We are thrilled and honored to have received this wonderful letter from the winners of the High School Culinary Challenge sponsored by the CCFCC. This was held last month with teams from Edmonton and area competing for First Place! I'll let the letter do the talking...
To whom it may concern,
In reflecting the views of many and in keeping with the emerging tradition of purchasing locally developed food items I would like to comment on Progressive Foods Inc, and Marvin Kakonechnys’ innovative fast cooking barley product. It is truly an Alberta made product that was used by the Culinary Art team in Camrose Composite High School and formed a large part of their gold medal award winning result at the prestigious 2011 Canadian Federation of Chefs, High School Culinary Art Competition that was held in February with the results just being released on the 10th March. 13 High schools participate in the competition with 3 students forming a team. Each team was given the same ingredients and instructed to cook the same 3 course meal. Part of the meal was a barley risotto that went with a stuffed chicken thigh, carrots and tomato Florentine. The dessert was a Bavarian cream served with a Saskatoon sauce and garnishes of choice, and the soup was a fusion South American and East Indian black bean soup. The beans were also a local product.
The barley was a key ingredient for our winning team and it is an exciting and as stated innovative product to work with. Our team gently released the starches within the barley by sautéing it with onion, garlic and butter then poaching it with a well prepared chicken stock. We finished the barley with copious amounts of butter a fresh cream and added texture with peas. We have also added brunoise cut carrots and asparagus tips to the barley to give it extra zip. This home grown product is quickly replacing rice in our menus and it is adding an excellent fibre and it is packed with extra nutrients amid a reflective golden bronze colour. We have also cooked the barley using a vegetarian stock and again it presented us with a fabulous product. I have used it in the traditional beef and barley soup, what could be more Albertan, and it was fantastic. This precooked product cooks really fast and releases gentle starches and a rustic yet pleasant aroma and flavour that blend well with surrounding foods. This barley used as a risotto is remarkable and I would choose to present it over rice without hesitation knowing that it is a local food meeting the requirements of the 100 mile diet.
Marvin from Progressive Foods Inc., kindly supplied endless quantities of his homespun product to all the teams via the NAIT culinary art department. Our team is convinced that their barley presentation formed an important component of the meal that won them gold. I hope that more consumers come to see the diversity of this local product.
Matthew Stinson M.ed Chef Educator, Camrose Composite High School.
Article sent in by Mr. Matthew Stinson. Teacher, CCHS, HM: 780 672 5399
