Toronto, Canada, February 20, 2007 – Brilliance and artistry were featured prominently in the second-annual USA Rice Black Box Challenge presented at this year’s Canadian Food and Beverage Show. From February 18th to 20th, four student and four professional chef teams created rice-based feasts for the eyes and palate as they faced off in head-to-head competition.

The teams were given 90 minutes to plan, prepare and plate four dishes of a single main course from the ingredients held in the black box. For each competition the box contained a type of U.S. grown rice, a protein, select vegetables and flavouring agents. The chefs had to use a portion of all the ingredients with rice being a significant and visible part of each plate presented and all components on each plate were to be edible.

For the student finals, Carolina Van Beek and Sebastian Perez of Toronto’s Liaison College cooked their way to victory over fellow students Daniel Lipton and Veronica Mar also of Liaison College. Presented with veal tenderloin, US medium grain white rice, fresh shiitake mushrooms, dry porcini mushrooms, red wine, Grana Padano cheese, asparagus, rosemary and California Walnuts, Van Beek and Perez created a savory rice pudding topped with a mushroom ragout that accompanied a walnut, garlic and rosemary crusted veal medallion.

"I wanted to do something with rice to take it to the next level and given our ingredients, I thought of creating a simple savory rice pudding to complement the richness of the mushrooms," said Van Beek.

In the professional category, Chef Mark Jachecki, Executive Chef at Presidential Gourmet Fine Catering went head-to-head with Chef Sean Simons of MEATing

Restaurant in Toronto. Both chefs were presented with a black box including, duck breast, USA long grain brown rice, blueberries, pomegranate molasses, Swiss chard, arugula, pears, thyme, cinnamon and red wine. Jachecki and Sous Chef Peter Tsang took top honours with an innovative dish using rice in a variety of techniques. The brown rice was cooked in a turmeric cream and used as a base for the dish. The duck was also crusted with toasted and ground brown rice, with the leftover toasted rice incorporated into a duck tartar, which was served as an accompaniment. Also, sautéed pear was pureed with brown rice to create a thick coulis to top the duck.

"My focus was to use rice in as many components as I could, I don’t think I’ve ever used rice in so many versatile ways,” said Jachecki.

The winning student team received a trophy and $1,000 and the professional victor received $2,000 along with their trophy.

Judging for the competitions was provided by representatives of the foodservice and consumer food media alongside members of the USA Rice Federation and United States Department of Agriculture.

The overall competition successfully showcased the ease, beauty and versatility of using rice in foodservice to the gathered audiences from the estimated 10,000 industry professionals that took in the trade show.

If looking for more variety in the professional or home kitchen, US rice can deliver. For further information, recipes, preparation methods, storage tips and nutritional information, please visit the USA Rice Federation’s fully bilingual web site at www.riceinfo.com.

For further information please contact:
Jason Chennette
Faye Clack Communication
905-206-0577 ext. 243
jchennette@fayeclack.com