High school students went plate-to-plate in a culinary competition in Cambridge. The Regional Preliminary Skills Competition is part of a provincial initiative encouraging students to get involved in the skilled trades. Four students put their skills in the kitchen to a taste test. Two of the students had a bit of an edge as both attend Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School, where Thursday’s competition was held. “I’ve been cooking since Grade 9 because I got opened to that gateway,” said Nolan Ezekiel, a Grade 12 student at Monsignor Doyle. “I’ve loved it ever since.” Some of them already have experience in the industry. “I’m going to continue working at Wildcraft for the foreseeable future,” said Hunter Ball, a fifth-year student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute. “Then I’m going to Conestoga College this September.” For another participant, it was a chance to improve her skills. “I really want to learn how to cook, that’s really important to me,” explained Savitha Thasan, a Grade 11 student at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School. “I also had issues [with food]. I didn’t want to handle meat. I didn’t like the texture. I got over that taking this course.” Food safety was also part of the program. “I have a peanut allergy, so it’s been pretty hard going to restaurants and trying to check to see the ingredients in the food,” said John James Erickson, a Grade 12 student at Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School. “I just fell in love with cooking as soon as I could.” The culinary competition is not just personally challenging but helps the students step outside their comfort zone. “This year [they are making] chicken chasseur,” said hospitality teacher Grace Lastella. “It’s a French classic, a traditional dish. It will showcase many technical skills: precision touch, fabrication of chicken and obviously flavour building.” For dessert, they served apple tarte tatin. “We started off with all the precision cuts, then it went right into fabrication of chicken,” Lastella explained. “Once that’s completed, it is judged by our professional community chefs.” Besides taste, they were looking for confidence from the mini-chefs. “Know your skills, know what you’re doing,” said Brian Sousa, who works as an executive chef at Whistle Bear Golf Course. “Also follow the recipe, understand it, study it and just apply.” It was a full circle moment for one of the judges. “I used to go to school many moons ago at Monsignor Doyle High School,” said Peter Mariano, who is now a food service manager at Conrad Grebel University College. “My kids now go there,” he added. The competitors that come out on top will get the chance to go to the regionals next month. The winners of that will then battle it out at the provincials in May. For organizers of the Cambridge competition, it’s satisfying to see the students achieve their goals. “To see pride on their faces and knowing that they’ve gone to this level, to potentially compete and move forward and be successful means so much,” Lastella said.
