Whitney Wright is Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts’ (PICA) student tapas competition winner and will represent Canada in the 2nd Annual Culinary School Tapas Competition in Valladolid, Spain held November 6 – 11, 2010. For the second consecutive year a PICA student has been chosen to represent Canada in this live televised finals competition hosted by Escuela Internacional de Cocina (International School of Culinary Arts).
“There is no question that I am honoured and excited to represent Canada in the Spanish Tapas Contest and I believe I will succeed in creating a dish that is extraordinary enough to make us proud.’ says Whitney Wright, currently an Advanced Culinary Arts student at PICA.
Wright will travel with our newly minted Director of Food & Beverage, ISG Sommelier and certified Chef de Cuisine Tim Ellison who is also fluent in Spanish. “A definite bonus.” adds, Executive Chef Julian Bond, who attended last year’s competition where they placed in the top ten.
The competition aims to showcase students’ cooking talents on an individual basis and was open to all students of international culinary schools around the world. Wright was among the final fourteen students chosen from over 100 culinary schools that will go on to represent their countries, and their schools to compete to become the International Culinary School Tapas Champion. The winning students are competing under these flags; Canada, USA, Mexico, France, Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Turkey and Vietnam.
To get through to the first round, and into the final, Wright was required to:
Create her own unique Tapa (a “tapa” should be eaten in 2-3 bites) which draws influence from Canadian culture with a Spanish twist using local BC products Wright will bring with to combine with Spanish ingredients.
Write a personal essay describing her recipe and her professional career goals.
For the final and live televised competition, Wright will have to recreate 13 portions of her tapas recipe in 15 minutes to be judged by a select panel of national and international judges before a live audience on Monday, November 8th. This year Wright has randomly chosen to compete second. The judges will evaluate each entry based on their culinary techniques, presentation, originality, their use of national and homeland ingredients as well as, value for money and their overall tapas concept.
When not in competitive mode much of the five days in Valladolid the competitors will improve their gastronomy knowledge thru market and producer visits with everyday learning more about Spanish produce, culture and history.
“Whitney has a great attitude and is a dependable hard worker. She works with precision and enjoys experimenting in the kitchen”, adds PICA Executive Chef Julian Bond, “The whole school is rooting for her”. For more information on the competition visit, http://www.internationalschoolofculinaryarts.com.
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA), founded in 1997, is one of Vancouver’s first accredited private culinary institutes to provide diploma programs in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts. As a designated WSET provider PICA offers Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Wine Certificate programs. PICA operates Bistro 101, an 80-seat on-site gourmet restaurant, a bustling bakeshop and café – Bakery 101 and a professional Catering Department. PICA is Vancouver’s original hands-on cooking class purveyor and winner for the 5th consecutive year of the Consumers’ Choice Award for Business Excellence. PICA is of elite status among culinary institutions in Canada and in being such continues to raise the bar.
PICA is situated at the gateway to Granville Island at 1505 West Second Avenue, Vancouver, BC. To contact us please call (604) 734-4488 or visit www.picachef.com.
