What would you make with escargots and onion ring chips? It is, in a way, taking “high and low” to a whole new level. Well, maybe not that high, since the escargots were canned, not fresh, but still. Those two ingredients, combined with cranberry juice and chanterelle mushrooms were the four mandatory items for the starter course. Unlike previous Chopped Canada episodes, none of the contestants did all that well. In fact, the I got from the judges was more negative to neutral than positive. One of the contestants was told that his escargots were a bit “tappy” (i.e. hard) while another was told that the dish lacked seasoning. The dishes themselves weren’t that great either, at least not good enough to fully describe. In fact, that was one of the reasons why a contestant was cut from the round – though every contestant didn’t do well, hers was just flatter than the rest.
Mangosteen was one of the mandatory ingredients
For the main course, contestants were required to use rabbit, trout caviar, creamed corn and mangosteen (a tropical fruit originating from Southeast Asia). Two of the contestants decided to make rabbit legs with creamed corn succotash (one braised while another roasted) and the third, utilized the entire rabbit, serving the animal roasted, along with the mangosteen, caviar and a bit of quinoa as well. Though the judges liked the fact he used the entire animal rather than just the legs, his dish was a bit overcooked (opposed to the braised rabbit, which was a bit under. The judges noted that under cooking a dish is better as something can always be sent back to the kitchen), which caused him the round. As for the chefs who made the rabbit legs – the roasted dish was generally positive based on the flavouring, though two of the judges noted the chef did not fully deseed the mangosteen. And though the braised dish was undercooked, the chef received positive marks for its beautiful presentation.
For dessert, the contestants had to use turnips, duck eggs, tapioca and coffee liqueur. The dishes created were a stuffed Finnish pancake (which is a little like a crepe suzette) using the coffee and tapioca as a sauce. Though delicious looking, the contestant was told by the judges that it resembled a breakfast dish (due to the bacon used) than a dessert. The bacon just didn’t belong there. The other contestant made a tapioca pudding with duck egg anglaise. The contestant used a bit of coconut, which one of the judges liked, but the texture was not that great. The turnips, for example, were a bit overwhelming, according to one of the judges. However, the presentation was very beautiful, but one can’t win on beauty alone.
