Career class students at Aldergrove Community Secondary have headed into the kitchen to create perogy fillings.
The flavourful fillings are part of a contest to create a new perogy for an Aldergrove business, Veronica’s Gourmet Perogies. The top three fillings were shortlisted and a panel of judges will choose one, which will be made at the restaurant for the month of May.
It all started with teaching students about business.
“I have about 50 students involved between different classes,” said teacher Lindsay Lloyd. “When I originally reached out to Veronica [Cave], I was inviting her to speak to my classes about her journey as an entrepreneur and what work goes into creating a successful business. This contest is her way of providing a more hands-on experience of her passion and culture, so that students can appreciate the value of community connection. It is also a great way to get students thinking about their cooking skills and how they prepare their meals.”
Each semester, Lloyd takes her students on a field trip through Aldergrove. The students interview business owners. A stop at the shop of perogy maker Veronica Cave led to sampling, which led to the contest.
Cave saw the contest as a way to link learning with hands-on experience.
“I was trying to figure out how to connect on another level,” Cave explained.
Students wrote out their recipes which were submitted to the restaurant for judging.
“The students were eager to share their ideas with her and… find out who won,” Lloy said.
Students were pretty secretive about their fillings, not even sharing much detail with Lloyd.
Cave had the three finalists come into the restaurant to make their fillings and tweak the recipes before their perogies were made for the final round of judging.
From the top three flavours, judges Carlo Bonetti, Jason Froese, and Charlie Fox will choose the winner at an event Thursday, April 25 [after press time]. The winner will receive $100 cash from Veronica’s, plus 10 per cent of the sales for the month of May.
The public can check out the winning perogy at a special event on Saturday, May 4, at the shop, 2989 272nd St. which is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The winner will be there at some point during the day.
The top three contenders were a hotdog (wiener, cheddar, and grilled onion), Jamaican patty (beef, Scotch bonnets, curry, tomato, and potato), and shepherd’s pie (beef, peas, potato, carrot, cheddar, and gravy).
Lloyd, herself, is no stranger to perogies.
“I worked for Veronica’s Aldergrove shop before I started my teaching program, and she taught me a lot about hard work,” she said.
“I was impressed by the success of her business and how much she cared about her community. When I was hired as a careers teacher at ACSS years later, I saw an opportunity to connect students with the community and educate them about the work that goes into our local economy.”
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