Despite the swelling numbers, careful management, and the use of waitlists has meant that the Calgary chapter hasnât had to turn away new members. There isnât an elite circle you need to know of, or a secret handshake to master; new members are often invited by friends or coworkers. âYou talk with your friends, they find out you belong to a cooking club, and they go âWow, thatâs what I like to do,ââ Carr said. âThey come out as a guest, they sort of take us out for a test drive and if they find it to be something they want to do, then we allow them to be a member.â
invited to teach. The more varied it is, the better. Some notable chefs invited this year include Calgary Petroleum Club Chef Liana Robberecht, Chef Robert Fedosoff of Il Sogno and Chef Shaun Desaulnier from Belgo Brasserie. âItâs about the experience and our passion to cook and to improve our skills,â Carr said. âFriendship through gastronomy is our motto and thatâs what we do. Theyâre (the members) here because they want to learn a new technique, learn a new recipe, interact with professional chefs and enjoy the friendship.â 10 years ago, membership hovered near 20 for the cityâs chapter but after a local newspaper article, Les Marmitons saw membership jump over the years to nearly 100 current members, making Calgary the largest chapter in North America. In the past, the group was able to use the SAIT kitchens which could hold up to 50 members at a time, but in recent years the group calls Heritage Park home, using the wonderful facilities at Selkirk Grille, while hosting smaller group of members at a time. From September to May, up to 30 members and 3 guests meet twice a month on the first and third Mondays of the month. Mondays being when Chefs are usually away from their restaurants to begin with. âIf you go to one, youâre supposed to go on a waitlist to go on to the second one,â Carr said. âIf we donât get enough people, then you can come.â âThe majority of the membership are still working and we get people that travel,â Carr added. âWeâve got members that maybe only come out to two or three events per year because theyâre so busy.â
âMy friend kind of told me what to expect,â said first-time member Asela Peiris. âIâm into food and I love cooking at home but coming into a setting like this is more about technique and pairing and the prep behind it.â Peiris added: âUsually at home, itâs more of a mish-mash or homestyle cooking, where everything is on one plate. You come here, you appreciate and experience every course on its own.â While the group was established as a place for food enthusiasts to learn about cooking and enjoying each otherâs company, in recent years, theyâve become more involved in the community by using their culinary skills to give back to those in need. âWe started working with the Calgary Drop-in Centre and chose the last Sunday in January, which is statistically the coldest day of the year, and we raise the money amongst ourselves to purchase all the food for one day at the Calgary Drop-in Centre,â Carr said. âWe do all the prep, chopping and cooking of anything and getting everything ready to go,â Carr added. âOn the Sunday of our event we start at about 4:30 in the morning. We prepare breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, a snack for mid-afternoon and dinner. The meals that we provide are high-end meals like prime rib, and Spanish omelets.â âWhat we hope is to be their best meal of the year.â Top: Chef Ashish Damle of Belgo Brasserie demonstrates how to debone a duck. Left: Longest-serving Calgary member Sonny Olasker prepares potato gnocchi. Center: Chef Shaun Desaulniers of Belgo Brasserie instructs the group. culinairemagazine.ca â˘
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