January 16, 2007 - 4:00pm
Talk about cooking under pressure.
Malaspina University-College graduate Tobias Grignon recently won a national cooking competition for chefs 25 and under, sponsored by the worldwide culinary arts society La Chaine des Rotisseurs. In just four hours, Grignon prepared an award-winning three course meal using surprise ingredients contained in a “black box.”
“I’ve done a few black box cooking competitions before,” said Grignon, another successful graduate of Malaspina's Culinary Arts program. “It can be a nerve wracking experience. The main thing is to maintain your composure and not look too stressed out. You have to think quickly on your feet.”
Black box ingredients are revealed to competing chefs seconds before the competition begins. Grignon's surprise ingredients included duck, trout, bacon, fois gras, fennel, brussel sprouts, button mushrooms, yellow cherry tomatoes, chocolate, Stilton cheese, sour cherries and bosc pears. Competitors had 30 minutes to write a menu, and four hours to prepare a meal. A pantry of basic ingredients such as sugar, eggs, flour, butter, milk, cream, oil, stocks, vinegars, dried herbs and spices could also be incorporated into their culinary creations.
Grignon’s first course included pan-seared trout, fennel puree, yellow tomato and bacon salad. The second course featured oven roasted duck breast, braised leg and Stilton tart, brussel sprouts, poached pear and seared fois gras. For dessert, he created molten chocolate cake, port sour cherry compote, sable cookie and goat cheese mousse.
“When you cook, timing is everything,” added Grignon. “In competition like this, you have to have confidence. Know what you do well, and do it.”
Grignon learned basic cooking skills from his parents, Paul and Tsiporah Grignon of Gabriola Island. His early knowledge and passion for cooking evolved further thanks to the expertise of world-renowned chef instructors at Malaspina.
“The Culinary Arts program at Malaspina prepared me very well for industry,” said Grignon, who graduated with distinction in 2000. “The program has a lot to offer students. You get out of it what you put in.”
Immediately after graduation, Grignon worked at the downtown Vancouver Delta and Waterfront Hotels, and for one season at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria. He currently works as a sous-chef at the Wedgewood Hotel in Vancouver at Baachus restaurant.
As the Canadian winner of the La Chaine des Rotisseurs competition, Grignon will represent Canada at a world cooking competition sponsored by the La Chaine des Rotisseurs Society in Frankfurt, Germany in September, 2007.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “Anyone who enters a cooking competition hopes to do well. In my experience I’ve found that you learn more by losing than winning. I’ve lost a fair share of competitions over the years. This time, I’m ready to win.”
Malaspina's 11-month Culinary Arts program offers two intakes a year, in January and August. An information session for prospective students interested in a career in Culinary Arts or Professional Baking takes place February 16 at 10 am in the Royal Arbutus Room, Nanaimo Campus, 900 Fifth Street. For more information, call (250) 740-6414.
Tags: In the Community
