With curried chicken, stir-fry vegetables and naan on more Canadian tables these days, dinner is starting to look very different compared to meals 20 years ago. As we become more gastronomically adventurous, restaurants and hotels are striving to bring more exotic fare into their kitchens – and they’re looking for the right expertise to do so.
To help feed the demand for food preparers trained in international cuisine, Centennial College has opened its newly renovated Culinary Arts Centre at the Progress Campus. The $3.5 million renovation, which has yielded two enormous professional kitchens and a bakeshop lab totaling 7,600 square feet, promises to instill future cooks and chefs with a great appreciation for foods from Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, South Asia and the Americas.
Centennial's School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culture worked with employers and members of its program advisory committees to ensure the Culinary Arts Centre’s concept, design and equipment will meet the current and future needs of a rapidly changing industry. In addition to the traditional stoves, grilles and deep fryers, students will make use of combi ovens, wok line, a Tandoori oven, brick-lined pizza oven, a smoker, baker’s ovens and magnetic induction cookers – all state-of-the-art equipment found in only the very best professional kitchens.
Centennial’s gleaming new Culinary Arts Centre is a great teaching and learning facility designed with students in mind. The kitchens are spacious and well-lit to ensure the safety of all users working in what can be a busy and creative environment. Technology plays a large role in the new kitchens; for example, the exhaust system is electronically regulated to minimize energy usage.
The teaching is hands-on in the Culinary Arts Centre, with students working side by side with instructors and classes making use of large-screen video equipment to document and play back instructive lessons for the benefit of students and special audiences. The audio-visual system allows for real-time feeds and access to Internet and broadcast content, as well.
Our program graduates will enjoy a unique perspective on food. Not only will they have an appreciation for global cuisines, but also the food serves as a wonderful introduction to our diverse cultures and religions, and illustrates how different value systems impact the diet and the menus of the world’s peoples.
It’s a fresh approach to the familiar cooking-school model. Because, like your own dining table, Canada’s culinary needs are changing with the times.
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