Saskatoon puts cherry on top of annual food festival

The Taste of Saskatchewan food festival wrapped up Sunday night.

Kiwanis Park was filled with vendors from Saskatoon restaurants.

It also hosted the Chef’s Series, a cooking competition.

Chris Corkum, the chef at Aroma in downtown Saskatoon, made it to the semi-finals.

He said the festival and the contest are important to local culinary enthusiasts.

“The more local, independent people involved, the better. It’s a great marker for our city and where we’re at with our food scene,” he said.

He thinks chefs have a lot to gain from entering.

“The fact that it’s in a black-box format, so you don’t know what you’re doing until you’re doing it … it’s a really great test of a chef’s abilities,” he said.

“It’s a great gauge of where you’re at in your skills, and a great way to get out in the community.”

Corkum said running a kitchen is usually a stressful experience, but the contest brings it to another level.

“Comparing to a busy service in a restaurant, there’s a pace to it, there’s a rhythm to it,” he said.

“But when you get up there on stage and you’ve only got 45 minutes or an hour, and you’re running full tilt for an hour, it’s quite a difference in how I feel after.”

However, he said he enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes from that type of pressure.

Taste of Saskatchewan is an annual event. This year, it ran from July 16 to July 21.