Rosalyn Ediger (PCK '05) has covered a lot of ground in a nine-year career — literally and figuratively. The 29-year-old chef, who started her career as a sous-chef at Calgary's prestigious Glencoe Club and netted national and international culinary gold medals shortly after graduating from SAIT, has taken her career to impressive places across Asia.
At 23, Ediger boarded a plane to Beijing to embark on a position as a Chef de Cuisine for the official residence at the Embassy of Canada. She learned to speak fluent Mandarin and spent the next four years cooking for ambassadors and visitors, including cabinet ministers, dignitaries and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In 2011, Ediger was chosen to conduct training sessions and help establish the Canadian embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Ediger is a Chef de Cuisine at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing. She was recently featured on a Chinese CCTV 9 cooking show about chefs traveling across China to learn about the cuisine from a city in another region.
2017 update
Rosalyn Ediger, Sous Chef with Global Affairs Canada
"When I was working in Beijing at the Canadian Embassy, I worked very closely with the ambassador for all the events. We developed this style that we coined 'culinary diplomacy.' The chefs are trying to accomplish the same goals as the ministry, but we do it through food and hospitality. There are often hidden messages in the food. Some are more obvious, but others are much subtle. The things that are accomplished over our food is a huge part of diplomacy.
Right after receiving the Alumni Award, I moved to Ottawa. I'm a sous chef with Global Affairs Canada. We do all the events for the foreign minister, cabinet ministers, the Canadian military and protocol events. We also do the catering for the official guest house here in Ottawa. It's quite exciting as world leaders come through and stay there.
Outside of work, I'm involved with World Chefs, an international organization. I'm a mentor and the representative from Canada on the International Global Youth Development Committee. We are trying to create awareness on issues and do what we can for young chefs. I've also been involved with the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Culinary Federation. Last fall I went to Greece for the World's Chef Congress as part of the Global Youth Development Team. To meet people from all over the world, it's wonderful. We all have so much more in common than people think. To me, food bridges those cultural gaps better than any other means."