Education Week 2019 – Chris Rose
Meet Chris Rose, his #DSBNEducationStory starts cooking in the kitchen!
After many long nights after school and preparing during his third period spare, Chris’s hard work and dedication in the kitchen paid off.
Chris is the first Beamsville District Buccaneer to win gold in the Culinary Skills Competition held at Niagara College.
To win gold, Chris had to prepare a three-course menu in a four-hour time frame, against nine other students in the district. Competitors had two weeks to prepare, perfect and put the special touches on their dishes. His menu consisted of carrot soup, chicken cacciatore with fresh pasta and a mouthwatering chocolate mousse.
“We put a spin on a few things,” said Chris. “For the dessert I thought of doing a caramel garnish; I was the only person to take that route, but it worked out well”.
Surprisingly, Chris didn’t always have an interest in the culinary industry. Besides watching Chopped Canada on TV when he was young, Chris is rather new to the industry. At the start of high school, he applied for a dishwashing position at a new restaurant in Vineland with no intentions of cooking. What Chris didn’t realize at the time was that this job would turn into a fulfilling experience for him. The chef at the restaurant offered to show Chris a few things around the kitchen. Later, Chris was fortunate enough to work alongside the restaurant’s chef as his apprentice.
Following his apprentice position, Chris began working in the kitchen at Vineland Estates. He was offered the opportunity to learn from head chef Justin Downes. Downes was able to give Chris some professional knowledge on the field and techniques he could then use moving forward in the industry.
“I love it, the environment is just fun to be in, its fast paced,” said Chris Rose. “I like the stress of it all, everything has to get done in a certain amount of time and it has to get done right”.
Grade 10 was the first time Chris was in culinary class during high school. He is now a part of the Hospitality and Tourism Specialist High Skill Major program. Chris was able to learn a lot of what he knows from the program and the trips he participated in.
With a Hospitality and Tourism Specialist High Skills Major, students focus on a career path to match their skills and interests in this sector. By making courses more relevant to students, they can get a better understanding of the Hospitality and Tourism sector because they learn it in a real-world environment.
Chris is now preparing to compete at the provincial level Skills Competition. He will challenge all of Ontario gold medal winners in Toronto on May 6, 2019. He will have five hours to complete his dishes and impress the judges with his skills and culinary techniques.
“It’s a lot more competitive now,” said Chris’s Culinary teacher, Mr. Marchese. “Chris has to look at the same menu and decide how he’s going to make it more complex and demonstrate more technique and skill”.
We are incredibly proud of your hard work and dedication Chris. We can’t wait to see what the next pages of your #DSBNEducationStory holds. Good luck at provincials!
#DSBNEducationWeek2019