News: Our own Paul Finkelstein and his students will cook for Will and Kate

Best Health food expert Paul Finkelstein and four of his grade 10 culinary arts students will help kick off the Royals’ visit to Canada by participating in the Celebration of Youth reception in Ottawa tonight.

The students, under guidance from Finkelstein who is their culinary arts teacher at Stratford Northwestern Secondary School, will work with Rideau Hall’s chef Louis Charest to prepare a welcoming dinner for the Royal couple. As preparations for the meal are underway, the Toronto Star reports that ingredients include goat cheese and sea salt from British Columbia, sable fish and spotted prawns from the Queen Charlotte Islands, cheese and yak from Alberta and fish from Manitoba and the Great Lakes region.

The participating students honed their culinary skills through a project called The Screaming Avocado, a classroom and cafeteria run by Finkelstein where students prepare meals using local ingredients to offer a healthy lunch alternative at their Stratford high school.

The Celebration of Youth reception and dinner for Prince William and Catharine, the Duchess of Cambridge, takes place tonight at 6 p.m. and is an official stop on the Royal couple’s nine-day tour across Canada.

Check back on Monday for reactions from Finkelstein and his students, and to see how the Royal dinner went!

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