Discovery night: Québec chefs and cheeses
This was the name of the special event which took place at the prestigious Montreal Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Five Star Hotel, where back in 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono immortalized suite rooms 1738-40-42 to stage their second weeklong bed-in for peace. At the beautiful reception hall, we were welcomed with a cidre mousseaux from the Domaine Lafrance.
The discovery competition included the four chefs' finalists of the 2013 season of the program "Les chefs" on Radio Canada who had to cook four different cold entries, hot entries, and main dishes with the instruction to include local cheeses in their recipes. They really put their imagination and creativity at work to please the 400 participants who at the same time were judges who voted for the winner of the $Can 5,000 bursary prize. The chefs participating were: Ms. Isabelle Deschamps-Plante, Fréderic Dufort-Béland, Jérôme Rouault, and Ashley Thorton.
Personally the cold entry Le Champlain en espuma, endives et poires, confiture d'olives noires et gelée de bière artisanale (Champlain cheese mousse, chicory, pears, black olives jam and home-made beer jelly) conquered my palate. The way all ingredients were mixed together resulted in a good combination of explosive taste. The presentation of the plate was creative, colourful and elegant.
Among the four hot entries, my favourite was the cromesquis de boudin et le Mont-Jacob, beurre de poires au miel (Croquette made of blood pudding and Mont-Jacob cheese, pears butter with honey). Perhaps because we eat "boudin" in Latin America but the way this dish was prepared with a crusty taste and the delicious mixture of cheese and pears with a touch of honey put me up in heaven.
The main dish cuisse de canard effilochée, topinambours crémeux à La Tomme des Demoiselles, panais, jus corsé et croustilles de salsifics (shredded duck leg, creamy Jerusalem artichoke Tomme des Demoiselles cheese, parsnips, spicy sauce and chips turnips). For me it was the best. The duck was deliciously cooked and I could identify very well the flavour of the Tomme des Demoiselles cheese and vegetables. The crispy turnips were delicious.
The young chef Isabelle Deschamps-Plante, who works as deputy chef at the 47th Parallele restaurant won the bursary prize (green labeled dishes). She conquered the 400 guests with her four culinary creations. For Isabelle cooking is a relaxing activity which permits her to use her creativity and her previous jobs have always taken her to the pastry field.
WINES
We cannot forget the wine that accompanied these marvelous dishes. They were most of the time accompanied by wines selected specifically for this occasion. The first cold entries were accompanied by a wine which I really appreciated because of their grapes distinguishing their citric aroma. It is called Monttalto Viognier, Italie, Sicile. To accompany the second entry a red wine of the region of Sardinia in Italy was served Pala Fiori di Sardegna, produced from grapes known as "Monica", this wine rather beefy with cassis and coffee perfume. Great discovery from my side in this festival.
For the main dish, two different wines were served. Always from the region of Italy, a red wine with Sangiovese grapes and a white wine with Grey Pinot grapes. These wines were lighter that the previous ones giving the space to taste the meats served to us.
To end the menu, a wine for dessert Luis Felipe Edwards Late Harvest Viogner/Sauvignon Chile was served, very refreshing matching perfectly the delicious dessert: Charlotte fromagère, chocolat blanc et petit fruits sortilege.
Congratulations to the ones choosing these wines: nice discovery! Also congratulations to the waiters, cookers, and chefs' teams as it was not easy to serve 400 people at the same time respecting the food temperature at all times.
Do not miss this great culinary experience in Montréal en Lumières festival in 2015 which will be based on the results of the programme "Les Chefs" 2014.