Bar Accanto chef off to finals of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party

Emily Butcher, executive chef of Bar Accanto and Nola in St. Boniface, snagged the top podium spot at Wednesday’s regional leg of the national culinary competition Canada’s Great Kitchen Party.

Butcher, 35, who moved to Winnipeg from Vancouver 10 years ago, scored top marks in the six categories — visual, texture, taste, technical, beverage compatibility and wow factor — on which all eight competing plates were judged.

The 2025 gold medallist’s dish of smoked duck and squash dumpling, massaman curry, fermented kohlrabi salad with black pepper glazed octopus, leche de tigre, pickled eggplant and toasted peanut was inspired by the Prairie landscape and rooted in her West Coast upbringing and Chinese heritage.

This is the second gold medal for Butcher after her 2019 regional win, which led her to compete in the 2020 nationals, where she took bronze.

Local chefs heat up culinary competition

Seven local chefs have thrown their hats in the ring for a chance to represent Winnipeg at the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship in Ottawa January next year.

Also known as Canada’s Great Kitchen Party, the regional qualifier takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the RBC Convention Centre, and features entertainment from Spirit of the West’s Geoff Kelly, as well as Canadian musicians Barney Bentall, Kevin Fox, Matthew Harder and Rebecca Harder.

Chefs Emily Butcher (Bar Accanto), Darnell Banman (Thermea Spa Village), Michael de Groot (Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar), Ken Hoang (Le Colonial Restaurant and Bar), Norman Pastorin, (Basta! Filipino Kitchen), Chinnie Ramos (Wow! Catering) and Lauren Wiebe-Dembowski (Niakwa Country Club) will be judged on skill, creativity and technique as they vie to impress the panel of local culinary experts, led by head national judge Chris Johns, 2025 regional winner Austin Granados (formerly of Cake-ology) and Winnipeg senior judge Mike Green.

“We’re honoured to have such a strong field of chefs representing Winnipeg this year,” said Green.

Egg-venturous

Karl Oman is something of an egg-vangelist.

“I think people underestimate the egg,” says the chef and culinary arts instructor. “Eggs are the best thing ever; they’re like nature’s wonder — eggs are the cheapest protein you can buy, eggs have all your vitamins, except vitamin C, and eggs have all nine amino acids.”

After a career in hotel kitchens, Oman landed a faculty position at Red River College Polytechnic, his alma mater, in 2006. His favourite part of the job is seeing first-year culinary students gain new skills and greater appreciation for food — something he’s been fascinated by since childhood.

“I always wanted to cook. Food brings people together in all situations. Whether it’s a celebration or a sad time, nourishment and hospitality bring people together,” he says.

Plant-based love

Brittany Martens and Caitlin Sikora are business owners and trailblazers on a mission.

Since last year they’ve been putting in the time, the work and the commitment to create Herbivore Haven, a large-scale vegan market. Now they’re riding high on their labour of love and working on the next chapter.

The two creative innovators have been fully immersed in building on Herbivore Haven’s success. With strengths that work perfectly together, the dynamic duo managed to create two hugely thriving market events so far and are already working on a third for early next year.

Interest in all things plant-based continues to grow and not only for those already living a vegan lifestyle.

Nutrition experts get to the meat of latest grocery store trend

Protein-fortified milk, pasta with added protein, high-protein tortilla chips. Turn down any grocery aisle these days and you’ll likely find a wide variety of products bulking up on a certain macronutrient.

Interest in protein isn’t new (see the popularity of the Atkins and keto diets), but social media has raised the essential nutrient to cure-all superfood status.

“We’re bombarded by this idea that we need to eat more protein to have more muscle and look better, and that is changing consumer behaviour,” says Dr. Dylan MacKay, an assistant professor in the department of food and human nutritional sciences and department of internal medicine at the University of Manitoba.

A 2024 survey of American adults found 71 per cent of respondents were trying to consume more protein, up from 59 per cent in 2022. The same survey determined exposure to food and nutrition content has increased significantly across social media platforms in recent years.

We try reader-submitted Jell-O recipes

Saturday is Eat Your Jell-O Day.

In honour of this gelatinous holiday, we’ve done just that.

Below you’ll find Homemade recipes for sweet and savoury gelatin dishes submitted by Free Press readers, along with tasting notes from myself and colleagues Ben Sigurdson and Jen Zoratti.

But first, a brief history of “America’s most famous dessert.”

Pucker up for this oh-so-sweet and easy lemon trifle

Homemade Holidays is back for another year of festive cookies, cakes and treats.

From now until Dec. 17, we’ll be sharing a sweet daily recipe to inspire your holiday baking. This year’s batch of 12 recipes include Free Press Favourites shared by newsroom staff and a selection of previously unpublished reader recipe submissions from our 2022 Homemade community cookbook project.

We’re kicking things off with an impressively easy trifle recipe from Free Press office manager extraordinaire Margaret McMillan. It’s light and fruity, making it an ideal end to a heavy holiday feast.

Almond cookies melt in your mouth

Today’s Homemade Holidays feature is a recipe for delicate, melt-in-your-mouth Almond Crescent cookies.

“This is a cookie my Nana used to make, not necessarily for holidays specifically, but it’s one of my favourites, so now I make them every year. Almond and vanilla is such a classic combo and I love that this recipe isn’t super sweet,” writes Erin Lebar, the Free Press’s manager of audience engagement (and a heck of a baker).

Rich, spicy hot chocolate a decadent treat

Today for Homemade Holidays, we have a spicy and satisfying stovetop hot chocolate recipe from Free Press reader Sandy Rubinfeld. Hot tip: If you don’t finish the whole pot, you can store the leftovers in the fridge and mix it into your morning coffee for a fancy faux-mocha — make sure to stir well, as the hot chocolate thickens further in the cold.

“This is the very best hot chocolate I have ever tasted! It is perfect for a chilly Winnipeg winter day. It is incredibly rich, like a hot chocolate pudding, so I save it for rare occasions. I came across it decades ago in The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. It is authentic to northern Spain,” writes Sandy.

Castilian Hot Chocolate

Submitted by Sandy Rubinfeld

Get holiday baking on a roll with snowballs

These delightful little orbs go by many names: Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Pecan Puffs. Whatever you want to call them, these nutty, subtly sweet cookies are a family-friendly bake — with easy and potentially cathartic steps (crush your holiday angst while crushing pecans) for kids of all ages.

Would pair well with a tall glass of milk on Christmas Eve.

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe comes from Free Press copy editor David Fuller and is an adaptation from an older edition of Joy of Cooking. This recipe makes about 30 small cookies.

Snowballs

Traditional Dutch dessert a deep-fried delight

Deep-fried dough is delicious any time of year, but today’s Homemade Holidays recipe holds special holiday meaning for Free Press graphic artist Leesa Dahl.

From Leesa: “Olieballen is a traditional Dutch treat that my dad made every New Year’s Day. They’re basically round doughnuts that are served with a sprinkle of icing sugar. He made them with and without apples, but the plain ones were always more popular with me and my siblings!”

Oliebollen with Apples

Free Press Favourite submitted by Leesa Dahl

Crowd-pleasing classic requires no baking

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe is an easy, crowd-pleasing classic. Also known as clodhoppers, this big batch of White Chocolate Treats requires no baking and few kitchen tools.

“It is a go-to for bake sales and quick treats for a hostess gift at Christmastime. It is so simple!” says submitter Leianne Lea.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Nutmeg adds depth to classic Christmas dainty

For many, the holidays aren’t complete without a batch of butter tarts. Today’s Homemade Holidays entry is a family fave from Free Press reporter Nicole Buffie. The addition of nutmeg adds warmth and depth to this sugary dainty.

“Everyone has their own take on it, but this tried-and-true Manitoba recipe has been passed down through generations and is the first sign of Christmas for my family,” writes Nicole. “Not too sweet, the perfect pinch of warm spice — they make a great addition to any holiday treat tin. This recipe also raises the ultimate question: do raisins belong in butter tarts?”

Elsie’s Butter Tarts

Free Press Favourite submitted by Nicole Buffie.