News
Fleming College Culinary Students Prepare For Competition
Cast Iron Chef Competition for Local High School Students
Good Eats at Fleming
CLIFFORD SKARSTEDT Examiner
Mouth-watering aromas from the cuisines of eight different countries wafted out of Fleming College last night as culinary students presented the Dream International Culinary Festival.
"All I can say is, delicious," said guest Ellisa James, after finishing her bite-size tiramisu at the Italian station. "That was the best tiramisu I’ve ever had.
"Moving on to Ireland now." College president Tony Tilly said all proceeds raised from the 12th annual event will go toward student bursaries and scholarships for culinary students.
"People just move around to the different stations and sample the different cultures and different cuisines," Tilly said at the German station. "Our culinary students put so much work into this."
The countries represented were France, Thailand, Italy, Hawaii, Japan, Turkey, Germany and Ireland.
Chef and instructor Casey van den Heuvel said the students have been preparing for the gala party since January.
"The students have researched the recipes, modified them, tested them and are now presenting them to the public," he said. "It’s all about student learning."
At the Thailand booth, student chef Amanda Martin, 19, was serving up a traditional Thai dessert, banana leaf wrapped rice triangles.
"I got the recipe for this when I went to Thailand for three weeks just before reading week this year," said the second-year culinary management student.
"We really wanted to bring that authentic flavour to the festival."
Over at the French station, Beverly Pearson, 45, who went back went back to school after years of being a stay-at-home mom, is in her first semester at in the chef training course.
"It’s such a great course. You really get a grounding in all the basics the first year," she said. "I’m part of the over-40 group."
Samantha Foster, 19, a first-year student at the Italian station, said the experience of working on the culinary festival prepares the students for a professional kitchen.
"It’s organized chaos in the kitchen right now," she said. "It’s a great experience."
Many of the guests tasting the savory samples had little to say except moans of pleasure.
"Awesome. I love it all," said city police Chief Murray Rodd and Fleming board chairman, who highly recommended the roasted pork with soy honey and a pineapple glaze at the Hawaiian station.
"They should do this every week."
Fleming Student Wins Eggs For Year
A strawberry and egg concoction earned a Fleming College student a year’s supply of eggs, a frying pan, and $500 in a recent recipe contest.
Jennifer Politi, a culinary student at Fleming, placed third in the Ontario-wide "Egg-spress" Yourself 2008 student recipe contest.
Egg Farmers of Ontario challenged full-time culinary students to whip up egg-centric recipes. Politi was one of 11 finalists who competed at a Nov. 19 cook-off.
Politi won for her strawberry dessert omelette in the Real In The Kitchen category, which required that the recipes contain a maximum of five ingredients and can be prepared in 20 minutes or less.
The recipes were judged by a panel of four food industry experts, including Peterborough-based chef Christopher Ennew.
Ice-sculpture ’Magic’
Ice sculptors from across Ontario transformed blocks of ice into intricate and elaborate transparent works of art at this weekend’s Polarfest in Lakefield.
"They are creating magic out of ice," said organizer Jennie MacKenzie. "It’s just incredible to see." There were 14 sculptors participating in the competition, MacKenzie said, including a few chefs from the Fleming College culinary arts program.
The ice sculpture competition was just one of many events at the fifth annual Polarfest on Saturday.
"It’s just been fantastic today," MacKenzie said. "This event has really grown over the years and people just love it."
Other events included an artisan market inside Lakefield’s Memorial Hall, horse-drawn sleigh rides and a pasta dinner later in the evening in Bridgenorth.
"It’s a perfect winter day for this," said Eccles Lloyd McNeilly.
There was even a chance for children to create their own frozen art in the Children’s Ice Garden.
Ridpath Junior Public School student Alexis Manley, 8, was busy stacking blocks of ice on top of one another to create an inukhuk, which is a man-made stone landmark used for navigation or as a marker for hunting grounds.
"People build it where there are no maps or signs or roads," she said. "It can show where there’s food or fresh water.
"I had the idea to make one because I’m learning about it in school."
To match this year’s theme of "fun and games," ice sculptor Ken Ardnt decided to make chess pieces with his 11-year-old daughter Amanda. "Amanda and I play chess together a lot," he said, pointing to the knight and the queen, which were almost complete.
Chess was a nice vehicle because you can do the king, queen, the castle, the horse."
Ardnt has been sculpting ice for around 16 years, he said, beginning first as a wood carver.
"My favourite is the horse," said Amanda. Also in the park, Sam McLean couldn’t heat up the maple syrup fast enough to create sweet and sticky maple taffy for the many people who stood in line to try the classic winter treat.
"When you take it off and pour it on the snow it cools very quickly and you end up with the taffy," he explained.
Inside the Memorial Hall, 11 local businesses set up tables for the artisan market, selling handmade crafts, jewelry and gift items.
"It’s all lovely girly stuff," said Jenn McBride, 20, who was looking around the market with her mom Jackie McBride.
"This is a good way for girls to spend the day inside keeping warm," Jackie said.
Fleming Culinary Program tours the Farm
On October 23, approximately 25 students took a day from their reading week and went to see two farms within the Peterborough Area.
The first farm visit was at Knight’s Appleden Fruit Ltd. just outside of Colborne. The students toured the facility and saw all of the stages that apples go through. From the time the apples leave the shipping crates from the orchard all the way until they are boxed or bagged up for shipping to the retail and wholesale outlets. As the tour progressed each stage was then explained to the students; this was then followed by a quick question period if needed. After touring the processing facility, the students visited the orchards and received a feel for how big apple trees can mature! After the orchard tour, the bus stopped back into the processing facility to allow for some shopping opportunities in their small onsite retail store, then everyone was back on the bus for the trip to the next farm.
From The Knight’s Appleden Farm, the bus traveled to Three Roads Farms Ltd. located just west of Keene. When the bus arrived there was a quick break then a hot lunch was served. Lunch consisted of a Chicken Pot Pie, assorted salads, buns, and some assorted cheese/pickle trays for the main meal, followed by Milk and cookies. There was lots of food to go around!
There was then a slideshow presentation that took the students through the stages of chicken farming. From the chicken’s first day on the farm to the day they are shipped, every stage was shown in detail. Students were also given a question period before everyone suited up in the bio-security suits to enter the barns. The students went into the one of the barns and got to see where the chickens were raised.
After seeing the barns and chickens, the students went to the Farm’s retail & wholesale outlet. They saw the retail store and production that was involved and the wholesale and distribution end of the business. This opportunity informed the students of a chickens life from day one to the day that the cases of chickens enter the receiving door to grocery stores and restaurants.
The students of Fleming would like to Thank the Ontario Farm Animal Council, Knight’s Appleden Farm and Three Roads Farms for this opportunity!
4th Annual Culinary Classic Golf Tournament - Angus Glen
On October 2, 2008, Fleming culinary management students Erin Oudyk, Chelsey Heidman, Jasmine Cowley, Nicole Barnard, and Alicia Ricci, along with alumni Jessica Alderton and chefs Steve Benns and David Hawey visited Angus Glen golf course in Markham to be a part of the 4th Annual Culinary Classic Golf Tournament. The Fleming Culinary representatives were honoured to work alongside some of Toronto’s Top Chefs. Ricci, Alderton, and Benns set up on the course, serving warm hors d’oeurves to busy golfers for most of the day. Meanwhile inside, Oudyk, Heidman, Cowley, Barnard, and Hawey created a plated dessert for over 100 people. Proceeds from this event went to the Fleming College Culinary program, as well as the York Region Breast Cancer Friends in partnership with the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation.
Cast Iron Chef Competition fundraiser for scholarships and bursaries
The Kawartha Culinary Association, made up of local chefs and cooks, held the area’s first Cast Iron Chef Competition in Fleming College’s Fulford’s Dining Room on Wednesday, October 24.
Two teams, each comprised of two local chefs, three secondary school students from Lindsay, Haliburton and Peterborough, and four Fleming culinary students went head-to-head in a battle that raised $3,200 for culinary bursaries and scholarships at Fleming College.
The team consisting of chefs Christopher Ennew, of Ste. Anne’s Inn and Spa in Grafton, and Justin Guyatt of Guyatt’s Consulting in Peterborough narrowly defeated Chefs Evan Podd of The Old Bridge Inn in Young’s Point and Brian Cassibo of Tin Mill in Uxbridge with a score of 359 to 354, giving Ennew and Guyatt the title of 2007 Kawartha Cast Iron Chef.
Teams had eight hours to plan and prepare a five-course meal serving 60 guests and five judges. Judges included Francis Dineley of New Zealand Lamb, Kim Freeburn of Sysco Food Services of Central Ontario, Teresa Kaszuba of CHEX TV, and Fleming Chefs Norm Smith and Frank Delemarre. Chef Steve Benns of Fleming College and George Krohn from the Durham and Kawartha Culinary Associations served as Kitchen Judges.
The 60 guests also scored each course and ‘Peoples Choice Awards’ were given to the teams based on Creativity, Taste and Presentation. A team of Culinary Management and Chef Training student volunteers lead by Professor Sylvie Provost and Natalie Wood acted as servers for the evening. Chefs David Franklin, Brand Manager of Sysco Food Services of Central Ontario, and David Hawey, Culinary Programs Coordinator at Fleming, organized the sold-out event.
Sponsors included: New Zealand Lamb, King Cole Duck, Marine Harvest Seafood, Bon Chef Greenhouses, Gambles Ontario Produce, Gay Lea, Windmill Farms Mushrooms, Sysco Food Services of Central Ontario, Elco Fine Foods, Hendrix Restaurant Equipment & Supplies, Creative Kitchen Supplies, Martin’s Fruit & Vegetables, Holiday Inn Peterborough Waterfront, Passport to Prosperity, and the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program.
November 2007 - United Way Kick-Off
The United Way had it’s 2007 Kick Off Breakfast prepared by the Fleming College Culinary Management Program, at the Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre on Tuesday, September 18th. United Way supporters and members joined together to kick off this year’s campaign and reveal the goal for this year. The aggressive goal of $2.5 million was set. The team agreed that they have to stretch and our community needs to stretch to reach the goal but the goal is very real and obtainable. Supporting the United Way helps our community. Last year, the United Way assisted over 183 of our City and County’s programs helping children, youth, seniors and isolated individuals, families in crisis, disabled people and their families and community wellness and betterment. Over 40,000 people in the Peterborough area depend on the help United Way provides. Find out how you can help at www.uwpeterborough.ca