On Friday, February 26, Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) Culinary Program students explained to inSide Drumheller their partnership with Canalta Hotels and O’Sheas Eatery & Ale House for a culinary competition.
In mid January 2016, sixteen DVSS students participated in the competition, held in the school’s kitchen lab. Five judges looked for presentation, taste and functionality within a commercial kitchen. The judges were O’Sheas Chris Jones, Heather Jones, Richard Parsons, Ken Bitz and Canalta’s Kerr Boydell.
All dishes were prepared from scratch. One of their instructors was DVSS Principal Curtis Lapierre, who has his Red Seal in the culinary arts. Out of the sixteen entree’s, the final five were selected. These five dishes will be on O’Shea’s Feature menu for the month of April.
Chicken Sausage & Shrimp Jambalaya, one of the winning dishes, was prepared by Savanna Richardson and she said, “I am actually self taught, I have been cooking my whole life. I love being in the kitchen and I love cooking and baking. I want to attend Olds College for a four year welding program and then work for a couple of years. I will then go to either SAIT or the Culinary Institute of the Arts in Vancouver to obtain my cooking degree.”
The next winning dish, prepared by Joshua Thomson, was a Citrus Chicken entree. Josh spoke about his love for cooking, “I love a lot of foods and my parents helped with that and always made sure I could feed myself. I have been accepted into the University of Lethbridge for the next semester and will be taking a minor in History and majoring in Economics.”
Another winning dish, Grilled Steak Sandwich, was prepared by Jessica Fernando and she explained her menu item, “It’s prepared with beef steak, marinated in adobo and it comes with Chimichurri sauce. Fernando told inSide Drumheller of her future plans, “I want to attend the University of Toronto, taking Political Science and then eventually bridge into law school.”
Leo Li prepared the Pepper Steak and spoke about the entree, “My grandmother used to prepare this meal for me and it is my favorite dish. It’s prepared with pork tenderloin and sautéed with red and green peppers.” Li’s plans are to attend the University of Alberta, because many of his Chinese friends will also be there. He wants to take the Business program.
The fifth winning entree was submitted by Rachel Graf who prepared a Shepherd’s Pie Stuffed Baked Potato. Unfortunately, Graf was not available for interview at this time.
At O’Sheas, for the month of April, the public will be invited to complete a Guest Survey after enjoying one of the winning dishes. Based on numbers of orders and reviews, a winner will be selected and announced this coming May. The winner will receive a $1000 scholarship from Canalta/O’Sheas.
Bitz summarized by saying, “All the students are fine examples of this community.”
