Seasoned Stars: We Chatted With The Foodies Competing In Top Chef Canada Season 12

Top Chef Canada is back—and so are the chefs. Ahead of Season 12 (premieres October 14 on Flavour Network), we’re rolling out a fall Q&A series with the competing cooks who’ll be battling it out this season. Each chef will share one can’t-miss recipe or answer a single sharp kitchen question so you can steal their best tricks and taste a bit of what’s to come. Tune in for insider tips, autumn-ready dishes, and plenty of culinary bravado. —Noa Nichol

Chef Nick Maharaj

What single moment — a dish tasted, a kitchen experience, or a failure — pushed you to become a chef, and how did it change you?

It’s more the continued pursuit of moments rather than a single moment. It’s the only thing that keeps my mental attention. I love the moments when you have an idea, take all the steps and care seeing it through and the final result is something special. It’s rewarding, kind of like a high. For example, Discovering a new vegetable varietal one of the farms just grew this year because they thought it would be tasty or fun. Letting the mind run, playing around with that and using it in the context of a well crafted dish through a collection of past experience and learned techniques… or something you just thought of that you have an inkling might just be the move for this particular application.. and it works out just as good or better than you anticipated, it’s addicting and just adds fuel to continue to do that again and again. On the other hand, if it doesn’t work out, the fuel to make it work out or trying something else is equally as powerful.

As a contestant vying for the Top Chef Canada title, what do you think sets you apart from the other chefs, and how will you translate that strength into a winning strategy in the competition?

I have a pretty open mind, a wide  library of flavours and techniques. My background is all over so I will have a lot of areas to draw from and I’m pretty adaptable to most situations. Hoping for the best. 

Tell me about the biggest mistake you’ve made in the kitchen that actually altered your cooking forever — what did you learn and how do you cook differently now?

I can’t think of any one  big mistake that stands out. I’ve messed up for sure but I’ve always had the curiosity and the care to listen and try my best the first time to get things right and if failure ensued anyway, solving the problem becomes an objective. You just troubleshoot, find out why it happened and try a different approach. There is always an answer, you just have to find it. That being said, one time I was working at a restaurant and there was dish where we heated up lightly poached and shelled mussels in a sauce we made to order with the mussel laquer and cold smoked butter. I would very often split it and I don’t know why. I tried a lot of things. Ratios, temperatures etc.. I know how to make a butter sauce well, I’ve made countless before and after this with no issues. It was years ago but I still think about it often and I’m still mad about it because I don’t understand why.

What’s one stubborn belief or non-negotiable you hold about food (technique, ingredient, or hospitality) that would surprise most diners?
Chefs take a lot of credit for the care and work of farmers. You could to the exact same recipe but If you have great carrots, your puree will be better. If you have great tomatoes, your salad or sauce will be better. If you’re getting pigs from the farmer 45 minutes out of town who knows how to raise them, your pork belly dish will be better.

A chef is nothing without a team. You need to have good people that roll with you to help you execute your vision and keep things running. You can’t do everything. Having the right people with you is paramount.

Lab grown meat will ruin dining.

Please share a special recipe: one signature dish you love to make (restaurant or home), with step-by-step instructions and any pro tips or shortcuts to get it exactly right. 

BONE MARROW PORCINI JUS

Funny story about this recipe … I have a tasty miso sauce I use for our rice and pickle bowl at lunch.  One night, I was at the very end of service running dangerously low on bordelaise for the steak dish at the time, order gets punched in 25 minutes to close so I had to improvise. I pan seared the steak, basted with butter, garlic and thyme as usual, take the steak out of the pan, add in the miso sauce to emulsify with the steaky brown butter and reduce a bit and oh my god, it’s been on the menu ever since. It’s umami, salty, deep, rich, a little sweet and the flavour development is something that tastes like it was cooked for hours. It uses a pretty heavy Japanese pantry but the outcome is something a lot different. It is great with almost anything. Vegetables and meats. I use it as a steak sauce mostly. It’s also abused for staff meals because it’s so good with rice. 

Notes: you can use shiitake broth instead of porcini. you can even use water, any other stock or flavoured liquid. You could play around with the fat as well. I’ve used foie gras to finish and that’s nice. I use gluten free kikoman soy at the restaurant to be inclusive to allergies and intolerances. Different soy sauces will have fairly different salt contents and flavor so keep that in mind while reducing if you’re using a different brand. Xanthan gum can be left out if you don’t have it, it will just result in better emulsification and final mouth feel. Bobs red mill xanthan gum is available at most grocery stores. A bag is about $13 and will last a lifetime for home use.

Here is the recipe and its original vegan counter part.

Porcini bone marrow jus:

• 90g white miso 
• 60g soy sauce (I use gf kikoman)
• 200g porcini broth ( or shiitake broth)
• 60g mirin
• 70g sugar 
• 50g rice vinegar
• 6g msg
• 1g xanthan gum
• 30g butter
• 25g beef fat (or rendered bone marrow)
• 20g  whole crushed garlic cloves (about 5 medium cloves)
• Hand full of thyme (10 grams, 15-20 sprigs, or otherwise just a hefty amount)

– Heat up porcini stock in a small pot until it reaches a boil. Turn off immediately and add soy, miso, mirin, sugar, msg, rice vinegar and xanthan gum. Blend with a hand blender for atleast a minute until everything is good and emulsified (or transfer to a blender jug and do the same), set aside.

– add butter to a small sauce pan, turn on medium low and allow to brown. It will smell nutty, turn colour and you’ll see little bits of caramelized solids when it’s reached that point. Immediately throw in garlic and thyme. This is will mediate the temperature to stop from burning the butter, infuse the thyme and lightly colour the garlic. Keep it moving with spoon for about 10 seconds, then add beef fat. Continue move around until beef fat melted, then add the miso sauce. It will bubble at first then settle. 

– keeping on medium heat, allow to reduce by about 10-15% volume. There will be a point where it gets too salty so just taste it as you go. 

– pass through a fine strainer to get out the garlic and thyme bits and that’s a wrap. Use on everything. 

Vegan miso sauce:

• 90g white miso 
• 60g gf soy
• 200g shiitake broth
• 60g mirin 
• 70g sugar 
• 50g rice vinegar 
• 50g neutral oil
• 6g MSG
• 5g microplaned garlic 
• 8g microplaned ginger
• .5g xanthan gum

– Heat shiitake broth, combine with remaining ingredients and blend. Done. No cooking required. I only heat the broth because it helps everything come together better. Just heat up before using. You can reduce it to concentrate flavour. Eat with rice. Pictured: Wagyu bavette with porcini bone marrow jus, puntarelle and carrot puree