If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video should tell a whole story – of course they do. It takes quite a bit of energy and time for us to discuss the concept of gluten to our students, and gluten is a very important concept to grasp in understanding how to make good breads, doughs, cakes, pasta, cookies, etc.

At Rouxbe, we spent the better part of a week to boil down the essence of gluten to a three minute video. No way I can do better with a blackboard, powerpoint, or even props. This video does it beautifully.

Check this out. This is 21st century learning. Can’t wait to have more of these for our students.

Tony Minichiello
Culinary Instructor (learning new tricks)

More than $13,000 in Scholarships awarded
at Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver’s
2nd annual Jr. Black Box Competition

Sunday, July 6, 2008 saw nine of BC’s young aspiring chefs faced off in Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver’s (NWCAV) 2nd Annual Jr. Black Box Competition for a chance to earn a sizeable scholarship of $1500 to $3000. 

At NWCAV we feel it is important to encourage young people to pursue their interests & dreams, and this competition is one way we do that. The Jr. Black Box Competition is open to high school seniors or recent graduates from across BC. 

When they registered, competitors were given a list of some of the ingredients that would be available to them on the day of the event, and other “mystery ingredients” were revealed just before the clock started ticking.  This year’s protein was a chicken breast with wing attached, and the mystery ingredient was ginger.  Participants had access to a pantry that included new potatoes, Arborio rice, bell peppers, asparagus, green beans, stocks & dozens of other ingredients.

Outside chefs are invited in to act as judges for the competition, ensuring total impartiality.  This year we had Chef Paul, Instructor at Gladstone Secondary & Chef Chad, Instructor at Vancouver Technical (all competitors came from other schools).  Challenger’s were graded throughout the 1.5 hour event on fourteen different criteria in four categories: Execution (organization, food safety-sanitation, station maintenance, food usage/waste), Technical Aspects (logical steps, correct techniques, proper cooking/prepping), Plate Presentation (clean/hot plates, originality, timing) & Taste/Seasoning (seasoning, food temperature, flavour combinations, texture).  For the final plates, dishes were numbered & judged “blindly”, meaning they did not know who’s dish they were trying.

Family were invited to watch & cheer on their contender, and I know they were as impressed as we were to see the so much talent, creativity & passion in the kitchen, especially since only a few of the students have real industry experience.  All of them came well prepared, having put great thought & planning into their menus ahead of time, and worked in a focused & organized manner throughout.

At the end of the day, NWCAV awarded scholarships to these deserving young cooks:

Marco Webber, took top spot!  ($3000), gr 11 Maple Ridge Secondary
Amanda Veldman ($3000), graduated Hugh McRoberts Secondary
Christopher Sullivan ($3000), gr 12 Riverside Secondary
Ashlee Rossiter ($3000), graduated Hugh McRoberts Secondary
Jay Stambulic ($1500), gr 12 Hatzic Secondary

Congratulations everyone!  We look forward to watching  your careers as you continue to learn & hone your skills.

I received an e-mail yesterday that made my day, confirmed why I do what I do.  A student of NWCAV, an adult, bright, successful in her past work experiences in other fields, was beginning to doubt herself out of her dreams.  I’ve seen this happen before.  Students with little or no industry experience imagine that everyone in professional kitchens can do back flips and juggle 4 cleavers at the same time.  They fear they might not belong, can only imagine the worst, not the best of themselves.  The industry is not there to scare you, but to confirm what you do know and what you need to know further.  So I finally gave this student no choice – ” You’re doing a work observation. Period! It’s already been arranged for Saturday night.”  I’d like to share her reaction to her experience.

“Hey Chef Tony…just had to say I enjoyed every second at the Diva …absolutely LOVED it! The people I worked with were absolutely decent, friendly and helpful…I worked till after nine and it seemed as if no time had passed…so excited I left my tool kit behind…wherever I’m headed next I’m ready…where’s my next assignment?…I now realise that everything you all are teaching me is real…as I worked quietly at first and listened to the talk back and forth it was like emerging from language school and going to a foreign country and realising “I understand it all” – the language and what’s going on…I called my husband and celebrated even though its about 2 in the morning…he’s delighted… and I am absolutely on top of the world…I loved it…and I’m out of words…thanks…you were right!”

Sometimes having too many choices, especially the choice to doubt yourself, is a disadvantage compared to no choice whatsoever.  In the professional culinary world, 90% of the time we have no choices:  “just get it done” is our mantra.  There ARE choices in the industry, lots of them;  but the ultimate choice is to simply grab the bull by the horns and do it.

Tony Minichiello, Culinary Instructor

The BC Chefs Table Society met for the last summer meeting Monday afternoon at the beautiful open dining room of NU Restaurant.  It was the best turnout we’ve had to date.  It was also a very fruitful meeting, lots on the agenda, with two guest speakers, and many pending issues to resolve for the summer.  But, this being a table of successful chefs, we accomplished the full agenda in a very short period of time – getting things done in limited time is one of our prime professional survival traits.  Plus, many crafty ideas were proposed and basically finalized that puts the society in very good standing indeed for the fall and down the road.  This society began with nothing, yet we walked away realizing much has been built and more is to come.  That’s another instinctual talent of ours:  give chefs little and we’ll turn it into a feast.

I cannot help but be impressed when I see a group of put-your-head-down practical chefs in one room.  Besides the brain power, there’s an intense energy to focus on information in its most boiled down practical terms. When our guest from the Pacific Prawn Fisherman’s Association spoke about their continuing relationship with the Society to inform and connect the consumer about our coastal fish, these chefs not only demonstrated a genuine interest to be a conduit for excellent, accurate, and vital information, they articulated their well-informed opinions most impressively.  Words like “commitment” and “mindset” were carefully chosen to represent the Society’s care for the products that sustain their profession.

For a person who started as an academic and entered the culinary profession with apprehension, I can now confidently say that cooks and chefs are indeed smart minds.  They’re smarter than 20 years ago.  They have to be.  Their “mindset” has shifted in a positive way, especially when it comes to ingredients.

Yet when it comes to the next generation of cooks, our mindset has not changed much.  The one word I wish one day I will never have to hear is “kids” when referring to culinary students.  All – and I mean all – of the industry, from chefs to media, still refer to my students as kids.  When I’m asked “How are the kids doing?” I never know if they are referring to my sons or my students.    I’ve always seen the word to spell bad news.  As a parent of 18 and 21 year old young men, calling them kids would spell disaster.  Not only would they not talk to me, but, much worse, they’ll never leave home.  It’s simply counter-productive.  The average age of students entering culinary schools these days is 24 years of age.  Perhaps today’s chefs are unaware of this.

I’ve been wanting to bring the “kids” thing up for some time now with my colleagues, but I really do not think the industry is yet ready for a new “mindset” when it comes to culinary students.  I know for sure it will change one day.  Fish was just fish a couple of decades ago, and now it’s a socio-political topic demanding mature dialogue and sophisticated terms like “sustainability”, “eco-management”, “endangered”, and so on.  It will make me happy, most happy I must say, when the day comes that my NWCAV students are referred to as adults, as fine men and women.  It will perhaps ensure that they are treated like adults, and the payoff might well be they will work like adults.  This field needs fine young men and women, not kids.  I wouldn’t want a generation of “kids” taking over for the fine work adults have already done.

Trying to eliminate the “K” word,

Tony Minichiello

Instructor to adults