Students take cooking skills to commercial level
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Mar 12/01) - "Since we've come here, the people have started putting on more weight," said May Andre.
"Look," she added with a conspiratorial nod toward a lady carefully carrying a tray of five slices of coconut cream pie.
Andre's classmates break out in laughter, which seems to be one of the main ingredients in the four-week introduction to commercial cooking.
Certainly the boom here will demand well trained heavy equipment operators and tradespeople, but without good cooks to go with them everything grinds to a halt.
"It's designed to introduce them into the professional kitchen ... so they have a good grounding they can take and apply in camps, hotels and hospital kitchens," said instructor Ray Croston.
Andre's class was the second to take the course at Aurora College's Inuvik campus.
The course focused on cooking for up to 80 people, working in a professional kitchen, food handling and maintaining a kitchen to the standards imposed by law.
Students prepared pies, salads, pastries, breads, biscuits, as well as main courses, vegetables and soups.
"There's lots of hints, lots of things to learn," said Velma Cardinal.
Two students - Lucy Kaye and Clara Aviugana - got a hands-on encounter with what it's like cooking in a remote drilling camp. They spent three days at Swimming Point, Arctic Oil and Gas's 100-person camp between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.
"We were helping the catering cook," said Kaye, who hails from Fort McPherson. The two helped prepare an extravagant luncheon of modern and traditional dishes for a tour of the camp by media and VIPs.
Kaye said she wants to get a job cooking in such a camp.
"These young girls want to meet some guys," cracked Andre.
It is an experience Croston says he hopes can be arranged for all students in future editions of the course.
During the last week students got a chance to put what they learned during the first three into practice and at the same time recoup some of the money the course costs for the college.
They prepared menus for lunch and dessert for the week. Croston was careful to point out that the students are not trying to compete with local restaurants.
At $4.50 for a main course, $1.50 for soup and $1 for a slice of pie, it is safe to say there was no competition.
People -- mostly college students and staff -- were lined up for half an hour beforehand waiting for lunch. Pies disappeared almost as soon as they were served. Everything sold out. Fast. "They can smell it for miles," said Andre.
The college is planning to run a third installment of the course from April 17 to May 11. Registration deadline is March 30.
