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HAY RIVER - A Hay River teenager is about to have a cooking experience of a lifetime, not to mention a chance to meet a future king and his queen.

Krista Gardiner, a student at Hay River's Diamond Jenness Secondary School, will help prepare food for a June 30th reception in Ottawa for William and Kate – the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Krista Gardiner, a 16-year-old at Diamond Jenness Secondary School, has been invited to help prepare food for a June 30th reception in Ottawa for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – the recently-married William and Kate.

"I'm super excited," said Gardiner.

However, she also admitted to being nervous about cooking for – and possibly meeting – the two world-famous royals.

"I'm kind of scared," she said. "Because I might say something wrong."

Gardiner, a fan of the royal family, is not sure what she will say if she meets William and Kate.

However, as for what she is looking forward to most, she said it is the cooking and then possibly meeting the royals.

Gardiner will be among 22 students – including 20 from Ontario and one from Nunavut – who will help prepare food for the reception at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada.

Thomas Ford-Rogers, a 17-year-old high school student in Iqaluit, will represent Nunavut.

The participation of the two northern students was arranged by Edmonton lawyer and former Hay River resident Steve Cooper, who is a friend of Rideau Hall's executive chef Louis Charest.

Cooper explained that he and his wife – CBC Edmonton food critic Twyla Campbell – are members of Slow Food Edmonton, a group dedicated to supporting local foods and farmers.

For the past five years, Cooper and his wife have hosted an annual Northern Food Night in Edmonton.

"I'm from the North," he said. "I travel the North all the time and I'm a big booster of anything Arctic."

Earlier this year, Cooper helped a Toronto restaurant feature Northern foods through another friend, Paul Finkelstein, host of the show 'Fink' on the Food Network Canada.

Finkelstein happened to invite Charest to the northern-themed evening.

"That went over so well we said, 'You know, Louis, we have this Northern food night in April,'" Cooper said. "If I can get you a ticket out here on points, would you come out? And he just jumped at the opportunity. So he and Paul came out."

Cooper said Charest is now a big promoter of Arctic cuisine.

As for his role, the Edmonton lawyer said he and his wife offer advice on what Northern food is available and they help find it.

"They call me Steve the forager now," he said.

Cooper will provide the Northern food for the Ottawa reception.

"There is going to be as many products as I'm able to supply," he said.

That is hoped to include fresh, never frozen char – to be brought by the student from Iqaluit – musk ox, sea urchin and shrimp.

Cooper noted all of the food will come from Nunavut, because there is little commercially produced Northern food available in the NWT for Gardiner to obtain.

"I will say with one exception – Back Eddy Spice," he noted, referring to a seasoning from a restaurant in Hay River. "We've featured Back Eddy Spice on every menu that we've been involved with."

Gardiner, who has been cooking since she was eight or nine, is not sure what she will prepare at Rideau Hall.

Cooper said the reception will feature foods from all across Canada, and he expects Gardiner to be involved in the preparation of everything, not just the Northern foods.

In addition, he anticipates Gardiner and the other students will meet the royals.

"We fully expect, although we can't guarantee, that they're going to be meeting the royals because the royal family in general, particularly the offspring of Princess Diana, have a real interest in youth," he said. "We expect that they'll either come into the kitchen or have the kids come out."

The students will be at Rideau Hall under a program Charest set up called 'Kids in the Kitchen,' which provides opportunities for young people from across Canada to cook for dignitaries.

Cooper and his wife will be at the reception, which will also be attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other dignitaries.

Gardiner's mother is excited for her daughter.

"They have classes and workshops and everything planned for them," said Darlene Lamb. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her."

Lamb said she is a big fan of the royal family, and excited her daughter may get to meet William and Kate.

"Even though I won't be there, I can live through her stories," Lamb said. "And I'm glad I'm not going because I would have made a fool of myself."

Lamb noted the community has pitched in to help her daughter make the trip. Buffalo Airways and First Air have donated tickets, and the Ptarmigan Inn has loaned her a chef's outfit to wear.

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