Canadian Culinary Championships ramp up in Kelowna

Whose cuisine reigns supreme? While this is not an Iron Chef competition, that’s essentially the question that will be answered at the Canadian Culinary Championships , which happen next month in Kelowna.

A fundraiser for the Canadian Olympic Foundation that benefits Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the CCC is the culmination of the Gold Medal Plates, which holds regional competitions across Canada. The winning chefs from nine cities go on as finalists to the national CCC.

(Don’t confuse the Gold Medal Plates with the Golden Plates, the Georgia Straight’s restaurant awards for Vancouver in which readers vote for the winners .)

Cactus Club’s food concept architect, Rob Feenie, earned the B.C. rights at Vancouver's November face-off to cook at the national championships, which happen on February 10 and 11 in Kelowna. Feenie will be up against chefs that include Montreal's Jean-Philippe St-Denis from Kitchen Galerie Poisson, Ottawa’s Marc Lepine from Atelier, and Jonathan Gushue from Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa near Toronto.

Tickets for the showdown are open to the public for three events: a mystery wine pairing, in which each chef matches the same vintage with their own dish; a black-box competition, in which chefs make two dishes in one hour; and the grand finale that has chefs matching their creations with wine.

The three-event package costs $450 per person, and various other packages are available. Find more info and buy tickets here and see Tourism Kelowna for travel particulars.

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