{"id":4160,"date":"2022-11-05T16:59:09","date_gmt":"2022-11-05T21:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/?p=4160"},"modified":"2022-11-06T14:33:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-06T19:33:30","slug":"scott-redekopp-wins-calgarys-great-kitchen-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/?p=4160","title":{"rendered":"Scott Redekopp wins Calgary’s Great Kitchen Party"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Scott Redekopp of Yellow Door Bistro wins Kitchen Party gold in Calgary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In we flew from Toronto, mist-shrouded, eternally autumnal, a very Rivendell if you know the routes through the warm ravines, to winter\u2019s stone-cold grip on snow-smothered Calgary \u2013 where only an epic Kitchen Party could warm the cockles of 400 grateful hearts. Which is just what happened. What a privilege to hear so many superb musicians \u2013 Jim Cuddy, Geoffrey Kelly and Anne Lindsay, Devin Cuddy and Sam Polley \u2013 not to mention Dustin Bentall and Barney Bentall, on tour with his band The Cariboo Express, who all joined the orchestra on stage \u2013 Trixie Berkel on accordion, Stephanie Cadman on fiddle, Geoff Hicks on drums, Rob Becker on bass and Scott Smith on guitar. Altogether, this was surely the biggest line-up we\u2019ve ever had at a kitchen party! From the first bars of Home for a Rest, the crowd was on its feet, dancing up a storm. In between musical sets, the great Curt Harnett (our eloquent emcee) introduced us to some of Canada\u2019s most renowned Olympians \u2013 Chandra Crawford, Helen Upperton, Jesse Lumsden and Beckie Scott, the last of whom brought her own inspiration to the evening as founder of Spirit North. Yes, amigos, it was a stellar ensemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Nor did anyone go hungry. There was a great deal of beef in the room \u2013 from five of the eight competing chefs \u2013 and culinary standards set last week in Edmonton were joyfully sustained. The people\u2019s choice award went to Chef Lam Pham of Pure Modern Asian Cuisine who paired a meltingly tender beef short rib with a bright and zingy Dungeness crab salad, full of exciting flavours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By that time, the culinary judges had made their own decisions. Alas, Calgary\u2019s Senior Judge, John Gilchrist, came down with a cold and was not present but Chef Duncan Ly, a former Kitchen Party champion, stepped nobly into his shoes at two hours\u2019 notice. Beside us sat Michael Allemeier (cook, Master Chef, dishwasher, climber and always up for an adventure!); Jamie Herbison (retired broadcaster. wine educator. WSET Level 3, professional and passionate omnivore); Jinhee Lee (Chef-owner of Jinbar, Canadian Culinary Champion emeritus) and the 2019 Calgary gold medallist, Jenny M. Kang of Orchard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sterling Cummings won the bronze<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            We awarded our bronze medal to Sterling Cummings of Bridgette Bar. He chose to work with Nova Scotia lobster, cooking the briefly steamed tails sous vide with butter until they were at the point of tenderness. He cut them into large chunks, separated on the plate by slices of tangy hakurei turnip, braised as a barigoule with vegetables, herbs, white wine, vinegar and oil, then finished sous vide in a liquified version of the braise. The lobster bodies became a rich, creamy sauce flavoured with curry spices, saffron and vermouth, drizzled with two oils \u2013 a green herbal infusion and a red one of lobster and chili. Buttery fried brioche croutons, tossed in an aromatic butter, were perfect for mopping up the generous serving of sauce. The finishing garnish was a colourful riot of flower petals, baby nasturtium leaves, and lightly pickled fresh turnip. Chef\u2019s wine was the stellar 2019 Niagara Riesling Charles Baker makes from Marc Picone\u2019s vineyard, its crisp acidity backed up by enough richness and fruit to handle the dish very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Silver went to Jason Barton-Browne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Barton-Browne of Deane House won the silver medal with a respectful and delectable treatise on an Alberta Top Grass ribeye steak. He had isolated the \u201ccap\u201d of the steak \u2013 that highly desirable little muscle \u2013 and fried it in beef tallow. Beside it were other marbled, medium-rare slices from the rest of the steak, cooked with just the right amount of textural chew. A dainty block of painstakingly made potato pav\u00e9, cooked with butter and a dusting of grana padano cheese, had also been briefly crisped around the edges by frying in beef fat, while a long wand of king oyster mushroom was braised in a complex barigoule spiked with star anise and other exotic spices. Dots of celeriac pur\u00e9e introduced an earthy moment and three sauces almost stole the show from the sublime steak The first was a play on a Bordelaise \u2013 thick pink moments of whipped bone-marrow that had been marinated in gremolata and were the quintessence of richness. The second was a pur\u00e9e of saskatoon berries and tamarind with a refreshing acidity. The third was an opulent red wine jus. Chef\u2019s wine match was excellent \u2013 the 2018 Syrah from Blasted Heath in the Okanagan, a big, intense red with a refreshing acidic backbone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scott Redekopp took the gold medal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            Our gold medallist was Scott Redekopp of Yellow Door Bistro, proudly making use of every part of some superb Alberta rabbits. Here was a thick slice of the tender, flavourful loin wrapped in house-made ham. A crispy fried croquette was filled with a farce made from the rabbit leg mixed with smoked bacon and with a smooth dark mushroom pur\u00e9e that looked like chocolate sauce. Two tiny frenched rabbit rib chops were breaded and fried and gone in a single careful bite. At the centre of the dish lay a perfect sunchoke and potato pav\u00e9 moistened with a smoked cream that Chef flavoured with white truffle and topped with crispy sunchoke dimes. A swoop of carrot and hazelnut pur\u00e9e brought an earthy tang to the dish, which was finished with a rich but not too heavy jus made from the rabbit bones. Chef\u2019s wine choice was the 2020 Hush Red from Dirty Laundry in the Okanagan \u2013 a medium-bodied blend of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, unburdened by too much tannin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Chef Redekopp will be coming to Ottawa in February for the Canadian Culinary Challenge, representing Calgary and supported by the good wishes of everyone who was with us last night. In two hours we will find our Winnipeg champion\u2026 Truly, the fun never stops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Redekopp of Yellow Door Bistro wins Kitchen Party gold in Calgary In we flew from Toronto, mist-shrouded, eternally autumnal, a very Rivendell if you know the routes through the warm ravines, to winter\u2019s stone-cold grip on snow-smothered Calgary \u2013 where only an epic Kitchen Party could warm the cockles of 400 grateful hearts. Which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1106,1108,1107],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4160"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4160"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4173,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4160\/revisions\/4173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}