On Saturday, Dec. 8, the Blue Ridge ProStart team did a FABULOUS job at the Arizona ProStart Culinary Arts Competition 2007-2008 state competition and took 1^st place for the second year in a row!!  This year we will represent Arizona at Nationals in April in San Diego (last year was Charlotte, NC).

 

Team members: Justin Stoddard (leader of this year’s team and one of last year’s national competitors) Steven Biddle (also competed last year at nationals) Emi Coplan Eddie Crean

The menu was: Appetizer—sushi (spicy tuna sushi, salmon sushi and mango/raspberry sushi) Entrée—blackened ahi tuna, sweet cinnamon yams and Japanese zucchini and onions Dessert---watermelon lime sorbet

The competition was held at Scottsdale Culinary Institute Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program with the judges being chef/instructors from that school.  Bill Nolan, National ProStart Director, helped judge the Arizona competition and gave us heads-up advice for how to succeed at nationals.  State is sponsored by the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association; nationals is sponsored by the National Restaurant Association.

During the critique by the judges, almost every comment was positive.  The judging rubric included:  student resumes, menu, recipes, cost calculation, shipping/receiving at proper temperatures, team appearance, work organization/cooperation, team cohesiveness, proper cooking procedures, proper use of equipment/tools, safety/sanitation, food handling, knife skills, product taste, finished product degree of difficulty and appearance.

 Three of this year’s competitors are in Culinary Arts III & IV, 3^rd hour.  They prepared numerous recipes before selecting the ones that were finally used, and I have to say, the combination of flavors they finally selected for the entrée was BRILLIANT—the spicy heat of the blackened ahi, the cinnamon sweetness of the yams and the salty soy-teriyaki-onion-garlic of the zucchini.  

 

We thank the teachers who allowed these students release from their classes for extra practice time—especially Mr Bang, Mrs. Tomlinson, and Mrs. Ball.

 

And a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Mr. Ball for accompanying us to competition, for his culinary knowledge and advice, and for navigating the stormy driving conditions this weekend!

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