills but also on how professional they are, how well they perform under pressure (god knows a professional kitchen might present a bit of a stressful working environment from time to time) as well their performance while being questioned by the media and the judges. me and the 2012...