DAWSON CREEK – The kitchen at the Dawson Creek Campus of Northern Lights College will be cookin’ this summer!
It will be the site of three separate cooking camps being offered through the Workforce Training/Continuing Education department.
The camps are: Culinary Boot Camp, July 12-16; Kids in the Kitchen Summer Camp, July 27-29; and Catering Boot Camp, Aug. 10-15. Each camp is led by renowned local chef Andrew Paumier.
The Culinary Boot Camp is open to anyone aged 14 and over, and will feature fast-paced days that combine lecture and demonstration with individual hands-on execution of recipes that feature essential techniques.
The agenda will include the proper use of cookware and essential kitchen tools; recipes and methods for soups, stocks, sauces, appetizers, entrees, and salads; and menu and time planning. The end of each day will feature a “chef’s round-table” where everyone can discuss what was learned that day.
“It’s fun to be competent in the kitchen and confident in your skills. The cool thing is at the end of each day, we get to eat what we’ve prepared,” said Paumier.
The Kids in the Kitchen summer camp is focused on youth aged 7-12 years, and participants will learn how to prepare their own food.
Kids camp participants will be provided with hands-on, practical, safe cooking techniques, easy lunch ideas, and various food related activities. The participants will create and serve breakfast, lunch and two snacks each day, and on the last day, make supper for two guests of their choice.
A key part of the camp is providing the children with age-appropriate nutritional information.
“This is a personal passion of mine. I believe it is very important to provide good information on nutrition to children at an early age, because you’re planting the seed for the kids to go to their families and help set the menu to become more healthy,” Paumier said.
The Catering Boot Camp provides participants with the secrets of being successful in the catering industry. Participants will analyze a real-life catering event, and prepare and fine tune an outdoor event menu and oversee an entire event.
“Organization is the key to successful catering, and it could be something as simple as hosting a family get-together,” said Paumier, adding there is a demand for experienced caterers throughout northern British Columbia.
All three camps are offered through the Dawson Creek Campus Workforce Training/Continuing Education department. FOODSAFE Level 1 is a prerequisite for the Culinary and Catering boot camps.
Camp costs, information on FOODSAFE, and information on the camps can be obtained by contacting the Workforce Training/Continuing Education department at 250-782-5251, or Paumier at 250-219-8485 or e-mail chef1togo@hotmail.com.