Potato soup or corn cream gnocchi: Cooking it the Island way

The corn cream gnocchi was a big hit at the last Island Product Cooking contest for students.

It even landed its young creator a place in a cookbook by the Prince Edward Island Women's Institute.

Now the Institute is inviting a new group of students from grades7through 12to showcase their creativity and talent in the kitchen.

The only rule is that their dishes must contain three agriculture or fishery-based ingredients, institute president Jacquie Laird told Mainstreet P.E.I on Tuesday.

"All the recipes that the students use have to have island products in them," she said. "Whether its fish, beef, eggs, milk."

Promote children in the cooking profession

The cooking contest was created three years ago by the Women's Institute and the Minister of Agriculture.

Laird said they wanted to promote children in the cooking profession and get people interested in eating Island food, she said.

The Institute also compiles a cookbook with the best recipes after each cook off.

"I think it's very good for the students to learn early in life to get involved in home cooking and to promote island products as much as they possibly can," said Laird.

Submission deadline coming up

Students have until Friday to submit their recipes by filling out an application form and dropping it off at the Women's Institute office in Charlottetown.

Categories for recipes include appetizer, soup, main dish, and dessert but students can submit their entries in as many categories as they like.

The students with the best entries will be asked to take part in a big cook off on Feb. 15 at the Farm Centre in Charlottetown, which is also Founder's Day for the Women's Institute.

"They prepare their food there right on the spot and then we have judges from different professions come and taste the food," said Laird.

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