We followed up our fall 2023 schedule this month when the CCF Winnipeg Branch hosted one of only two competitions being held nationally by The Egg Farmers of Canada. We were joined for the evening by Manitoba egg farmer Sandra Dyck and Chef Dale Mackay.

The Mystery Box Challenge had four teams led by local chefs with students from local schools competing for a thousand dollar prize. Chefs Sergei Didenko, Andrew Laturnus, Anthony Carino, Joseph Lindhorst and Warren Prendree helped get the teams going for this fun competition featuring students from Red River College and Tec Voc High School.

The Egg Farmers of Canada working with the Canadian Culinary Federation co-operatively “hatched” a plan to host the Black Box Competition which had to include the mystery ingredients for the evening : Blue Cheese, White Wine, Red Peppers, Tomato’s and Chicken all combined with the star of the show , Canadian eggs. Sysco Foods hosted the competition and provided an array of alternate ingredients chefs could use to complete their dish. Final teams were created on the day of the event. With Red Seal chefs acting as team leaders, a group of instructors and their students formed the teams.

There was plenty of room for Associate Members, family and guests to attend and watch the event and we enjoyed a taco bar and charcuterie table and non alcoholic beverages thanks to our hosts, Chef Peter Ecker and Sysco.

The event also featured discussion and presentations focusing on the Canadian Egg industry, debunking supply chain concerns, and strengthening trust in the Canadian Egg farmers. A lively question period provided great insights into the egg industry.
The dishes showed the creativity of the teams and the versatility of the mighty egg in Canadian kitchens.

Teams collaborated on menu choices and were given a few minutes to formulate ideas before they were given the challenge to create an original dish in one hour.

The teams jumped into action as a flurry of activity took over the kitchen.

An hour later, four fantastic egg creations were presented to the professional judges who provided feedback and shared their observations about the dish.

The competition was won by the team lead by Chef Sergei Didenko of Hockey for All Centre and his group of Tec Voc students including associate Bonnie Mularchuk who coincidentally attended the school a few years back. Their creation was a middle-eastern inspired dish Israeli Shakshuka with Chimichurri sauce served with a with Blue Cheese and green onion scone.

Many thanks to presenters Sandra and Dale, the Egg Farmers of Canada, and the Canadian Culinary Federation for bringing this fantastic event out to our branch.