Chef Brett Pottruff wins Paris Fair's Road to The Royal Chef Challenge

Earns spot in semi-finals at Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto

TORONTO, Sept. 2, 2014 /CNW/ - Three top chefs put their culinary skills and creativity on the table Sunday at the Paris Fair as they competed in The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair's Road to The Royal Chef Challenge.

Chef Brett Pottruff from The Forks Restaurant at the Arlington Hotel in Paris served up a win with his entrée Goat cheese three ways: chevrai pesto ravioli, chevrai fritter and roasted red peppers goat cheese sauce with fried egg plant and dessert of a Graham cracker tart in sabayon with caramelized apples, walnuts and caramel garnish.

Chefs were given 30 minutes for each round to create an entrée and a dessert. Each dish included a "secret ingredient" selected from locally grown or produced food products. Woolwich Dairy Chevrai, a soft goat cheese, was the secret ingredient for the entrée round and fresh Ontario eggs were the secret ingredient for the dessert round.

Also competing in the event were Chef John Baltazar from Homage Restaurant and Chef Terry Salmond from The Walper Hotel.

The Road to the Royal Chef Challenge is visiting six regional fairs leading up to the 92nd Royal Agricultural Winter Fair runs November 7-16, 2014 in the Direct Energy Centre and Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. Award-winning chef and author Ted Reader - known as one of Canada's top barbecue authorities - will serve as Master of Ceremonies for each competition.

"It's always inspiring to see the amazing dishes top chefs are able to cook up in the heat of competition. Each of the chefs showed a lot of creativity and knowledge to perform so well under such tight time constraints," said Reader.

The winners of each regional competition will move forward to semi-final rounds which will be held on Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 at The Royal in Toronto. The top two regional finishers and a top Toronto chef will vie for the title of Royal Chef Challenge Champion during a final round at The Royal on Saturday, November 15. Funding support for this program has been provided to The Royal by the Government of Ontario.

The remaining stops on The Road to The Royal Chef Challenge include:

• Great Northern Exhibition in Collingwood - Sunday, September 21
• Markham Fair - Sunday, October 5
• Norfolk Fair in Simcoe - Saturday, October 11

Regional competitions have already been held at the Peterborough Exhibition on Saturday, August 9 and the Barrie Fair on Saturday, August 23.

About The Royal:

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is the world's largest combined indoor agricultural and equestrian show.  This year, The 92nd Royal Agricultural Winter Fair runs November 7-16, 2014 in the Direct Energy Centre and Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. For competition schedules, live webcasting, results and to purchase tickets, please visit www.royalfair.org.

SOURCE: Royal Agricultural Winter Fair