Our April meeting featured a presentation by Highliner Seafood brought to you by Binner Marketing and Sales.

The focus of the presentations was the company, sustainability , and the concept Seafood is Better.

You can find out more at

http://highlinerculinary.com/en/

Seafoodisbetter.com

We were treated to a tasting and informative presentation by The High Liner Culinary Specialists.

Karam Badrudin  is a Red Seal Chef and has been part of the HLFS West team since 2013

Jo-Anne Cerruti has been with the HLFS West Team for the last 8 years and finally

Dan White, started with HLFS in 2013 and was with another seafood company prior to HLFS for 5 years

Chefs and associates were challenged to put together the Ultimate Fish Burger to share with us last night. Highliner has challenged Winnipeg Chefs to submit creative ways to use the Highliner Wild Pollock Fries in an innovative way. The winner will be awarded a cash prize and bragging rights. Send your photos and recipes to Bonnie Mularchuk

My creation with blanched asparagus and snow in the backround.

The Culinary Federation Winnipeg March virtual meeting was a delicious tasting of the Specialty Cheeses of Saputo. C F Winnipeg Board member and Saputo Key Account Representative Colleen Robbins was happy to take us on a virtual tour of these all Canadian cheeses with styles and flavours to expand chefs repertoires. The sample box and booklet that was graciously delivered to Chefs around the city before the meeting allowed the chefs to learn about the unique character of these fine cheeses.

The chefs took up the challenge and have presented their versions of the cheese board  for your perusal. Looks good, but the proof is in the tasting, and it was all thumbs up. Chefs enjoyed these fine cheeses in the comfort of their own homes, paired with the beverage and garnishes of their choice.

The Manitoba Private Wine Store Association with Charton Hobbs were able to provide chefs with a discount on wines which were selected by Mo Razik to be paired with the cheeses provided. Thanks to Colleen Robins and Ubie Fisette, Sales Representative at Saputo for putting together the  great evening.

We experienced some technical difficulties and were not able to hear the full audio for the presentation but Colleen was able to fill in just fine. For the full video and in depth descriptions please view the film on Saputo Specialty Cheeses .

https://vimeo.com/474339355/09d5eb7160

If you were not able to attend please contact the branch and we would be happy to provide you with a link to the Zoom meeting and presentation. Sorry we ate all the cheese.

On Wednesday November 18^th the Culinary Federation Winnipeg held a virtual meeting for members and guests. The night was a great success and we would like to thank those who did participate for being with us. If you were not able to join us please contact the branch and we will provide you the link to the Zoom conference page.

Culinary Federation Winnipeg members were provided a presentation associate member Vanda Racciatti with an update on how Maple Leaf’s operations are meeting the pandemic head on. We also heard from Chef John Scarcella of Bothwell Cheese who walked chefs through samples of their famous Truffle White Cheddar and their new Sunny Dog Cheddar, Barkin’ Herbs and Garlic. Both Cheeses were a splendid barrage of flavour. This event would not have been possible with out the support of Bonnie Mularchuk and Natalie Sample of Binner Marketing and Sales for putting the meeting bags together .

Based on the success of this evening the branch is working on putting together similar events.

The Culinary Federation Winnipeg held a virtual meeting featuring a presentation by Joel Waterman from Inn at the Forks. As a member of the board of the Manitoba Hotel Association, Joel provides some insight into the current state of the hotel and tourism industry. If you are interested in seeing the meeting please contact the branch and they will forward you a copy of the Google Drive link.

Please watch for next month’s Kitchen Conference featuring other industry professionals helping us to find our way through these trying times.

It was a snowy night but it was still a full house when the chefs got the chance to get inside the new Tenderloin Meat and Sausage facility in Winniepgs north end. Chefs had the opportunity to tour the new state of the art facility that produces what many believe to be the best garlic sausage in Canada. In fact they have had to step back from national taste tests as they needed to make room on the podium for others after winning the award three years in a row.

Hosts Jeff Beaucage and Chris Klopick

Hosting us were owner and sausage master Chris Klopick and Jeff Beaucage who works at marketing and promoting the multitude of meat products supplied by Tenderloin. Tenderloin has been a north end institution since the eighties when Walter Klopick and his brother staked claim to coil greatness. The “coils” are tasty rings of Kobassa or Garlic Sausage, smoked to perfection with a guarded family recipe. Chris now carries on the family tradition in a big way. How big you may ask? In the last month, leading up to Christmas, where many homes of eastern European descent, have rings or coils of garlic sausage on their holiday table, they produced 25, 000 pounds of their signature Kobassa alone,  not including all the other related sausages and products that they produce.

Zenon, Christian and Walter Klopick

In the new, state of the art, facility they have taken the traditional recipes and applied advanced production technology to make the sausage even better. Highly innovative technology has allowed them to reduce cooking loss from 23 to 7 percent over the years and as chefs know, that translates directly to profit.   Tenderloin Meat uses Oak, Maple and Hickory to give the products the natural taste of the old country. Locally sourced fresh ingredients provide the basis for a tasty variety of charcuterie, over thirty seven and counting. They are proud to produce a gluten free product that is sold next to the Certified Angus Beef that is also a signature product at their retail store located at 1515 Main Street.

Following the tour, refreshments and food was served and the Culinary Federation presented a short program outlining the upcoming events and activities of the Winnipeg Branch.  The branch presented a membership certificate to Chef Carl Scott and welcomed him to the meeting. Carl’s company, Reel Crue Catering is a part of the booming Winnipeg film industry, providing catering services to cast and crew on the movie sets.

Chef Member Carl Scott of Reel Crue Catering

To complement the cold meats and delicious deli items, and to warm us up on a cold night, Chefs Paul Lemire and Chef Hans Schweitzer prepared Chorizo with Rotini pasta and Hungarian sausage in a cream sauced Fettuccine  The pasta was provided by Natures Farm of New Bothwell, which is the company of our Associate of the year for 2019,  Herman Grauer.

The Culinary Federation Winnipeg is grate-full that Tenderloin Meats and Sausage was able to provide us with this fine event.

The Culinary Federation Winnipeg November event was held at the Jewish Learning Center located at 1845 Mathers Avenue, hosted by Chef Dov Korkh. The evening was dedicated to looking at Jewish and Israeli Cuisine and “Kashrut”,(Jewish dietary laws dealing with food). To open the meeting Rabbi Avrohom Alten  gave the participants an understanding of what foods are permissible and what foods are forbidden to eat according to the Jewish traditions. Participants explored the idea of not mixing milk and meat, different levels of kashrut and the development of kashrut over time. A power point presentation is available on request from the branch.

Chef Dov Korth  prepared an Israeli style kosher dinner in order to let the chefs compare the characteristics of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Cuisine, the two leading cuisines of Israel. The menu consisted of the following items.

Challah Bread

Salads Egg salad, Potato salad, Tahini & eggplant salad, Tabule, Israeli salad, Matbuha

Soup Eggplant soup, Charira,

Starters Spinach knishes, Fricassee,

Fish Gefilte fish, Chraime

Sides Kasha, varnishkas, Lokshen kugel, Couscous w/soup, Majadra

Desserts Rugelach chocolate, cinnamon, jam & sesame. Baklawa

Halva

Thanks to Chef Dov Korth , Food Services Manager Alla Golinkin and Baker Dora Ben Zhion.