Internationally acclaimed chef launches new cookbook at Malaspina

Here's your chance to taste some culinary creations prepared by an internationally award-winning chef.

Olympic-calibre chef and former Malaspina University-College Culinary Arts student Angelo Prosperi-Porta will visit Malaspina's Nanaimo campus on Thursday, November 17 to sign copies of his new cookbook, Flavours of Cooper’s Cove Guesthouse, and prepare some of his favourite recipes during a public cooking demonstration.

The self-published cookbook features over 200 delectable recipes, easy-to-follow directions, and lavish photographs. The book signing takes place in the Malaspina Bookstore (900 Fifth Street – beside the new Library) between 2 and 3 pm, followed by the cooking demonstration and tasting in Malaspina's food lab between 3 and 4 pm.

"Prosperi-Porta is the first Malaspina Culinary Arts graduate to enter the realm of book publishing," said Debbie Shore, chef instructor at Malaspina. "We’re really excited for Angelo, and that’s why Malaspina’s Culinary Arts department, the Bookstore and Food Services are sponsoring his book launch. Angelo’s cookbook is a feast for the eyes. It gives readers creative ideas on how to present various dishes that will capture the imagination."

Prosperi-Porta, who owns Cooper’s Cove Guesthouse in Sooke with his partner Ina Haegemann, is a former member of Culinary Team Canada. He competed in Singapore, Frankfurt and the US between 1990 and 1994, and brought home individual and team medals, including gold. His former international team-mates included chefs Alex Rennie, Michael Pelletier and Bill Clay, all of whom teach in Malaspina’s Culinary Arts program, and retired Malaspina pastry chef George Wagner.

Prosperi-Porta grew up in Powell River, and launched his cooking career after being injured in a mill accident at age 19. "Cooking was the only thing that appealed to me," he said. He enrolled in Malaspina’s 12-month Culinary Arts program in 1984, and worked at various venues including Murchies Tea Room in Victoria, the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, and as a pastry chef for five years at the Delta Mountain Inn (now the Delta Whistler Resort).

"I worked with some very amazing and dedicated chefs both at Malaspina and throughout my career," said Prosperi-Porta. "I took that inspiration and carried it along."

In 1995, Prosperi-Porta and his partner renovated an old house in Sooke, and opened the opened the Cooper’s Cove Guesthouse. The cookbook includes many of the recipes Prosperi-Porta serves at the Guesthouse and teaches in his cooking classes, including breakfast baking, breakfast main courses, hors d’oeuvres, starters, salads, soups, pasta, main courses, ice creams and desserts.

"In fact, it was some of my guests who first suggested that I write a cookbook, to not only share some wonderful recipes, but to share my passion for food," said Prosperi-Porta. "I’m a firm believer in cooking real foods. My philosophy is not to mask the flavour of food, but to enhance it with a few simple ingredients and fresh herbs so the food maintains its earthy, honest flavours. I emphasize presentation, so each plate of food I serve is appealing to the eye and then the palate."

Prosperi-Porta has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey television show, and the Quiet Places travel television series which has aired on Vision TV, The Travel Channel and Discovery Channel. Cooper’s Cove Guesthouse has also been featured in gourmet magazines and reviewed in newspapers across North America, including the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Magazine, The Portland Oregonian and the New York Times.

His hard-cover cookbook is priced at $49.95. Copies are available at Malaspina University-College Bookstore or can be ordered directly from Cooper’s Cove Guesthouse by calling (250) 642-5727. For more information about the book launch, call the Malaspina Bookstore at 740-6200.