2013 Colour Your Palate

Colour Your Palate Celebrates Art, Food as Art

March 8, 2013: They have a mission and they have chosen to accept it. Fourteen of Victoria’s culinary masters received their top secret colour assignments today at the launch for the sixth annual Colour Your Palate culinary competition. This tasting event celebrates food’s artful presentation by assigning a colour to each chef who is then challenged to construct a canapé that expresses the colour visually as well as flavourfully. Colour Your Palate guests are rewarded with artistic presentations while supporting the development of art and life skills for children in the Capital Region, including two brand new pilot programs in 2013.

“We’re very excited to be holding this event for a sixth year and seeing how it continues to build,” says Maureen Weston, president of the OCTA Collective Society. “It has fostered a real sense of friendly competition between our chefs who do some amazing canapés for the event. They have been great supporters of Colour Your Palate and of the arts programs the event supports.”

At the launch chefs drew one of seven colours: blue, green, yellow, purple, black, red or orange. Planning begins almost immediately as some entries are as much a work of architecture as they are a work of art, often with many layers and edible structures incorporated into the design. The chefs also decide who will make dessert canapés and who will build savory ones.

Canapés are eligible for two awards: Best Tasting Creation and Most Artistic Creation. They are judged by industry experts including Eric Akis, chef and cookbook author whose column is published weekly in the Times Colonist; Gary Hynes, sommelier, chef, cookbook author and the founder and editor of EAT Magazine and Denise Marchessault, Le Cordon Bleu graduate, cooking instructor, food columnist and French Mint Cooking School proprietor. Canapés are judged blind and winners are revealed near the end of the evening.

ArtsREACH programs offered in schools have included theatre,  painting and printmaking. Beginning in May, artsREACH will be piloting two new programs. The first will be in-school dance workshops, focusing on hip hop styles in the first year, for grades three to five. The second is an after school video program for grade five students. This program is being developed in partnership with CineVic.

Colour Your Palate paints the town on April 10 beginning at 5:30 at the University Club. Tickets are $60 in advance or $65 at the door and include a complimentary beer or wine, samples of all fourteen canapés, door prizes and opportunities to bid on a large selection of silent auction items. Each guest selects a favourite canapé and the audience top pick wins the Peoples Choice award.

For tickets call (250) 812-3881.

Competing Chefs:

Castro Boateng                                    Castro Boateng Catering

Rob Cassels                                          Chef

Tom Corless                                         Belimiro’s Restaurant at Executive House Hotel

Mark Davie                                           The University Club

Andrew Dickinson                              The Royal Victoria Yacht Club

Stephan Drolet                                     Camille’s Restaurant

Ian Goard                                              Hotel Grand Pacific

Miguel Goncalves                                Beacon Landing Restaurant and Lounge

Rod Gordon                                          The Beach House Restaurant

Richard Luttman                                 Bard & Banker Scottish Pub

James Marinoff                                   Bon Rouge French Bistro Restaurant

Morgan Milward                                 Fireside Grill

Ali Ryan                                                Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub

Edward Tuson                                     Chef

Colour Your Palate is held to raise awareness of the importance arts experiences in developing life skills such as self-confidence, self-esteem, teamwork and personal management. Proceeds from Colour Your Palate fund artsREACH workshops in schools with a high population of children from low income families. Programs are delivered at no charge to public elementary schools in the Capital Region and all materials and instruction are provided. Current workshops include printmaking, theatre and painting. Almost 14,800 children have participated in artsREACH workshops since 2005.

www.octacollective.com/colouryourpalate