2024 Cooks the Books

Congratulations to George Brown College for winning Gold and NAIT for winning the Silver medals at the 2024 Cooks the Books student cooking competition presented by Canadian Beef!

Cooks the Books is a cooking competition that invites Canadian culinary students from across the nation to compete for the title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs!

The 2024 Cooks the Books student cooking competition took place on Sunday, October 20th, 2024 at Cirillo’s Academy in Toronto.

The theme for this year’s competition is “Global Flavours Grow in Canada”, which challenges the students to explore the rich tapestry of global cuisines and cultural influences that have shaped their culinary journeys. The challenge is to create a distinctive recipe that marries these international inspirations with the best of Canadian ingredients, branded partner products and a unique cut of Canada Beef. ⁠

The student chefs prepared their dishes, start-to-finish, live in front of the crowd and two industry kitchen judges, and then presented their final plates to the judges panel. The winners were announced on Monday, October 21st, 2024, during the 2024 Taste Canada Awards Soirée, with the Gold Winning team taking home a $3,000 bursary, some amazing kitchen swag, and the title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs!

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Thank you to the 2024 judges: Steve Lewis, Brandon Olsen, Bradley Yip, Christine Flynn, Carmelo Vadacchinio and Paul Hoag.  After scoring each team’s written recipe, watching them cook in the kitchen, and then sampling each plated dish, it was up to this panel to determine which team was named Canada’s Best New Student Chefs for 2024! 

Thank you to our amazing host, Kyle Crawford for your play-by-play analysis during the exciting battle. Kyle brought the competition to life with his enthusiasm and energy!

Each team was been challenged to develop a unique recipe with this year’s theme of “Global Flavours Grow in Canada” to explore the rich tapestry of global cuisines and cultural influences that have shaped their culinary journeys. 

The student chefs prepared their dishes, start-to-finish, live in front of the crowd while being scored by two Culinary Federation gold medal-winning chefs. Then, competitors presented their dishes to the judges’ panel for tasting.  

The winners were announced on Monday, October 21st, 2024, during the 2024 Taste Canada Awards Soirée, with the Gold-Winning Team taking home a $3,000 bursary as well as some amazing kitchen swag thanks to our generous partners. 

All students received a Canada Beef Wood Carving Board, a Chef Works embroidered apron and a one-year membership to Culinary Federation Canada. Plus, kitchen swag from Lactalis Canada Foodservice, Canadian Food Focus, California Prunes, California Walnuts, Club House for Chefs, and F.Dick Knives! 

The Gold and Silver winning teams will received a Chef-curated prize pack from CookUp, including an F.Dick Vivum 8” Chef Knife and Cut Book⁠, Profboard Pro-Series 270⁠ Cutting Boards, and AMT Frying Pan. Plus, a $150 Chef Works Gift Certificate ⁠and a Gift card to The Keg.

The two winning teams took home beautiful kitchen appliances provided by Breville Canada.

The Gold Winners also received the Taste Canada Trophy to display at their college for the next year AND a $3,000 Educational Bursary!

⁠Congratulations to the all the student chefs competing in this year’s Taste Canada Cooks the Books Student Cooking Competition presented by Canada Beef!