The Culinary Institute of Canada’s Culinary Olympic Team 2012 went up against world-class professional chefs and walked away with a silver medal in the World Culinary Olympics held in Erfurt, Germany recently.

For the past several months Culinary Olympic Team PEI has been training rigorously with one goal in mind, the Olympics. Late last month, the team, comprised of eight Culinary Institute of Canada students and five instructors, left for Germany to begin final preparation for competition. On October 1st, they entered the kitchen in Germany and began work on their final submissions. The final judging took place five days later, and the team was delighted to learn that they had won a silver medal.

“This medal marks a new milestone for Holland College and The Culinary Institute of Canada”, said Chef Austin Clement, Program Manager of Culinary and Hospitality programs.

“Students of The Culinary Institute of Canada were selected to represent Canada in the junior competitions in 2004 and 2008, so it was our students competing against other students. This time, we entered as a regional team and competed against over 50 of the best professional culinary teams in the world. To have our students keep pace with some of the best professional culinary teams in the world is truly amazing!”

Team Members were Michael Clarke, Seanna Ellis, Carly Johnston, Lindsay Kulrich, Bret Eldstrom, Michelle Matheson, Kelly Sheridan, and Jennifer Bryant. Chef Hans Anderegg, Chef Richard Braunauer, Chef Blair Zinck, Chef Joerg Soltermann and Todd Gallant were the team’s coaches.