Ju Xiang Yuan, on the eastern edge of Chinatown, has had a revamp such that I can’t recall what it looked like before. Walls now pop with a damask-patterned wallpaper, black and shiny silver. Tall, tufted benches and chairs are all [...]
Top three at the CCC
Gold medallist at the CCC, Marc Lepine's Grand Finale dish arrived in a bowl - inside, panko-crusted chorizo balls and one perfect Quadra Island scallop, plus pickled chanterelles, puddles of celery root compressed with sambucca, dehydrated fennel, bacon, lovage and lemon balm. Resting on the rim of the bowl, which we were invited to crack through, was a crisp sheet of celery root 'paper' supporting dehydrated bacon powder and a blob of pale orange pike roe. Lepine came around the table with an atomiser, perfuming the dish with a final squirt of lemon infused sambucca. Once the elements were all muddled together, the wow effect was startling. Lepine's wine was the 2009 Estate Chardonnay from Niagara's Hidden Bench Vineyards.
Rob Feenie of the Cactus Club, Vancouver, secured the silver medal. For his final dish, he gave us bunny and carrots: but first, a shot glass of duck broth flecked with black truffle to ready the palate for... an elegant terrine of rabbit, topped with a fat little boudin blanc sausage of rabbit and foie gras. A skinny slice of black truffle lay against the construct, and the plate was finished with a carrot puree, a carrot wafer-like sheet and delicate spheres. Feenie paired this with the 2010 Pinot Noir from Haywire Winery, BC.
- This was the dish that propelled Jean-Philippe St-Denis of Kitchen Galerie Poisson in Montreal to win the Bronze Medal at the CCC. He presented his take on vitello tonnato – a carpaccio of Albacore tuna topped with many pretty, textural treats: tender veal tongue, crispy parmesan, crunch fried capers, dobs of balsamic jelly, bright yellow sprinkles of preserved lemon rind, crunchy bits of pain brioche, snips of chive and flourish of microgreens. Surrounding the plate, a broken moat of a rich and flavourful mustard-tarragon vinaigrette. St-Denis paired this with beer – McAuslan Brewery’s St-Ambroise Cream Ale.
Marc Lepine at the Black Box Competition
Mapping out the strategy!
Marc Lepine and Jason Sawision plan their attack on the Black Box ingredients. Is that not a devilish grin?
Lepine's take on goose breast and jus, with wild rice he puffed in oil, Le Rassembleu cheese in a mayonnaise, plus some pickled onions to cut the fat.
Lepine's Black Box treatment of Lake Diefenbaker Steehead trout, with crisps of the parsley root he was given, a fresh ricotta he whipped up, and an anchor of thyme-flecked spaetzle.
Wrap-up of Canadian Culinary Championships
James Chatto, National Culinary Advisor for Gold Medal Plates, and head judge at the Canadian Culinary Championships, has captured the weekend in its full splendour, and provides photographs with tools fancier than my iphone. I’ve attempted to give you some insight into chef Marc Lepine’s performance at the CCC. Chatto’s report will give you the bigger picture and I invite you to read it, with his blesssing, here.
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