Winner of 20th annual Golden Plates contest, top 10 cuisine confessions
The Georgia Straight’s 20th annual Golden Plates Awards is approaching, and readers picked their favourite eating and drinking establishments around town.
Voters were able to enter a contest to win two roundtrip tickets to Paris, courtesy of Air France and Théâtre la Seizième. The steps were simple: fill out a ballot, answer multiple food-and-drink-related questions, and share his or her cuisine confession.
The winner of this contest is Kaidi Liu, a young individual who has never travelled to Europe before.
When she came to the Straight’s office to claim her prize, we asked her a few questions about her initial reaction to winning the roundtrip flights to Paris.
“I think I literally just physically pinched myself, because it just didn’t seem like I was living in real life,” said Liu. “I’ve never had that feeling where my heart and stomach dropped, and I felt pain in my chest from being so happy.”
We also asked what her plans in the French capital will consist of.
“I think I’m going to be overwhelmed by all the sights and all the iconic places, but I think I just want to eat a baguette and a croissant,” added Liu. “I want to start slow, and my plan is just to eat my way through the city.”
Besides being excited and in shock of winning the contest, Liu explained that she doesn’t take it for granted and feels completely grateful.
“This doesn’t happen to people, so I don’t know what thing I did or what karma I deserve, but I definitely am going to try to give back in many ways before I leave,” said Liu.
Here is her cuisine confession that helped her win the contest:
“I have been asking my family in Europe to send me parcels of cheese since I've moved to Vancouver. Sometimes they travel for 2 weeks..and I can smell they arrived in my mailbox from 2 blocks away. Delicious.”
And below is our list of the top 10 confessions that are worth mentioning (even though they didn’t snag a prize).
iStock Top 10 Cuisine Confessions
“I served a cake I bought and said I baked it.”
“I love eating with my hands! It may be primal but I instantly have more connection with the food i'm about to enjoy. Just imagine eating your chocolates with a fork. Where's the intimacy in that?”
“I was a vegetarian for 12 years and the only food I consistently craved was McDonald's cheeseburgers. (Bonus confession: when I broke my vegetarianism, I did it at a beach BBQ, with a bit of rare sirloin.)”
“Most nights I eat crackers and cheese for dinner while standing up in my kitchen, with the occasional pickle thrown in for nutrients.”
“I watched the cooking channel, made the meal and let my husband think I came up with the recipe myself. He was so blown away and said, "wow, this is amazing! Did you just think of this yourself?" And instead of coming clean I just soaked it all up.”
“I'm originally from South Africa and we have this spread called Peck's Anchovette. It's anchovy paste for spreading on toast. I go to the South African Grocer here in Vancouver (African Breeze) and buy it. My whole office hates me when I do.”
“I dip my Wendy's fries in my frosty.”
“Sometimes I buy a cake from Safeway and eat it until I feel sick.”
“I let my cats sleep on the table when guests are not around.”
“I have a tendency to smell my food before I bite into it. I've been caught several times with a fork hovering under my nose, in front of my mouth, with my eyes staring into the distance.”
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