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An A-B Tech culinary team was named national champion in the American Culinary Federation's Student Team competition recently in Orlando, FL.
The five-member team bested competitors from the Culinary Studies Institute at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, MI; the State University of New York at Delhi; and Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. For the first time, competitors were asked to prepare 24 plates of four courses - an appetizer, a salad, an entr�e and a dessert - within four hours. Previous competitions required only five plates of four courses in 75 minutes. The A-B Tech menu consisted of an appetizer of pan-seared striped bass with sweet pea sauce and black-eyed pea terrine with corn relish; a frisee salad with pickled beet, sweet potato Napoleon and mustard cream vinaigrette; an entr�e of chicken breast and smoked beef tongue with duxelle stuffed mushroom, tourneed potatoes and asparagus; and vanilla cream on a lemon sugar cookie and fruit compote served with apricot sauce and spun caramel. Jason Huang served as captain of the team, acting as a runner for his teammates, keeping track of time, and helping "plate up" dishes before they were served to judges and guests. Team members were Daniel Gorman, who prepared the appetizer; Chambli Stuber, the salad; Matt Gruber, the entr�e; and Michelle Bailey, the dessert. Hospitality Education Instructors Bronwen McCormick, Charles deVries and John Hofland served as coaches. The team advanced to the national championship after winning state and regional contests in Charlotte and Nashville, TN. Medals are awarded based on points, and the gold medal the A-B Tech team earned in Nashville was the only gold judges awarded during this year's four regional competitions. A-B Tech's culinary program boasts an award-winning history. A team from the College has won the state title for more than a decade and advanced to the nationals in 1997, 2003 and 2006, finishing second last year. Huang, who prepared the salad as a member of the 2006 team, said the preparation of 24 plates made this year's competition more challenging. "This year was definitely a lot tougher because the format has changed. It was definitely more intense." "But it was a lot of fun," Gruber added. As a comprehensive community college, A-B Tech is committed to providing accessible, quality educational opportunities for lifelong learning to meet the diverse and changing needs of the community. For more information about programs at A-B Tech, call 254-1921, or visit the college�s website at www.abtech.edu. (Images provided by AB Tech.)
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