IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - A four-course fundraising dinner prepared by 30 high school students from Cambridge Bay and Stratford, Ont., raised $1,600 recently.

Chelsea Klengenberg is one of 30 students helping to prepare a four-course meal for 40 people during a fundraising dinner at Kiilinik High School in Cambridge Bay on Oct. 29. The event raised $1,600. - photo courtesy of Carly Smith

The students served 40 people under the guidance of Paul Finkelstein, a Food Network Canada host and teacher at the Northwestern Secondary School in Stratford. He was in the Kitikmeot community with some of his students as part of an exchange trip. He said paper plates, plastic utensils and the lack of garnishes hindered the style, but the food was great.

"It wasn't a fine dining experience for sure, because of the plates and the dress of the servers …," he said. "But it was about two groups of youths coming together and working towards the end game, which was serving good food to an interesting group of people."

The money raised will go towards Kiilinik High School's upcoming trip to Stratford, Ont.

Guests first ate citrus marinated Arctic char with pickled red onions, followed with a phyllo pastry bundled with goat cheese, fennel roasted pork belly and crunchy roasted garlic. The main course consisted of a roast loin of pork served with herbed potato pancakes and wild flower honey glazed carrots. Dessert was a Saskatoonberry mille feuille.

There were some adventures cooking the food.

Two butter fires created enough smoke that a student was on fanning duty so the alarm and the sprinklers would not go off, said Finkelstein.

"Things burnt, for sure. There was a couple of fires," he said.

Elijah Aitaok was tasked with whipping the cream with a whisk, peeling carrots, grating cheese and potatoes as well as making juice from lime. The Grade 10 student said whipping the cream went well.

"It was a little bit difficult but I got the job done," he said.

Aitaok said overall the experience was positive and he enjoyed himself.

Grade 11/12 student Chelsea Klengenberg said overall the experience was great as she learned to cook with Finkelstein and made new friends. She added everything seemed so easy.

"I'd say 10 out of 10," she said. "I get to help around in the kitchen. I get to participate in everything and make new friends."

She preferred the main course, the roast loin of pork.

"The food was delicious," she said. "It had a great taste to it. It didn't have a lot of spice but it was very very delicious."

Finkelstein said working with teenagers is always challenging as some are more interested in helping out and working in the kitchen than others, who seemed more occupied with socializing. But in the end, all worked out well, he added.

"The whole idea of this experience is to bring kids together and I always said 'the best way to do that is through food,'" he said. "Them working towards the goal of feeding 40 people was a big challenge and they pulled it off in a great fashion. They should be really proud of what they did."

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