On Tuesday, February 19, Loyalist College Culinary students hosted the seventh annual Junior Iron Chef Competition for the Quinte and surrounding area high schools. The preliminary competitions were held last fall resulting in the three finalists of Kingston’s Loyalist Collegiate Vocational Institute (LCVI), Thomas A. Stewart (TAS) from Peterborough and Picton’s Prince Edward Collegiate Institute (PECI). The students competed for entrance awards and numerous other prizes. A total of $4,000 in potential awards was presented to the winning teams. Members of the first place team who register at Loyalist College will receive $500 towards their tuition in first year. Second place team members will receive $300 towards tuition, and third place team members will receive $200 when they register.
The judges of this year’s competition were Chefs John Schneeberger, Steve Nicholson and Jay McColl. First place for the 2008 Junior Iron Chef Championship was awarded to Picton’s PECI. Second place was presented to Kingston’s LCVI and TAS from Peterborough placed third.
Capitalizing on the success of the Japanese-produced Iron Chef television series, Loyalist students created this unique local competition in order to promote the art of cooking to aspiring young chefs, and to promote the excellence of the College’s Culinary Management program.
“We were really pumped for the competition,” said Colin Sills, a member of the Picton team. “It was difficult at first, but then I learned so much and I’m really glad that I did this. I was encouraged to take part in it by a friend of mine who participated last year. Now I would definitely encourage others to do the same.”
“This year’s organizing team of Culinary students has done an amazing job of preparing for this competition,” said Margaret Beaumaster, a teacher in the program. “The maturity and professionalism of our Loyalist students made them excellent role models for the high school students competing here today.”
Coverage of the event was provided by the third-year students in Loyalist’s Television and New Media Production program. “This was an excellent way for them to face the challenges of shooting multi-camera television productions on location,” said Cathy Goddard, a professor in the program. “The set-up and testing was very complex and they have gained valuable experience with this project.”
Media Contact: Marilyn Warren, Communications, Loyalist College, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2332; e-mail: mwarren@loyalistc.on.ca or Margaret Beaumaster, Culinary Program, ext. 2213