Page 14 - Trending Magazine 2018 Winter

TwistOnTradition_Layout 1 18-12-05 9:45 AM Page 1

A Twist On

Story by Erin DeBooy
Photos by Tim Smith

hile there’s a time and a place to Twigg said. “Because we have oranges and cranberries
experiment with new and different recipes, in our brine, we used those elements as our decoration
Wholiday dinners usually aren’t one of them. as well. It’s all easy stuff to find in the grocery store, too,
Tradition tends to trump the trends when it comes it’s nothing extravagant but when it’s all put together it
to cooking family favourites, but the Culinary Arts looks really nice.”
students at Assiniboine Community College are The last thing any host wants is to cut into a dry turkey,
breaking out of that box in the name of tastier and Twigg said, which is why brining the bird is a must.
more memorable feasts. “The brine is really what’s going to help keep it juicy …
In the Culinary Arts program Cuisine and Trends, you don’t get your dry turkey anymore with a brine and
second-year students have the opportunity to learn it’s not a hard addition to do,” Twigg said.
about a variety of cuisines and different ways of To add more flavour, Twigg said they also rubbed a
cooking, Culinary Arts instructor Bryan Hendricks compound butter under the skin packed with garlic,
said. And it doesn’t take much to elevate a traditional thyme, rosemary, clove and nutmeg.
favourite. To ensure the gravy is equally as flavourful, Twigg
“They’re taking regular food and adding a twist to it,” suggested putting the turkey directly on top of a layer
Hendricks said. of celery, carrots and onions instead of a rack, adding
Devilled eggs, for example, are a staple appetizer more flavours to the drippings.
that can be served a variety of different ways just by “We really didn’t have to season (the gravy) very much,
changing the garnishes or the base of the filling, said all the flavours from the turkey are in it,” Twigg said.
second year Assiniboine culinary arts student Keenan The cranberry sauce can also be punched up a level
Denis. fairly simply, said second year Assiniboine culinary arts
“We did two sorts of bases, a horseradish base and student Morgan Bone, who used orange and sparkling
then a wasabi base, and we also tricked out the shells wine to give her cranberry sauce a twist.
a little bit by putting some in a beet brine and deep “We tried to keep it simple,” Bone said. “It has a really
frying some others,” Denis said. “Home chefs can be strong orange flavour to it, but it doesn’t overpower the
really creative with the garnishes on top. Chives, cranberries … really you can put a lot of different
bacon, wontons, banana peppers, roasted red flavours in it as long as you’re not overpowering the
peppers, caviare adds a nice dimension to it … you can cranberry.”
really customize them.” The students also added different flavours to and old
Having a piping bag with a nice tip also can go a long favourite, Sticky Date Toffee Pudding, said second year
way in making devilled eggs look a step above the rest, Assiniboine culinary arts student Jessi Coulter.
Denis said. “We made a strawberry coulee to add a little flavour
Presentation is also a key element to wowing guests and colour to it. The pudding is quite sweet and we just
with the main event — the turkey, said second year wanted to add a little bit of tartness to it,” Coulter said.
Assiniboine culinary arts student Kassandra Twigg. “It’s just a holiday classic for home cooks or culinary
“You want lots of colour … and flavours that coincide chefs alike. It’s quite easy and you can change up the
with what we’ve already used (in the preparation),” flavours in so many different ways.”

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