Tuesday, 07 February 2012 14:37

Emerging talent from three leading culinary schools are to compete before a panel of Toronto judges at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen in Liberty Village this Tuesday, February 7th.

It’s the third-annual "Pulp Kitchen: Rising Chef Citrus Cook-off", a part of the Winterlicious 2012 Culinary Event Series, presented by American Express® and produced by the City of Toronto. This time around, competitors will allow Toronto cuisine to experience a splash of Florida sunshine this winter as students from three of Ontario's top culinary schools put their citrus skills to the test in the hopes of winning a $2,000 prize.

The students Participating are Greg Light from Humber College, Chad Shetty from Niagara College Culinary School, and Courtney Zettler from Stratford Chefs School. Each student chef is tasked to create one appetizer, entrée and dessert featuring fresh Florida grapefruit, grapefruit juice and orange juice. The dishes will then be presented to a judging panel comprised of Lynn Crawford, Jeff Crump and Christian Pritchard. The judges will use their incredibly developed pallets to then rate and critique each student participant based on four categories: taste, originality and creativity, presentation and connection to local Ontario ingredients while complementing Florida citrus. Audience members will have a chance to take in the action while enjoying a citrus sampling menu from Chef du Cuisine Taylor McMeekin.

"We are once again delighted to work alongside the Florida Department of Citrus to bring another installment of the 'Pulp Kitchen: Rising Chef Citrus Cook-off' to Mildred's Temple Kitchen," says Donna Dooher, Executive Chef at Mildred's Temple Kitchen in an interview with Digital Journal. . "This event allows student chefs to demonstrate the versatility of Florida citrus while showcasing their talents as they prepare to enter the culinary industry."

Dooher will emcee this year's event, guiding audience members through each stage of the competition. Each student chef competitor chosen for this competition will receive a 13-inch French skillet from All-Clad and an 8-inch cook's knife from WÜSTHOF, to walk away with regardless of the competition results. The winning student will also receive an 8-inch bread knife from WÜSTHOF, as well as the grand prize of a $2,000 cheque. The two runners-up will each receive $500.

Reservations for "Pulp Kitchen: Rising Chef Citrus Cook-off" are made on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets are $55 plus applicable taxes. To reserve your ticket for this citrus showdown, please contact Mildred's Temple Kitchen at (416) 588-5695.For more information regarding anything mentioned above, including the Florida Department of Citrus, please visit their website at www.floridacitrus.ca or look up their Facebook page at Facebook.com/FeelBetterFlorida. Winterlicious is hosting 11 mouth-watering culinary events while shinning a spotlight on Toronto’s exquisite culinary industry. More information can be found at http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/winterlicious/2012/index.htm

Emily Karpazis