Students work with pork council to produce Super Bowl favourites

Together with the Canadian Pork Council, Algonquin’s College’s Restaurant International hosted a pre-Super Bowl gathering on Feb. 7, bringing the local community together to appreciate the versatility of pork and skill of culinary students.

The star of the event was the chili contest, where teams of culinary students, from first to fourth level, created and cooked unique chili recipes. One team, made up of fourth-level culinary students Nicholas Belanger, Jason Bikow and Miguel Castillion, were proud of the reception of their chili, which they called the Holy Mole.

Starring mole, a spicy and savory Mexican sauce made with chocolate, the Holy Mole took some time to perfect.

“Everyone else was going with a classic. We wanted to try something different,” said Belanger.

“It took a lot of experimentation and trying different spices,” added Bikow.

The event featured dishes from all around the world, made with Canadian pork. With so many dishes available, including three other chilies, competition was fierce.

“We have two kitchens going, I’m not even sure of everything we have here. There’s a lot going on,” said Sarah Corimorr, a second-level culinary student.

Corimorr ran the bossam station with her partner Princewill Nwaiwu. Bossam is a Korean dish of pork belly wrapped in lettuce with pickled vegetables.

Canadian produce is something the Canadian Pork Council and Canadians are focused on, as talks and concerns around U.S. tariffs continue between the two countries.

“I think people will appreciate good Canadian produce,” said Nathan Buschmann, the Students’ Association’s manager of culinary operations. “We’ve recently switched to a dairy provider from Quebec. It’s a bit more expensive but it’s worth it.”

Peter Gareau, a local drawn in by the chili contest, was impressed by the food prepared by the culinary students.

“It’s all good food, but I would expect nothing else here,” said Gareau.