Eatdrink #39 January/February 2013

50 www.eatdrink.ca
№ 39 | January/February 2013
culinary education
Teaching the Importance of Food
Chef Chris Squire leads new generations into the kitchen
By Kym Wolfe
is the secret
ingredient in any
great food,” says Chris
“Passion
Squire. And it’s a given
that passion is also the secret
ingredient in any great teacher.
Spend some time chatting with
Squire and you realize he is
equally passionate about good
food and teaching others about it,
particularly young people.
Squire is a highly respected chef,
caterer, and culinary educator
who has been part of the London
restaurant scene for more than
four decades. He’s taught culinary
skills for more than twenty years,
principally at Sir George Ross
Secondary School, teaching his
students not just cooking skills
but also educating them about
healthy food and nutrition and
the ill effects of a poor diet on both
mental and physical health.
While the classes that Squire
teaches are focused on chef
training, as the head of the culinary program he also
oversees the butchers, the bakers and the daily lunch
makers — and Sir George Ross is the only high school
in the province with the facilities to teach that broad
range of skills, hands on, says Squire. “We have a full
butcher shop. Local farmers will bring in whole cows
and sheep, and we will butcher and wrap the meat.
We also have a full commercial bakery, and we make
everything from scratch, from breads to desserts.”
Part of Squire’s intention is to replicate the
experience that students would have in a real
commercial kitchen, so students in the program
come in at 8 a.m. every school day and have to have a
multiple food item menu, all made from scratch, ready
to serve to all students in the school during lunch
periods, which begin at 11 a.m. daily. Before Christmas,
the culinary students prepared a turkey dinner for
200. The students also prepare food regularly for a
number of church groups that provide free meals for
individuals and families in need. The program charges
for the cost of food, but not for the labour.
Outside of the classroom, when he’s not catering
or hosting culinary vacations at Villa Al Boschiglia
in Tuscany, Squire teaches cooking classes at two
local kitchen shops — Kiss the Cook and Jill’s Table.
He also delivers individualized cooking lessons in
people’s homes, and during the summer he can be
found in the kitchen at Red Tail Golf Course in Port
Stanley, where he is head chef in what he describes
as “a little jewel of a restaurant.”
Squire’s love affair with food goes back to his high
school years, when he first started working in the
restaurant industry. Back then, he thought of cooking
as his meal ticket to get through university, graduate
studies, and eventually teachers’ college. But when he
graduated and found there was a surplus of teachers,
his plans for a career in education were put on the
back burner. He went back to cooking, and spent
twenty years at Auberge du Petit Prince before closing
the restaurant in 1997 (The name was revived by new
owners a few years ago). Throughout those years,
he took on a teaching role working with apprentices
in the restaurant. “It’s important to mentor the
generation that is coming behind us,” he says.
Chef Chris Squire brings his passion for good food into all he does.