CanadianLiving.com couldn't miss this year's Canadian Culinary Championships' Mystery Wine Pairing! Top chefs from Vancouver, Quebec, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Halifax prepared a dish they felt suited a mystery bottle of wine, and guests in attendance cast their ballots for the best dish of the evening. This year the chefs were each given only $400 to feed the nearly 200 guests, but despite a small budget everything was creative and delicious!

What was the mystery wine? A beautiful Closson Chase Chardonnay by winemaker Deborah Paskus out of Prince Edward County, Ontario. To learn more about Chardonnay, look for Canadian Living Magazine's new wine column in our April 2008 issue.

Curious about what the chefs cooked up, or need inspiration for Canadian Living's Cook of the Year contest? Click on to see winning dishes by Canada's top chefs!A subtle, elegant dish
Smoked Black Cod, Corn Mousse and Vanilla Essence by Chef Roland Menard of Manoir Hovey, Montreal.Crowd-favourite chef
Judy Wu of Wild Tangerine, Edmonton was the crowd favourite of the evening.

See Judy's bronze medal creation on page 14!The mystery wine
Closson Chase Winery provided their Chardonnay by wine maker Deborah Paskus from Prince Edward County, Ontario.Salmon for a crowd
Chef Micheal Moffat of Beckta Dining and Wine in Ottawa-Gatineau
cooked salmon for nearly 200 guests.

See Chef Michael Moffat's silver-medal creation on page 8!Chef and food critic
Renowned national food critic James Chatto (right) who hosted the weekend-long event with Chef Roland Menard (left).
See Chef Roland Menard's culinary creation on page 2!Benefits go to future Canadian Olympians
Gold Medal Olympian Marni McBean - first Canadian athlete to win three Olympic Gold medals with her rowing partner Kathleen Heddle - spoke on behalf of the athletes benefiting from the proceeds of the Mystery Wine evening and the entire Canadian Culinary Championships event.Silver medal dish
Chef Michael Moffat’s Silver medal plate matched the the oakey, buttery vanilla taste of the Closson Chase Chardonnay with Salmon on top of a Garlic Puree, Spanish Chorizo and Pine Nut Pesto, complete with a Lemon Twill on top.Behind Closson Chase
Gemini Award-winning actor Sonja Smits is the co-owner of Closson Chase Winery.Lobster sandwich
Chef Melissa Craig of Bearfoot Bistro, Whistler, offered a Lobster sandwich with bacon powder with a shot of lobster bisque.This year's culinary champion!
Chef Melissa Craig started out as a fill-in for another competitor who could not make the competition. Though she didn't place at the Mystery Wine event, she ended up sweeping the rest of the weekend and was crowned Canada's Best Chef!

Here she describes her Lobster Sandwich dish (featured on page 10) to food critic James Chatto.Mystery Wine's Gold medal dish
Friday evening's Gold Medal winner was Anthony Walsh of Toronto’s Canoe. He created a Salt Cod and Skate (a sting-ray type fish) “Doughnut” served with Lobster, Fennel and Almonds.Bronze medal dish
Crowd-pleaser Chef Judy Wu satisfied all palates with a Chilean Sea Bass and Toasted Almond Polenta with a duo of Shiitake Mushroom and Spicy Red Sauce.How to match your Chardonnay
Don't miss our new wine column - The Wine Taster - by sommelier Anne Martin premiering in our April 2008 issue of Canadian Living Magazine.

Anne's April column is all about Chardonnay. Now that you're inspired by Canada's top chefs, learn everything you need to know to pair Chardonnay with your creations. On newsstands now or buy in our online store.

Want to enter our Cook of the Year contest? You could win a brand new kitchen from KitchenAid - enter today! >>