Dalean Manybears prepares the goat cheese nougat for Friday evenings auction.
Keeping up the standard lightning bolt pace of an auctioneer might be difficult due to culinary instructors and students.
The 25th annual Clayton Allan Wine Auction will be held today at Lethbridge College.
The yearly fundraiser was started by the college’s former president Donna Allan’s husband, who according to head chef Doug Overes was known as a wine connoisseur and a consummate foodie.
Overes has been a part of the wine auction since 1997 and says there is much more going into the preparation than people think.
“The biggest intangibles that comes from the culinary side is the attention to detail the focus on freshness, flavour, harmony, colour and balance for a killer picture perfect meal,” Overes said.
Over the evening, the culinary students and instructors will be preparing six courses for the evening and Overes says they’re going for broke on this special commemoration.
“We’ve pulled out all the stops for this 25th anniversary, we’ve made it as modern, sexy and impressive as we can. It’s a tough task always raising the bar,” Overes said. “I’m happy and proud we’re part of it and my team and students can handle the pressure and give it their best.”
When preparing the menu for the wine auction, Overes was sure to consider the possibilities of dietary restrictions,
With the options in each course ranging from goat cheese nougat, duck breast to hay smoked elk, events and stewardship coordinator Jay Dobson says there wouldn’t even be an auction without them.
“We couldn’t run the event without the culinary students to help prepare the gourmet meal,” Dobson said.
On the night of the festivities, the culinary students will be on hand to help with preparation and cooking but student Mishel Kendall says, they will have their moment in the spotlight.
“Chef Steve told us to make sure we had two jerseys both clean,” Kendall said. “One for when we’re prepping and one for afterwards so we can take a bow.”
The amount of dedication and hard work the students have impressed their instructors and made Overes overwhelm with pride.
“We’re beaming. We’re like proud parents. For them to be able to brag about it and say yeah I was part of the execution of this, there’s no better feeling in the world,” Overes said. “They should be very proud and we are very proud.”
All funds raised from the auction will go to the new trades building on campus.
