2024 Cooks the Books Presented by Canada Beef Host Kyle Crawford!

Kyle Crawford is part of the Gusto Worldwide Media family, starring in the groundbreaking show “The Wizard of Sauce” which aired in 2023, and “The Wizard of Whatever” scheduled to air later this year, both exclusively on Gusto TV. Kyle dazzles with 5-star dishes while holding forth on pop culture, fashion, lifestyle, travel and music. He continues to make waves in the food entertainment industry while developing recipes and creating content for food-based businesses. 

Kyle is sure to bring the heat to this exciting student competition as he enchants guests with play-by-play commentary, live student interviews, and shares the judges’ impressions all night long! ⁠

Taste Canada: What was your inspiration to pursue a career in the food industry? 

I always knew I wasn’t a desk man. Working with my hands, making something out of nothing, creating, and crafting are all aspects of work that are important for me to enjoy what I’m doing. At a young age I realized that cooking was an amalgamation of everything that I love. Watching Food TV from the time I was old enough to spread butter on toast made me realize that there is a strong element of storytelling, personal connection, and even theatrics that can assist a career in the food industry, which lead me to pursue my dreams as Chef TV Host.

Taste Canada: You host The Wizard of Sauce for Gusto TV. What’s your favorite sauce to make and tell us a bit about why it’s important for our competing students to master making a variety of sauces.

My favourite sauce to make is a red wine reduction. It can be simple or complex, but it will always add that “restaurant quality” essence to a dish. 

When it comes to mastering a variety of sauces it’s so important to know your layers of flavour inside and out. Knowing which ingredients bring what characteristic to your sauce will not only help you understand the current sauce you’re working on, but arm you with transferable knowledge for sauces to come. While learning, experimenting, or developing sauces, be sure to taste as you go. ladle small amounts of sauce at different stages into small ramekins. add rosemary to one, thyme to another. Lime to one, lemon to another. Take the time to note both the nuances, and bold obvious differences in flavour. 

Taste Canada: Tell us about your most memorable moment in the kitchen, either professionally or personally. 

One of my favourite cooking moments comes from my memories cooking as a teenager. After visiting a steakhouse with my family, I tried to recreate the derby-style steak I had just tasted the night before. Knowing nothing about balancing flavour at the tender age of 14, the only flavour I could identify was salt, so I decided the best approach was to marinate steaks in soy sauce, salt, worcestershire, and anything else brown with a high sodium index that I could find in the cupboard. Surely, this would achieve what I was looking for. Needless to say, the steaks I had marinated and grilled for my family ended up tasting like salt licks fit for a prize-winning steed. My family, as supportive in my creative cooking as ever, ate the steaks and commented that they “weren’t too bad”.

Taste Canada: Why are you excited to host the 2024 Cooks the Books student cooking competition presented by Canada Beef?

I’m excited to host the student cooking competition because there is nothing more thrilling than the environment of cooking for sport. The passion and energy that comes out of us chefs when our reputation is on the line ends up translating into pure and utter showmanship without us even knowing it. To be at the center of all this energy our students are going to exert is going to be an experience like no other.

Taste Canada: If you could cook with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why? 

I would love to cook with Andy Baragahni, mostly just to give me a break from being the most handsome man in the kitchen (kidding lol!). In all seriousness, I love his approach to food. Andy keeps food very casual but keeps a theme of nonchalant elegance or refinement that really inspires me, and I feel like we could have a really great time cooking together.

Taste Canada: What are some of your favourite Canadian ingredients to work with? 

I’m a born and bred Nova Scotian, so I adore the opportunity to work with fresh Atlantic seafood, particularly Digby Scallops. 

Taste Canada: As a food stylist, why is this an important culinary skill and do you have any tips for our competing students to keep in mind when plating their masterpiece? 

It’s often said that we eat with our eyes first. Taking the time and effort to thoughtfully compose a plate is what will show the person you’re feeding that you maximized your craft in that moment, on the plate, just for them. 

Keep in mind that we are in a visual era now more than ever. A photo of your work can show people around the world how skilled you are, a beautifully plated culinary creation has the potential to catch the attention of many.

There are two things I teach first when learning to elevate plating. First is negative space. Placing each element of your dish on the plate with negative space between allows room for the next element to shine alongside it. Secondly, and even more important, is to not hide or cover up the star or your dish. If you have a gorgeous sear on a stunning filet of halibut, pool the beurre blanc on the bottom of the plate instead of draping it over the fish and hiding that sear. 

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Join us for the 2024 Taste Canada Cooks the Books Student Cooking Competition presented by Canada Beef on October 20th, 2024 at Cirillo’s Academy!

Get your tickets today!

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