Ottawa Magazine restaurant writer Anne DesBrisay was a judge at this past weekend’s Canadian Culinary Championships. For an even more extensive insider’s view of the event, visit her Capital Dining blog.
Jamie Stunt of OZ Kafe secured the silver medal at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna on Saturday night, with the aid of lots of lamb, some yak, and a great beer.
He had chosen lamb to showcase on Friday night, for the first of three challenges: the Mystery Wine Pairing competition. (Not, as it was revealed, a BC pinot as most chefs, guests, and this judge assumed, but rather Norman Hardie’s 2010 Pinot Noir from Prince Edward County, Ontario.)
Stunt encountered lamb again in the morning, bone in shoulder and neck from Tangle Ridge Farm in Alberta, one of six mystery ingredients in the Black Box competition. (The balance of the box included a grain: Red Fife wheat from K2 Milling in Ontario; a fish: Northern Divine’s sustainable sturgeon caviar from BC; a dairy item: goat gruyere from the Okanagan’s Carmelis Artisanal Dairy; Organic black kale for veg; and heritage Anjou pears as the fruit member of the team.)