Taste Canada proudly celebrates Canadian cookbook authors and emerging culinary talent, including students, through its national student chef competition, Taste Canada Cooks the Books.
Teams of two full-time students from culinary colleges across the country go head-to-head in an exciting culinary battle. The winning duo earns the prestigious title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs, along with prize recognition.
Each team is challenged to write, develop, and test original recipes in accordance with a detailed style guide and competition criteria. The 2025 theme, “Global Flavours Grow in Canada,” encouraged students to showcase international influences using Canadian-grown ingredients.
Dainty Foods was honoured to participate as a 2025 sponsor of this exceptional student event. We provided a wide variety of Dainty rice products for competitors to explore and incorporate into their dishes. All eight teams created a unique rice-based recipe of their choosing as part of their competition menu, and the level of innovation and creativity on display was truly inspiring.
The competition took place at Cirillo’s Academy in Toronto, where teams prepared and executed their recipes within a set timeframe before a live audience. Two Culinary Federation international gold-winning chefs evaluated the students as they worked at their stations. A panel of professional industry chefs then tasted, critiqued, and scored each menu. The winning team was announced the following evening at the Taste Canada Awards Gala.
The 2025 winners were Alicia Decosse and Presley Kuharski from Assiniboine College in Brandon, Manitoba. Their winning menu and recipes are shared below, and we look forward to featuring other teams’ creations in the months ahead.
The professionalism, skill, and presentation demonstrated by all participating teams were remarkable. Congratulations to every student involved—you truly make Canada proud.
As a proudly Canadian food processor with deep Canadian roots, Dainty Foods is passionate about supporting young culinary talent and fostering innovation. These values guide our work every day.
Taste Canada is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing educational initiatives in the culinary arts, and Dainty is incredibly proud to have supported and attended such an outstanding initiative.
