Top photo: Seongjin Park (left) and Adrienne Tse (right) who created a nut-free dessert, are pictured with professors Sarbjit Bamrah and Ted Reader.Lower photo: Amelia LaPlante, Jacob Horinga, Jesse Suzuki and Robert Turner create Lentil Shepherd’s Pie.
Two teams of students from Niagara College’s Culinary Innovation and Food Technology program recently got a headstart on 2016, designated as the Year of Pulses.
The students, who are in their second year of the College’s Culinary Innovation and Food Technology program, had an opportunity to participate in 2016 Mission: ImPULSEible. Organized by Pulse Canada, the provincial student food development competition was held at Humber College on Dec. 12. The event was geared to postsecondary students who were tasked with creating a healthy and delicious food product showcasing innovation in traditional foods using pulses. Pulses are annual leguminous crops yielding between one and 12 grains or seeds of variable size, shape and colour within a pod, used for both food and feed (such as whole dry peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas).
One team from NC – including Amelia LaPlante, Jacob Horinga, Jesse Suzuki and Robert Turner – presented Lentil Shepherd’s pie; while a second team – led by Adrienne Tse and Seongin Park – presented Pubblone, a nut-free dessert made with chickpeas, green split peas and lentils.
Culinary Innovation and Food Technology professors Sarbjit Bamrah and Ted Reader attended the competition to support the students.
While the students did not win, Bamrah noted that it was a valuable opportunity for them.
“This was a great learning experience for them; they developed a new product starting from the beginning including labelling and marketing strategy,” said Bamrah. “This opportunity gave them a chance to participate in a competition and to present their product to the judges and other participants. The students presented their product explaining why they chose a particular product and what problems they came across while developing their products.”
2016 was declared the International Year of Pulses by the UN general assembly.
For more details about the competition visit Pulse Canada.
