Charles Part's Whale of a Burger, photo credit Food Day Canada

They chalked up nine thousand ‘loves’ each apparently. For lentils… go figure.

I’m making this burger – The Great Canadian Beluga Lentil Burger, if Part will part with the recipe  – on Sunday. For Father’s Day. Husband thinks he’s getting a steak, but HA! Lentils are in, I figure, cow is out.

Anita Stewart’s Food Day Canada ran a Love Your Lentils contest supported by Canadian Lentils. Twenty five Chefs from across the country submitted recipes using this loveable and lucrative pulse as the starring ingredient, and after thousands of votes were cast – recipes went on line and on menues –  Ottawa/Gatineau came out on top. Both tops. Chef Norm Aitken of Juniper Kitchen and Wine and Chef Charles Part of Les Fougeres tied for first place. Both gents will now join Chef Michael Smith and Anita Stewart at the Inn at Bay Fortune on PEI for Food Day Canada (August 4th) where a whole itinerary of fun awaits them: visits to distilleries and oyster beds, hauling in the last of the lobster season’s catch and ending the day on the dock of Fortune Harbour for a massive barbecue in celebration of all things Canadian, including the great Canadian lentil. Runners up (Vancouver and Toronto chefs) got Ipads. Read more about the victory (and find recipes – they have indeed been parted with) on the Food Day Canada website.