Culinary Guild of Windsor - CCFCC Windsor, Ontario, Canada

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to promote the Culinary Arts, by inspiring passion, respect and professionalism in culinarians; through knowledge, experiences, fellowship and community service.

Letter from the Chairperson

Dear Colleagues,

Many thanks to the members, volunteers, partners and delegates that helped to make the 47th CCFCC National Conference such a success!

Below are just a few of the highlights.

Junior Chefs Ice Breaker reception. A group of more than thirty junior chefs converged on Essex Golf & Country Club to officially mark the start of the conference by preparing regional delicacies. Items included PEI oysters, Quebec Caribou, smoked Ontario trout on hemp crisps, Manitoba pork belly, Alberta beef sliders and cheese from all regions of the country. To emphasize the camaraderie in culinary arts, a group of junior and Mentor Chefs from the American Culinary Federation Michigan chapter joined the celebration and prepared fresh yellow perch and sous vide pork.

Honour Society. A group of distinguished Chef members were inducted as Founding Members of the Honour Society during the conference. This society was established to honour and recognize leadership, professional excellence, lifetime commitment and significant contributions to our profession and the CCFCC. To mark the occasion, an elaborate seven course dinner was prepared under the direction of Honour Society Chair, Bruno Marti from Vancouver.

Education Seminars. A dynamic series of educational presentations were available including cheese education, growing coffee culture, USA rice education, restaurant design, ocean wise, modern gastronomy, gourmet cocktails and a special keynote address by Jon Taffer of Taffer Dynamics.

Additionally, the conference made a noticeable change in the way material is delivered to the members in an effort to “go green”. All reports were presented electronically. Each delegate was provided with a flash drive which contained all reports and otherwise printed material.

Competitions and Awards. Several culinary competitions were held at St. Clair College which included;

Youth Team Canada selection. This competition was to select a junior team to represent Canada at the IKA (World Culinary Olympics) in Erfurt, Germany in 2012. Four colleges competed (Culinary Institute of Canada - Holland College in PEI, Nova Scotia Community College – Akerley Campus in Halifax, Jacques-Rousseau Culinary Institute in Montreal and Vancouver Community College in Vancouver) with the winner being Vancouver Community College.

National Chefs Challenge. Regional Chefs (Clement Chan, Vancouver; Philip Leach, Muskoka; Mark Steele, Ottawa and Todd Smith, St. John’s) competed at this national final with the winner being Clement Chan, Vancouver.

Junior Culinary Challenge. Nine provincial finalists (Steve Kuan, BC; Matthew Parker, ON; Taszia Fenton, PEI; Brenan Madill, NS; Chantel Vance, SK; Martine Donaghy, QC; Tara Nicholls, NL; Joseph Rainer Cruz Regalado, MB and Colleen Erker AB) with the winner being Steve Kuan, Vancouver.

Chef of the Year. Not a competition but an award to recognize outstanding contributions to the CCFCC. The regional finalists included; Allan Williams, PEI; Luc Boissy, Montreal; Roary Golden, Muskoka and John-Carlo Felicella, Vancouver. The 2010 National Chef of Year was awarded to John-Carlo Felicella, Vancouver.

Several international and special guests joined the conference and actively participated in the agenda. Guests included –

· Gissur Gudmundsson – President, World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS)

· Michael Ty – President, American Culinary Federation (ACF)

· Louis Perrotte – Continental Director, WACS – Americas

· Michael Smith – Food Network Chef Celebrity

By the end of the conference there was an increased level of enthusiasm and commitment. Next year we will gather in Vancouver from June 14 to 19...mark your calendars, you won’t want to miss it !

Please see the Articles/Resource page for a further write up by Mitch Kostuch of Foodservice & Hospitality.

Ahron Goldman, Chairperson

Culinary Guild Gear Is Available

Chef's Hats are available for purchase at monthly meetings. They are $5 each and sport both the Culinary Guild and CCFCC logos. Support your association and federation and proudly wear these executive chefs hats.