Two Paul Kane chefs served up victory this month after their dishes won big at an Edmonton high-school culinary challenge.
Paul Kane Grade 12 students Seanna Kryger and Anke Jacobs took third and second place, respectively, in the 15th annual Edmonton High School Culinary Challenge, the results of which were released March 23.
Organized by the Canadian Culinary Federation Edmonton, the event saw 32 students from Edmonton-area high schools compete March 12 to make a specified appetizer, entrée, or dessert.
While the challenge typically has students compete in person and in teams to craft three dishes, this year’s challenge was online, and saw individuals choose which of the three dishes they wished to make, said event co-chair Paul Campbell. Students were judged based on photos of their work and were encouraged to get creative with the recipes provided. Top performers can apply for culinary arts scholarships at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Back for her third culinary challenge, Kryger took third in the appetizer category with her spinach and ricotta tortellini. She said she spent many hours perfecting her tortellini wraps — the flimsy won-ton wrappers required by the recipe proved particularly tough to wrangle — and ended up with about 10 meals of tortellini for her family.
“I honestly still really love it,” she said of the dish, and she will probably make it again sometime, Kryger said.
Two-time challenger Jacobs took second in the dessert category with her chocolate tart layered with sponge cake, salted caramel, and raspberry coulis topped with whipped cream and a baked wafer. All she had to do was make a cake, but Jacobs said she decided to go for a more modern look.
Jacobs said it took her a lot of practice to get the tart right, adding that she ate “too many” practice tarts in the process.
Kryger said she was glad to make the top three in her final year of competition.
“It feels like I made my mark, almost.”
Jacobs said she had been hoping for first, but was happy with second as she was up against stiff competition from St. Joseph High School (which claimed first in all three categories).
Jacobs plans to study baking in Toronto following graduation.
Winning dishes from the culinary challenge can be viewed at highschoolculinarychallenge.ca/2022-hscc-top-3-winners.
