An Ontario teen, whose schoolmates held fundraisers to support him, traveled across Canada last weekend to compete in the cooking category at the Skills Canada National Competition. Khalil Kinnarath, in the twelfth grade at Cathedral High School in Hamilton, Ontario, did not disappoint, bringing home a silver medal to his cheering schoolmates, who had held a pasta dinner at school to raise nearly $5000 needed for him to compete.

“I was under immense pressure,” Khalil told the Hamilton Spectator. “I thought I wouldn’t get finished in time, but I worked hard and did finish.” The cause of the extra stress were the added touches Khalil put into his food: He stuffed, rolled and wrapped in bacon the chicken that had to be pan-fried, and he garnished his cream of mushroom soup with spinach ravioli. “And the Florentine omelette was one of my best,” he added.

Canadian student culinary finalists went head to head recently at the Skills Canada National Competition in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by SKILLS CANADA via Facebook)