By Toque Demagny competitor Rachel Graham

This year’s Toque Demagny competition was my last competition as a second year student at NAIT. The menu we were given was pickerel, bison short ribs, quail and our choice of a chocolate dessert. For some people, working with these items was a cake walk, but for those who had a little less cooking experience, they presented more of a challenge. Besides designing a three-course menu and learning how to cook bison short ribs to perfect tenderness, we had the challenge of working with a first-year student. Some of these first year partners had almost no kitchen experience prior to entering the culinary program. We had two weeks to practice and hone our recipes and techniques and master our menu. Those two weeks flew by and before I knew it, it was competition day. I could feel the nervousness in each lab as we went over our work plans. We had a little over 8 hours to prepare a three-course meal for ten. Time flew by, and before we knew it, we were plating the food, and the call for pickup echoed through the labs.

And then it was over. All the planning, second-guessing and self-doubt were now behind us. The plates were gone, and for me, the fact that the food made it out to guests on warm plates was a miracle. We were told to wait in a line until they called us to the dining room to find out who the winners were. The nerves were gone and replaced by relief and giddiness. Competitors were sharing stories about the things that happened that set them back or things that they forgot to put on the plate. It wasn’t, “I can’t believe this happened” in a bad way, it was more like “I can’t believe this happened and in the end everything went out looking good!” When we were called to the dining room, my team led the way, and we were the first to see the crowd and hear the clapping and cheering. At that moment we were all winners. Twelve teams of hardworking students had done something amazing. Each student had cooked their hearts out, and now, with cheering in our ears, we knew that this was what it was all about. That we managed to feed a dining room full of friends and family, that was the icing on the cake, literally! The NAIT Toque Demagny competition is an amazing experience for young budding chefs, and one I will not forget.

2015 Winners

1st Place – Team #3, Michelle McDonald and Kayla Houle (assisted by Larissa Nessler)

2nd Place – Team #11, Christine McLean and Melissa Komarnicki

3rd Place – Team #2, Tamara Solon and Matthew Scott

Most Professional Team – Team #3, Michelle McDonald and Kayla Houle (assisted by Larissa Nessler)

Best Utilization of Fresh Water Fish – Team #8, Halsey Brekkaas and Stephanie Stolk

Best Utilization of Wild Game – Team #3, Michelle McDonald and Kayla Houle (assisted by Larissa Nessler)

Best Utilization of Pulses – Team #7, Curtis Cunningham and Zech del Rosario (Curtis and Zech shown in photo)

Best Utilization of Chocolate – Team #2, Tamara Solon and Matthew Scott