OGVG Cultivating Culinary Students program hosts competition
In the first round of eliminations, four semi-finalists were selected based on their recipe submission, which highlighted delicious Ontario greenhouse vegetables. The four semi-finalists were tasked to present their appetizer dish to a panel of judges that included Chef Christine Cushing of “Fearless in the Kitchen”, Chef Matt Basile of "Rebel Without a Kitchen”, Chief Executive Officer, Burkhard Mausberg of the Friends of the Greenbelt Fund and Editorial Director, Leslie Wu of Ontario Restaurant News. Ms. Neatt presented her “Gazpacho Martini Sorbet” with a roasted red pepper tuile and tomato chip to steal the show! Her creativity, flavour and use of Ontario greenhouse vegetables were exemplary.
As the winner, Neatt received a cash prize of five hundred dollars from OGVG, KitchenAid appliances provided by KitchenAid Canada, and appeared on the CHCH morning show with Chef Wendy Barrett to present her OGVG Cultivating Culinary winning recipe. OGVG engaged seven community colleges in Ontario and reached over 250 future culinary chefs through in class activities and hands-on workshops. Every student that participated had the opportunity to submit a recipe that highlighted Ontario greenhouse vegetables, was easy to prepare, creative and of course, tasty!
Funding was also provided by the Greenbelt Fund to support the launch of an OGVG Cultivating Culinary Students Program.