Discover how the warm and toasty soups on campus are made and what makes them great.
Picture this — you’re starving after class and looking for a cost-friendly way to satisfy your tummy’s desire. Where should you go? The IGNITE Soupbar fridge to get frozen soup to-go or the LinX Lounge to get fresh hot soup!
As we approach sweater weather, there is nothing like a good warm soup to keep you hydrated and full. One of IGNITE’s services is the Soupbar, designed to give Humber Polytechnic and University of Guelph-Humber students a gastronomic boost to kick off their learning experience.
This service offers hot and frozen soups to students on campus for free. Yes, they are free for all students to take! This initiative aims to combat food insecurity, giving students assistance in having a filling meal on a budget — or, better said, without a budget!
How it works
With a large and diverse population of students, IGNITE ensures that there is enough to go around. Avnish Miyangar, IGNITE’s manager of wellness and security, details that IGNITE sources the soups in three ways.
First, chef Sharaf “Ash” Elsayed, from the Longo Faculty of Business, produces soups by taking ingredients from the food recovery program that culinary students no longer use.
“Instead of them being wasteful and thrown out, he uses those ingredients,” Miyangar said. Chef Elsayed’s creations are featured in the IGNITE’s fridges at the Lakeshore and IGS campuses as frozen soups.
Another source is Chartwells, the on-campus food services provider, which produces hot soups that are delivered fresh at the North campus. These steaming hot soups are easily accessible at the LinX Lounge.
Lastly, chef Peter Rick, from the Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness, and his students from the food and nutrition management and personal support worker programs contribute to this agenda. The class turns it into a learning opportunity as they also supply soups and meals as part of their coursework.
But, have you ever wondered how they are made? Well, you are about to find out! IGNITE is lucky to get behind-the-scenes access to how these delicious broths come to life!
Class begins now
It starts in chef Rick’s bustling kitchen lab as he begins his Institutional Food Production class, a course meant to provide students with hands-on experience. The subject features lab work to encourage learning by using the practical culinary skills required to prepare large batches of food in an institutional setting.
In groups, second-year food and nutrition management students assemble at their stations in their full kitchen uniform. One of the courses on the menu is the tomato vegetable soup — a recipe developed by chef Rick himself. The recipe is meant to be a learning experience for students and to fill hungry tummies within the Humber and UofGH community.
Farm to table
As a jump-start, the students wash and process freshly picked products from Humber Arboretum’s food learning garden. This partnership with Humber’s on-campus garden and the Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness forms part of walking the talk for sustainability within the classroom.
This means the freshest ingredients go into the soup while performing sustainable practices and preventing food waste.
“Instead of just talking about sustainability, we can actually do it,” chef Rick said.
He also assures that sustainability goes beyond the classroom, as leftover trimmings go to the green compost. No ingredients are wasted! This creates an avenue for students to apply the concepts they have learned during lectures on sustainability and implement them in the culinary scene.
Soup in progress
Armed with their recipes, the busy nutritionists at work prepare their mise en place, with some turning the gas stove on and others preheating the oven. The kitchen is a hub in action. In a corner, the industrial pot is geared for some action, too. The students drop the ingredients into the pot in intervals — boiling and stirring it occasionally. In the rest of the kitchen, various entrees, mains and desserts are also in the works.
Chef Rick is all over the place to ensure no pot is burning. Consulting with every group on their progress, he drops practical nuggets of wisdom and teaches students how to navigate the cooking roadblocks met along the way.
The golden rule of cooking is to taste before serving. Chef Peter gathers the students for a final round of tasting, each student holding their own spoon. “No double dipping,” he reminded the team. To finish off the soup, a quarter of a cup of salt is added to bring out the flavours of the vegetables.
At the end of the process, all groups bring forward their dishes as they showcase their collective work to chef Rick. Once all the dishes are plated and graded, the whole class eats supper together, when they get to enjoy their own work. The rest of the leftovers are donated to IGNITE as free meals.
Packed and ready!
After that, the soup gets refrigerated and taken out to be packed in individual containers. The team in charge scoops each portion and sticks each label. IGNITE’s well-being assistants then pick it up the next day and distribute the tubs of goodness to the IGNITE fridges. All set for Humber and UofGH students to enjoy!
From planting, preparing, cooking and consuming, the Soupbar is at the end of the sustainable chain. And students get to partake in the consumption of the soup. For sure, each soup container promises a nourishing and filling meal. After all, you are tasting the creations of future nutritionists in the making.
“They’ll be certified in healthcare to run our nursing homes and our hospitals in a couple years, and that’s what they’re trained for,” chef Rick emphasized.
So, the next time you feel your tummy rumbling, head over to the nearest IGNITE Soupbar fridge near you or check out the LinX Lounge. As you slurp into the hot soup and wonder what makes it great, you now know how it’s made!
Thank you students in the food and nutrition management and personal support worker programs for being an essential pillar of the IGNITE Soupbar! You all rock!
Feature image courtesy of Michelle Marasigan.
Get creative and revamp your soup the way you want it. Check out these 5 ways to make IGNITE’s amazing soups feel like home!
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