The concourse at the Learning Resource Commons was filled with the satisfied sounds of chewing and murmurs of delight as visitors tasted a selection of dishes made for them by Humber Polytechnic Baking and Culinary students as part of the Kraft Heinz Pastry and Dessert Showcase.
This year's format was a little different than in previous years, said Chef Kenneth Ku, a professor with the Baking and Pastry Arts Management program. It was changed to let those in attendance go from booth to booth to sample the food while showcasing the skills of the Humber students who made the treats.
"We wanted people to get to taste what our students have prepared and enjoy all the food we have for them," said Ku.
It was a hit with those who attended, including Jacob Villanueva who was there to support family friend and student, Ira Sonido. A common refrain from those in attendance was that the Japanese cheesecake was very soft and light with a good texture.
'Everything looks, smells and tastes really good'
Students Anren Tieu and Rachel Lee both stopped by and enjoyed a bunch of the food including boba, Taiwanese Xiao Long Bao dumplings as well as Japanese yakitori, mochi and roll cakes with matcha green tea and strawberry Sakura flavours.
"Everything looks, smells and tastes really good," said Tieu.
Throughout the day, there were baking, pastry and culinary demonstrations put on by Humber professors.
In previous years, the event had been a competition for Baking and Culinary students. That continued with the Bite-Sized Brilliance Competition. It had students creating a bite-sized baked good, chocolate, bread, pastry, appetizer or canape inspired by Taiwan or Japan. These items must feature a Kraft Heinz product as a key ingredient.
A group of 18 students and two faculty will travel to Japan and Taiwan for a two-week study trip this May so organizers wanted to draw inspiration from it for the competition.
Sally Fu, a second-year Baking and Pastry Arts Management student, was working the station offering Taiwanese guava pastry and Japanese yuzu tarts featuring Kraft Heinz Jet Puff marshmallows. Fu said the skills she has learned in the classroom were put to good use making the treats that were quickly snapped up by those in attendance.
Fu will be attending the overseas trip as it will be a good opportunity to learn about East Asian dessert styles.
Joining Fu will be Iris Calderon Vasquez, a recent recipient of the Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals Scholarship of Excellence and 2023 recipient of the Humber Arboretum Frances Thompson Entrance Scholarship.
At first, Vasquez was nervous about entering the competition but wanted to challenge herself. Enrolled in the Culinary Management program, Vasquez immigrated to Canada from Lima, Peru a decade ago where she operated her own laundry business for more than 22 years. She has always enjoyed cooking, especially finding ways to integrate traditional Peruvian cooking with dishes from other cultures.
For the competition, Vasquez created a variation of takoyaki, substituting octopus with scallops.
"I did a lot of research on popular foods in Japan and videos featuring techniques on how to roll and shape the takoyaki," said Vasquez who had tried four different methods with her family until she was able to perfect the batter.
The upcoming study trip will be her first time visiting Asia.
Winners have been announced
The judges included Alon Chitiz, corporate chef with Kraft Heinz Canada, Vivien Mengjie Shi, business development manager with Valrhona Canada; Jason Gray, general manager with Master Martini Canada, and Nikolas Tsirgielis, associate director, Advancement and Alumni with Humber.
"It's great to see everyone experience this cuisine that includes ingredients from Kraft Heinz Canada - I love the creativity the students have shown where they can take something familiar and put a delicious new spin on it," said Chitiz. "The quality of the dishes have been excellent and it's been fun to taste what they've created."
Winning first place was Gursimran Sodhi with Simeng Mu finishing in second and Ira Sonido in third. All three are Baking and Pastry Arts Management students.
More information can be found at the Baking and Culinary website.
