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Through work, I had the opportunity to attend the 2011 BC Healthy Chef Competition dinner. On March 16, chefs representing 10 venues were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. The purpose of this event is to help promote healthy eating while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Here I want to report back what went on that evening. Put your bib on because this is going to be a mouth-watering post!!

Chefs showcase their dishes

The competing units included:

• Chinese Canadian Chef Association
• Delizia Fusion Cuisine
• Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
• Executive Hotels & Resorts
• Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
• The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
• The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Vancouver
• River Rock Casino Resort
• Vancouver Community College
• The Well Restaurant

The evening was a lot of fun. First, we got to check out each booth and watched the chefs as they prepared for our dishes. At the same time, a panel of judges visited each booth and evaluated each entry based on a number of things including taste, presentation, use of six fruit or vegetables to promote healthy eating and the table display.

A panel of judges visited each booth

Then, we were seated at the dining table and had the Salmon Roulade cooked by Hyatt Regency Vancouver.

Appetizer: Confit Salmon Roulade

The best part came when we had to fetch our own entree and dessert.
Each guest received an envelope containing a card that specified our entree and dessert selection randomly chosen among the ten competing units. No two guests at the same table received the same combination of entree and dessert. It’s up to us to either share plates or swap the cards with the guests.

Cards used to redeem dishes

It was quite an experience since usually at a gala this size, you wouldn’t have a choice but to eat whatever they give you. Now, we have a choice; not only that, we could try others’ plate so potentially we could’ve eaten all 10 entrees and 10 desserts! We didn’t go quite far during the entree round but we definitely got a good share of desserts. I had two entrees (yeah, chefs prepared extra servings so most of us got seconds) and tried a few desserts. I will let pictures do the talking:

Goldfish: Yuzu Marmalade Glazed Pork Loin

Art Institute: "Sous Vide" Loin of New Zealand Lamb

Executive Hotel: Parfait Pyramid

Chinese Canadian Chef Association: Trio of Strawberry Dessert

Hyatt: Trio of strawberry dessert

I was very impressed by the chefs’ creativity and the ability to incorporate fruit and vegetables in such a wide variety of dishes. Certainly inspiring the foodie in all of us.

Several awards were handed out at the end of the evening. Here are the winners of the competition:

• Best Entrée – Hyatt Regency Vancouver
• Best Dessert- Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
• Best Showcase – Chinese Canadian Chef Association
• Healthy Plate Award – River Rock Casino Resort
• People’s Choice Award – Chinese Canadian Chef Association

Congratulations to every competing unit on a job well done. I believe every chef walked away a winner as they created some delicious, healthy dishes that helped promote the use of fruit and vegetables in cooking!

Check out other event photos below: