In the prior three years of Manor Grove's "Soup's On" competition, Canyon Cafe entered its Chicken Poblano Chowder and medaled in 5 out of 6 opportunities. Last Sunday, at the 4th Annual event, the same soup took the Gold Ladle in both the Judge's and the People's Choice categories, an unprecedented double first-place win, making it a 7-time winner.
How can a soup beat out from 25 to 30 other soups consistently, year after year? Part of the secret (for the judges, anyway) lies in the judging criteria: soups are judged on taste, texture, finish, aroma, and presentation. Where many soups excelled in the first two, few scored well on the final two. The Poblano Chicken Chowder? It's solid across all five parameters.
The results of the 2011 competition are as follows:
Judge's Awards:
Gold Ladle: Canyon Cafe: Poblano Chicken Chowder
Silver Ladle: TIE Corner Pub: Drunken Potato and Russell's Cafe & Bakery: Chicken Pot Pie
Bronze Ladle: Frazer's: Chicken & Mushroom
People's Choice Awards:
Gold Ladle: Canyon Cafe: Poblano Chicken Chowder
Silver Ladle: Corner Pub: Drunken Potato
Bronze Ladle: South Technical High School Culinary Program: Triple Berry and White Chocolate Swirl
The results of the 2009 and 2010 competition, plus Relish's commentary, are here and here.
An afterthought: Having placed in all four years of this competition--and especially with this year's superlative finish--it might be time to retire that chowder. Last year, I suggested that Canyon try their hand at the ultimate people's choice soup, Chicken Noodle. I hereby repeat that challenge this year.
