The advertisements for the 2nd Annual Spring Gala at Portage College this past Friday night stated people buying tickets for the event would “enjoy a night of delicious food and amazing entertainment,” and the fundraiser did indeed live up to the promise of its billing.
“This night was such a great experience for our students,” says Debbie Poulin, an instructor in the culinary arts program at the college. “People said a lot of great things about the food, and having the battle of the chefs between the students was cool.”
The battle of the student chefs was one of the highlights of the night. Facing off was Portage’s top first-year food sciences student Matthew Zarowny, against the top second year student Michelle Plamondon. Just like the inaugural gala, the chefs were charged with making a dish featuring ingredients that the audience members chose. The ingredients that received the most amounts of bids were the ones utilized by the student chefs and their accompanying sous chefs. Among the items used were frog legs, Pez candy, blue cheese, dried potatoes and merlot.
The chefs were given 45 minutes to produce a presentable dish for the three-judge panel. They were evaluated on food presentation, food smell, food flavor and texture and overall appeal. Two of the judges — Jose Amyotte and Sherry Schultz — earned the right to be on the panel by virtue of winning the live auction. The third spot on the panel was reserved for the celebrity guest of honour, Chuck Hughes, a Montreal-native that has been featured on Iron Chef America.
Hughes interacted with and teased the young chefs while they were hard at work in the kitchen. Upon inspecting the state of their potatoes in their respective frying pan, Hughes joked, “that it looks like the blue cheese is going to be the least of my worries.”
When it came to the actual judging of the completed dishes, Hughes was complimentary of both Zarowny and Plamondon. He praised the boldness of their ideas, their presentation and their use of the frog legs. Ultimately, Hughes and his fellow judges gave Plamondon the win.
“I think having Chuck Hughes was a big draw,” said Charmaine Jennings, the organizer for the gala. “He was very lively, comedic and charming with the audience.”
Hughes showed off his chops in the kitchen by giving the crowd a step-by-step demonstration of how he makes his famous lobster poutine dish, the creation that ultimately secured him a victory in the Iron Chef America show.
The celebrity chef also took part in a question and answer session, later expressing how much he enjoyed the experience of being in St. Paul.
“You need to know how special this place is,” said Hughes to the crowd. “I am from Montreal. All our cooking schools are good, but they are all in downtown Montreal. I don’t think there are any schools two or three hours away from Montreal that is this equipped with such a great program and with teachers that are motivated and inspiring.”
The proceeds from the night go entirely toward the food sciences program, to purchase new equipment, take educational trips, offer scholarships, or expand the campus labs.
