A competitive culinary club at St. James Catholic High School starts the year off with big dreams for a national championship.
Last year, the school’s ‘Kitchen Brigades’ competed and won silver in a national cooking competition in Montreal, the only school in Ontario to make it to the top five at the competition, out of 1,500 brigades across Canada.
This year, they are ready to do it again, only this time, with the hope to win gold and compete internationally among champions of La Tablee des Chefs France, in Paris.
“I like this club because I’ve always had a passion for cooking. So being able to do this at school is really neat,” said Grade 11 student, Emma Ingram.
“I started last year and we made it all the way to Montreal and got second place. So, now we are going at it again this year, try to go further and make it all the way to Paris. That’s the hope.”
The Kitchen Brigades was created by La Tablée des Chefs, an organization based in Quebec that aims to address food insecurity.
The program encourages young people to adopt healthy eating and lifestyle habits by helping them to develop their food self sufficiently.
On Jan. 10, the club was ready to bring an assortment of cultural dishes to taste test at its first multicultural culinary festival.
“We have six groups competing. Each group picked a country out of a hat and they had to make a cultural dish from that country,” said Grade 10 teacher Grace Lyle.
“We have 50 student and teacher volunteers who will come into the kitchen, taste test each dish, and then vote on their favourite.”
On team Hawaii, student Aaron Fuller, says he enjoys being exposed to different cultures and to be able share his passion for cooking with family and friends.
“I can show my family what I’ve learned, what I can do, and what I’m capable of,” Fuller said.
The competition is part of the culinary educational program for students from Grades 9 - 12 which began in November 2023 at the school.
Since then, local chef and former St. James student Sam Fuda has been leading the brigade through basic cooking skills and culinary techniques.
Fuda is the head chef of the Sleeman Centre downtown and also operates the Merchant of Happiness Inc. Catering.
“My career started at St. James. This program did a lot for me. I wanted to give back and maybe spark passion in the students. So, I had to jump at this opportunity,” Fuda said.
“Working in a kitchen is stressful. You have to work together. You talk to each other and you help each other out. Team building skills are huge when you work in a kitchen.”
The culinary club meets weekly, after school, to work through the La Tablée des Chefs program. Students follow the program throughout the year and benefit from nearly 40 hours of hands-on training in cooking and healthy eating.
“They don’t have to take a Foods class," Lyle said.
"If they just have an interest in cooking and want to learn more, they can come out."
Lyle says the program is a great idea because it teaches students important life skills.
“Sometimes they don’t have room to take the class because they know they want to get into sciences. But this way they can ,because it takes place after school,” she said.
“Students learn new recipes, new skills, and they are all friends in the club. It’s a great opportunity for them.”
Countries including Italy, Jamaica, Nigeria and Hawaii were picked out of a hat. Students created an array of delectable dishes including plates of savoury entrees, colourful salads and sweet desserts.
For Grade 12 student, Maya Dinh, being part of the club brings a whole world of new experiences when it comes to learning how to cook.
“I was really bad at cooking. I have gotten a lot better through this. Some of us were here last year, and we are ready to do it again,” Dinh said.
“But the best part is the community. When you work in a kitchen with a bunch of people, you get to know each other. You talk a lot, and you help each other."
Fellow team mate, Izzy Hobé in Grade 12, says she too loves the community of cooks that have grown out of the program.
“I love festivals like this where we get to cook for everybody. And I like showing off different cultures to our school community,” she said.
Not everyone is an aspiring chef. Some students just want to learn an essential skill for themselves.
“I joined the cooking club because I suddenly came to the realization that I am graduating this year, and I don’t really know how to cook,” said Grade 12 student, Jocelyn DeCarlo.
“I am doing this so I can get more experience in the kitchen. It’s a great environment and there’s a lot of team building.”
At the end of the competition, dishes were judged. Chef Fuda will determine how well each student has grown, based on skills and different abilities in the kitchen.
Five students will be chosen to compete in the nationwide challenge.
Fuda says with today’s apps, it’s too convenient to choose an alternative to cooking.
“I feel like today, it’s so easy to just use an app to make your food or get your food using DoorDash or Uber. I think there’s a lot of importance in being able to make a meal for yourself. it’s a basic human skill,” Fuda said.
"Food is a language everybody can speak.”
