Foundation Dinner

Trista and Jeremy

The Foundation Dinner was a great experience for me. It was full of lots of hard work and fun. It was a stressful event for everyone at the MICA Campus, and it did not get any better until the night was over and clean up began. Not only were our chefs stressed all of the first years had no idea what to expect with the dinner. It was our first dinner event of the year.

I was in the cold appetiser group where there was only myself and another student. We both worked very hard trying to make sure that everything was perfect for the upcoming event and to make sure all of our pairings went well together. While the garnishes were being made we realized that there was something not right about them and they were changed the morning of the dinner. We ended up deep frying about 200 potato shells to garnish the scallops that were being served as the cold appetiser. That was probably the most tedious of jobs that I have ever done before in my life.    

    

James, Trista, Chef Matt, and Jeff

Having this kind of an event really showed us what a high profile dinner would be like. We all learnt that an event of that size takes a lot of teamwork and dedication to succeed. The Foundation Dinner that Assiniboine Community College Culinary Arts and Hotel Restaurant programs hosted was very much a success. It takes a lot of hard work and communication with a large team of people to pull something like that off.

            I think it was an excellent experience for not only my self but the whole 2008 2009 Culinary Arts class!

 

n  Trista L. Hearn

Pancake Breakfast

Pancake Breakfast

 

The pancake breakfast was pretty good. I had to cook the pancakes and keep them warm until everyone started coming. There was three stations of two both cooking the pancakes. We had to be at the school at 6 am that morning to meet and pick up everything we packed the day before. The breakfast was at the Brandon Regional Hospital. There was about 200 or so people that came and had a bite to eat. It was fun and easy. I enjoyed it. There was also some entertainment. It really went well with the whole breakfast.

 

The pancake breakfast was done by the culinary year 1 students. Our teamwork was right on, when ever our pancake mixture got low, a runner would come and replace it with it full one. There were students working in the kitchen making all of the pancake mixture. There were students giving out drinks and other refreshments, sausages, pancakes, and toppings. There was a variety of toppings to put on the pancakes. The toppings were raspberries, blue berries, strawberries and mangos, apple sauce, and whipped cream.

 

This was a great experience and I can’t wait for the next event. It felt really good to be a part of the event. It all went really well. They even had some entertainment there also. There was this couple that played guitar and they sang songs. These two ladies were singing Christmas carols and a school choir came there. Those students sounded pretty good. All in all, this was an awsome event.

 

Eric J. Wilson

Assiniboine Community College

Culinary Arts

The Masterpiece

C.C.F.C.C. Winnipeg Branch is hosting the 31^st Annual Culinary Salon at Red River College located in the Voyager Dining Hall, in the afternoon from 1:00P.M. until 5:00 P.M.  on March 6^th to the 8^th , 2009.  Attending this event will be a combination of year one and two Culinary Art students from the Assiniboine Community College.  This unique and prestigious event gives these students the opportunity to show off their fat sculptures that they have moulded themselves, the decorated theme cakes and wedding cakes of their choice.  The cakes will represent a variety of themes like Easter, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Halloween, Super Hero characters, etc. These cakes will be in a variety of shapes and sizes to grab the attention of the viewers and judges.  The techniques or forms that will be used by the students to create the fat sculptures will be figurines, three dimensional sculptures, relief sculptures, etc. These fat sculptures will be moulded and grooved into such shapes as hockey gloves, dragons, turtles, etc regarding the student’s interest.  

 Being in such a competition will create exposure for the Culinary Arts Students as they will be able to establish their name to employers and Red Seal Chefs who exemplify mentorship through the journeyman/apprenticeship programs. Even though this is a competition the event allows the community and competitors to discuss techniques with the student that were taught and meet other people that are attending the event. This gives them the chance to showcase their work and entertain the public with their skills.  By being able to interact with the public they are able to enhance their communication skills and gain confidence in their ability to create masterful pieces of art.

The judges will be evaluating the students work based on the rubric in the categories of First Impression, Techniques and Skills, Presentation and Service, Nutrition/Composition earning ten points per category which gives a total of forty marks to be rewarded to the students. Like in the Olympics, the judges will provide gold, silver, and bronze medals along with a diploma based on the marks rewarded.  The first place winner will receive a trophy along with a cool two hundred dollar prize, seventy five dollars will be rewarded to the second place winner and the third place winner will be recognized with fifty dollars.

 Would you want to attend an event where you can’t eat the food?  The public can view the beautiful and artistic masterpieces for a mere three fifty and children under the age of twelve will receive free admission. There will be programs available and plenty of delicious food to look at.

By Chantel Gordon

Some cakes that MICA Students are working on

Ape

Yoda

Wine Festival ’09

Wine Festival

                One thing people love is a reason to eat and drink, and what better reason than to host an event that pairs drink with food, only to see what it tastes like. So being the ones that work with the food, who better to host the festival than us? It gives us quite the opportunity to be apart of an event that will offer both a personal experience, being in such an environment with curious and cautious people trying out our dishes, and a professional experience, setting up the event and cooking the foods that we thought were best suited to be paired with the wines offered. Along with flambéed items such as shrimp and crepes with berries, there were some pan-fried items, such as bacon-wrapped alligator, and even raw oyster shucking that held a few of the larger crowds. There was even a large array of wines, ranging from Merlot and Shiraz to Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, to white and red ports from many different countries, just to shake it up a bit.

 

                Some of the things that helped us to prepare for such an event was a previous event involving beer and food pairings and having a Sommelier come in and give us a crash course on the proper way to taste wine, and what to look for in the process. It was extremely helpful as many of us who aren’t well acquainted, or not as appreciative with such libations, had trouble finding the types of flavour combinations that work well together. The end result showed that holding events like these are more than just for us, being students at the event, but brings a lot of culture and education to those that attend the event, as well.

                Some of the most interesting parts of the night were the people out to try the pairs, and the questions about what was being served. Some people were turned off by the types of foods offered and others weren’t so fond of the wine, but then wine isn’t for everyone. For those that did enjoy the pairs, hopefully we will see you next year.

Posted by Brion Whitford

Culinary Student Year 1

Flipping Good Breakfast!

December 5th, 2008, 15 year one students awoke greeted by a snowy, dark and quite morning. 6 am, meeting up at school parking lot where car pooling was quickly arranged, and all headed out to the Brandon Regional Health Authority (BRHA Hospital). 

I, Leigh, decided it was a good idea to be Sous Chef, for the first time at this event.  As sous, you make sure things are organized, and work out right.  I was nervous, and shocked that I had the courage to take charge on such an event.

At first, everyone was rushing things from trunks and backseats of cars into the nurse’s residence gym, where we would be serving a large group of hungry folks.  There were 3 stations of pancake flippers, 1 station for pancake toppers and another station for juice and muffins.  On the pancakes you had a choice of plain or chocolate chip pancakes, and some students made happy faces with chocolate chips.  On top of those wonderful pancakes we had at least 200 combinations of toppings to choose from.  There was whipped topping, cherry, blueberry, apple, strawberry, rhubarb, and the list goes on and on.  Many were stuck standing around the table deciding which sinful topping they were going to start their day of with. 

Arrival of guest, came in like a rush, and only picked up as the morning kept going.  I was a runner that had to keep refilling the pancake batter for the flippers, make sure the toppings were still full, and get juice boxes. It was a cool rush to always be busy, and keep refilling everything when it was running low.  When the guest all piled in, lines up were gaining on every table, and you heard nothing but the buzzing of cheerful people.  Of course, the gym was dolled up so pretty, Christmas decorations every where. 

The ladies and gentlemen apart of the pancake breakfast were really friendly, and generous.  They helped us out when our group ran out of gloves, and they rushed and got more for us. They encouraged us saying the day turned out well. 

I won’t forget the music that was playing.  There was a high school choire, one man bands, couples, and groups that played so nicely, making the entire atmosphere quite enjoyable. 

As being only the year ones were involved, it was nice to be on our own like that.  For once we got to be in charge, and prove to our instructors that we can handle it!  “You got to be in charge of the situation,” Chantel Gordon said proudly.  I’m sure all of us year ones were pretty proud of ourselves at the end of the day, especially after we got our bellies full of yummy pancakes. “It was too early!”Jeff Moore joked.  Yes, it was quite early, but nice to get off early as well.  So, in the end, this event taught us how to be independent, and to be proud of ourselves after a hard working day!

 

By: Leigh Foley

 

Year One Culinary Art Student

Beer Festival

Beer Festival 2008

 

What is it all about?

I am going to tell you about the Beer Festival that took place in the fall 2008. It is a very good learning experience. This was the first event I have ever been in and I really enjoyed it from beginning to the end.  We had to research a type of beer from different countries and come up with food pairings that we think will match the beer.  We also have to do taste testing before the event so we can see how our food pairings came together. When we do prep in the kitchen for the Beer Fest, teamwork is the best tool to have a job well done. When everyone works together in a team and helps others, things get done a lot quicker and it is also fun. If you help others, they will help you when you ever need it. When the time was getting closer to the start of the event I was getting nervous but excited as well to see and experience how everything turns out. It was nice to interact with others by explaining to them what we had to offer them. I enjoyed speaking to the people that came by to our station to explain what kind of food we prepared for them and to taste what beer with that food pairing. Everyone seemed to enjoy the beer fest because of the great comments they gave us about our food and the beer it was paired with. Some people were even coming back to most of the stations to have seconds, but mostly to come back to have some more beer. I think the Beer Fest was a great success.

 

If you like to try different kinds of beer and food, this is the perfect event to attend. There were many different beers from different countries and food pairings for each and every one. My group was Denmark and we got a lot of compliments from the people that came to our station. I’m pretty sure they enjoyed the breaded haddock with the Carlsberg light. That was a big hit, we even ran out of the haddock, one of us had to go quickly make some more. But in the end it was great. I was really proud of being involved in an event like this. It’s such a good learning experience. It feels really good to know that you were a part of such a magnificent night. We came into school that morning and started getting everything ready for the night and everyone was on task, everyone knew what they were doing and where there stuff was. It was an awesome night!

 

 

Culinary Year 1

Shayla Burns

Pancake Breakfast.

 

Shayla & Myself

Decorated gymnasium at the hospital

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 5, 2008 the MICA year 1 students held a pancake breakfast at the hospital.  As one of the students I was part of the event, the day began as we all met up on the North Hill Campus, loaded the vehicles with our equipment and travelled as a team to the hospital. We try doing everything together as a team, because teamwork is very important in this industry. As soon as we arrived at the hospital we began setting up our equipment, and mixing up the batter for the pancakes. We had a team of 4 runners and batter mixers, and we greatly appreciated the help they provided. The hospital provided the sausages, juice, and fruit.  And we had a station set up with all the topping and whip cream for the pancakes. The station consisted of such topping as blueberries, strawberries, cherry, apple, rhubarb and many more. We had also prepared profiterole trees the day before as an extra dessert to take along, and it was worth the extra effort because everyone really enjoyed them. 

We paired up in partners of two, and began pancake making as soon as we could. We eventually started placing the chocolate chips in happy face patterns, the children really enjoyed that. I think it was my partner and myself’s third or forth time flipping pancakes and we did an awesome job. I think that an improvement for next years pancake breakfast could be some berries added to the pancakes. I think that the guests and everyone attending would really enjoy the sweetness. We had received a lot of good feedback from the guests on out precise pancake making. And I look forward to the pancake breakfast next year, and I’ll be the first to volunteer to flip the pancakes.

 

 

 

The event went on throughout the morning from 7:00a.m. -10:00 a.m. As the guests came and went throughout the morning the entertainment only got better. There were three different performers and they kept the crowd very entertained. The gymnasium where we held the event was already decorated in Christmas theme, with fresh poinsettias, it looked exquisite. At the end of the event we cleaned and loaded up our equipment, taking any left over’s back to the North Hill campus for the rest of the team. When we arrived back at the school we set up a buffet style breakfast with what was left from the breakfast to resist any waste. .

 

 

Melanie Mckay

Student, Culinary Arts

Assiniboine Community College