[1]The team from St. Peter’s High School in Peterborough accepts the trophy after winning the Junior Iron Chef competition at Loyalist on the weekend. Photo by Matthew Blair
By Matthew Blair
BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College was home to many cooks on Saturday as high-school students from Peterborough, Picton and Kingston competed to be crowned Junior Iron Chef champions.
The students worked in teams of four to produce three dishes plus a dessert within a set time. They were judged on a number of categories, such as how the food tasted, their professionalism in the kitchen and the presentation of the food.
St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough took home first place for the second year in a row. The St. Peter’s team produced a deep-fried pancetta ring, garlic mashed potatoes and spiced pork tenderloin. For dessert the students made a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla cream, mango salsa and caramel sauce.
“We’ve been training quite awhile for this,” said Montana Scott of the St. Peter’s team. “The fact that we have been putting so much time into this and seeing all the blood, all the sweat, all the tears, and it all coming together for something – it means a lot to us.”
After the winners were declared, the excited members of the St. Peter’s team talked about their efforts:
Prince Edward Collegiate Institute in Picton was awarded second place, while Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Kingston won third. A $500 bursary that can be used for any program at Loyalist College was awarded to each member of the winning team. Second- and third-place winners received $300 and $200 bursaries respectively.
John Schneeberger, co-ordinator of Loyalist’s culinary programs, said this year’s competitors were impressive.
“Each of the teams were up in the 90s (in their marks) this year, and that’s quite remarkable,” he said. The teams deserve a lot of credit for the hard work they put into the competition, he added.
Catherine Rose, who runs the culinary program at St. Peter’s, said the Junior Iron Chef competition is her main priority.
“As cooks, (the competition) tells them that they’re valuable … (it) just reaffirms with these students that they’re on the right track.”
The students put a tremendous amount of effort into getting to where they are, Rose said.
“It’s a lot, a lot, a lot of work to get here – hours and hours. Three months of two to three long practices a week.”
Here’s what Rose had to say:
The Junior Iron Chef competition was part of the college’s annual Food and Beverage Show, held in the Loyalist dining hall. A good crowd was on hand to enjoy the show, as vendors and Loyalist students put on demonstrations and food tastings.
Here are some of the vendors:
Kassy Shouldice and Melissa Toonders, second-year Culinary Management students at Loyalist, were showing off their skills at cake baking. Toonders said that she and Shouldice spent a long time perfecting a cake, which was later raffled off.
Here are Shouldice and Toonders working hard on the cake:
“We probably put in about 20 hours. We started the cake about two weeks ago.” Toonders added that it was a big accomplishment to be a part of the Food and Beverage Show.
Shouldice added: “After all the stress that we have gone through, at the end of the day it feels amazing … what we have been able to do.”