The Grate Canadian Cheese Cook-off to make the PERFECT mac and cheese was held at the Ex yesterday. Contestants, all well known professional chefs from various parts of the country (BC, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Ontario, to be exact) were judged based on criteria such as taste, presentation and originality. Judges included food writers, foodies, a chef and even one person titled “Professional Mac and Cheese Taster,” someone who was picked in a nationwide contest.
Bal Anerson and Andrew Farrell are hard at work
The contest pitted two chefs against each other at a time (in two separate rounds), each having 20 minutes to create their dishes. Thank goodness ingredients were already prepped as there would be no way the chefs could have made everything in that short period of time! Each chef put his or her own trademark to the dish. For example, Bal Arneson (known as the Spice Goddess), used garam masala, tumeric and ground coriander in her dish, giving it a very distinct South Asian flavour. The cheese she used was Poplar Grove Okanagan Double Cream Camembert. It was absolutely delicious. East coast based chef, Andrew Farrell used two different types of Gouda as well as blue cheese, while Ontario’s Kevin Durkee used Ricotta and Bocconcini and Alberta’s David Bohati used Sylvan Star.
The four contestants pose with Dairy Farmers of Canada president. L-R: Bal Arneson, Andrew Farrell (winner), Wally Smith (President of the Dairy Farmers of Canada), Kevin Durkee and David Bohati
These dishes were NOT the standard, boring noodles and cheese meals. In fact all four dishes were “restaurant quality” with their distinct spices and other additions, such as Brussels sprouts, Dijon mustard, Sriracha sauce, ginger, kale and mushrooms. The judges were able to taste the dishes after each round – that way, round one contestants wouldn’t be penalized for cold food. At the end, the winner was Andrew Farrell of Halifax and his Crispy Greens.
Tasting the four dishes! From top left, going clockwise: Dressed Up Wild Mushrooms, Crispy Greens (the version presented to the judges was much greener-looking), The Goddess’ and Brooklyn-Style
After the contest, media were escorted into a separate room where we had the chance to taste all four dishes. For me, it was extremely difficult to decide on a favourite. I love Indian food, so I would have to say that The Goddess’ by Bal Arneson is one of my favourites, but I liked Dressed Up Wild Mushrooms as well. I was definitely NOT a fan of Kevin Durkee’s Brooklyn Style mac and cheese – it seemed a little plainer than the others (despite being much more “sophisticated” than a basic cheddar and noodle dish that many people grew up on).
To see the contestants’ recipes, please pick up the Fall 2014 issue of All You Need is Cheese. Recipes are also available online (Crispy Greens, The Goddess’, Brooklyn-Style and Dressed Up Wild Mushroom). Special thanks to Merkato PR for inviting me to the event.
