2013 might just be the best Gold Medal Plates tour ever, every evening so far subtly distinct but uniformly triumphant. Saskatoon was no exception. The sold-out event was simply amazing. Ed Robertson took a night away from his 68-town tour of the U.S. to join us, renewing his friendly bantering feud with Jim Cuddy as to which of the Gold Medal Plates auction trips is best. They were joined on stage by Anne Lindsay, Dustin Bentall and Kendel Carson, all playing and singing like the stars they are.
We also had a star-studded judiciary around the judging table led by Senior Judge, author, photographer and broadcaster CJ Katz with author and food columnist Amy Jo Ehman, chef-restaurateur turned food-writer-poet, dee Hobsbawn-Smith, restaurateur and entrepreneur Janis Hutton, pastry chef and food blogger Renée Kohlman, chef and restaurateur Dale Mackay, whose new place is opening in Saskatoon next week, and last year’s gold medallist, Chef Darren Craddock of Riverside Country Club.
It was certainly a meaty night for us, with only two piscine moments in the entire evening – a tiny morsel of smoked trout on Chef Kevin Tetz’s plate and an oyster and an octopus agnolotto as two of the nine, separate, meticulous components on Chef Anthony McCarthy’s splendid and extraordinary “Taste of a Tasting” dish. Otherwise, it was meat all the way including no less than four duck dishes. In the end, six of our 10 competitors were bunched as they turned into the home stretch. As the judges discussed and debated, three of the chefs began to pull away… And as the numbers were crunched, they crossed the line cleanly – first, second and third. The medals were awarded.
The bronze medallist was Mike McKeown of Prairie Harvest and he cooked duck. This dish really exemplified the prairies. One of the two major elements was a crisp, warm perogy filled with a scrumptious mix of duck confit and pumpkin. A dab of ricotta perched on top while underneath lay a brunoise of crunchy fried onion and bacon – greaseless and completely delicious. A “turducken glace” was the quintessence of a poultry jus. A runway of puréed beet led across the plate to the other main component of the dish, a delicately flavoured, moist terring of chicken and turkey meat studded with heirloom carrot and wrapped in a skin of pickled cabbage. A dot of pea shoot purée added another colour and flavour to Chef McKeown’s conception. As an accompaniment, he poured a local currant wine from Living Sky Winery, a lovely fruit wine that reminded me of an amontillado sherry and was particularly well-matched to the pierogy.
Our silver medallist was Mike Link, chef of Western Concessions, the Credit Union Centre and he cooked duck. Centring the dish was a mound of loosely forked, moist duck confit, topped with a little pancetta. A round apple crisp perched on top like a jaunty little cap – it was beguilingly crisp and tasted precisely of apple. Next to the confit Chef had set two slices of tender duck breast, lightly touched with hoisin and seared medium rare. A slice of seared duck foie gras was the third ducky moment. Two sauces finished the dish – a runny sour cherry compote and a first-class jus made from duck and vegetable stock with a hit of chokecherry. It was a dish that wowed the judges not by any complexity, fancy presentation or particular technical difficulty but because the flavours were natural and true and in perfect harmony, the textures exactly what they ought to have been. It was an absolute pleasure to eat. Chef Link’s wine match also worked well – the demure, subtly refreshing Sussreserve Riesling from Angels’ Gate Winery in Niagara.
The gold medal went to Trevor Robertson of the Radisson Hotel and he cooked… duck – arranged on only one half of the official plate in a most visually dramatic way. The main element of the dish was a slice of “duck press” like a moist, rich but lightweight duck terrine made from local Muscovy ducks that had been corn-fed and custom-reared for Chef Robertson’s kitchen. The pressed meat was mixed with foie gras and freckled with truffle and pickled shiitake, all of which played a part in enhancing its flavour. Flanking this were broad hoops of fried duck breast prosciutto that answered the question of what happens to bacon when it goes to heaven. A pinch of freeze-dried, crushed and crumbled blueberries were sprinkled over the terrine – after that it was all corn, a chefly tour-de-force. There was a ball of smoked corn sorbet; shards of super-crisp, super-tasty, corn “paper” as thin as tissue; some dots of corn gel; and some “caviar pearls” made from liquified corn. Such a collation of subtle variations of yellow! Such intriguing textures. Chef finished the dish with a streak of tangy haskap berry gastrique and a strewing of colourful petals and seedlings. His chosen wine was the 2010 Pinot Noir from Nk’Mip in the Okanagan, a fine match for the duck elements in the dish.
Chef Trevor Robertson is no stranger to the Saskatoon podium but this is the first time he has won gold. We now have eight strong champions for next february’s Canadian Culinary Championship in Kelowna. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
And now here is the evening’s Wine Report from Gold Medal Plates’s National Wine Advisor, David Lawrason
Friday Night. Saskatoon. Party
It didn’t take long for Saskatoon to get into the mood when Gold Medal Plates touched down on a cold November night. A Grey Cup warm-up perhaps? Or was it the array of local VIP reception Paddock Wood brews and Gambit Gin martinis – including a doozie called Hemingway’s Gambit – that accompanied the “Cowboy Caviar” (small bits of beef jerky). Whatever the reason, when it came time to announce our Best Wine of Show late in the evening, we are not sure that anyone heard the news.
The wine of the night was not quite the unanimous choice but two of three judges placed it first and one placed it second. Thirty Bench 2012 Riesling from the Niagara Peninsula proved to be scintillating, with great riesling acidity and ripe fruit. Our second choice went to the very amiable Road 13 2011 74K, an Okanagan blend of merlot and syrah with a dash of cabernet. Again in Saskatoon two wines tied for third: Orofino’s 2011 Red Bridge, a very solid, complex Bordeaux blend from the Similkameen Valley, and the finely organically grown, very Euro Summerhill 2008 Zweigelt.
The Best of Show Wine Award is a judging of all the wines in each city to recognize the generosity of the Canadian wine industry, which each year counts over 60 wineries as donors. The winning wineries have increased odds in a draw to spend a week at Borgo San Felice in Tuscany.
In Saskatoon I was joined on the judging panel by two Saskatchewan gents. Rob Dobson, one of the leading palates of Saskatchewan made the trip from Regina. He is a wine educator, consultant and contributor to SavourLife Magazine and www.savourlife.ca.
Robert Peterson-Wakeman is an invaluable member of the Gold Medal Plates committee in Saskatoon and an avid fan of wine – and Canadian wine in particular. His says that all it takes is ‘practice, practice, practice’
This night Andrew Peller Ltd., the National Celebration Wine Sponsor, poured two very well received wines for the sit-down entertainment and auction portion of the evening: Sandhill 2011 Chardonnay and well balanced Wayne Gretzky 2012 Merlot from the Okanagan Valley. And of course Peller’s reps in Saskatoon were delighted that one their flock – Thirty Bench Riesling – fared so well.
None of the four wines we put forward as finalists for Best of Show accompanied winning chefs to the podium. Bronze medalist Mike McKeown Prairie Harvest Café chose locally made Living Vine 2011 Currant fruit wine to accompany his. Silver medalist chef Mike Link Western Concessions chose the off-dry Angels Gate 2010 Riesling Sussreserve; and gold medalist Trevor Robertson Radisson Hotel paired his winning duck with Nk’Mip Cellars 2011 Pinot Noir, which also narrowly missed being a finalist for the Wine award.
It was a loud and very successful evening, but we expected nothing less.