Hidden talents.....

 Our chef-instructors are exceptionally skilled cooks.  We are lucky to have them on board, and reap the benefits almost every day (Lunch anyone?) It's always interesting, though, to see beyond the plate, and glimpse the other talents that emerge from time to time.

Chef Dan is a talented visual artist and pumpkin carver extraordinaire. 

Chef Bill installed the new fryer in the kitchen recently,
and has built displays for our booth at Food & Drink. 

Chaud froid: For your eyes only...

The design is limited only by the cook's imagination................

Chaud froid is a showcase for patience and ingenuity. Designed to visually enhance an elaborately-laid buffet table, it is more eye-candy than appetizer.

The process involves cooking a piece of meat (our students use chicken), then chilling and covering it with a smooth coat of bechamel sauce.

...........eyesight, and manual dexterity.

The kitchen grows unusually quiet when students focus all
of their attention on developing their micro palates. 

The sauce-coated meat is cooled again to set the bechamel, and to hold the chicken at a safe temperature while the intricate surface design work is prepared.

The French term chaud-froid refers to heating and cooling the food as each step of the process is undertaken.







When the bits of vegetable mosaic are ready, the meat is once again pulled from the cooler, and the design laid on to the white background.

A clear aspic glaze is prepared and cooled to just the right temperature: warm enough that it flow easily over the whole piece of chicken, covering it with a smooth and transparent coat, but cool enough that it does not melt the bechamel undercoat.

Once these creations have been cooled again, they are ready for the buffet table. If they have been handled carefully, and with food safety in mind, they are edible works of art. With emphasis on their visual aesthetics, though, their ornamental value far outweighs their gustatory appeal.

 The white bechamel that coats the chicken is
like  gesso on a painter's canvas. 

Paper-thin slices are shaved from sweet pepper and other veggies for
the chaud froid design.

A clear aspic glaze (foreground) is applied
over the  design to finish these  buffet showpieces. 

GO Cooking (June 11, 2013)

You'll find some of the recipes from this GO Cooking evening on our 'Recipes' page.

Chef Bill got help from students Michael (left) and Jacques (right) at the last
GO Cooking presentation in June.  

Ever the teacher, Chef instructs as he cuts, demonstrating a fast
and simple way to seed and core sweet peppers.

 Jacque (background) sautes sweet peppers that will be incorporated
into the Spanish rice that Chef is preparing.

Michael sautes fresh, Ontario-grown asparagus.

The Cornish hens are pulled from the oven as the
Spanish rice (background)  is near completion. 

Alumni stories- A golfer in chef whites

photos by Terry Asma; 2020studios

Chef Fred Smith is relaxed in the kitchen at Paris Grand Golf Club, even as a tournament gets ready to roll out on the course. Despite his mature years, he doesn't look like a man ready to slow down. 

"I've always said I'll leave when it stops being fun," says the Executive Chef, a graduate of Liaison Hamilton. 

He had already worked a full career- thirty-two years as a production mechanic with American Can Company & Ball Packaging - when the Hamilton factory where he was working shut down in 2000. Being an avid golfer, his first reaction to layoff was to head to Glancaster Golf Course. He hit the fairways three days a week, not to golf, but to cut the grass. When the season came to a close, he decided to pursue another of his passions – cooking.

His strategy for getting connected in the culinary field? He enrolled at Liaison Hamilton, immersed himself in his studies, and jumped on every opportunity to help with errands and catered events.

“I would advise all students to volunteer for every benefit function they can. I received several job offers from chefs during these events. You don't earn pay but the experience is a gold mine. Other chefs see you perform, you gain experience, and networking is invaluable in this business.”

Despite his expanding network, he planned to go back to cutting fairways after graduation. 

“Gene (co-owner at Liaison) really encouraged me to find work in a kitchen. He kept telling me, ‘You’re really good at this. You should try it out for a while.”

Chef Fred graduated top of his class in 2001, and landed a breakfast cook position at Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville.

“It was my first time in a professional kitchen, and stressful to be thrown in with the wolves.” Once he found his footing, though, he moved to Scenic Wood Golf Club. He has been Executive Chef at Paris Grand now for five seasons, handling weddings, banquets, parties and tournaments with his kitchen staff, and taking advantage of the free golf when he gets a few hours off.

Reflecting on his second career with satisfaction, he credits much of his success to the chefs that trained him. Still he has some cautionary words for anyone new to the culinary field. “It’s long hours and a lot of work for low wages and little thanks. If you don’t love it, if you don’t have the passion for it, get out now.”

Click here to see our video on Chef Fred Smith. 

Tension, taste and technique

Chefs do a blind taste-test of the soup course. 

 All is quiet in the kitchen again at Liaison College Hamilton Chef School, and the air is heavy with concentration. Our Cook Basic A.M. class is in the midst of their final practical exam, creating a meal from soup through to dessert. Their timing is critical- chefs expect each course to be served at the exact time specified (no sooner, no later), and at the correct temperature (hot dishes served hot, cold ones still chilled).

Each course is blind taste-tested: students are assigned a number, delivering their food to the empty classroom before the chefs enter to sample from each dish.

James pipes decoration onto his dessert plate. 

Cole delivers his chocolate mousse to the test tables.

While the students work through their soup, main course, sauces and dessert, the chefs make careful notes on seasoning, taste, texture, temperature, and technique.

The dessert course offers an opportunity to explore garnish, presentation styles and sugar work. It also marks a drop in the intensity that permeates the campus on exam days.

Even when the last plate has been delivered to the tasting tables, students still wait on edge until their evaluation is complete. One by one they are called to discuss their meals with the chefs, emerging with relief or concern written across their face.

Chef Bill and Chef Dan finish their test notes before liaising with students. 

Join us at our next Chef’s Table!

Answers the following questions correctly, and we will enter your name in a draw for a pair of tickets for a gourmet, eight-course meal at Liaison College Hamilton.

 

These dinners are a private affair, and are not open to the general public. Our chefs share the table (and their stories and insight) with eight to ten carefully chosen guests. You could be amongst them.

 Our Advanced students plan the menu to highlight the cooking and presentation skills they have learned, then prepare and serve the courses one by one, from amuse bouche through entrée to luscious dessert.

How to enter:

1. Contest deadline is August 19, 2013
2. You will find the answer to each of the quiz questions somewhere on our website www.liaisonhamilton.ca.
3. Email your correct answers to us at katrina@liaisonhamilton.ca, along with your name and a phone number where we can reach you during business hours.
4. We will draw the winning entry on August 20.

(Sorry, students and graduates of Liaison College are not eligible. You must be 19 years of age or older to enter.)

Get to know us at Liaison College Hamilton. Answer these questions correctly for a chance to win a pair of tickets to our next Chef’s Table.

1. What is the name of our program that helps students with resumes and career planning? 

2. How many hours is our longest program?

3. Our Cook Basic students study eight major topics. Name three of these.

4. What kind of catering do we do?

5. Name one hotel at which Chef Bill Sharpe has worked.

Filling a knead

Bread making is one of the first things that students learn when they get into the kitchen – a skill they use time and again from Cook Basic through their final weeks of Chef de Cuisine. It is a fundamental in most households around the world, but one that has been nearly forgotten in our current fast-food culture.

Some students get hooked on the flavour and freshness that can’t be matched by a store-bought bread; others find the process rewarding. Even those who are experienced cooks are often surprised how simple it is to turn out a great loaf once they’ve grasped the basics.

Working with variations on the flour, sugar, water and yeast combination, they learn about scaling (weighing ingredients), blooming the yeast (activating it with sugar in warm water), developing gluten (kneading), proofing (letting dough rise) and finally, baking. Bread making starts out as a lesson on its own, but is quickly incorporated as part of an overall meal preparation. Focaccia, potato bread, ciabatta, French bread, challah, English muffins; by the time graduation rolls around, the question is not “Should we make bread?”, but “What kind of bread should we make?”

More photos on Facebook!