The ingredients weren’t used in the same round, mind you, but they were all mandatory ingredients for episode 22. I think the combinations from last night’s show were the most interesting (read: gross) to date, and it’s a good thing. It’s Chopped Canada, after all.
Tahini is a kind of sesame paste/sauce/dip
The episode had no Ontario contestants, probably for the first time. Three were from the west (two from BC and one from Alberta) and one was from Montreal. In the first round, the contestants created dishes made with spot prawns, marshmallow cream, scotch and Oka cheese. I was at a complete blank as to what I’d do, personally, but the contestants went to work right away (except maybe drunken cheesy shrimp). We saw four very interesting starters, including a spot prawn and squash soup/salad hybrid (not intentional – it was a last minute change as the “soup” was originally supposed to be more sauce-like), which the judges found “unusual” (in both positive and negative ways) as well as fried spot prawns with Oka and scotch beurre blanc. This chef was criticized for not cleaning the prawns out properly in addition to the presentation. The beurre blanc received mixed reviews, with one judge loving it and another noting that the cheese tasted a bit “strained out.” Other dishes included a more southern-inspired shrimp and grits, where the judges praised him for the “classic use” of ingredients, while criticizing him for the uneven plating of the succotash (one judge got just a little, another too much while the third getting the perfect amount) and scotch spot prawns with marshmallow yams. He was supposed to serve the dish with oka chips, but was unable to plate them. The judges loved the “Thanksgiving-like” feel of the yams, but ultimately chopped him due to the missing ingredients.
The second round, contestants used lamb kidney, canned fruit cocktail, sesame paste (i.e. tahini, but probably called “sesame paste” because it’s a more familiar term to non-foodies or maybe because the texture in the ingredient was not exactly tahini-like) and apple cider vinegar. One of the contestants noted that she had never made anything with kidneys before, but knew right away to clean them. At the end, she presented a lamb kidney hash with a carrot purée (made with shallots, thyme and sesame paste) and a fruit cocktail gastrique. The chefs absolutely ADORED it. One of the judges even called it “flat out delicious” and another loved the gastrique. It was close to perfect, but since it is Chopped Canada, there HAS to be some negativity, with a judge noting that it was just a little bit on the bitter side. The other two dishes were a braised kidney served with fruit cocktail, served with foie gras mashed potatoes (judges loved that, but didn’t like the kidneys) and a very colourless, brownish dish of sautéed lamb kidney with apple cider-braised radicchio (judges wanted to know where the (green) vegetables were). I was surprised that this contestant wasn’t chopped as the one who made the foie gras mashed seemed to get more praises.
Finally, dessert. Cotton candy, Montreal style smoked meat, instant polenta and cherries were required for this round. Yes, you read correctly. Montreal smoked meat. That was definitely a throw-off for the two finalists. Desserts were polenta fritters (cotton candy was mixed into the fritter batter) served with cherries and a fritter cake/pudding with cotton candy ganache. The judges didn’t seem to like either – one thought the use of oranges with the fritter dish overwhelmed the cherries, while the cake was noted as being “funny looking” and salty. It was a pretty difficult decision as to whom to chop, but once you took into account the other courses the finalists made, the contestant who served the cake was the one who was let go.
Image By: Miansari66 (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
