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Troops amaze judges at cooking contest

Military cooks have impressed civilian judges in the first week of the Army Culinary competition at Fort Lee, Va., the chief organizer said Friday.

“They’re amazed at what soldiers are doing in the mobile kitchen trailers,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Sparks, the organizer, as he hurried from one site to another.

More than 200 military chefs are whipping up their best recipes for the annual competition, which began March 5 and ends March 16 with the awards ceremony.

The America Culinary Federation is providing judges for the various contests.

Sparks said the first week was shaping up well and noted that the enlisted troops competing for junior chef of the year appeared to outperform those in the running for senior chef of the year.

Army teams are from Fort Bragg, N.C.; U.S. Army Europe; Hawaii; Korea; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Army Reserve, Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Sill, Okla., and Fort Stewart, Ga.

To win best installation, a team must compete in each of the following categories and score highest out of the possible 320 points:

• Buffet, which includes one show platter of meat, poultry game or fish; one show platter of cold hors d’oeuvres (eight varieties); six different plated appetizers; one three-course meal in each style, American, international and vegetarian; six different plated desserts; one buffet platter of fancy cookies, chocolates or petit fours; and one table theme buffet centerpiece.

• Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl, which includes a one-hour written exam to select finalists for the live version similar in style to Jeopardy. Topics cover culinary, management, nutrition and sanitation. Each team has four members who are E-4s and below.

• Senior Army Chef of the Year is a demanding competition that gives competitors 15 minutes to review the “market basket” of ingredients they receive from which they create a four-course menu. Contestants have 30 minutes to plan the menu, four hours to prepare and cook the food and 30 minutes to present and serve all four courses. Each competitor may have an assistant in the grade of E-4 or below to help with sanitation, weighing ingredients and basic vegetable prep.

• Junior Army Chef of the Year is similar to the senior chef of the year competition, but contestants may not rank higher than E-4. They may have an assistant. Competitors have less time to plan and serve their meal, which consists of three courses, but are still given four hours to cook.

• Field Competition tests how well a four-member team can prepare a meal for 50 in a mobile kitchen trailer in under three hours. Emphasis is placed on safety, sanitation, food preparation, service and taste. The team works with a mystery basket unitized group ration.

• Nutritional Hot Food Challenge is a two-hour hot food contest in which two chefs must prepare and present 10 servings of a two-course meal that meets the requirements of a “heart-healthy” diet and falls within the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

• Student Team Skills contest.

• One of the many other professional categories of competition.

Events are open to the public 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. The nutritional hot food challenge, ice carving competition and knowledge bowl are all March 14. The following day, culinary students will showcase their skills.

Complete event details are online at http://www.ima.lee.army.mil/sites/pao/2007_CulinaryCompetition/index.htm.

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Photos

The military’s best chefs in action