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Posts Tagged ‘Vancouver Community College’

2014 Healthy Chef Competition Recap

Posted in Culinary Events, Dessert, Dinner, Healthy Eating, Joyce, Meat, Salad, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

For the past 4 years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend the BC Healthy Chef Competition. Co-sponsored by the BC Chefs’ Association and the BC Produce Marketing Association, the purpose of this event is to promote a healthier diet with the use of fruit and vegetables, while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Chefs representing 8 units were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. Despite I received a media invitation this year, I once again joined a few other colleagues at work at this event. Here is the list of competing units this year:

  • The Art Institute of Vancouver
  • Beach Grove Golf Club
  • Burnaby Central Secondary School
  • Delta Hotels (Burnaby and Vancouver Airport)
  • The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
  • Pretty Estates Resort
  • Rational
  • Vancouver Community College

Healthy Chef Competition 2014

Before we followed the tradition and opened our envelope to retrieve our entree and dessert tickets, we each received a plate of Salmon Carpaccio prepared by the team at Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Because the team was led by Chef Thomas Heinrich, it had the resemblance of the beef carpaccio we previously had at the Mosaic Bar & Grille downstairs from the ballroom. A different protein but this still composed a good flavour and texture combination using fish, crispy garlic chives, the aioli and liquid vinegar gel.

Salmon Carpaccio

I couldn’t resist. In addition to my assigned entree and dessert, I also picked up a couple more dishes after we were allowed for “seconds”; therefore, I have tried a total of 3 entrees and 3 desserts. Ooops hehe!

Entrees

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver’s Braised Beef Short Rib was very tender. (more…)

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2012 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Posted in Christmas Series, Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, Special Occasion, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2012| 1 Comment »

In its 22nd year, the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver is adorned by more than 40 gingerbread houses built by amateur and professional bakers, as well as college and high school students enrolled in culinary arts programs.

I noticed that there are more non-traditional gingerbread houses this year. In particular, I was quite impressed by this coral reef display made by the David Thompson Secondary School Cafeteria. What a unique interpretation of a “house”:

Coral Reef

Coral Reef

Here is one on the story of the Nutcracker: (more…)

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2012 BC Healthy Chef Competition – A Recap

Posted in Chinese, Chocolate, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dinner, Indian, Joyce, Lower Mainland, News, Seafood, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2012| 1 Comment »

Thanks to work, I was one of the lucky individuals who once again attended the BC Healthy Chef Competition that took place a couple of weeks ago. I might not have a popular blog to receive the fancy, golden media invite (I’m imagining that’s what it looked like) and sit at the VIP tables, but my coworkers and I had a lovely evening while supporting a great cause. Man, I know I said this before, but I do love my job 🙂

The purpose of this event is to help promote healthy eating while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Chefs representing 10 units were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. Here is the list of competing units:

  • Chinese Canadian Chef Association
  • Copper Chimney
  • Executive Plaza Hotel Coquitlam
  • The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
  • The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Vancouver
  • Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
  • Pier 7
  • River Rock Casino Resort
  • Vancouver Community College
  • Wah Wing Szachuan Restaurant

Before we could enjoy the entrees and desserts prepared by these 10 competing units, we each had our serving of Olive Oil Poached Wild Salmon as our starter plate.

Starter Plate

Starter Plate: Olive Oil Poached Wild Salmon, Pickled Mushroom and Potato Fondant

Then, each guest joined the line to pick up their own combination of entree and dessert, based on the envelope at each seat. The envelope contained a card that specified our entree and dessert selection randomly chosen among the ten competing units. No two guests at the same table would have the same combination of entree and dessert. There were four of us at the table, so we shared our plates to maximize the number of dishes we each got to try. In addition to that, we also picked up a few more dishes when each station was open for “seconds”. Frankly, we tried almost everything that was served that evening!

Food

Of everything I tried, I was the most impressed by these:

Copper Chimney Entree

Copper Chimney Entree: Lamb Popsicles with Mint Chutney & Potato Gobi

Copper Chimney Entree: This might not be the healthiest dish, but I really enjoyed the spice rub on the lamb chops. (more…)

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Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver 2011

Posted in Christmas Series, Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, News, Special Occasion, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , on December 15, 2011| 1 Comment »

While we had to wait 10 minutes for our food ordered at Bada Bing Food Truck, we decided to check out the Gingerbread Lane inside the Hyatt Regency Vancouver hotel.

Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

In its 21st year, the hotel lobby is adorned by approximately 40 gingerbread houses built by amateur and professional bakers, as well as college and high school students enrolled in culinary arts programs.

The iconic gingerbread house uses over 2kg of brown sugar, 5kg of icing sugar, 4kg of margarine, 4kg of molasses, 1kg of corn syrup, 16kg of pastry flour and some other secret ingredients to build. An additional 1400 egg whites, 300lb of icing sugar and 500lb of gingerbread dough were used for extra touches.

Iconic, Giant Gingerbread House

Iconic, Giant Gingerbread House

Not only this is a fundraising initiative for Make a Wish Foundation, it’s also a gingerbread competition. As you walk around, you notice gingerbread houses are awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in various categories such as secondary school, amateur and professional. (more…)

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2011 BC Healthy Chef Competition – Event Recap

Posted in By Invitations, Culinary Events, Dinner, Joyce, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2011| 4 Comments »

Through work, I had the opportunity to attend the 2011 BC Healthy Chef Competition dinner. On March 16, chefs representing 10 venues were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. The purpose of this event is to help promote healthy eating while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Here I want to report back what went on that evening. Put your bib on because this is going to be a mouth-watering post!!

Chefs showcase their dishes

Chefs showcase their dishes

The competing units included:

  • Chinese Canadian Chef Association
  • Delizia Fusion Cuisine
  • Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
  • Executive Hotels & Resorts
  • Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
  • The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
  • The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Vancouver
  • River Rock Casino Resort
  • Vancouver Community College
  • The Well Restaurant

The evening was a lot of fun. First, we got to check out each booth and watched the chefs as they prepared for our dishes. At the same time, a panel of judges visited each booth and evaluated each entry based on a number of things including taste, presentation, use of six fruit or vegetables to promote healthy eating and the table display.

A panel of judges visited each booth

A panel of judges visited each booth

Then, we were seated at the dining table and had the Salmon Roulade cooked by Hyatt Regency Vancouver.

Appetizer: Confit Salmon Roulade

Appetizer: Confit Salmon Roulade

The best part came when we had to fetch our own entree and dessert. (more…)

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