And so we have six chefs today. Yesterday we had four and it gets whittleled down and we’ll be announcing the winner a little bit later on. Now there is something I do want to tell you. How many people have never been to a chowder competition before? How many have never seen one? Okay, good. Quite a few of you. That’s why I’m asking the question. What we’re going to be doing is we’re going to be interviewing every competitor. We’re going to be talking about their chowder, what’s in it, how they prepared it. Some of these chowters are glutenfree, some are not. Please pay attention to that if you have a gluten intolerance. We will be getting the chefs to take a big ladle full out and they’ll be showing it on the monitors at the side, so make sure you keep an eye on those. We have Chef Robert Pendergast with us who made a bread out of potatoes. So, it’s Robert’s potato bread or potato banic. Uh, more of a banic style what he has going, but it’s beautiful. There’s also recipe cards for sourdough bread. We’re going to be checking in with Chef Robert shortly and hear about his creation. So, pay strict attention. Now, how many are here in groups? Okay. Okay. So, there’s four of you here. Okay. I’m going to talk to you people and everybody else pay attention if you’re here in a group as you are. Okay, those are children. You’re going to put your kids to work. Okay, now you’re going to follow along and think to your head, which one’s going to taste better? Which one do I want to try? Then you’re going to send one daughter this way. You’re going to send hubby this way. going to send another kid to get a bucketload of bananic. See? And now you can try multiple dishes at the table. That’s fat guy stuff right there. I know my way around a chowder competition. All right, without any further ado, Stevie, we ready? We’re ready. Okay, we’re going to Glasco Hills Golf Course and Piper Restaurant with Chef Aaron Smith. And uh Aaron, this is not a gluten-free chowder, correct? No, it’s not gluten-ree. It’s right full of gluten. So, we’ll call this leted and unleted. So, this is a leted chowder. So, what’s in your chowder today, Chef Eron? Uh, we started off with a lobster stock uh base and also a muscle stock from PI Aquaarmms. Uh, we got uh fresh hatock and muscles and lobster in here. All from the island here, Mr. Seafood. Uh, and whole lot of love, some herbs, a little bit of Paragon, fresh dill, a little bit of thyme, cooked potatoes. You absolutely can’t forget the potatoes and uh ADL cream, milk, butter. It’s everything here on the island. Fresh, chunky, the right thickness. I just kind of keep it simple, stupid. It’s my motto. So, just focusing on that’s a really good chowder. And this is a chowder you can get at my restaurant. I didn’t do really anything else to it. So, that’s incredible. So, some of these chowters are created because they’re going uh, you know, for a cash prize and the title that they can use in their advertising of having the best chowder on PEI. So, for those of you folks that are are not from here, think about that. How powerful is that advertising messaging when you can say you have the best seafood chowder, potato chowder on the entire island? It’s a pretty good designation to have, right? So, as you could see from uh Chef Arens, very thick. Before you start the plate, because I don’t want it to cool, sir. I’m going to come around to this side. Why don’t you tell the folks about your garnish, Stevie? We can get a a peek at it, and you can describe what’s happening here, Chef Aaron. So, just kind of keeping it simple, I just took all the fish that’s in the chowder, kind of make a seafood salad, and then I put it in between a little puff pastry for a little little seafood sandwich. Topping it off with some fresh dill and some lobster claw just to focus on the island’s lobster history. Like I said, just kind of keeping it simple and let the chatter speak for itself. I went overboard last time I was here and I tried back this time and and sometimes less is more is right. Chef Aaron, ladies and gentlemen, this looks absolutely amazing. Let’s hear it for them from Piper Restaurant at Glasco Hills Golf Course, Chef Aaron Smith. So, what’s going to happen now is as we move down to talk to Chef Brandon, Chef Aaron is going to make up his four plates. So, there’s three judges plus a display plate. They are going We have a lovely team off to the side here. They’re going to carefully and then Liam’s sticking his nose in because he never knew how to make a chowder in his life. Try to learn. Ow. Get out of here. So, these folks are going to take them back. Once they take them back, uh, then the judges start, um, tasting them. That’s because the judges want to get the chowters and judge each competitor staggered so they’re at their optimal temperature. They’re not too cool and you know how unpleasant that would be having cold chowder. So, Chef Aaron’s plating going, excuse me, going down to Old Boys ery chef Brandon uh Eldershaw, who has created a gluten-free chowder, haven’t you? I have. Yes. Can we tell the folks what’s in it? Let’s uh slide down here to the chowder and Stevie can get a good look at what’s happening. Lift that way out. Wow. Look at those chunks. There’s some oo and a’s, isn’t there? What? That’s a beautiful ladle full of chowder. So, as you will also notice, you’re going to notice texture differences. You’re going to not notice color differences. So, tell the folks about your chowder, uh, Chef Bren. So, we got two kinds of PEI potatoes. We got some baby reds and some Yukon Golds. Um, for seafood, we got family caught lobster. So, my parents are lobster fisherman, my brother. So, that’s in house. Um, we got some hatock, some Bell River rock crab, um, muscles, and some stock from the oysters, which I used for garnish. Wow. And we can see those garnish here. And you also said you made these. They look like little croettes. What What exactly do we have here? You got her there. They are oyster, raspberry, oyster, and mashed potato croettes. Um, and then they’re going to get put on top of a grilled kind of smoked oyster mayonnaise with herb oil right here. Stevie, I don’t know if you can get these with I don’t want to ruin it, but it looks really Look at the colors on that. So, again, what is this? So, that’s smoked oysters uh whipped up with mayonnaise and then some herb oil on top like chives, parsley, dill. Wow. The flavors would be very intense. I’ll set those down. And then you’re also going to be uh finishing it off with some micro greens. Yeah, some little micros, local, organic, and a little bit of extra that oil on top. Make a pot. Okay. And the croette that you’re using, is that gluten-free as well? Oh, yeah. 100%. So, if you have a gluten intolerance, make sure you hit this one. It is gluten-free. And uh absolutely beautiful looking chowder. Beautiful garnish as well. Best of luck to you. Back again, ladies and gentlemen. Chef Brandon Eldershaw from Old Boys Eery. We’ll let you start plating. All right. So, Steviey’s uh watching Brandon plate there. What a beautiful uh Oh, it went back to my big belly as I was looking at the screen. Okay. Anyway, but it’s a beautiful uh beautiful looking bowl of chowder. We’re going to slide down here and we’re heading to the Old Dublin pub. This is also a gluten-free chowder. We have Chef uh Kevin Kervida who’s here to tell us about his chowder. Looks like you have one already doctorred up. May I for Liam? Yeah. Don’t do anything for Liam. To heck with them. So that’s what uh he did up for Liam. Well, Liam’s the founder of the festival. I guess he can kind of get some extras. Oh my gosh, those burn my fingers. Holy jumpings. Okay, that’s enough of that. Why don’t you tell the folks about what’s in your uh chowder, Chef Kevin? Yeah. Uh it’s a gluten-free chowder. I use like potato for thickening it up. It’s not that thick enough. But um for fish, I use like salmon, um hadock, halibet, and uh vegetables like carrots. Um seasoned it with parsley. And uh there’s more fish stock uh cream, butter, and uh I’m using like a jalapeno cheddar biscuit for my side. Uh yeah, a jalapeno cheddar biscuit. And are those gluten-free as well? Nope. No. Okay. So, if you’re getting the chowder, don’t get the biscuit. Okay. All right. Absolutely. That’s a beautiful looking chowder. So, is this something that uh folks can find at the Old Dublin or is this what you created special for this competition? Uh, it’s just my own recipe. It’s my first time creating a seafood charter, but the one at the All Dublin pub would be better than this one. I hope to win the cash prize, but the one we make at the restaurant is better. Beautiful looking chowder. I’ll let you start plating. Ladies and gentlemen, from the old Dublin pub, Chef Kevin Kubri. Now, I’m not sure why they put these two chefs together, and I’ll explain why. On Sydney Street, the old Dublin pub is on the top level. In the very same building, owned by the very same people is the Colada Oyster House on the next level. So these individuals are mortal enemies. So there’s going to be a fight to the death here. No, it’s okay. And bragging rights is on. If you folks don’t think that bragging rights is on the line within the same building, two restaurants owned by the same families, I’m telling you, bragging rights are on the line. We’re heading down to uh down to Colada Oyster House next. We’re going to talk with Chef Landon. So, Chef Landon, tell us about your chowder. Now, yours looks quite different than Kevin’s. Now, this is the first time he’s ever made this chowder. He said it’s his own recipe. He’s just winging it. He doesn’t care. He’s not scared of you at all, is he? No, he’s not. So, tell us about this chowder. So, this is just your classic, uh, seafood chowder. It’s got your lobster, halibet, salmon, muscles, uh, scallops, and then Yukon gold potatoes. Creambased, not gluten-free. Okay. Why don’t you show the folks out there? Steviey’s going to get a good shot. You can see the chives uh in that. Hold a big ladle up. Look at the chunks of lobster, the chunks of potato. You can see is that scolop hatock in there? Halibet. Even nicer still. Oh my goodness. Now, when you’re doing these and you drool a little bit as you’re interviewing, that’s okay. So, that’s what I’m doing now. So, we listen and we don’t judge. Okay, can we all say that? We listen and Okay, never mind. How are you going to be garnishing your dish today? So, my garnish is going to be a lobster infused herb uh biscuit uh with a little bit of fresh roasted uh cracked pepper. Nice. So, is this uh sorry um if you mentioned it uh and I missed it, my apologies. Uh is this something that you serve every day at Colada or is this uh something you made up for the competition? No, we have a different chowder there at the Colada. This is just something I whipped up for a competition. Nice. Just something I whipped up. Probably cost about $3,000 with the amount of seafood and they’re just a We just whipped it up. Brandon, oh, I had it in house. I only had about 100 pounds of lobster in the fridge cuz my parents got it. So, we’re a little bit spoiled here on PEI. We get that. Anyway, I’ll let you uh start to play up there. Ladies and gentlemen, from Colada Oyster House, give it up for Chef Landon Baxton. And folks, you can see that beautiful chowder going in the bowl. Stevie hangs down so you can see that. So, are folks kind of getting the idea of chowters they’d like to try? They look pretty good, don’t they? Yeah, they do. All right, Stevie, let’s meet our next competitor. We’re heading to the local restaurant and we’re going to be talking with Chef Travis Morazzic. Uh Chef Travis, a gluten-free chowder. No, it’s not. This is a leted chowder. Good. Okay. So, hold a big ladle full up so Stevie can get a a good shot there. Nice. So, you can see some are a little thicker uh than others. Some are a little uh less thick, if you will. Some use milk, some use cream, some use cream, and then thin it down a little bit. Tell us what’s in your chowder. Uh so, it starts with a smoked hatock base, and it’s got salmon, muscles, shrimp, and then we’re finishing off with some nice seared scallops and muscle. Y. So, I saw you uh backstage if I can. No, those aren’t scolops, are they? Oh, they are. Backstage, he had another uh frying pan going. So, there are the beautiful seared scallops. Yeah, they look good. And what do we have in this dish? And there’s some smoked hadock. Everything in my power not to steal a chunk of this. I’m not even lying to you. And then, of course, you got some uh garlic steamed muscles. And what else do we have uh on the side as part of the uh garnish that are in the dishes here? Um so we got some fried shallots. We got some dehydrated carrot powder. And then we have a classic floron which is a puff pastry. Dehydrated carrot powder. Everybody has that at home, don’t they? Of course they do. Just whip that up. And you have a little uh looks like a basil oil that you have. Yep, that’s it. See, I know. All right, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Chef Travis Morazzic at the local so you can start plating as well. Okay, next we’re moving to the culinary boot camp. Now, what this is, the Culinary Institute of Canada with their uh student chefs and their uh chef instructors, they put on boot camps for people, boot camps for kids in the summertime to kind of ignite that passion for culinary. So, we have two members here of the Culinary Institute of Canada who are with the uh boot camps. We have Chef Anamarie Arseno and we have She brought her own squad here. And we have Chef Zuma. I got you. And we have Chef Zuma here. So, we’re going to talk about the chowder first. So, we’ll bring Anamarie in here to talk about the chowder and then we’ll uh talk to Chef Zuma about the garnish that you’re putting on it. So we started with a be beautiful mirror and uh we added some island muscles and scolops lobster and hadock and we have a really beautiful homemade lobster stock that Chef Zuma made. Nice. And look at that. Beautiful. You can see that full muscle shell. You can see the lobsters in it. You can see the potato. Absolutely beautiful. So is this leted or unleted? Oh, this is definitely gluten-free. Definitely gluten-ree. So, we got an unled chowder. So, we do have three gluten-free options for you uh for those folks that do have that intolerance that they’re looking at. Stevie, I will get you to pan back real quickly and we’ll have a look at one of the finished plates that Chef Travis. So, this is what is going back to the judges. You can see the beautiful presentation uh on this one. Nice. Everybody knows that we eat with our eyes first, right? If Instagram doesn’t see it first, then we didn’t really eat. So, presentation certainly is key. Now, we’re going to talk to Chef Zuma about uh their presentation and how they’re going to be uh garnishing their dish today. Hello everyone. Um our dish basically is Island’s Chowder Golden Finish. This dish is really nostalgic to us as you know doing the um boot camps. We doing the kids boot camps themed um a taste of continent. We introduced a special ingredient to the kids and they loved it. That moment stopped to us and you know it became nostalgic to us and we decided to finish up the dish with a plantain chips. Basically it’s crunchy. It’s um it’s just basically to enhance flavor profile basically to um help with color contracts as well as you know garnish. We’re not just we’re not spotlighting this ingredients basically. We just um to enhance the flavor. Like I said this chowder itself basically um connects. Yeah. So this chowder basically um represents and shows that um food holds memories. food holds um connects people together. It’s really nostalgic to me as well because it reminds me of home as well as merging two worlds together basically. So, we really hope you enjoy this dish. Yeah. All right, Chef Anie, Chef Zuma, you may begin plating for the judges. Let’s hear it for them and let’s hear it for all the competitors. And now, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to make my way all the way down. We’re going to while they’re plating up, we’re going to talk to Chef Robert about his PEI potato bread or bananic or both because it’s all about uh how you interpret it. Here you go, Chef Robert. Thanks, Rob. Well, we’re doing a bread today that has potato in it. Pi potatoes. I’m here with Mark Phillips. Next year, I think he might bring his guitar. He’s an awesome guitar player. We have to see if we have time in the schedule. But just just to give you an idea that uh this is a beautiful bread that was baked nicely, nice dark crust. It’s a potato bread, but it’s also done in the style of a banic. Simple quick bread. So a banic is a bread, too, but uh doesn’t always have potatoes. So we want you to give it a try. We’ll probably have a little portion per person. Not too much pushing and shoving, but Mark’s going to take care of security out front. And we do have a couple of stickers and some recipes here. If you have a guitar case or a toolbox, you got to get that sticker on there. I love PEI potatoes. So, can you talk about the recipe? Yes. So, uh just so you get to to know here a little bit that there’s a recipe here. It’s not it’s not the recipe that I’ve done today, but it’s actually a very nice and beautiful recipe that I think is close to my heart. It’s from the Irish background, the soda bread. So, this is a pi potato soda bread. You can do it with or without raisins. You could use dry PEI cranberries. You could actually do what I did one time to go with the chowder was I put a little bit of dry salt cod in the soda bread. So many different things you can do. Rob will let you know if it’s good or not. All right. So now remember what I said. Perks of the gig. Remember what I uh remember what I said. We can look at this. Steviey’s going to show it. I’m going to try it. Oh my goodness, that’s beautiful. That would go well with any of these chowters. Make sure you send somebody up to get a piece of this as well. Just a final thing that it is made with potatoes, but yes, folks, I’m sorry there’s lots and lots of wheat. This is a gluten bread. Thank you. I forgot to ask that. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, those are our chowters. Everybody is almost done. We’re just waiting for the final dishes to be done up for the judges out back. And as soon as that happens, they’re going to start, as you can see, the uh chefs are putting some in the bowl. Uh chefs are putting some in these bowls so that you folks can come uh forward and try some. I would that you pick a child up so they don’t get trampled or throw the child at the table and clear a path and make sure you get the chowder you want. But only we have to wait until I call you. Only when I call you up will you be invited to come in an orderly, respectful manner to try some of these beautiful chowters. So stick around folks. Kyle’s going to play some background music and uh we’ll be right back and I’ll let you know when you can come forward. [Music]
Dining and Cooking