VIU Student's 'Pear'-fect Recipe Earns her a Spot in National Culinary Competition

For the past few months VIU Culinary student Allegra Jimenez has been eating, sleeping and breathing pears, all in a bid to create a pear-focused recipe and earn a spot in the finals of the Northwest Pear Bureau Recipe competition.

Every year the Northwest Pear Bureau challenges culinary students to create a recipe using pears. A panel of judges chooses the top five recipes and those students are invited to compete in a final cook-off in Toronto.

Jimenez spent a month perfecting her winning recipe, called ‘The Pearfect Pearing’ and is thrilled her hard work paid off.

“I was really excited to find out that I had won,” said Jimenez. “But, I’d be a fool not to be nervous now as the next stage is to prepare the recipe for a panel of judges.”

To allay some of her nerves, Jimenez is spending as much of her spare time as possible preparing her recipe, an appetizer for four people.

“I was originally thinking to make a pear wellington but I kept changing my mind,” says Jimenez. “I swim a lot, during which I spend a lot of time thinking. That’s why my idea kept evolving and that’s how I eventually came up with a recipe for this appetizer.”

The recipe consists of a puff pastry base, crispy prosciutto, a savory goat-and-blue-cheese, basil thyme cheesecake, andh merlot poached Bosc pear. That’s complemented by a mini-salad of candied beet, balsamic-fig dressed arugula and a green Anjou pear sphere, filled with an Anjou pear puree and cardamom candied walnuts.

To prepare for the next stage of the competition Jimenez is practicing every day before class, perfecting every element in her recipe and making sure she can put it altogether within the allotted three-hour time limit.

Jimenez attributes some of her success to the great support she’s received from VIU’s Culinary instructors who have given advice and helped her hone her skills as she practices for the final competition.

"Allegra is passionate about food and is committed to being ready to compete and doing her best," says Chef Debbie Shore, Chair of VIU's Culinary program. "She's excited to represent our school and hopefully can wow the judges."

The winner of the final competition will be awarded $2,500, and the four other finalists each get $1,000. For Jimenez, though, it isn’t about the money.

“I do want first place, of course,” she says. “But I want it so I can prove to myself where I am at, and how far I can go. That’s more important to me than money.”

Jimenez leaves on April 14 for Toronto in order to be rested and prepared for the final competition which takes place on April 16.