Chef Andrew Fung Takes Top Honours at Edmonton's Gold Medal Plates
Competition
EDMONTON, Oct. 29 /CNW/ - Chef Andrew Fung of Blackhawk Golf Course proved his culinary prowess Wednesday night when he took home the gold award at Edmonton's 2010 Gold Medal Plates competition. Chef Andrew Fung went head-to-head with ten of the finest culinary masters at this prestigious culinary competition, held at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton on October 27, 2010. He will compete at the Canadian Culinary Championships, the Gold Medal Plates Finale, held in Kelowna Feb. 18th and 19th.
To secure the win, Andrew, by a unanimous decision by the judges, wowed the judges with his Duo of Alberta Beef - Braised Beef Short Rib and Foie Gras Tortelloni "Gyoza" with Apple Puree and Oven Dried Tomato Confit, Veal Reduction and Backtender Beef Tataki Ginger and Scallion Relish, Fresh Shallots, Shaved Asiago and Cold Pressed Olive Oil and Ponzu Sauce. The paired wine was Road 13 Jackpot Pinot Noir 2008 from Okanagan Valley, British Columbia.
"It was a challenging and exciting competition and I am very honoured that the Gold Medal Plates judges chose my dish as the best," said Andrew Fung, Chef of Blackhawk Golf Course. "My team and I worked very hard and were better prepared this year as this was our second year competing. It was still stressful but at least this year we knew what to expect. I'm thrilled our efforts resulted in the gold. Now, I am looking forward to taking this to the next step, and competing for the national title!"
Chef Michael Brown of The Westin Hotel rose to the occasion as well, taking the silver medal. Chef Brown created a Study in Crab - Chilled Alaskan King Crab Salad Crêpe, Hot Coral Bisque, Jalapeno Creamed Corn Espuma and Parmesan Gougeres. The paired wine was Tinhorn Creek Gewurztraminer 2009 from the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia.
Taking the bronze medal was Shane Chartrand of L2 Grill in the Fantasyland Hotel. His dish was a roll of steak tartare and monkfish rolled in dried squid ink with pea purée and orange caramel sauce. The paired wine was Wayne Gretzky Estates Vidal Icewine 2005 VQA from Niagara Peninsula, Ontario.
The guests were not only treated to the finest in food, they also had the opportunity to mingle with celebrated Olympians and Paralympians including keynote speaker and Vancouver 2010 Olympic hero, Alexandre Bilodeau who was inspiring and captivating in his hot stove interview with Terry David Mulligan as he allowed the guests to relive his gold medal moment and entertained by Jim Cuddy, Colin James and Anne Lindsay who brought the house down!
The event, the first of seven cities had a sold out audience of over 750 guests in attendance and over $180,000 was raised in the live auction alone. Jim Cuddy charmed the audience which resulted in five Under the Tuscan Sun trips being sold for $10,500 each where Jim along with Barney Bentall and fiddler Anne Lindsay will perform a concert under the stars and guests will have a chance to cycle with Olympians Marnie McBean, Curt Harnett, Chandra Crawford and Devon Kershaw!
The 2010 Gold Medal Plates Competition
Gold Medal Plates is the ultimate celebration of Canadian Excellence in cuisine, wine, entertainment and athletic achievement. Celebrating in eight cities across Canada in 2010, Gold Medal Plates will feature superb wines and the premier chefs in each city, paired with Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a competition to crown a gold, silver and bronze medal culinary team in each city, and subsequently nation-wide. Founded in 2003, the goal of Gold Medal Plates is to raise substantial funds for Canada's high performance athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence. Since 2004, this event has received tremendous support and accolades all across Canada, and generated a combined net total of $4.1 million for Canada's Olympic and Paralympic athletes! For more information, visit the Gold Medal Plates website www.goldmedalplates.com.
Canadian Olympic Foundation - The Beneficiary of the events: Net proceeds from Gold
Medal Plates are given to the Canadian Olympic Foundation to support high performance
programs such as Own the Podium. To learn more about the Foundation and the programs
it funds, please visit www.olympicfoundation.ca.
For further information:
Lisa Pasin at [email protected] or 780-903-1212
Share this article