Cutting Edge Culinary Competition: Round 4

You know that feeling you get when you rush home at the end of a long workday and you and/or your husband/wife/child/dog is on the verge of a complete hunger-related meltdown, and you look in your fridge and you’ve got: one pickle (circa last fall), an egg and salad dressing…and you have approximately five minutes to turn them into something palatable for dinner lest the world come crashing down around you?

I think that’s probably how the chefs at the Taste of Nova Scotia Cutting Edge Culinary competition felt last weekend at the annual Saltscapes Expo.

Over the course of three days, chefs from fabulous restaurants around Nova Scotia competed in an Iron Chef-style competition, using Taste of Nova Scotia member ingredients to create entrées in forty-five minutes.  The dishes as well as the chefs’ interaction with the audience and an audience-member sous-chef were judged by a rotating panel of local foodies over the course of the weekend.

I had the extreme pleasure of being one of said foodies the day that Chris Velden from the Flying Apron Cookery and his former sous-chef Jason Townes, now of The Press Gang, battled it out in a fury of razor-sharp knives, searing hot pans and flavour-packed local ingredients.

At the beginning of the competition, four “black box” ingredients, unknown to the chefs before the start of the competition, were revealed.  For the duel between Chris and Jason, these ingredients were a whole free-range chicken from Meadowbrook Meat Market, Scotian Gold apples, Haskapa haskap berry juice, and summer savoury from Farmer John’s Herbs.  Along with these components, the meal could include anything from a refrigerator and pantry chock-a-block with incredible locally-sourced foods.

As I sat back and sipped a bubbling glass of Blomidon Cremant, I watched the gears begin to turn:  meal ideas were pondered, chicken broken down, and apples were chopped.

On Chef Jason’s side of the kitchen, his sous-chef sliced thin pieces of apple while Chef Chris rubbed chicken breasts with summer savoury.

Steam began to rise and the aroma of sautéing leeks and warm thyme-infused olive oil made its’ way toward the audience.  Cameras looking down on the cook stations recorded the frenzy of activity and audience members were invited to ask the chefs questions.

I think I would liken this to trying to rub one’s belly and pat one’s head at the same time.  When asked about guilty pleasures, Chef Jason professed his secret adoration for Pizza Pockets while carefully stuffing a chicken breast with julienned apples and leeks.

Chef Chris extolled the virtues of Nova Scotia craft beer and taught the audience how to stuff a tenderloin, even providing some recipe ideas, while managing the action on his side of the kitchen.

Forty-five minutes went by in a flash and the excitement in the demonstration kitchen kicked up a few notches when Chef Jason was penalized for having a knife that crossed the mid-line between his station and his rival’s.  As Chris plated his entrée, Jason and his sous-chef had to wait it out for their thirty second penalty. Thankfully, a glass of Blomidon Estates wine and a bottle of Garrison beer were at the ready to ease their anxiety.

Both chefs presented beautiful meals whose striking similarity was likely a result of the years the two spent working together.

Chef Chris created a summer savoury-seasoned chicken breast atop a bed of polenta with julienned vegetables and a ribbon of apple haskap berry sauce.  Chef Jason stuffed his chicken breast with apples and leeks and served it on creamy feta polenta with a garlic, shallot and haskap cream sauce.

Both dishes were out of this world, and showcased the rich flavours of Nova Scotia product creatively.  It wasn’t until the very last bite of smooth polenta and savoury chicken that I was able to make my decision and cast my vote.

The whole experience left me not only delightfully sated, but also quite inspired for my next home rendition of the Cutting Edge Competition, judged by a ravenous and rather vocal toddler and lubricated with the bottle of Benjamin Bridge Nova 7 I keep stashed away for just such occasions.