alewifee

Hi everyone! I had my first practice for my Skills Ontario competition last week, and struggled to figure out where I went wrong with my chocolate agar pearls. I was reading a thread by @pastrygirl from 2015 and tried following that recipe. I'm thinking that perhaps my oil was too warm? It had only been in my school's walk-in freezer for ~1 hour before I tried for the first time. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it!

I will certainly have to look into those books! I am reading Food Mobilities right now, which is a collection of essays, and have learnt a lot so far! The conversion test is fairly straightforward. Last year it was a basic tomato sauce recipe that we had to scale down. It is especially easy considering we use metric. Although, we are doing some funky stuff for our dessert courses that make us think out of the box. The only requirement for this year is that it needs to be an "Italian" inspired cookie, with a few additional requirements like a pastry cream, fruit-based sauce, and chocolate component. So far, I am planning on making a browned-butter pizzelle cookie with a vanilla-bay leaf Bavarian cream, strawberry fluid gel, and cocoa caviar. The restaurant that I work at uses a lot of agar agar for our desserts, so I feel like I'll be able to figure it out! Not the most Italian dessert, but I think everything will look nice (and taste nice) together!

We must complete a recipe conversion test, make a traditional French omelette, do 3 vegetable precision cut competencies, and make a risotto, pizza, side salad, and Italian-inspired dessert. I also did the competition last year, so I feel pretty confident this time. We can be pretty creative with our dishes if they fit the competition's parameters.

I'm from Fergus, which is just north of Guelph. Major food scene in nearby village Elora because of the mill. Also, its where Anita Stewart is from.

Thank you so much! I'm glad to be here.

Hi everyone! My name is Emma and I am a beginner cook from Ontario, Canada. I plan on attending college next year for an undergraduate degree in food studies and am interested in the social sciences behind food. Still, I have started my passions through cooking and baking and will spend most of my free time researching or making things using new techniques or recipes. I am my high school's competitor for Skills Ontario again this year, so I am looking for all the culinary advice I can get! I'm looking forward to meeting new people here and learning new things!