CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall Chef Ryan Beauvais placed second in the under 26 category in the recent Copper Skillet competition that took place in April in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Beauvais said that he got inspired to be a chef back when he was in high school at St. Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School.
“In Grade 11 I had to take a class, I couldn’t take a spare,” he said. “I took a cooking class and found it easy. I actually learned a lot in that class.”
Beauvais, 20, has been cooking professionally for three years and has said that he has learned a lot about cooking from mentors like Chef Luc McCabe of the NAV Centre.
This year’s Copper Skillet competition took place at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
The Copper Skillet competition is held by the International Association of Conference Centres (IACC). Competing chefs are challenged to create a meal from three potential proteins, with other ingredients coming from a mystery basket.
The mystery basket levels the playing field as all chefs do not know what to expect.
For the entry which won Beauvais second place, he made a pan seared duck breast with a wine reduction and pan seared tomatoes.
Beauvais hopes to compete again in the future. He plans to move soon to Kingston where he will be working at the Delta Hotel.