Photo: Stephen Chu
Cooks the Books: Where Canada’s Next Great Chefs Take the Spotlight
Enjoy the highlights from Taste Canada’s Cooks the Books Student Competition Presented by Canada Beef! This was a high-energy kitchen battle where emerging chefs showcase their creativity, culture, Canadian ingredients and Canadian beef — all cooked live in front of judges and a cheering crowd at Cirillo's Academy.
A heartfelt thank-you to our sponsors and partners for helping support emerging talent and the future of Canadian food.
Ready to join the action in 2026?
For more information about entering your culinary school or joining us as a valued partner, please contact Sabrina Falone at sabrina@sfcreative.ca to get involved!
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2025 Cooks the Books student cooking competition presented by Canada Beef!
Photo: Stephen Chu, Cathy Connally and Charley Best
Congratulations to Alicia Decosse and Presley Kuharski from Assiniboine Community College for winning Gold at the 2025 Cooks the Books student cooking competition presented by Canada Beef!
Photo: Stephen Chu, Cathy Connally and Charley Best
Congratulations to Alvin Morris and Megghan Sherritt from New Brunswick Community College for winning Gold at the 2025 Cooks the Books student cooking competition presented by Canada Beef!
Taste Canada Cooks the Books Presented by Canada Beef
The theme for this year's competition was “Global Flavours Grow in Canada”, which challenged the students to explore the rich tapestry of global cuisines and cultural influences that have shaped their culinary journeys. Drawing from one or more cultural cuisines or heritage(s) that has inspired their culinary journey, students were challenged to develop a unique recipe using a variety of Canadian ingredients, branded partner products, and a unique cut of Canadian AAA beef. Using the Canadian Beef Information Gateway, a web-based platform, students were able to explore all that Canadian Beef has to offer.
This year's kitchen battle took place in the beautiful professional kitchen at Cirillo's Academy in Toronto. The student chefs prepared their dishes, start to finish, live in front of the crowd while being scored by two Culinary Federation international gold medal-winning chefs. Then, competitors presented their dishes to the judges' panel for tasting. The winners were announced during the Taste Canada Awards Soirée, with the Gold Winning team taking home a $3,000 bursary, some amazing kitchen swag and the title of Taste Canada’s Best New Student Chefs!
Cooks the Books Cooking Competition Presented by Canadian Beef
Special thanks to Stephen Chu for capturing the photos from the 2025 Cooks the Books presented by Canada Beef.
Cooks the Books Red Carpet
Special thanks to Cathy Connally and Charley Best for capturing the red carpet photos from the 2025 Cooks the Books presented by Canada Beef.
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Meet the Host
Thank you Kyle Crawford for returning as competition host! After discovering his love for cooking at a young age, Kyle set off on a culinary journey that has maintained his philosophy that ‘food and fun go hand in hand’.
Kyle is part of the Gusto World Wide Media family, starring in the groundbreaking show “The Wizard of Sauce,” and “The Wizard of Whatever,”. Kyle has also built a huge following on social media where he inspires other home cooks to elevate their own skills and build confidence in the kitchen. In 2025, Kyle found HCK Food & Media, where he works with food-based brand to develop recipes and elevate their social media presence.
Meet the Judges
Introducing the esteemed judges panel for the 2025 Cooks the Books student cooking competition! After scoring each team's written recipe, carefully watching them cook in the kitchen arena, and then meticulously sampling each final dish, it was up to this panel to determine which team was named Canada's Best New Student Chefs for 2025!
Meet the Competition
Taste Canada is proud to support the next generation of culinary talent through Cooks the Books, our annual student cooking competition presented by Canada Beef! This high-energy event brings together culinary students from across the country to compete for the title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs.
Explore. Inspire. Cook.
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.
All recipes will include a cut of AAA Canadian Beef as centre-of-plate, a variety of Lactalis Canada Foodservice dairy products, as well as Dainty Rice. To ensure that the majority of the ingredients in each recipe are grown, produced and/or raised in Canada, the students were invited to use the What’s in Season section of the Canadian Food Focus website as their helpful resource. Thank you to Prince Edward Island Certified Beef for generously providing the Cooks the Books teams with high-quality Canadian beef to develop, practice and present their recipes.
What's at Stake
All competing students received a Canadian Beef wood carving board, a one-year membership to the Culinary Federation of Canada, and kitchen swag from our generous partners and sponsors.
Gold and Silver winning teams took home a chef-curated prize pack from CookUp, featuring an F. Dick Vivum 8” Chef Knife and Cut Book, Profboard Pro-Series 270 Cutting Boards, and an AMT Frying Pan — plus a rice cooker from Dainty Rice and a gift card to The Keg.
The Gold Winners will also earn the prestigious Taste Canada Trophy to display at their college for the year, along with a $3,000 educational bursary!
Educational Resource Hub
The Taste Canada Cooks the Books Educational Resource Hub for Canadian Culinary Students and Food Professionals is loaded with valuable information. Learn about food trends, agricultural practices, food writing, nutrition and more from Taste Canada’s partners and notable industry experts.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
