The showdown will be high noon on April 8-9 at the Agricom in Edmonton.
The duels will be fought with food and a hungry panel of judges.
At stake is the title of best apprentice chef in Alberta, in a contest run by the province’s restaurant industry.
One of the apprentice chefs is Robin Harnish, who at 32 is older than most of her fellow competitors. Now cooking at the Ranchman’s Club in Calgary, the recent graduate of a one-year college course is preparing five menus for the contest.
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She said the chefs have to prepare a three-course lunch meal in 11/2 hours. They will each be given a box that will contain pork or beef loin plus eggs, whipping cream and Arctic char. They must prepare five plates – one for presentation and the other four to be sampled by the judges.
Harnish said she will be cooking with the slow-food movement in mind, which means making the connections between the farmer who grows the food, the chef who buys and prepares it and the consumer who eats it.
“It’s about teaching the public to slow down and enjoy food,” she said.
Part of that philosophy is supporting local farmers who grow herbs or vegetables organically or who raise livestock naturally.
Harnish has been an organic food supporter for seven years, but said sometimes the public is skeptical about that label. However, she said she trusts that the marketing rules create ethically grown food and that “farmers are fantastic.”
When Harnish is not cooking for others, her favourite meal is organic Alberta beef.
