Culinary Students Brave the Cold to Learn from the Land

THUNDER BAY, ON, February 18, 2021 – Second-year Culinary Management students at Confederation College braved the cold on Thursday to learn from the land in an ice fishing field trip. With the Culinary program built on a foundation of honoring and incorporating local products and cooking methods, the excursion provided a unique opportunity for students to experience first-hand a “lake-to-table” process. Catching their own fresh fish, students will later fillet their catch and cook a dish highlighting regional flavours.

“As an avid and year-round angler, I wanted to share my passion for fishing with my students,” said Ken Veneruz, Program Coordinator. “We teach our students about food sustainability and the importance of using local products so this was a creative and engaging way to help them gain hands-on experience with both of those concepts. The trip also supports our integrated Indigenous Learning Outcomes by immersing students in the impressive natural surroundings of northwestern Ontario and ensuring they gain an understanding of the crucial role they must play in protecting and appreciating our natural resources.”

In collaboration with Bear Trak Outfitters, students were equipped with fishing gear and transported to ice huts on Lake Superior with COVID-19 safety practices in place. For many of the 19 students who participated, Thursday’s event represented their first ice fishing experience. New to the task or not, all students were excited to hit the lake and connect with nature.

“As someone from northern Ontario, I’ve had the privilege of going ice fishing before, but a lot of my fellow students are international and have been really excited to try this for the first time,” said student Jared Davis. “It’s definitely a Canadian experience, which I know is something they look for when they’ve decided to travel so far for their education.”

Davis appreciates that the Culinary Management program not only brings people from across the globe to Canada, but also that it has introduced him to a wide array of cuisines, transporting him to new places himself. “I think it’s pretty cool that in our program, we get to see different cooking styles from all different parts of the world and I’m happy that our own region is included in that,” he said. “One of my favourite things about my culinary training is seeing a raw product through from start to finish. Getting out in nature and being able to see the fish come out of the water, and then being able to turn it into something completely different with the preparation of a dish, is really amazing.”