Please take some time to explore the images that captures some of the culinary delights that CCFCC has had the privilege to prepare in Winnipeg!

Lifetime Memberships Celebrated

On May 9, 2018 the Winnipeg Branch of the CCF and Pratt’s held a dinner meeting to honor the accomplishments and to present lifetime memberships to Chef Takashi Murakami and Associate Werner Saxler of City Bread. We were there to recognize the years that these individuals have contributed to Winnipeg’s Culinary Community. A wonderful reception of food and drink greeted the members as they arrived at the elegantly decorated Bistro. Pratt’s Corporate Chef Ferdinand Catalan followed up the hot and cold appetizers with a three course dinner.

Lifetime Associate Gaspar Scholtz presented the Associate Lifetime Membership award to Werner Saxler of City Bread and spoke of Werner’s dedication and endeavours to further the association and the industry.

Chef John Reimers presented the Chef Lifetime Membership to Chef Takashi Murakami and spoke of his many accomplishments including the order of Canada. Chef Hans Schweitzer presided over the evening and also shared some memories from the long career of Chef Murakami.

Grant Avery and Gord Harris of Pratt’s presented a memento to Chef Murakami and expressed the sentiments of the gathering in once again congratulating the Chefs long and illustrious career.

Earlier in the evening there was a short presentation from Lorey Appelle from Arctic Coop to inform us of existing employment opportunities for hospitality professionals in the far north.

 

Junior Fund Raiser a delicious success.

The Winnipeg Branch Culinary juniors lead by Michael Fitzhenry CCC and junior president Travis Leost hosted a great fundraiser at Kitchen Sync this past Saturday night.

Helping to make the evening a culinary success was CCF Chef of the year , Jesse Friesen, Junior Chef of the year, Christy Barkman and a culinary team consisting of junior members Vien Salimbacod, Riki Wuerz, Adam Mysak, Dakota Muggleton, Francesca Agatep, Ian Shapira and  Yoni Mehari. Thanks go out to RRC Students  Anthony Carino, Glory-lee Vista, Domingo Jamoyot, and Brandon Campbell for their work on completing the culinary delights.

The fundraiser will help pay for expenses for Junior members to attend the national conference in Charlotetown  P.E.I. in June.

Thanks to our sponsors for the evening Sysco Food Service,  Mariner Neptune, and Granny’s Poultry for their generous contributions of food to the event.

The Juniors had a great time preparing the evening offerings and were able to execute well and make sure it was a successful evening.

Thanks to all those volunteers who were instrumental in bringing this event together, as well as Chef Jesse Friesen and Chef Claire Snowball, who donated their valuable time to support the junior members.

G.F.S. Hosts April Meeting

The April meeting of Winnipeg CCF was hosted by our friends at G.F.S. at their modern facility. Chefs were introduced to Beyond Meat which is a plant based protein burger made from pea protein and all GMO, Gluten, and Soy free. Thanks to the team at G.F.S. for the delicious and informative evening

Culinary Milestone Honored

On April 5 2018 , Red River College held a luncheon to honor one of Winnipeg’s greatest Chefs, Nick Marchak,

At the luncheon Nick presented his 1976 Gold Olympic medal to the college. Nick Marchak was the first  Canadian born Chef to earn the gold medal for Canada at the world culinary olympics. . Red River College has gladly excepted the 1976 Olympic Gold medal for permanent display at the college.

Congratulations Nick Marchak and thank you for Red River College for honoring his accomplishment of putting home grown Canadian Chefs on world culinary stage.

Sysco Senior Manitoba Regional Challenge

 

Chef Gordon Bailey

The CCF Winnipeg Sysco Senior Challenge was held on April 4 th 2018 at the Sysco kitchen with the cooperation of  CCF Winnipeg branch, Sysco and corporate Chef Peter Ecker. Five talented local chefs competed in a black box competition in the Manitoba regional competition. For three of the members it was the first time they had the opportunity to compete in such a competition. They learned a lot and came away winners in their own right. It was a close competition with the overall winner was declared  Gordon Bailey, culinary instructor from Red River College.  Second place awarded to Jordon Carlson from Joey’s on Kenaston. Third place awarded to Jose Noboa of Gardewine and honorable mentions to Mark Pichette and Sookyung Shin.

Thanks to Peter Eckar and his Sysco team for holding the competition. Thank you to the team of judges including  John Reimers, Ron Dobrinsky, Jesse Friesen, Helmut Mathae, Paul Lemire and his Culinary student Faith for their time and effort in making the competition a success.

Chef Gordon Bailey will be heading off to the national competition in Charlottetown P.E. I. this June for the Sysco national competition. The Winnipeg Branch will sponsor Argie Garcia, apprentice at the St. Charles Country Club, who will also be attending the national conference and competing in the Culinary Federations Junior challenge.

Winnipeg will be well represented in Charlottetown at the conference and competition.

Good luck to all our competitors.

Paul Lemire

CCF Winnipeg

President

 

 

Manitoba Junior Challenge 2018

Recently the Winnipeg Branch of the Canadian Culinary Federation, with the cooperation of Red River College, hosted the Junior Chef Challenge for Manitoba. The event was held at Paterson Global Foods Institute , Red River College on Saturday March 17, 2018 and was a great display of the provinces young talents. The competition was organized by Chef Michael Fitzhenry and was the qualifying event to select the junior chef who will represent Manitoba at the National Conference of the CCFCC this June in Charlotetown P.E.I..

There was a field of six students representing college, industry and apprenticeship. The competition consisted of a black box of mystery ingredients common to all contestants with one hour to complete a dish consisting of the compulsory ingredients. The contest was a close one with fine displays of the skills and creativity of our up and coming culinary stars.

The competition resulted in the selection Argie Garcia , apprentice at the St. Charles Country Club as our representative for the nationals. Second Place was awarded Vien Salimbacod of the Glendale Country Club. Third Place was awarded to Shea Johnston of  Joey Kenaston. Honourable Mention to Elissa Polkowski , Adam Mysak and Anthony Carino who completed the field of competition.

Local members of the CCFCC educational community participated in the competition and selection of the candidate including Chef’s Jeremy Langeman, Ron Dobrinsky, Paul Lemire, Trevor Bailey, Terry Gereta and Brian Humniski. Last year’s recipient Christy Barkman acted as a culinary judge in the selection of this year’s recipient. Special thanks to the Paterson Global Foods Institute, Red River College and the culinary team for a successful event.

 

Junior Chef challenge 2018

Argie Garcia of the St. Charles Country Club.

Wine Education in March

The March meeting of the CCFCC Winnipeg Branch was held at Red River College Notre Dame Campus in the Prairie Lights Dining room. The meeting featured a discussion on the state of world wine markets my Mo Razik of the Manitoba Independent Wine Merchants. Chesses were provided by Fentons Gourmet Foods and  Saputo Cheese. Hot and Cold horsdouvres were provided by Red River College. We were introduced to an array of fine Canadian Wines produced by Pellee Island Winery  and  their representative, Jennifer Pollock .  Special thanks to Chef Jon Royal and Chef Jeff Gill at Red River College.

Awards Gala 2018 Moments

Chef of the year , Jesse Friesen of Pizzeria Gusto

Platinum Sponsors Sysco bring the best.

Appetizer actions stations by our future stars.

Selkirk Regional Secondary School appetizers rocked.

Casinos of Winnipeg helps celebrate.

Holiday Inn South, Chef Eldon

Culinary students join the festivities.

Longtime associates the Gunn brothers of Gunn’s Bakery.

Our friends from Pratt’s

Convention centre dignitaries

Associate of the year Herman Grauer of Natures Farm.

Junior Chef of the year , Christy Barkman and mentor Michael Fitzhenry CCC Red River Colllege

Gold Sponsor Mariner Neptune Seafood

Gala wine host and sponsor, Mo Razik

The CCFCC Winnipeg Branch celebrated over fifty years of culinary excellence with this years recipients of recognition for their contribution to the vibrant Winnipeg food scene. This year Chef of the year was awarded to Jesse Friesen of Pizzeria Gusto. Associate of the year was awarded to Herman Grauer of Natures Farm. Junior Chef of the year was presented to Christy Barkman.

February Meeting a Sweet Event

The February meeting of the CCFCC Winnipeg Branch was An Evening of Chocolate provided by Chefs Helmut Mathae and Don Pattie. The chefs brought almost a century of culinary experience to the group and touched on a number of areas of chocolate art and production. Chef Helmut shared his current work in progress and explained some of the intricacies of chocolate sculpture and provided insight into some of the techniques he has gained from his years on the world stage. Chef Don took us into the modern products and equipment that today’s chocolatier can use to prepare confections to perfection. The chefs provided recipes and ideas for members old and new. Our meeting sponsor was Gordon Food Services who provided a selection of sweets and  beverages to compliment the educational session.

Thanks to host Chef Paul Lemire, John G. Stewart School and the River East Transcona School Division for the use of facility and the wonderful evening.

Chef’s Meet at the Little Brown Jug

On January tenth the new year kicked of for the Winnipeg branch with a tour and tasting at The Little Brown Jug brewing company in the historic exchange district. We had the unique opportunity to meet the brew master, see his work and share a pint with the creator.

Housed in Winnipeg’s historical exchange district, the brewery markets directly to consumers with  growlers of beer sold in unique package presentation. Needless to say the brewery hosts a tasting area suitable for a sociable and an opportunity to pick up Winnipeg’s most popular brew, fresh from the vats.

While the brew house has prepared a variety of products, on the night we visited the full production was to become Winnipeg’s current most popular beer, “1919”. The beer is made using the traditional German kräusening, or double-fermentation technique, which cleans up beer flavors, naturally carbonates the beer, and gives it better head retention. “1919” is made with premium Canadian malts and specialty Franco-Belges malts to give it unique characteristics, Malts developed in 1919. The beers name is also a homage to the Winnipeg General Strike.

The Little Brown Jug’s Brew master, Bernhard Wieland has worked actively with the engineers, from the early days of their first brew, to build a quality brewing system from the ground up. Bernhard spent some time sharing the process and the unique qualities of their operation with the chefs. The brew house is Canadian-made and engineered and suitably equipped to offer a consistent and quality product. Many of the technologies employed at Little Brown Jug are often found in larger operations, but have been scaled to the 20 hectoliter production with plans to grow into the space and increase production by double and more.

Working together with the building owners, the brewery has developed a modern brewery with unique local flavor and a dedication to doing it right. The roof has been insulated from the outside to allow for the revealed timbers inside. The energy used to boil the beer wort is recaptured to heat city water for the next brew to reduce energy use. The brew house does not vent outside. The  Little Brown Jug setup uses a system of louvers to vent heat from the glycol chiller and air compressor outside in the summertime, but direct it inside all winter long. Back up heating runs off of the process boiler for the brew house making for a more sustainable heating system. They seem to be doing it all right.

Most importantly they are making great beer. We sampled an easy drinking Belgian Pale Ale, which would be an excellent accompaniment to almost any food. The event was Sponsored by Mariner Neptune and we had John Alexander introduce a new locally produced chicken wings  by “ Little Bones Wings” an operation that has grow from food truck to stand alone restaurant now to frozen prepared wings ready to cook. The “Little Bones “ wings provided an excellent accompaniment to the beer.

The evening had a great turnout consisting of our best new comers as well as some of our industry leaders. Special thanks to Elissa Polkowski , who was the 2017 Provincial Skills Champion for Manitoba who made the long drive to join us from Gull Harbor. We were also joined by longtime member and Order of Canada Recipient, Chef Takashi Murikami, who is soon to retire after a long career at the St. Charles Country Club.  Special thanks to Little Brown Jug, Little Wings, and Mariner Neptune for their help in making this event a success.

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