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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - There's something new cooking up in Yellowknife's North Slave Correction Centre: opportunity.

For the past 12 weeks, six inmates have been taking an intensive camp cooking program, offered through Aurora College.

Fort Smith's Joseph Emile, left, receives his certificate from Paul Martin, food services supervisor, and Barb Curtis, college co-ordinator, for completing a camp cooking pilot project at the North Slave Correction Centre in Yellowknife. Six graduates in all finished the program and organizers hope to continue offering it. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

College co-ordinator Barb Curtis said the pilot project helps inmates on their way back to the real world get a leg up on the competition.

"They get first aid, level 1 FoodSafe and WHMIS training," she said. "These are all the things that employers are looking for."

Aside from certification, students get 180 hours of kitchen training and 180 hours of "essential skills training" - learning about workplace expectations and boosting literacy skills. She called the program a success, and hopes to continue it in the future.

On Feb. 5, five of the graduating students (a sixth was transferred to another institution and finished there) along with instructors, guards and staff gathered in the jail's common visiting area for a graduation ceremony. Visitors were treated to a hearty meal, courtesy of the students.

White cook hats bobbed through the small crowd while the sound of dishes and pleased eaters spread through the room. Guards and inmates shared jokes in between bites of apple-stuffed pork chops and potato croquettes.

"So which one's Gordon Ramsay?" someone asks, referring to the foul-mouthed TV chef. All fingers point at Paul Martin.

Martin is the food services supervisor for the jail and has been coaching and coaxing the students in the art of cooking for the last three months.

"It's been challenging. Very challenging."

Martin said the men involved in the program come from different backgrounds and have different levels of education - leaving some who needed specific training. But while things were sometimes tough, Martin says he has few complaints.

"We had no security problems, everyone was very respectful," he said. "You couldn't ask for a better bunch of guys."

And the feeling goes both ways.

"I've enjoyed cooking and I've enjoyed working with the other students." said Joseph Emile from Fort Smith. "It's a good program."

Graduate Patrick Kotok, originally from Inuvik, said he's excited to see what he can do with what the program has taught him.

"I've been around kitchens all my life. It's just a matter of getting the right certificates."

He's scheduled to be released in November and said he's enjoyed the program - though it did earn the students some gentle ribbing from the other inmates.

"The guys on the inside keep bugging us, calling us 'chef'" he says. "When I'm out there in the field making a good living, I'll be the last one laughing."