BUDAPEST — Sydney Hamelin of Mission Hill Family Estate in Kelowna, B.C. won the silver medal while representing Canada at the 48th Concours International des Jeunes Chefs (International Young Chefs Competition) hosted by La Chaine des Rôtisseurs in Budapest, Hungary on Oct. 5, 2024.
Nineteen of the world’s finest young chefs (under the age of 27) were chosen for 2024 through selection competitions held in their respective countries. Hamelin qualified for the competition by winning the Canadian National Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition in September 2023 in Winnipeg.
A panel of 12 internationally certified chefs, all members of the Chaine des Rôtisseurs, judged the competition, awarding marks for taste, presentation, originality and kitchen technique. As the silver medalist, Hamelin received a second place cash prize, the Gaston-Landry Panuel Award and a three-piece knife set, sponsored by Wüsthof. She also received a set of four professional Wüsthof carving knives for her skills and organization in the kitchen during the competition.
Each competitor was given four hours in which to compose a menu and prepare a three-course meal for four people using ingredients presented in a black box. Compulsory ingredients this year included venison, fois gras, sander, quince and vanilla-bourbon paste. Contestants were required to use at least 25 per cent of each item and could compliment them from a large array of non-mandatory items such as turkey sausage, mascarpone and Tokaji aszú.
Hamelin created a menu consisting of terrine of pikeperch served with a celeriac dumpling, escabeche potato and fennel finished with a tarragon emulsion and sauce soubise (appetizer); roasted venison served with a warm couscous salad, carrot puree, blistered cherry tomato and glazed green beans, finished with a foie gras and turkey sausage and a venison demi-glace (main); and olive oil cake topped with lemon curd, poached quince served with a vanilla-bourbon semifreddo and finished with a tokaji gastrique (dessert).
