Howdy!

[alewifee]

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!

[Darienne]

Greetings from someone else who lives in Ontario.  There are lots of us in Ontario and soon you will meet more.  Good luck in your studies.

[alewifee]

39 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Greetings from someone else who lives in Ontario.  There are lots of us in Ontario and soon you will meet more.  Good luck in your studies.

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

[TdeV]

Hello @alewifee. What will you do as a competitor for Skills Ontario? You'll find many friendly folk here on eG. Welcome.

[ElsieD]

Hi @alewifee from a fellow Canadian.  I think you'll like it here.  Whereabouts in Ontario are you?  As you can see, I'm in Ottawa.

[alewifee]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

Hi @alewifee from a fellow Canadian.  I think you'll like it here.  Whereabouts in Ontario are you?  As you can see, I'm in Ottawa.

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.

[alewifee]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

Hello @alewifee. What will you do as a competitor for Skills Ontario? You'll find many friendly folk here on eG. Welcome.

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.

[ElsieD]

20 minutes ago, alewifee said:

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.

I grew up in the Woodstock area so I'm familiar with Fergus.  

[Alex]

Great decision coming here, Emma. As you might have noticed already, there's an overwhelming amount of information around here, and the search engine isn't always the most user-friendly. If you hang around long enough, though, you'll get your bearings. 

 

One feature that a lot of new members miss, I think, is "The Fridge," at the bottom of the main forums page. Of special interest to you, perhaps, might be the eGullet Culinary Institute and the Diary of a Cooking School Student.

 

As you probably know, there's a plethora of books and stories about the social sciences behind food. One that came immediately to mind was Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky, who's also written books about onions, oysters, cod, salmon, and milk. And FWIW, here are some quotes from M.F.K. Fisher.

 

By "recipe conversion test," do you mean scaling up or down the number of servings, or doing a metric/English conversion? My slightly (Ms. Alex would say "more than slightly") warped brain started thinking about questions like "convert this conventional lasagna recipe into a deconstructed version," but I suspect that's beyond the scope of the competition.

[C. sapidus]

1 hour ago, alewifee said:

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.

 

Sounds like fun. Welcome and good luck!

[MaryIsobel]

On 2/7/2024 at 9:47 AM, alewifee said:

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.

Wow - that's quite a competition for high school! As mentioned, this is a friendly place with a plethora of information from all over the world. I'm Canadian too, but live on the west coast. Welcome!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

On 2/7/2024 at 1:34 PM, alewifee said:

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.

Late to the party but welcome aboard.

I know Fergus well from attending the annual Highland Games.

 

[alewifee]

On 2/7/2024 at 1:10 PM, Alex said:

Great decision coming here, Emma. As you might have noticed already, there's an overwhelming amount of information around here, and the search engine isn't always the most user-friendly. If you hang around long enough, though, you'll get your bearings. 

 

One feature that a lot of new members miss, I think, is "The Fridge," at the bottom of the main forums page. Of special interest to you, perhaps, might be the eGullet Culinary Institute and the Diary of a Cooking School Student.

 

As you probably know, there's a plethora of books and stories about the social sciences behind food. One that came immediately to mind was Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky, who's also written books about onions, oysters, cod, salmon, and milk. And FWIW, here are some quotes from M.F.K. Fisher.

 

By "recipe conversion test," do you mean scaling up or down the number of servings, or doing a metric/English conversion? My slightly (Ms. Alex would say "more than slightly") warped brain started thinking about questions like "convert this conventional lasagna recipe into a deconstructed version," but I suspect that's beyond the scope of the competition.

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!

[Alex]

13 hours ago, alewifee said:

Not the most Italian dessert, but I think everything will look nice (and taste nice) together!

 

Aw, heck. Just stick a little Italian flag on it and you're good to go. 

 

Or use an orange gel instead of strawberry, and white chocolate dyed green for your caviar, and it's even patriotic Italian.