Canada

CDP partnered with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) for a multi-day Calgary, Canada program to celebrate SAIT’s new culinary diplomacy curriculum. Two new Culinary Diplomacy and Anthropology courses were established as of January 2022, making SAIT the first culinary program to implement these kinds of courses.

This was also CDP’s first collaboration with the Embassy of Canada and Laetitia Chrapchynski, Chef de Cuisine of the Embassy in Washington, D.C., who accompanied us on this trip, along with CDP chefs David Guas and Maria Mazon. Our chefs worked directly with small groups of culinary students, teaching them how to prepare regional American dishes, utilizing Albertan and Canadian ingredients, to present at a reception for special guests of SAIT.

We also had the opportunity to gather in SAIT’s Chinook Lodge to learn about local indigenous culture and food traditions. Chris Eagle Rib from the Siksika Nation who is a member of the Horn Society, shared with us some of his customs and the important role food plays in indigenous ceremonies. We then enjoyed lunch together prepared by Caleb Pimlott, a 1st-year Culinary Arts student from the Métis Nation.

The chefs also met with regional purveyors to learn of sustainable growing and farming techniques in Canada and explored the national parkland. We visited a local honey company, a distillery, a beef ranch and we even got to learn how cheese curds were made.