Saskatoon chef takes prairie duck to international chef contest

A Saskatoon chef will prepare a "prairie duck" dish inspired by the Saskatchewan landscape when he competesin an international chef competition in Toronto tonight.

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Delta Bessborough hotel sous chef Steve Squier spent four hours in the kitchen yesterday preparing for the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 competition, which will be judged by a panel of seven popular chefs.

His dish, entitled Prairie Woodland Slow-Cooked Duck,aims to showcase ingredients from Saskatchewan.

"It's a duck breast which has been cured with juniper and spruce, and then Isous vide that for two hours and I cook it at a really low temperature," said Squier.

"Then I finish it with a birch syrup glaze, which is infused with some sour cherries from my chef's family farm."

Toasted farrograin, pickled mustard andmorel mushrooms will also feature in the dish.

Squier, who is originally from northwest Ontario, said hewas inspired to make the dish when he first moved to Saskatchewan and drove to Waskesiu,about 450 kilometres north of Regina.

"Being in the forest is natural to me, so that little area where the grasslands and the forest meet is a very special area for me, it really made me feel at home," he said.

"I think it's a very interesting area that provides us with so many interesting ingredients."

The young chef, who started his kitchen career as a dish washer, said he fell in love with the chef'slifestyle and decidedto "take it all the way."

If he is successful at tonight's competition, Squierwill be one of 20 finalists travelling to Milan to compete for the grand prize in October.

Today, hefaces a long day waiting for thecookingto start at 7 p.m.

"I had a great day in the kitchen yesterday and I'm feeling good about everything, and everything is turning out exactly how I want it, so that's all I can really hope for," he said.