SCS Alumnus Matthew James Duffy (Class of 2008) is a Professor and Program Coordinator at Centennial College. He has an extensive culinary background and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph. A graduate of Stratford Chefs School, Matthew now specializes in the baking and pastry arts management program and has worked with brands such as Cafe Boulud and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
“I started cooking to pay for school when I was doing a Business degree,” Duffy explains. “I kept doing it after I graduated and my mom was a co-op teacher so she signed me up for an apprenticeship. Eventually, I went out west to teach snowboarding and when I came back, I was bartending and mentioned to someone that I wanted to go to cooking school.“
At Stratford Chefs School, Duffy discovered his love of sourdough bread (the taste, health benefits, shelf life, fermentations, mixing of flours, and touch and feel make it his favourite, he says) and that mastering bread takes time and repetition. It’s advice he now instills in his own students. “I remind my students that… they’ll be working with bread much more in the industry. The repetition is where you get good.”
Repetition, combined with sheer talent and training took Duffy around the world for 12 years, cooking at Michelin star restaurants in Italy, Japan, Spain, Denmark and New York City. When Duffy and his wife decided to start a family, the chef knew it was time to take what he calls a breather, so he turned to teaching and was hired full-time at Centennial in September 2019.
Watch: Chef Matthew James Duffy | Breakfast Television Toronto
Need more baking tips? Chef Matt’s Instagram features his popular baking class videos made with the help of his adorable 2 year old sous chef! Check it out at https://www.instagram.com/matthewjamesduffy/
Source: 21 Questions with Chef Matthew Duffy
www.centennialcollege.ca/news/21-questions-with-chef-matthew-duffy/