Culinary Showdown Montreal

1st CULINARY SHOWDOWN IN MONTREAL 

DEFI CULINAIRE SHOWDOWN

The Jewish General Hospital and Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation Host Celebrity
Chefs Tyler Florence, Kimberly Lallouz, Mark McEwan; Danny Smiles, Michael Smith and Top 50 Fundraisers in Quebec’s First Annual Culinary Showdown

Culinary Showdown is a peer to peer fundraising event and gala dinner for home cooks,
amateur chefs and foodies, who all have one thing in common – a strong passion for food and the
cause! This extraordinary challenge gives culinary enthusiasts the opportunity to fundraise for a chance to cook alongside celebrity chefs in the type of team cooking challenge normally reserved for TV.

Chef Mark McEwen

It will be held on Sunday October 29, 2017 at Arsenal Contemporary Art, 2020 William St, Montreal, Quebec and will include a Celebrity Chef School from 10:30am-3:00pm before the showdown begins at 6:00pm-11:00pm.

This extraordinary challenge gives culinary enthusiasts the opportunity to fundraise for a chance to cook alongside celebrity chefs Tyler Florence, Kimberly Lallouz, Mark McEwan; Danny Smiles, and
Michael Smith, Hosted by Brad Smith - Chopped Canada, in support of two incredible organizations. 

The Jewish General Hospital provides general and specialized care of the highest quality in a safe, humane and caring manner. The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is the only non-profit organization in Québec devoted entirely to the fight against breast cancer through research and innovation, raising awareness and providing education and support to those affected by this disease and their loved ones.

The Culinary Showdown is an exclusive experience that sets the tone for true culinary education.
Celebrity chefs will coach participants on epicurean techniques while the teams compete to be the
next Culinary team.

Enjoy a gourmet meal as the celebrity chefs and their teams of top fundraisers take the stage, but
keep your keen culinary skills handy throughout the dinner, as members of the audience may be
called upon to participate. The 50 highest fundraisers earn the right to test their culinary talents live
on stage alongside their team and celebrity chef. Five teams will compete under the spotlight to
create three unique dishes, applying the skills mastered during Celebrity Chefs School. Each food
course is time-sensitive and will be judged by a discerning panel for taste and presentation.

Fuel your food passion at the Celebrity Chef’s School, as the Celebrity chefs will coach you on how to become a culinary master. They will cover everything from picking the perfect ingredients to plating. You’ll learn trade secrets on food prep, knife skills, cooking methods and more. You’ll learn what it takes to keep your cool when things heat up in the kitchen.

Food lovers, cooking connoisseurs and novices alike are invited to this one-of- a-kind opportunity to
learn from the best chefs in the country and support JGHF and QBCF, register for the Culinary
Showdown at http://www.deficulinaire.ca.

I attended the launch recently at Mark McEwen's restaurant ONE in Yorkville where we sampled on some amazing appetizers while we learned about the Montreal version of the Culinary Showdown.

I have participated in raising funds for the Culinary Showdown in the past but unfortunately not enough to be able to participate in the live Culinary event.  I would love to participate in the MONTREAL version and if YOU would like to sponsor me I would be happy to represent Toronto in the city foodie rivalry that is Montreal and Toronto.

Please drop me a line if you would like to support me in fundraising.

About The Jewish General Hospital
Since 1934, the JGH has been providing cutting edge treatment and compassionate care to patients
from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds in Montreal, throughout Quebec and beyond, we are
one of the province's largest and busiest acute-care hospitals

About Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation
For more than 20 years, the Foundation has focused its mission on promoting the well-being of affected people and their loved ones through research and innovation, support and raising awareness. Find out why our foundation is now the reference and your best ally for a life without breast cancer.

Lechon Fest at Wychwood Barns

Announcing WONDER CHEF CANADAthe Culinary Showdown segment in the
LECHON FEST

WONDER CHEF CANADA (WCC) Culinary Showdown is a competition project of the
in LECHON FEST (LF) with a mission to brand Philippine cuisine by recognizing
Filipino-Canadian amateur cooks and food enthusiasts, and bring greater awareness
and appreciation of Filipino cuisine among the global community at large. Partial
proceeds to build a library in an orphanage ​partner ​in the Philippines ages 1-21.
It will be held on Sept 2-3 at Wychwood Barns, from 3pm to 6pm.

The competition will showcase the cooking prowess and expertise of up to 7 amateur
Filipino-American cooks and foodies. There is only one category of entrées which could
include: Kare-kare, Escabeche, Caldereta, Menudo, Afritada, Pochero, Pinakbet, Sisig,
&Laing. The winner will receive a trip for 2 to Iceland. (why? Because it’s a cool place to
be)
“We hope that through WCC, we could encourage all residents in our community to
actively support Filipino restaurants in the GTA and also boost participation from
community organizations, business entities and other groups in this advocacy
campaign.” says Julian Baricuatro, founder of WCC and LF.

The actual event Lechon Fest Canada (LFC) is a pioneer caravan festival which aims
to preserve and promote the diverse Asian cuisine & culinary heritage and strengthen
the ties that bind Filipino-Canadians.

The centerpiece of the fiesta, the “star of the show”, so to speak, will be the lechon in
several forms – from whole roast pig to lechon manok and the humble yet succulent
lechon kawali. There will also be folk dances, arts and music.

The opening ceremonies start at noon and the festival is on till 9pm
There is a book drive with partial proceeds to build a library in an orphanage
​partner ​in the Philippines ages 1-21.

For more info: http://lechonfestival.com/ #lechonfest or #lechonfestival or
#lechonislove

Get an Aroma Gift card for a good thing

Everyone needs a little help sometimes and you and I are no exception.  If you say you don't need help you are lying.

I understand that sometimes you don't want to do things for other people unless there is something in it for you.  Yes our society has gotten very self centred and greedy over the past few years.

Well here is your chance to do something good for me, you and a whole bunch of people you don't even know.

I am trying to raise funds to participate in the Culinary Showdown for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and I need your help to reach my goal of $2500 to be able to participate in the Showdown and more importantly raise money for Cancer research to help a whole lot of people including some you may be related to or know.

Yes I know funds are tight these days or you just can't be bothered to donate.  Well I have a little incentive for you to do some good and contribute to my goal.

For anyone that DONATES $75 or more to my fundraising page by clicking on this link here:  DONATE HERE Now!  I will give you a $!0 Aroma Espresso Gift Card.

This year's Culinary Showdown brings back Noah Cappe as the Host and last year's winning Chef Lynn Crawford and highest fundraising chef Corbin Tomaceszki and they have announced that renowned pastry chef Elizabeth Faulkner will be participating this year and also new is Quebec superstar Chef Ricardo Larivee.  They still have one more Chef to announce.

I can't do the Run for the Cure so I am hoping that I can at least try and participate in the Cook for the Cure and try and raise as much money as I can with your help.

Why am I doing this?  Well because I think participating in the Culinary Showdown will be fun and it's also a way of doing something that can help someone else in the future to prevent them from going through debilitating Chemotherapy treatments.

If you can't afford to donate $75 that's ok.   You can donate $15-$20 or whatever you can and will get a Tax receipt for your donation.

I really appreciate your support and assistance and every little bit counts.

KitchenAid's Culinary Showdown Event

KitchenAid is gearing up for another year of it's Culinary Showdown event on November 29th at the All Stream Centre to benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  

Last year I registered to fundraise to be able to participate in the Culinary Showdown but fell short on my fundraising and only raised $200 which earned me a White KitchenAid apron but I was shooting for enough to participate in the Event and join one of a bunch of great Food Network Celebrity Chefs teams that competed with the top fundraisers.  You need to raise $2500 to be able to participate in the Showdown but if you raise $1000 you are able to attend.  I would really like to fundraise again but I need everyone's financial support to reach the $2500 goal.  But imagine how much money they can raise in one night if every participant raises $2500.

Where else but on a Food Network television show can you have 5 Amazing Chefs help you cook an amazing meal to serve to fundraisers who raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Some of the confirmed chefs this year are the great Mark McEwan, Susur Lee, Vikram Vij, Lynn Crawford and Corbin Tomaczeski.  

I was invited to one of the pre events where they introduce the event and register people to participate.   With me not working right now I wasn't able to register at the event as there is a $75 registration fee which covers the cost of participation.

A breast Cancer survivor named Molly made a very touching and heart felt speech about her experience through her Cancer treatments to her joining the Run for the Cure.

The cocktail event was a lot of fun with Chef Mark McEwan and Chef Corbin in attendance.  Chef Lynn Crawford was scheduled to attend but had some car trouble and didn't make it.   There were many food bloggers and Gastroposter's in attendance.  I met a lot of Gastroposters that I hadn't met before and there were a lot of blogger friends there as well so it was a nice party atmosphere.  It was held on the 7th floor of the Bay surrounded by all the KitchenAid products including the limited edition Raspberry colored Kitchen Aid stand mixer where some of the proceeds goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

When we arrived we mixed and mingled and munched on some really great appetizers provided by Longo's I believe.

Then a bunch of us joined each Chefs team to see which team could produce the longest pasta noodle.  I joined Chef Mark McEwan's team.   They both struggled to get the pasta started but it seems like Chef Mark had a bit more trouble.  Corbin managed to get his pasta going smoothly and had a really long and smooth pasta line and he won the challenge.   Last year Chef McEwan won so I guess it's only fair for Chef Corbin to win this time.  It was all in good fun anyway.

If you want to sponsor me or someone else or if you want to fundraise and participate yourself you can get more information here: Culinary Showdown

Sharpening up my Knife Skills

Not long ago I went to a launch event for the Culinary Showdown, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Cook for the Cure Event.  They were trying to recruit foodies and food bloggers to sign up to join the Culinary Showdown by raising funds that go towards the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.   The event was held at Cirillo's Culinary Academy, a beautiful cooking space that is used for events, classes and team building.  If you signed up that night for the Showdown you got a free Knife Skills Workshop at Cirillo's, so I signed up because I thought if nothing else at least I can say I actually took a Knife Skills Class.   Tonight was the night for the class.  There was about 25-30 people there, all comprised of people that signed up and have started fundraising.   Unfortunately I am nowhere near my goal of $2500 to be able to participate in the showdown but I am trying to raise as much money as I can.  If you want to help me out and DONATE a bit of money to the cause here is the link to my page: DONATE HERE

When we arrived we sample a bunch of tasty bites and beverages that they had ready for us to try and get warmed up and ready for the Class.

The owner of Cirillo's talked about the importance of sharp knives and how to sharpen them and did a couple of quick demo's of how to cut an onion and zucchini, herbs and mushrooms properly.  I think the Knife Skills class is more of a pre emptive safety class before some people compete in the Showdown because he told a couple of stories about how a couple of people got hurt at the showdown from lack of experience and I think a lack of common sense and skill.  I think it's in their best interest to have everyone have at least basic knife skills and then the rest is up to the Celebrity Chefs.

It was a really fun night.  After the quick demo we hit our own stations to cut up some vegetables.  The 2 girls at my station were really good and according to the chefs we were the pros.  I took my time because the last time I went to a Cutco event I actually cut myself because I wasn't used to the knives.  I made sure I didn't repeat that again.  One of my station mates is also a Gastroposter and I think we recruited the third person into becoming a future Gastroposter as well.

And Here are the results of our labour:

I would totally recommend going to an Event or Class at Cirillo's on Dundas St. West at Islington Ave. It's a beautiful place and you can learn a thing or two and have a great time.

Everyone should learn basic Knife Skills and in fact basic Cooking Skills never hurts anyone.

Go cut and cook... and don't forget to sponsor me for the Culinary Showdown....  

Culinary Showdown - Chef Lynn Crawford and more Celebrity Chefs compete

COOK FOR THE CURE
CULINARY SHOWDOWN

This week I was invited to go to Chef Lynn Crawford's restaurant Ruby Watchco in downtown Toronto for a Fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's fundraiser the Culinary Showdown which takes place on December 7, 2013.

At this special event we got to nibble on some of Lynn's partner Chef Lora Kirk's great appetizers and sip some wine.   The food was great as I knew it would be because I have been to the restaurant in the past.  It's a great restaurant that I wish I lived closer to and could afford to go to all the time.

Here are some photos of some of the nibbles that were served.


We were all encouraged to sign up for the Culinary Showdown which I had already done at a previous event but now it's time for me to try and build my fundraising goal to reach the required $2500 to be able to join Lynn Crawford's team or one of the other Celebrity Chefs like Chuck Hughes ( another one of my favourite chefs)  or the West Coast Rockstar Vikram Vij or Top Chef Canada Judge Mark McEwan or Restaurant Makeover/Takeover chef Corbin Tomaczeski and Dean McDermott (Tori Spelling''s husband) and the great Tyler Florence will be on hand to host the event.

I need to raise $2500 to join one of their teams to compete, but if I raise $1000 I get to go to the event and watch the battle.

I need lot's of to reach the $2500 goal and every little bit helps.   

Click here to donate if you are able to and you will receive a tax receipt.  

If I am able to raise enough money to participate I will blog about my experience after the event.

If you are able to help sponsor me I want to thank you very much for helping me to do something good for a lot of people and help me sharpen my culinary skills.