Lunch | A dish that takes you to Paris

“If someone had told me in secondary 1: “You’re going to do a cooking competition”, I would have said: “No way ! I’m not getting into that.” I’m going to be too stressed. I’m not going to be able to do it.” And yet, a year later, Frédérique Plourde and her teammates won the title of best culinary brigade in Canada, which took them all the way to Paris.

“I’m proud of myself,” says the second-year high school student at École Antoine-Bernard, located in Carleton-sur-Mer, in Gaspésie, via videoconference. Last June, in the French capital, she, Émy LeBlanc, Capucine Bussy, Alice Lévesque* and cooked a caramelized onion tartine with candied tomatoes, wilted spinach and a poached egg, a dish that allowed them to win against the French team in this competition organized by La Tablée des chefs.

But before getting their tickets to France, the four teenagers developed their culinary skills from September to June.

For two years, their school has been one of some 250 secondary schools in Quebec that host the Brigades culinaires program of La Tablée des chefs – there are also some fifty participating schools elsewhere in Canada.

During this extracurricular activity, students come together in teams of four or five to cook under the guidance of a chef. Over the course of the twenty or so workshops, the brigades accumulate points, which determines which one will represent the school in the competitions.

In the coming year, the brigades will have to cook soup, which will then be distributed to an organization. Another challenge will be to organize a multicultural fair during which each team will prepare bites inspired by another country and have the school’s students taste them.

A competition inspired by sport

Launched in 2012, the program is inspired by student sports in terms of its competitive aspect, an element that particularly appeals to young people, says Jean-François Archambault.

After standing out in their region, the Antoine-Bernard school team competed against the top five teams in Canada at the Brigades Culinaires grand finale last June in Montreal. At the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec, they prepared a chicken ballottine that impressed the jury of chefs, including Élodie Larivière and Michael Ho, two former contestants on the show. The bosses!.

Their victory allowed them to fly to Paris since, for the first time, La Tablée des chefs, which is also present in France, organized an international final.

“We were really lucky to experience this. On the other hand, it really is a lot of stress,” confides Capucine Bussy, about this final stage.

Achievements for life

What did their participation in the Culinary Brigades bring them? Self-confidence, answer Frédérique Plourde and Émy LeBlanc. “Throughout the year, we learned a lot of techniques and recipes that will be useful to us in the future,” adds the latter, thanking Maxime Marmol, the chef who oversees the workshops at their school.

“Having a time restriction in competitions helps you structure your dish idea more quickly. In the morning, it takes me less time to prepare my lunch,” observes Capucine Bussy.

The two chaperones who supported the group throughout the year, Myriam Landry and Sarah Henley-Boudreau, respectively a teacher and a special education teacher, witnessed the birth of a great bond between the girls. “It was as if they were four little sisters,” emphasizes Myriam Landry.

Even though they graduated last June, Capucine Bussy and Émy LeBlanc are not putting an end to their adventure with the Brigades Culinaires. Sarah Henley-Boudreau hopes that they will play a mentoring role for the next cohort of cooks. Frédérique Plourde plans to be part of it, “until the end of high school.”

* Alice Lévesque was unfortunately not available at the time of the interview.

Visit the website of La Tablée des chefs