October 8, 2008 - 9:35am
Vancouver Island University Culinary Arts student Carlos Rodriguez is heading to Dubai to compete in a global cooking competition.
Rodriguez won an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai in December after winning first place in LG Home Chef, a national cooking competition sponsored by LG Electronics.
LG Electronics asked three Canadian cooking schools – including Vancouver Island University (VIU) - to send their finest student chefs to compete.
Representing the Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island at VIU, Rodriguez beat out competitors from well known Culinary Arts programs at St. Pius College in Quebec and Humber College in Ontario.
The competition was held in Toronto on the set of a popular TV program called Foodies. Rodriguez and the two other competitors had three hours to prepare a hot entrée with side dishes for four people. Their culinary creations were judged and critiqued by a top Canadian chef.
After winning the competition, Rodriquez appeared on Toronto’s Breakfast Television program.
“Every once in a while, our students get these amazing opportunities,” said Debbie Shore, Coordinator of VIU’s Culinary Institute. “In this case, the stars aligned perfectly for Carlos. I happened to be on the phone with the show producers in Toronto. They were impressed with our website and asked if we could send our top student to compete. Carlos walked into our teaching kitchen at VIU at that exact moment, returning from a two-month co-operative education placement at Mission Hill Winery in Kelowna. I knew he was due to return for the second year of our diploma. As chef instructors, we discussed who might be the perfect fit for this competition and Carlos was the only returning student who had winning competition experience. We asked and he said yes.”
Rodriguez spent two full weeks practicing for the competition. “Every chef at VIUmentored and coached me,” he said. “They were fantastic and offered a lot of positive encouragement.”
Rodriguez graduated this past week from VIU’s one-year Culinary Arts certificate program. Now he’s started year two of the diploma program.
Originally from Venezuela, Rodriguez arrived at VIU with no interest in cooking. He enrolled in the Global Studies degree program in 2002 and supported himself through school by working as a dishwasher and then line cook at local restaurants.
That’s where he fell in love with cooking. He completed his Global Studies degree, hung it on his wall, and enrolled in the Culinary Arts program. “Cooking is clearly where my passion lies,” he said.
Rodriguez’s success on the national stage follows on the heels of recent provincial accolades. He won a gold medal at the EAT Vancouver show last June, and a silver medal at the BC Junior Chefs competition.
He’s also one of the founding members of the VIU student dinner club which hosted six sold out dinners last year to raise funds for student scholarships and an alumni cookbook which will be available before the end of the year . Rodriguez plans to revive the club in coming weeks.He will also be among diploma students helping out at special Culinary Arts reception on October 17 to raise funds for VIU Culinary Arts graduate David Wong who will represent Canada at the prestigious Bocuse D'Or World Cuisine competition in France next year.
“We’re so proud of Carlos and everything he has achieved,” added Chef Shore. “He’s an exceptional student who will go far in his culinary career.”
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