Recipe to Riches season two: and the winner is...

Last night on Recipe to Riches, the seven finalists gathered for the first time to find out who’d be bestowed with the grand prize of $250,000 and the honour of having their concoction added to that “prestigious line of President’s Choice products.”  We won’t lie, we had our favourite: Tracy Rigden with her Salt-Kissed Dulce de Leche Brownie. But just as in our unofficial poll, Canada didn’t see it that way—indeed, Rigden didn’t even place in the top three. After a series of ever-more-stressful head-to-head eliminations, host Jesse Palmer opened the final envelope and announced that Brampton’s Rick Matharu, who created the culinarily promiscuous Butter Chicken Lasagna, was this season’s winner. And in retrospect, we really can’t argue with the pick. His lasagna was arguably the most inventive dish, and it actually tasted like good butter chicken, winning us over despite our initial skepticism. Last year, Palmer ended the show by letting the audience know that another round of auditions was just around the corner, but this year he just said goodnight. Could that mean season three is not forthcoming? Somehow, we doubt it: the show’s unique combination of reality TV and marketing stunts is just too much synergy to pass up.