WATCH: These teams are cooking their way to the culinary world stage

• Fundraising for Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg
• Over 100 guests attended, enjoying a 4-course meal
• Current OC culinary students assisted the teams

Cooking their way to the culinary world stage is what two teams are striving for.

Community Catering Team Canada (provincial) and Junior Culinary Team Canada (national) prepared delicious meals for a fundraising dinner at Okanagan College (OC).

“An event like this is unbelievably inspiring, it really shows the power of the exchange of learning,” Neil Fassina, President of Okanagan College, told Kelowna10.

At the Gold Medal Banquet fundraiser, current OC culinary students assisted the teams. They were working on the catering menu for Community Catering Team Canada, which is the B.C. provincial team.

“A number of these competitors are actually OC alum and [they’re] able to mentor some of these young chefs in their development,” Fassina said.

Both teams are practicing and fundraising for the Culinary World Cup that will be hosted in Luxembourg in November. They will be competing against other countries at the event, trying to secure gold medals in their respective departments.

“It’s a way of pushing yourself, you’re around the best all the time and creating the best,” Daniel Calabrese, from Junior Culinary Team Canada, said. “Our team is completely run by fundraising and sponsorships, so the fundraising is a huge part of what we do.”

One OC alumnus, Chris Braun, is a core member for the provincial team. He helps support the community catering team by assisting with organizing menus, practices, and fundraising events.

“I love the opportunity to come back and work with the younger generation,” Braun said. “[This is] a great opportunity to show the Okanagan what we’re planning on doing in Luxembourg; the teams work very hard on these menus.”

Alongside helping the team practice for Luxembourg, Braun is also opening his own restaurant called Erica Jane. He hopes to open in mid-July and said the restaurant will be different to anything else in Kelowna.

“Hard times trying to open a restaurant coming out of a pandemic, but I’m trying to give Kelowna something new and shiny and I think it’s going to be great,” he said.

Over 100 people attended the fundraising banquet and feasted on hors d’oeuvres, salad, soup, and a choice of three entrees: Roast Chicken Roulade, Brioche Crusted Farmed Atlantic Salmon, or Butternut Squash Celeriac Wellington.

More information about the Culinary World Cup 2022 can be found here.