International fare on the menu
Centennial students explore both cuisines and many cultures as they cook their way around the globe
A fresh approach appears to be just as important as fresh food in the kitchens of culinary arts programs at community colleges in the city.
To produce the kind of graduates that employers really want — especially in a city as diverse as Toronto — cooking programs can’t grow stale if they want to meet the evolving needs of the restaurant industry. Both George Brown and Humber offer 2-year-diploma programs in culinary management — programs designed to meet the increasing industry demand for skilled chefs and kitchen managers. And in January, Centennial College will launch a new 2-year-culinary management program with a particularly international flavour.
“We’re looking to do something a little bit different but still meet the demands of industry,” says Samuel Glass, a chef and professor of the soon-to-be cooking Culinary Management - International program. “[We wanted] to supply industry with trained cooks. But at the same time, our perspective was [that] we wanted to have cooks who have global perspectives and skills and an understanding of food and culture.”
As the word ‘international’ in its name suggests, students in Centennial’s new program will cook their way around the globe, exploring the cuisines — as well as the cultures — of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Southern Asia, and the Americas, from Canada to the tip of South America.
“Food is a great introduction into both culture and religion,” says Glass. “So within our program we reinforce the whole idea of culture and religion — be it as part of diet or be it as part of a menu — so you get a very different perspective and respect for diverse beliefs and cultures.”
On a recent trip to India, Glass visited that country’s cooking schools to get some ideas for the new program.
He stayed at a hotel where he was offered six different breakfast buffets — Indian, Japanese, Chinese, French, British and North American.
Glass says his ideal graduate will be able to get a job at this hotel and be comfortable preparing foods from a multitude of cuisines. On top of excellent cooking skills, Glass says the industry is increasingly looking for chefs who can also stand the heat of managing the dayto-day aspects of running a kitchen. He says the new course will prepare students to do just that — everything from developing menus, to requisitioning product and managing staff. The goal of all good culinary programs is to prepare students for jobs in the ever-changing restaurant industry, says Lee Green, president of the Canadian Chef Educator’s Association. It’s an expanding field with excellent job prospects, she adds, and students who have integrity, are reliable, and can be team players will have the edge. “(Employers want to know) that you can take the environment of working in such close quarters and stress and long hours, that you can collaborate and adapt to what’s going on around you.” Fortunately for Centennial’s students, the program’s new quarters will be anything but close. The college is investing about $3.5 million in the program’s labs, building three new state-of-the-art kitchens, designed to accommodate 24 students. There will be a multi-pur- pose kitchen where the basics are taught, a fully-equipped bakery and what Glass calls the crown jewel — an international kitchen.
“Within that kitchen we’re trying to integrate some of the international equipment that students will need should they choose to work abroad,” Glass says. “We are putting in a Chinese wok line, so we can deal with the intricacies of stir frying. We’re putting in a tandoori oven so we can make naan and tandoori chicken and all those South Asian dishes. … [And] for Italian cooking we’re going to have this really fun pizza oven. You can never go wrong with pizza.”