Culinary students' cooking competition puts skills to the test

Students competing in the Culinary Federation‘s Regional Young Chef Culinary Challenge (John Flatters/ CTV News)

Students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s culinary program got their knives out in a regional cooking competition in Saskatoon.

With 14 current students from the Regina, Prince Albert, and Saskatoon Culinary Arts programs joined by two alumni, they’re cooking for the chance to represent the province on the national stage.

Judged by their kitchen fundamentals and their finished plates, pressure is added in the form of time constraints.

“You can see from their plating, they’re all pretty nervous and heads down,” said Everett Nelson, the provincial head of the culinary arts program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. “So I think they’re pretty focused.”

They’re cooking for the Canadian Culinary Federation’s Young Chef Culinary Challenge regional trophy, and the chance to compete at the national conference in Edmonton at the end of May.

“This regional competition is to select the winner for that competition,” said Nelson. “That competition should be a lot of fun, the competition at nationals is very stiff.”

But Nelson says the students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic represent themselves well on the big stage.

“Last year our competitor placed second, so we really have a great showing on the national stage,” he said.

Makenna Rai is that competitor, a recent graduate of the culinary program who’s already working in the industry.

“I think it is a good test,” said Rai, who works at Stoked Kitchen & Bar as well as teaching a culinary boot camp. “I really liked the short timeframe that we have and creating something that you usually don't or something you don't cook, I like it a lot.”

She’s back because she enjoys the pressure and the feedback on her dishes.

“I actually am one of the few people that loves a critique, because anything to make my dish or myself as a cook better, I always love it,” she said.

Nelson says part of becoming a great cook is the ability to learn from pressure situations, as long as fun is at the core.

“They really just need to have fun,” he said. “And they're going to learn a lot about themselves as they go through this. This process of cooking, being under pressure, and then getting critiques, it just makes them better cooks. And as long as they're having fun, that's the most important part.”

The winner of the 2024 regional competition is Makenna Rai, Sask. Polytech alumni. Saskatoon campus student Pacey Jones won second, and Josef McKay of the Regina campus won third place.

Rai will compete at the Culinary Federation Conference in Edmonton which runs May 26-30.