A Moncton chef has earned a trip to Ottawa to compete at the Canadian Culinary Championship.
Jordan Holden was chosen to represent New Brunswick.
“I was invited to do a qualifier for the Great Canadian Kitchen Party at the end of September or early October. We served 100 guests at the Aberdeen Centre. The judges chose a winner of the five chefs, and I was fortunate enough to be chosen.”
Holden will be up against nine other chefs, each representing a Canadian province.
“It’s very exciting. We have a lot of great chefs here (New Brunswick), so I’m competing for them in a way too. Because we’re one of the smallest provinces, there’s a little bit less pressure on me compared to some of the chefs from Vancouver and Toronto, and chefs representing Montreal. I’m kind of going in there, maybe flying under the radar a little bit,” Holden says.
He has competed in much smaller and local contests before, but nothing of this scale.
“There’s three different parts of the competition. The first one, they’re going to give us a wine, with no label, and we’re going to have to pair a dish with it the next day. We have to prepare for 600 people, so I’m bringing another chef with me. Her name is Jillian Clark. She works with me at Tony’s Bistro, and we’re going to have three students with us from the college there who are going to help us out. Obviously 600 people is a lot of people to prepare for, especially in just one day. We’ll also be on a budget for that part of the competition too. It’s going to be intense and a lot of work, and we’re going to do our best to wow the judges, and all the guests coming,” Holden stressed.
He adds there is going to be some tough competition, but they’re going to just do their best and have fun.
“We’re not going preparing to lose. We are preparing because we want to win. I’m very competitive, and so is Jill, so we’re going to do our best. And we’re not just going to roll over,” Holden says.
A desire to become a chef hasn’t always been Holden’s goal, but you could say it’s in his blood. He was raised in a family who have a love for food.
“When I was a child, my dad actually is Tony from Atelier Tony and Tony’s Bistro, so he had a pastry shop in my house growing up. I’ve been around it my whole life. It wasn’t something that I thought I would do as I was growing up, but then I kind of started working in the kitchen when I was about 20, and then just fell in love with it and here I am.”
For the final part of the Canadian Culinary Championship, the chefs will have to prepare a signature dish. Holden gave us a bit of a sneak peek of what he has planned.
“I’m preparing a rabbit dish using all parts of the rabbit. So I’m not going to give it away too much, but we use the bones, the liver, the kidneys, really showcasing nose-to-tail cooking and respecting the whole animal. A lot of parts that, might get tossed in the trash, we like to use because it shows respect for the animal, and it showcases some different skills that we have. Hopefully, we get some bonus points with the judges.”
The competition runs from January 30 to February 1.
You can watch it live on the Great Canadian Kitchen Party YouTube channel.
