Recipe to Riches Season Three: And the winner is…

In the season-three finale of Recipe to Riches, the Loblaws-frequenting public revealed an unsurprising predilection for deep-fried carbs. On last night’s final episode, all five contestants returned to find out which product the voting public had chosen to reward with $250,000 and semi-permanent shelf space in participating Loblaws freezer aisles. The contenders, in case anyone needs a refresher, were Jesse Meredith’s Mini Raspberry Cheesecake Chocolate Cups, Winslow Taylor’s Jammin’ Jamaican Lobster Bisque, Alcide Desveaux’s Grandpa’s Acadian Meat Pie, Elisa Hendrick’s Italian Lollipops and Cyra Belbin’s Mexi Mac ‘n’ Cheese Bites. After a tense-ish hour of eliminations, the mac ‘n’ cheese bites were crowned the winning dish.

Unlike last year, public opinion seemed fairly consistent with our own in-house ratings, which ranked Cyra’s crunchy mac balls at the top of the heap. The general social-media response, however, has been dominated by a hard-core fringe contingent of Grandpa Alcide supporters, some of whom really liked his flaked-pork pie, and others who were just overpowered by how sweet a grandpa he seems to be. We totally relate.

@RecipetoRiches Can we still buy the meat pies?!?? :(

— Dyl (@DylanIves666) April 3, 2014

There's a lot to love about Alcide. His warmth shines through. #RecipetoRiches

— Mara Shapiro (@ChickyMara) April 3, 2014

#recipetoriches alcide has to win! He is adorable! He makes me cry!

— Jeannie V.Tukkiapik (@Yinivee) April 3, 2014

For those whose favourite didn’t make the cut, hoarding is an option: according to our sources, all the products will remain on store shelves for at least a little while.