A Northern Ontario home cook is hoping to inspire people to take a chance.
Chris Mask, who is originally from Timmins and lives in Wahnapitae now, is the first winner of Food Network Canada's new show Wall of Chefs.
The series, which premiered Feb. 3, features four home cooks who prepare dishes for 12 notable Canadian chefs. One contestant is eliminated each round, with the winner taking home $10,000.
“We walked in basically with our eyes closed and we were told on the count of three you’re going to turn around and you’re going to see the wall,” recalled Mask.
The celebrity chef roster for Mask's episode included Mark McEwan and Susur Lee.
“Those two people right there, it blew my mind that they were even trying my food. It’s something very few people ever have an opportunity and experience to do, particularly as amateur home cooks like myself. To be feeding these culinary icons and having them critique your food and some of them legitimately impressed with what you’re putting out, unbelievable,” he said.
Contestants prepare three dishes for the show.
In first round, Mask made bison with bluecheese popcorn polenta and asparagus.
The popcorn polenta that Mask said blew a lot of people away, was actually served up in Timmins first.
“Polenta is basically just cornmeal, so popcorn is just part of the same family," he explained. "The credit really goes to one of my Master Chef Canada alumni Kyle McKenna, who when I was trying to come up with ideas for...Taste of the North up in Timmins he had suggested making popcorn polenta. The first year I did Taste of the North, the shortribs I served were on popcorn polenta."
In the second round, the home cooks prepped a meal with three ingredients found in McEwan's fridge - leeks, ricotta cheese and sriracha. Mask's dish for that round was a bacon, leek and tomato sandwich with sriracha ricotta spread.
The hardest round, he said, was the final one, when they were tasked with making an elevated lobster dish.
"Living in Northern Ontario it’s not like we really have direct access to a lot fresh seafood,” he said.
He impressed the judges with the "finicky little protein to cook", though.
“I think that what paid off for me more than anything was that fact that, again, I thought outside the box...I mean who coats lobster in breakfast cereal and coconut and then deep fries it,” he said.
This isn't Mask's first appearance on a cooking competition TV show.
He was a contestant on the second season of Master Chef Canada.
A competitive spirit and desire to learn drove him to apply for the new production from an online ad.
“Everything opens doors and I have to give credit... to the whole Master Chef experience because that’s what really gave me the confidence to be able to explore this little hobby of mine. People often ask why don’t you open a restaurant, and I always tell them that the day the hobby becomes a job it’s no longer a hobby,” he said.
He also hopes the show will inspire other people to take a chance.
"If it can just turn one person from a road of self destruction into a chance to change things, why wouldn’t you take the chance? Everybody thinks that coming from Northern Ontario we’re just nothing but hockey players, but there’s so much talent out there. People just have to find the inspiration and sometimes just get the little push and the courage to actually follow those dreams and goals,” he said.
With the $10,000 prize in his pocket, Mask is still deciding how to spend it.
“I don’t know if I want to be responsible or if I just want to have a little bit of fun,” he said, hinting there may be a road trip to a barbecue school in the US in the spring.
