Matthew Halton is producing culinary champions

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice, and Yoda Taylor, MHS

Matthew Halton Team Cuisine: Yea Nee Shin (Grade 11),
Caelan Taylor (Grade 10), Alex Oliver (Grade 11)

On April 19 three Matthew Halton students traveled to Lethbridge Community College to participate in the Southwest Regional Skills Competition.

Caelan Taylor and Yea Nee Shin competed as a team in Culinary Arts.  The Culinary Arts Competition required our team to prepare a three course meal in four hours consisting of an appetizer of Minestrone Soup, a main entre of Beef Rouladen, Duchess Potatoes, Espanole Sauce, Braised Red Cabbage and Steamed Broccoli, and a dessert of Chocolate Mousse using 12 recipes for their meal which included garnishes.

Yea Nee Shin and Caelan Taylor at Culinary Arts Competition

Matthew Halton competed against 7 other teams from Southern Alberta. Yea Nee and Caelan won Bronze Medals, winning paring and chef knives, piping bags with tips, and other garnishing utensils.

Alex Oliver baking at Southern Alberta
Regional Skills Competition

The Baking Competition required Alex Oliver to made an apple pie, decorated sponge cake, muffins and cookies in four hours. All three students put in about 100 hours each preparing and competing.

"Five days before the Provincial Skills Competition in Edmonton we were informed we could submit a competitor in Culinary Arts," writes Yoda Taylor.  "Caelan Taylor agreed to represent Southern Alberta and Matthew Halton, in spite of the late notification.  He needed to learn Yea Nee’s  portion of the menu and be able to complete the meal in the same amount of time by himself.  The Provincial Competition was a two day event, so the competitors had to do six precision cuts on vegetables, brunoise, batonnete, concasse, paysanne and small dice, make chicken stock, make espagnole sauce and present Eggs Benedict for two. On May 17 and 18 Caelan competed against 21 competitors and won the Bronze Medal."

Caelan Taylor is 14 years old and in grade 10 at Matthew Halton High School.  Most of his previous schooling was done in Fiji, where formal education begins earlier, making him younger than most of his classmates.  He moved to Pincher Creek in February of this year.

"My family is originally from Ontario," he said.  "They lived in Calgary for four or five years, then Papua New Guinea for 8 years, then Fiji for 8 years, and that's where I was born."  In 2008 he went back to Fiji and began working on an International Baccalaureate, a high academic scale of measurement that has international standards and is usually aimed at children aged 16 to 19.

"I've been cooking since I was four," Caelan said.  "I watched my dad, we had a breakfast bar. I cook everything.  I like challenges I like to cook big meals, three, four, five course meals, is a bit of fun.  I eventually want to go into hotel management, hospitality industry.  Cooking is definitely a passion."

This enterprising young man also works at Stepping Stone Cabins, a bed-and-breakfast in Beaver Mines.  "He is in charge of breakfasts there," said Yoda.  He does a sweet breakfast, and a savoury breakfast.

Caelan Taylor cutting an onion

"With only five days notice, he went up to Edmonton and won a bronze medal, against 21 competitors.  That is pretty amazing that he could do that in that short amount of time," said Yoda.  "He's made a lot of progress in organization.  He was kind of disorganized when I got him, but his organization is so much better, and he's not as messy as he used to be.  He's very organized and tidy now. His planning skills are pretty good.  He's wonderful at labelling.  He's very good under pressure, he moves well in the kitchen, and has a lot of focus."

"I never used to be that way," said Caelan.

"He also has a good palate," said Yoda, "so he can season well."

"We are so proud to have the third best chef in the province attending Matthew Halton."

Caelan said there was quite a bit of difference between Canadian and Fijiian cuisines.  "There's a lot of seafood there," he said.  There is actually a fifty to sixty percent Indian population in Fuji, so there's a lot of Indian cooking."

Of competing he said "I might do it again. If I stay, I want to go for the gold. My partner is amazing. There's a big difference between cooking with a partner and going solo, some people couldn't do that transition."

Yoda Taylor is an award winning educator, and has been a staple of Matthew Halton School for many years.  She clearly loves her job, and she inspires with knowledge and enthusiasm, with a hearty helping of hands-on. As part of their education, her students prepare the lunches that are served in the school's cafeteria.

"He is doing sushi on Friday,  He was doing tempura shrimp today, to have tempura shrimp for the sushi.  He went over to the take-out sushi place (on Main Street) to do sushi with her,  He's made it before, but wanted to have a bit more exposure to it," she said.

"They (her students) are coming over to my house on the 15th to make a six-course meal that they are making for fun, to celebrate teen-cuisine at the end of the year.  They're going to create two courses and present them to each other."

Correction made: Caelan is working on his  International Baccalaureate. He hasn't already achieved it as stated in an earlier version of this article.