Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
Janie Giroux is currently preparing for one of the greatest challenges she’s ever faced. The Grade 11 student at École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité is hot off of a first-place win for baking at the Skills Ontario competition in Toronto, and is now getting ready to represent the province at Skills Canada on May 28 and 29. Giroux will go up against the top 12 student bakers from each province and territory, for the title of Canada’s best.
Giroux is no stranger to culinary competitions. Just last year, she earned a 1st place finish for culinary arts at the regional Skills competition, and made it to Skills Ontario along with two of her peers. This year, however, she pivoted to baking to follow her passion. While things have changed somewhat with this shift, she says her two years of culinary arts experience continue to be valuable. “There are many aspects that are similar, like time management, and in terms of structure the day of the competition. Preparing the items is very different. Learning to de-bone a chicken is very different than learning to prepare a cake. It’s a lot more technical in baking, and it’s a lot more precise. You don’t make things to taste, everything needs to be exactly measured,” describes Giroux.
Time management was certainly one big advantage for the student in competition, according to Yves Lafrenière, the Franco-Cité teacher who runs the after-school culinary arts program. As he explains, Giroux blew away her competitors at Skills Ontario, finishing her desserts well ahead of the rest, and giving herself plenty of time to clean her station and stay organized, all of which are evaluated skills at the competition. It’s not only about the look and taste of the food, he points out.
