Foodies’ tastebuds will be set watering as Portage College hosts a Spring Gala event in St. Paul on May 8, with local chefs preparing a top-class meal and celebrity chef Chuck Hughes on hand to judge the creations.
“It’s such a good learning experience for the students when they can go all out and spend the whole day to make such a classy meal,” said Paul Pelletier, dean for the college’s local Food Sciences department.
The event serves as a practicum for the students in cooking for what organizers hope will be a sellout crowd of 250. But to heat things up further, the event will feature a Battle of the Chefs competition. The top two students in the culinary arts program go head to head in a cook-off, with guests having the opportunity to purchase tokens to decide what unique ingredients the chefs will have to use.
Pelletier noted the chefs might find themselves in deeper waters than in last year’s event.
“Last year we took it easy on them,” he said, adding some audience members wanted to see the chefs challenged further. “This year, we’re going to get a bit more exotic with the ingredients and really put the chefs to the test.”
The chefs will be able to go in the audience and talk to the crowd, and choose a sous chef to work with each of them.
And to heat up the stakes, the results of the cook-off will be taste-tested by a judge with considerable credentials, Chuck Hughes. Hughes competed in the American cooking show Iron Chef America, besting Iron Chef Bobby Flay to become the youngest Canadian to win.
The French-Canadian is the chef and co-owner of two Montreal restaurants, and hosts an English-language cooking show on the Food Network.
Hughes will be working with the students during the day, which Pelletier notes has them feeling “a little shy and intimidated of course.” But, he adds, that Hughes is there to help the students, not judge them. “He’s a really super guy.”
During the Spring Gala, guests will have the chance to rub shoulders with Hughes and sample the top creations.
“We’re going to auction off the chance to be a judge along with Chuck Hughes so that way they get to taste all the dishes being prepared,” said Charmaine Jennings, event planner for Portage College.
Hughes will be doing a cooking demo, and anyone interested can bid on having Hughes sit at his or her table during the night’s event.
Tickets for the May 8th are $150 each, or $1,200 for a table of eight. All money raised goes towards the Food Sciences Centre and different scholarships and awards for students who would like to be able to enter the program, but who may lack the funds to do so, explained Jennings.
Last year, Pelletier said $7,000 was raised for the “awesome program that’s growing in leaps and bounds,” and he hopes to see that amount surpassed this year. He encouraged people to get their tickets while they were still available, noting, “It’s an opportunity to have a really, top class menu and support a great cause.”
