Food writers have a way with words, but can they cook? Some of us were put to the test recently when the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto challenged members of the media to take part in its first chowder contest. The event was held to introduce the hotel's new executive chef, Robert Bartley.

The hotel provided a range of ingredients and divided us into teams. Celebrity "cooks" included James Chatto, my co-author on A Matter of Taste, Chris Nuttall-Smith, food editor of Toronto Life, Heather Hiscox of the CBC News morning show and Rosanna Caira, the publisher of Food Service and Hospitality. (My role was to "coach" Chatto's team.) Canada AM host Seamus O'Regan, a native Newfoundlander who knows his chowder, was one of the judges.

This was the winning recipe. Created by a team that included Anita Mazic of CITY-TV's Cityline and the Toronto Star's Marc Atchison, it reminded us of the kind of chowder you might enjoy on the pier in San Francisco. The name was chosen because the chowder is served in a bowl fashioned from sourdough bread.

You could use about 2 cups of chopped canned clams, but we preferred using fresh.

½cup salt pork or bacon, diced

2 tablespoons bourbon or rye whisky

½ cup diced onions

¼cup leeks, washed and sliced

¼cup minced shallots

2 bay leaves

3 cups peeled and diced potatoes

2 cups clam juice

2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

3 pounds fresh clams, preferably smaller ones

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning, optional

1½ teaspoons ground fennel seed

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons milk

Freshly ground pepper

2 cups cooked lobster, diced

Sourdough bread bowls

Sauté salt pork in a large pot over medium heat for 3 minutes or until slightly browned. Deglaze pot using bourbon or rye, scraping up any little pieces. Add onions, leeks and shallots and sauté for 2 minutes until softened.

Add bay leaves, potatoes, clam juice and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until potatoes are just cooked.

Add clams and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until shells have opened. Remove clams from pot, remove from shells and reserve clams. Add cream, Old Bay, fennel seed and bring to boil.

Whisk together flour and milk until thick. Add to soup, whisking continuously until soup returns to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes to remove floury taste. Season with pepper.

Return clams to pot along with precooked lobster meat just before serving and ladle into bread bowls. Serves 4 to 6.