So the contestants only had 20 minutes to complete the appetizer round on episode 10. I say screw that. I’m going to take my time if I were given the following ingredients: mountain tea, graffiti eggplant, salmon sausage and barbecue sauce. I’m going to make pizza. Because I said so. And because this is a […]
Last night was the first season finale of Chopped Canada and I have to say that the ingredients were quite interesting. In true Chopped style, the first round required contestants to use not only chicken livers, but also watermelon, green onions and dulse (a dried and salty, purple coloured food that is somewhat similar to […]
I think this is the first show all season where three chefs from the same city competed in the same episode (you’d think they’d be spread out a bit more), along with one based in the north. Two of the Toronto guys worked at downtown restaurants (Shangri-La and Jump), while the other Toronto guy was […]
Well, according to Sherry’s intro, she’s much MORE than a “lunch lady.” And it showed. Her meals at Wilfred Laurier University looked more like restaurant food than what I found in my high school or university cafeteria. But that’s not the point. The point was that she, along with three others (including a guy who […]
The March 13 airing of Chopped Canada brought us two Ontario chefs and two from Quebec – the classic Anglo-Franco rivalry. The two Ontario contestants were from Toronto, while the Quebec chefs were from Gatineau and Montreal, respectively. Chia seeds The round was fairly competitive right away, with the chefs getting to work on appetizers […]
I have never seen this happen before – a chef NOT being able to plate anything for the judges! One of the contestants, “freaked out” towards the end with what he made, and presented a plate with nothing but garnish. He had intended to make a passion fruit crepe (mandatory ingredients were nutmeg, biscuit mix, […]
So the ingredients weren’t THAT unusual last night, but combining them into something delicious and elevated was indeed more of a challenge. How DO you use toaster pastries (e.g. Pop-Tarts) in a first course, anyway? Turns out, many different ways (even if some are better than others). The four contestants, who hail from Toronto, Montreal, […]
I’m not sure if Homer Simpson (or Rob Ford) would laugh or cry upon hearing the list of required ingredients in the first round. After all, donuts were on the list. Yes, for the appetizer round. That, along with flank steak, ramps (a vegetable similar to green onions, but has a stronger taste) and navel […]
OK, so none of the contestants made that on last night’s episode, but they could have, considering the ingredients for the appetizer round consisted of clams, Greek yogurt, rosewater and milkweed pods. Once again, the chefs came from different parts of Canada, including one from BC and two from the Greater Toronto Area. The fourth […]
I have to say that this week’s list of mystery ingredients weren’t as crazy as episode 5. It was just the combination that was strange. Sure, some of the items were a bit on the “exotic” side, but it wasn’t enough to gross the chefs out too much (unlike last week, where they had to […]
