Temple Street Productions and Shaw Media have a new Canadian competitive reality TV series in the works. Recipe to Riches, will give ordinary Canadians with extraordinary recipes a once-in-a-lifetime chance to exhibit their talent on TV — with the possibility of their recipe making it onto the shelves of select Loblaw Companies Limited (“Loblaw”) grocery stores across Canada.  The cross-country search for our nation’s best recipes begins in Halifax on February 5 and ends in Toronto on February 26th. Canadians are invited to participate in open calls at the following cities:

• Halifax: February 5,
• Vancouver: February 12,
• Montreal: February 19,
• Toronto: February 26.

They’re looking for Canada’s best recipes across seven different food categories ranging from appetizers to entrees, snacks to desserts. The winners of each category will receive a $25,000 cash prize and have their recipe developed into a President’s Choice® branded product available in select Loblaw grocery stores across the country. Canadians will vote for the best of the best among the category winners, and that winner will take home the grand prize of $250,000 – the largest cash prize in Canadian reality show history.

Participants will compete in one of seven culinary categories including:

• Appetizers
• Sweet & Savoury Snacks (including squares, bars, cookies, tarts, clusters, brittle and crisps)
• Cakes (including cheesecakes)
• Sweet Pies (including cobblers, crisps and crumbles)
• Savoury Pies (including shepherd’s pie, meat pies, pizza)
• Entrées (freezable)
• Frozen Treats (including ice cream, sorbet, gelato)

Interested? Register your audition city, date and time at www.recipetoriches.ca.  Details of the competition rules are also available on the website.

Note: Most Cuisine Canada members are ineligible, but the contest is open to culinary students and anyone falling outside the parameters of the following restrictions:

Applicant must not be a professional chef, caterer, food stylist or any other individual involved in the professional preparation of food or recipes (as determined by Producer in its sole discretion) or have entered into any contractual, commercial, sponsorship or other arrangement in respect of his/her name, likeness, image or biography that might prevent him/her from participating in the Competition and/or the Program, or the broadcast and promotion thereof.

Cuisine Canada's Best New Chefs -- Michael Carpino (left) and Luigi De Guzman (right) with author Naomi Duguid (centre).

After three whirlwind days of chopping, searing and plating alongside Canadian cookbook authors at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, two George Brown Chef School students have claimed the title of Cuisine Canada’s Best New Chefs, 2010.

While three teams managed to attain Gold level scores, Michael Carpino and Luigi De Guzman, two first-year apprenticeship students from Toronto’s St James Campus at George Brown Chef School, took top prize. With an impressive overall score of 79, they surpassed 11 other teams from four rival chef schools thanks to their consummate execution of Cumin-Coriander Beef with New Potatoes & Fresh Greens from Mangoes & Curry Leaves by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. In just 20 minutes they prepared and plated the Asian-inspired dish, all the while being judged on everything from their knife skills to audience rapport. Beyond looking good, the final dish also had to taste as the author intended.

Although the teams knew immediately whether they had earned a Gold, Silver, or Bronze score, Carpino and De Guzman didn’t know they had won until competition co-ordinators, Kelly Hughes and Gilian MacPherson of Cuisine Canada, made a trip to George Brown to present the very surprised winners with their trophy and prizes. The prizes included KitchenAid Stand Mixers courtesy of Whirlpool Canada and $100 gift cards from Nella Cucina. The Canada Can Cook! Silver Cup will spend the next 12 months at George Brown College. Come November 2011, who knows where it will reside.

Carla Maya and Ryan Schmelzer with their KitchenAids

Chef Instructor Kylie Garcelon of the Apprenticeship Program was on hand to congratulate her students and share in their success. “This was such a wonderful opportunity for the students,” Garcelon said. “We are so proud of Michael and Luigi and all the students who participated. The experience of cooking on stage is so valuable, and these guys did a great job.”

Carla Maya and Ryan Schmelzer, another George Brown team, earned a Gold standing but took second place with an overall score of 78 — a single point behind the winners. Third place went to the Stratford Chefs School team of Tina Manno and Andrew Poulsen for their Gold score of 75.

Andrew Poulson and Tina Manno earn Gold for Stratford Chefs School with Margaret Fraser (centre).

Culinary Spirit awards went to Georgian College’s Paulo Massimiliano and Mauricio Melendez, as well as  George Brown’s Iana Mologuina for their outstanding professionalism and exceptional teamwork during the competition.

In its inaugural year, Canada Can Cook! coincided with the Canadian Culinary Book Awards held at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Students from Stratford Chef School, George Brown Chef School, Georgian College, and Liaison College joined forces with nationally recognized cookbook authors for a uniquely Canadian competition. Authors on hand included Jeff Crump, David Sax, Ricki Heller, Margaret Fraser, Nathalie Cooke, Habeeb Salloum, Antoine Sicotte, Francois Marchand, Hugo Americi, Judy Eberspacher, and Greek Sisters Betty and Samantha Bakopoulos.

For more information, please contact Kelly Hughes, Stage Manager, Canada Can Cook!  mail@foodisgood.org

After The Canadian Culinary Book Awards speeches are over and the last of the reception food cleared away, things really start cooking at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Literally.

Cuisine Canada and the University of Guelph are pleased to present Canada Can Cook! at the Home and Entertainment Stage. Here, celebrity authors team up with students from Liaison College, Georgian College, Stratford Chefs School and George Brown College to prepare, cook and plate a dish from an award-winning Canadian cookbook. A panel of judges will keep score and decide who walks away with the title of Cuisine Canada’s Best New Chef 2010.

Want to know who’s cooking what? We’ve posted the schedule below. Want a copy? Print this: CanadaCanCookSchedule

Friday, November 5, 2010

3 p.m.     Celebrity Author Naomi Duguid with culinary student chefs from George Brown Chef School
Mangoes & Curry Leaves

4 p.m.     Celebrity Author Antoine Sicotte with culinary student chefs from George Brown Chef School
Le cuisinier Rebelle

5 p.m.     Celebrity Authors François Marchand and Jasmin Desharnais with culinary students from Liaison College – Kitchener Campus
Thé: Histoire, Terroirs, Saveurs

6 p.m.     Vancouver Celebrity and Author with culinary students from Liaison College – Kitchener Campus
Vancouver Cooks 2

Saturday, November 6

10 a.m.   Celebrity Author François Chartier
Papilles et Molécules: La science aromatique des aliments et des vins

11 a.m.    Celebrity Author Habeeb Salloum with culinary students from Liaison College – Oakville Campus
Arab Cooking from a Saskatchewan Homestead

12 p.m.    Celebrity Author David Sax with culinary students from Liaison College – Oakville Campus
Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of the Jewish Delicatessen

1 p.m.     Celebrity Authors Betty Bakopoulos with culinary students from Georgian College
Three Sisters Around The Greek Table

3 p.m.     Celebrity Author Judy Eberspaecher with culinary students from Georgian College
Totally Scallops: Not Just Another Cookbook

4 p.m.     Celebrity Author Jeff Crump with culinary student chefs from George Brown Chef School
Earth to Table

Sunday, November 7

10 a.m.   Celebrity Author Nathalie Cooke with culinary student chefs from George Brown Chef School
What’s To Eat?  Entrées in Canadian Food History

11 a.m.   Celebrity Author Marg Fraser with culinary students from Stratford Chef School
A Century of Canadian Home Cooking

12 p.m.     Celebrity Author Ricki Heller with culinary studentsfrom Stratford Chef School
Sweet Freedom: Desserts You’ll Love without Wheat, Eggs, Dairy or Refined Sugar

Take talented culinary students from all over Ontario, add award-winning cookbook authors, give them an array of fresh local ingredients, one recipe, and 30 minutes.  What have you got?  It’s Cuisine Canada’s first annual “Canada Can Cook!” (CCC!) student chef competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

On November 5th, 6th, and 7th, the Home and Entertainment Stage at the Royal will be the place to watch emerging student chefs as they compete for great prizes and the title of Cuisine Canada’s “Best New Chef,” as they prepare, cook and plate a recipe from a 2010 award-winning Canadian cookbook. Follow Canada Can Cook! on Twitter, and become a fan on our Facebook page for updates as we count down to the event.  The pressure will be on, and it’s going to get hot!

Stay tuned for more updates.

Canada Can Cook! is sponsored by: Agricultural Adaptation Council, CanolaInfo, Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Pork Marketing Canada, Beef Information Centre, Niagara College Teaching Winery, The Fairmont Royal York, Niagara College, Borealis Grille & Bar, George Brown Chef School, Georgian College, Liaison College, Rootham Gourmet Preserves, Harbinger Communications, Stratford Chefs School, and Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Kelly Hughes
Telephone: 519.760.1439
Email: mail@foodisgood.org

Better than burnt smores?

For many children summer camp meant hiking, canoeing, scraped knees and adventures. The postcards home were scribbled out of guilt and only when rained forced us indoors .

But the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver’s Summer Camp sends kids into the kitchen not the woods — rain or shine. Under the tutelage of Chef Barbara Finley, young would-be chefs  learn to navigate a kitchen, prepare meals and plan a healthy menu.

Parents might imagine their children returning home with expanded palates and able to help prepare dinner, but what did the kids think? Was it Hell’s Kitchen or The Best Summer Ever?

In the spirit of summer camp postcards, Amy Proulx asked some young campers to write about their adventures at cooking camp. Below are letters from two of the attendees. They gush about gnocchi, plan on profiteroles and even sing the praises of kitchen safety.

The kids are as remarkable as the program and its instructor.

Spencer baking bread at camp

Dear Chefs and Food Writers in Canada,

I’ve been busy at summer culinary camp, a course that teaches us children to cook like chefs.  This course is held in the Northwest Culinary Academy, a professional cooking school.  Chef Barbara Finley is the head chef and instructor.

Every day we have a three course menu that we prepare.  First, Chef Barb shows the class how to make the specific recipe.  We are then separated into groups.  Chef Barb selects people that attended the Northwest Culinary Academy as group leaders.  We are also taught about kitchen safety like how to handle a knife properly and other safety tips such as cleaning up a spill immediately or to never run in the kitchen.  Once we’re finished with one or two foods, there is a snack break with juice, water and fruits or vegetables.  Once we finish our last item on the menu everyone is happy because the end of the day is the time to eat what we make!

Personally, I think that the course is an amazing course because it really teaches you to be responsible around the kitchen.  The summer camp is also a great way to meet new people but the best part, I think, is the food.  We learn tons of amazing recipes and they all taste delicious.  When I finish the course I know I can make delicious food by myself and I definitely know I’ll be coming back.

Bye for now,
Spencer Louie, 11 years old

I’m having a great time at the Culinary Camp at Northwest Culinary Academy. We’ve been making a lot of amazing things that I never knew I could make. Everything we do is great fun and at the same time I’m learning a lot. For example, Gnocchi is amazingly simple. I always thought it would take hours upon hours to make it. The sauce we made for the Gnocchi was really simple too! I’m beginning to think that the Italians just want to make it seem difficult to make their food so that they can keep their secrets to themselves. But, we aren’t just doing Italian food, we’ve done some foods from all around the world.

The first day was all breakfast foods, like smoothies, scones, raspberry French toast… things of that sort. The other days we made recipes for a patio party, French food and the best BC has to offer. I’m really looking forward to making these things at home. I think I’ll start with the profiteroles. They were really good! And, not as difficult as you would think!

My favourite thing about this camp is that it really makes it easy to do it yourself. Even at home, I can make these wonderful concoctions with relative ease. Next time I see you, I’ll have a full, three course meal made for you. And, you’ll love it. Without a doubt. Hope to see you soon.

Kyle Jenkins, 14 years old

______________________________
Chef Barbara Finley is the chef-instructor for the Northwest Culinary Academy’s Summer Camp. She is also the director of the Project Chef Program, educating youth across the lower BC mainland about the wonders of cooking and eating fresh.

For more information about the programs, please contact the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver.

Photos © Leeanne Munn and published with permission. More photos of this camp can be found on Leeanne’s photostream.

Busy Food School students, from left to right, Beth Trinkwon, Bailie Armstrong, and Mercedes LeFrancois

There is one thing that all people need and that thing is food.  The Food School is a hospitality and tourism class for grades nine to twelve at Centre Wellington District High School in the rural town of Fergus Ontario.

The Food School has both single and double credit courses meaning that for students who wish to further expand their culinary skills they may do so by taking not one but two hospitality courses in their school year.

The overall greatness of the Food School is further enhanced by the fantastic teaching style of the head instructor, Mr. Christopher Jess who has several years of culinary experience.  This experience has given him a deep understanding and love of foods.  Having studied in both Alberta and California and having cooked in many restaurants around the world he is able to teach Food School students accurately and effectively.  Not only does he teach students how to cook foods but he also teaches us about where foods come from, beyond grocery store shelves.

Students of the Food School learned about local and seasonal foods and how to can and preserve them. As a part of this endeavour, food school students also took a break from the kitchen to venture outside to Greenfields Farm (an organic farm in the Ontario Green Belt) and to the nearby forest to forage, finding things such as fiddleheads and ramps.

From the ramps, Food School students made a ramp compound butter with not only a vibrant colour but a magnificent taste.  This is not however the only invention of the Food School.  There are several others such as our own brand of ice cream, an energy drink, and a wonderful spent grain bread made with grain byproduct from a local brewery.

The Food School is not limited to Canadian foods, though they are featured. International cuisines such as Thai and Indian are also a focus for students.  Anywhere from a week to a month was spent on each subcategory of foods that were studied.

The Food School goes beyond the classroom with Cater Wellington, the school’s catering service that does both buffet style and plated dinners for events selected by Mr. Jess and using local food from Wellington County, Ontario.  Events are usually in school but that is not always the case, in fact, one of the most successful Food School caterings was for a fundraiser for the school’s Amnesty and Environmental Clubs at the local community centre for the arts.

The Food School is a unique and exciting culinary experience that every student should have the chance to take part in.

For more information, check out www.foodschool.ca

Written by grade 10 student Mercedes LeFrancois of Elora, Ontario, and grade 11 student Bree Van Veen of Fergus, Ontario.