New products | Chickpeas turn up in pizza dough and ice cream sandwiches, and fababeans make french fries
EDMONTON — It was just like the Oscars.
There were screams, hugs and tears when the judges announced that Karen Ting and Anastassia Astra-khantseva had won the Mission Impulseible pulse food competition with their chickpea pizza dough, Chizza.
“I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want my makeup to run. We had so many problems,” said Astrakhantseva.
“We never thought we would be in first place.”
The University of Alberta food science students struggled with developing a pizza dough mix made with chickpea flour. Initial batches were sticky and soggy, but the pair persevered to win top prize at the student food product development competition that challenges students to develop new food made from pulses.
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Until the competition, Ting didn’t know how many types of pulses were available for cooking and eating.
“Chickpeas and red kidney beans was all I knew,” she said.
Introducing food and nutrition students to the endless possibilities of pulses is the goal of the cooking competition.
“They can share the potential of pulses,” said Leanne Fischbuch, executive director of the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission.
Astrakhantseva said they developed Chizza to be a healthy alternative to greasy pizza.
The liquid pizza mix is a gluten free alternative for pizza, dips, bread and pie crust. The pair increased the protein in their pizza dough by adding red kidney beans to the tomato sauce on the crust.
“It’s a very healthy way to enjoy pizza without having any guilt,” she said. “It’s a very effective way to in-clude pulses in your diet without changing your eating habits.”
The competition is also designed to teach students about the health benefits of pulses, which are good for diabetes, heart disease, food allergies and weight control.
Marshall Bell and Amanda Anderson, food students from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, won second place in the competition with their Ceci Fries, a french fry made with chickpea and faba-bean flour.
The pair hopes their french fries will be an alternative to the traditional potato and newer sweet potato fries.
Their fries were cut in traditional finger shapes, but they think it would be easy to use stamps to make crinkle cut or even dinosaur shaped fries to encourage children to eat them.
Katie Cochet, Rosanne Vandecamp, Selina Asucion, Miranda Maione and Julie Logendoorn from NAIT won third place with their Coco Freeze, an ice cream sandwich made from chickpea flour.
The group made the traditional cookie from chickpea flour and the inside filling from coconut milk to create a dairy free, gluten free ice cream bar.
NAIT pair Quan Lemp and Michael Ardron dreamed up Quik Pulses, a granola cluster cereal made with white bean flakes, split red lentils and pea fibre. The crispy granola clusters with banana and coconut flavouring added just the right flavour for the breakfast cereal made from lentils.
“I’m passionate about red lentils,” said Ardron.
Pulse Palooza is a pea bread pudding made from pea protein and lentil flour. The five U of A teammates surveyed 70 people, who agreed a pulse desert would be fun.
“We wanted a novelty item,” said Kelvin Wong.
The pea protein is used to enrich the pudding, and the bread croutons are made from lentil flour. The group envisions selling the pudding in two part packages where the bread croutons can be mixed with the pudding as a quick, healthy snack.
His partners were Chynna Birkett, Florence Lukmito, Ho Yee Wan and Qian Ying Tao.
The group envisions their product for sale at sports facilities, long-term care facilities and health food stores.
Crepe Escape, a crepe made from lentil flour, could be sold at convenience stores in the frozen food section, the U of A trio of Brand Dang, Chris Dydak and Kuan Lin Li envisioned.
“It’s convenient and easy to make and we wanted something that was different from pancakes or waffles,” said Dydak.
Judge Jeff Doucette said he was pleased with the ingenuity and quality of the food entries.
“All the products could find their way onto the shelf one day,” said Doucette, general manager of Field Agent, a crowd sourcing market research company.
It’s the first time Doucette has been a judge at the event, and he said he didn’t think the students would come up with so many ideas.
“I was very impressed. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought I would taste it and have to choke it down. They all tasted fabulous.”
Doucette suggested students take more of a sniper gun approach when deciding where to sell their new food products.
Howard Haugen, a farmer from Lougheed, Alta., and Alberta Pulse board member, said food development competitions are a good way for students to learn about pulses.
“I think it’s just fantastic. The creativity was just fantastic.”
Gordon Tuck, a farmer from Vegreville, Alta., and pulse board member, said he would take home the ice cream sandwiches and pizza dough if they were available.
“I am impressed with what the students have done.”
