Kristen Thibeault Wins 11th annual S.Pellegrino
Almost Famous Chef 2013
S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Winner Kristen Thibeault (46)
Raking in a one-year paid apprenticeship with one of the chef judges of the S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef finals competition along with the winnings of $13,000 for her winning signature dish, Kristen Thibeault (46) was stunned with her win.
“I can’t even believe it happened with the many other talented chefs here,” said Thibeault. “Now, I want to continue becoming the best chef I can be, be an amazing spokesperson and just further my culinary career.”
Thibeault claimed the 11th Annual S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef title with her signature dish Porcini Crusted Vegan “Sweetbreads”. <<<<<I linked the recipe via google docs because it’s a LOOOOOONG ONE! We have previously featured the competition in our Top 3 Reality Cooking Competitions Shows Videos
Porcini Crusted Vegan Sweetbreads, Kristin Thibeault’s winning S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef dish
Thibeault’s signature dish, Porcini Crusted Vegan Sweetbreads consists of a Celeriac puree base, layered with a mushroom ragout, topped with seitan, garnished with a pinch of celeriac apple salad and petite heart leaf, with frito misto scattered adjacent to puree, topped with a drizzle of ragout sauce and apple gastrique, and finished with random small fennel fronds.
According to Chef Tony Mantuano , spokesperson for the S.Pellegrino competition and owner/chef of Spiaggia:
She wanted to be the first to win with a plant based cuisine to win this competion, but didn’t win it because of that..She won it because of her bold flavors, the fact that she kind of duplicated the idea of sweetbread by using Chinese 5 spice and there was a bit of a crunch. But the mushrooms..the mushrooms really won it. There was a lot of depth in those mushrooms. The whole dish just came together.
Kristen is a a double mastectomy cancer survivor, adoptive mother, wife, 46 year old woman who started her Le Cordon Bleu training a mere 5 years ago. Her culinary point of view is a farm to table style focusing on locally sourced and seasonally inspired plant-based cuisine.
Watch the Video to see Kristen’s Winning Annoucement and her reaction to her win!
What an inspirational Woman over 45!!
How awesome for her and what a great competition! Cordon Bleu day is today, and I learned it means blue ribbon. She definitley is a blue ribbon person, and her dish sounded blue ribbon. I can’t even imagine trying pronounce the whole description much less make it. My cooking style is more on the simple side but good for her. Sounds like she really puts thought into her creations. Can you imagine being a judge at one of these food competitions?! 🙂
I doubt it. I cook less and less now.
I usually use cooking to relax/meditate and thus work at a slower pace, but every now and then I’m juggling three or four things at once or I’m trying to meet a certain sit-down time, and my other half starts making jokes about “in the Top Chef kitchen….” I don’t prefer to work at a frenetic pace, but it is sometimes fun to see what I can quickly pull off when I need to! (But the kitchen is generally a lot messier those times as well….not because I spill but because there are empties everywhere whereas when I’m going slower, they end up in the sink as I go along! It just looks like a tornado passed through, which I guess is an apt description!
I get that description as a blogger Jennifer. When I am preparing for a photo shoot, you’d swear a whirlwind went through. Shelley
good for her that is awesome what a inspiration
This was so inspiring to read and watch the video. Christine will go far.
in her career! I will have to let my grandson watch this video and read your post. His dream is to become a Famous chef and open his own restaurant! He has been a top notch server since he was 15 he is 20 now and loves it!! Thank you Shelly for Sharing this with us..
You are welcome Cathy. Shelley
Oh man!! I wish I had the patience to be a cook!! Some of these dishes sound absolutely amazing!!
Congratulations to you Kristen. Sometimes we find our try calling later in life. I would love to try her Porcini Crusted Vegan Sweetbreads . Tho I could never be able to make it – to costly for my limited income. Love my food – go for it Kristen.
I think this is awesome. It is never too late. Thank you for sharing with us.
Wow. An inspiration. So, it’s never too late, huh?
That would be a long road for me…since I just barely know how to do plain cooking.
It is pretty neat that she won it. Women our age can do anything…if we WANT to.
You can’t imagine how complicated this recipe was..but it did look like it tasted delicious!