RRC Polytech Culinary Arts grad makes big screen debut
For Anna Borys, cooking and baking had always been hobbies. She never envisioned turning these talents into a culinary career.
But, flash forward to now and a quick scan of Anna’s Instagram account reveals her culinary talent and creativity standing out—from scaling-down recipes and meals to miniscule “tiny” proportions and behind-the-scenes shots of Great Tastes of Manitoba.
Anna’s journey to where she is now was not linear, and like many other learners who choose RRC Polytech, she came to the College with previous post-secondary and career experience.
“After moving back home to Winnipeg from Toronto and working for my family’s glass business for 10 years, I recognized that it wasn’t a great fit,” explained Anna, when chatting about the crossroads in her career.
The sudden passing of a close friend—someone who always encouraged her to pursue her culinary passions—inspired Anna to make a career change and she enrolled in RRC Polytech’s Culinary Arts program.
“At 29, I switched gears and became a student again. I wanted to pursue my talent and passion for culinary arts, but I knew I didn’t want to work in a restaurant setting.”
A pivotal moment that helped guide Anna’s path occurred during her second year of Culinary Arts, when Kyle Andreasen, a Research Assistant from the Culinary Research Institute, now known as the Prairie Research Kitchen (PRK), came to speak to her and her classmates.
While Anna and fellow culinary students would see the research team and chef-instructors in their cool black ball caps in the hallways, there was still mystery behind what they worked on, until she had the opportunity to be immersed in a research setting.
“When I did my second co-op work placement with the culinary research team, it gave me a whole new perspective on how I could use the skills I was learning. Culinary school showed me the how, and through research, I learned the why.”
A major component of her co-op was working on student-led recipe development. And this experience has now come full circle – Anna was hired as a full-time Culinary Research Assistant at the PRK upon graduating in 2019. Since then, she’s developed several recipes for western Canadian food companies.
One stand-out recipe is BUMP kofta, using Bump Beef + Plant Blend, a product Winnipeg-based food entrepreneur, James Battershill, brought to market for flexitarians looking to add alternate forms of protein without cutting meat altogether. The dish is a twist on classic Turkish Kofta, but with an added punch of plant protein.
Outside of the research kitchen, Anna likes to spend her spare time, well, in other kitchens. This fall, she made her debut on the big screen, from the kitchen setting of Great Tastes of Manitoba, where she shares her culinary creations—like Cabbage Roll Casserole and Jamaican Beef Patties—with audiences across the province.
“For Great Tastes, I develop recipes on behalf of Manitoba Beef Producers, and how I approach this is through a mix of what I’ve learned in culinary school and the expertise I’ve gained from the Prairie Research Kitchen.”
Her goal is to create dishes that are affordable, accessible, and approachable, but with a bit of a twist— think adding some spice to beef patties with fresh ginger. Anna brings things back to the basics for viewers, focusing on techniques and using ingredients that people tend to have on-hand.
“There’s a lot of prep that goes into getting recipes ready for the show and the ‘magic’ behind the show. At the end of the day, I love to see people’s reactions and actually making my recipes.”
Alongside sharing her recipes with Manitobans, through her role at PRK, Anna mentors RRC Polytech Culinary Skills and Culinary Arts students with recipe development and applied research. Also on her plate right now: working toward obtaining her Red Seal certification.
You can watch Anna in all her culinary creativity and magic live on Great Tastes of Manitoba on CTV, this Saturday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. CST. Check out her past episode on Comfort Cuisine and find the recipes on YouTube.