Fuel your passion, feed your mind....

Chef Elaina Ravo in the library at Liaison Kitchener

The library at Liaison Kitchener feeds the mind and fuels the imagination; a sanctuary from the hustle of the kitchen and the intensity of the classroom.

Racks of neatly stacked magazines – Fine Cooking, Saveur, Cook’s Illustrated - flank a cast of characters, standing side by side like soldiers at role call: Brits Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver are next to the new-world influence of the Barefood Contessa, Emeril Lagasse, and our own Ontario local-food champion Lynn Ogryzlo.

The bold, primary colours of the Culinaria Series defy political boundaries: Germany and France rub shoulders with Greece, while Spain and Italy get acquainted. Across the room, the complex layering of spices from Lebanon, Morocco, Jerusalem and Turkey share the shelves with fast and fiery Vietnamese. There are cookbooks in Arabic too, for a truly authentic reflection of the flavours of the Middle East.

From the textbooks Professional Cooking for Canadian Chefs and Garde Manger, to the lay cook’s Culinary Landmarks: A Bibliography of Canadian Cookbooks – 1825 to 1949, these tomes reflect the provenance and care of foods we turn to for comfort and celebration.

 Classroom theory, knife skills, food safety and classic technique will make professionals out of Liaison’s students. It is this library, though, with its combined passion of generations of chefs from around the world, that will help them forge a culinary identity for themselves and for this country.

All photos by Terry Asma, 2020studios.com

Send-off lunch was a feast for the eyes

Meisha (left) and Siavash carefully layer the three-coloured soup.

It was the final day in the kitchen for our Advanced students; the last of ten Friday lunches they created together at the school. The tables groaned under a festive buffet – a gastronomic and visual feast, from the three-coloured soup to the yule log flanked by meringue snowmen.

Diners from pre-school to octogenarian packed the house, spilling over into the quieter-than-usual kitchen. Most of the action centered on the eye-popping spread that stretched the length of the hallway. As the sushi, pan de jamon, lamb kebab, paella, salt-covered sea bass, beef tenderloin and other savories disappeared, traffic shifted to the dining room, where a cascade of fruit and other sweet finishes took centre stage.

When the last coffee was served, and the few guests remaining were lost in conversation, Chef Dean called a huddle in the kitchen. His speech was short and congratulatory – passing on from diners their many compliments and requests for recipes. He added his own words of encouragement, as the students head out to apply their new skills in the culinary field. Chef Elaina, director of the school, also spoke as they leaned into the tête-à- tête. She seemed reluctant to let her fledglings go after nurturing them for thirty weeks, and assured them that the doors are always open here and their visits always welcome.

Andrew puts the finishing touches on the chicken, seafood and rabbit paella.

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