The 2017 Canadian Culinary Championships take place this weekend in Kelowna.
Event co-founder, Stephen Leckie, says what's exciting about the championships is how it showcases Canada's evolving culinary world..
"There are new young chefs coming up every single year who are pushing some of the more established chefs. It's burgeoning and our culinary scene in Canada is as healthy as I've every seen it, and we're in for great, great things this coming weekend," he says.
Leckie says the 11 chefs competing this year represent a real cross-section of Canadian tastes.
"The gathering this year is so unique and more specialized; there are more specialized culinary streams that these chefs are representing," says Leckie. "I travelled across the country and sampled their foods, and they are all worthy; they are the best in their region."
The chefs will have three tasks - create a dish to pair with a mystery wine, create a dish from a black-box of 7 surprise ingredients - and for the Grand Finale - create their own dish paired with a Canadian beverage.
BC's entrant is chef Jesse McCleery from Pilgrimme Restaurant on Galiano Island.
The winner gets bragging rights and will also walk away with a 2 year lease on a 2017 BMW 430i xDrive Gran Coupe.
There are limited tickets available for the Mystery Wine Pairing and can be purchased online at www.goldmedalplates.com or by calling 778-883-3448; the Grand Finale on Saturday is sold out.
Net proceeds from the Canadian Culinary Championships are provided to the Canadian Olympic Foundation which supports Olympic athletes and high performance programs. Since 2004, Gold Medal Plates has generated over 12 million for Canada's Olympic athletes.