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Students work magic at the Nations Cup
To those of us not blessed with culinary talents, chefs can seem almost like magicians. They chop and stir and slice and saute; basic ingredients and throw them into pots and pans to create dishes so gastronomically amazing that the whole is much, much greater than the sum of the parts; dishes that transform our sense of well-being so much that we suspect something magical must have occurred. But of course, chefs aren’t magicians...or are they?
Alex Haun and Mandy Wingert brought home four gold medals, a silver medal, a bronze medal and two Best in Show awards from the international culinary competition.
Hosted by Grand Rapids Community College, The Nations Cup is an invitational event for young chefs. Two-person teams from Barbados, Scotland, United States, Mexico, and Chile, the winners of the last competition in 2005, competed against each other for three full days, preparing appetizers, salads, poultry, fish, shellfish, meat and game. The biannual event culminates in a lavish five-course banquet for 100 people, with each team contributing a course.
Under the expert guidance of Chef Instructor Hans Anderegg, young chefs Mandy Wingert, 22, and Alex Haun, 21, practised for six weeks in preparation for the competition. Getting ready for such a competition involves perfecting recipes, planning for the unexpected, and learning to accomplish very precise tasks in high pressure situations.
Although Chef Hans travelled with the two competitors to The Nations Cup, once the competition began, he was not permitted to offer any advice or suggestions to them.
Each day of competition featured a black box ingredient-a mystery item that the competitors had to incorporate into the dish they were preparing. Depending on the ingredient, a black box item can make or break a dish. Chef Hans recalled the team’s reaction when they discovered that their dish had to feature rabbit.
“They were surprised. Usually we expect beef or chicken, rabbit isn’t something you anticipate; but at that point, as coach I wasn’t allowed to help them.”
Mandy and Alex quickly recovered, and created a dish so remarkable that it earned the honour of Best in Show.
For more information about this release, please contact: Michelle Gallant, Media and Communications Officer Tel: 902-629-4270
Date: Monday, November 19, 2007
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To those of us not blessed with culinary talents, chefs can seem almost like magicians. They chop and stir and slice and saute; basic ingredients and throw them into pots and pans to create dishes so gastronomically amazing that the whole is much, much greater than the sum of the parts; dishes that transform our sense of well-being so much that we suspect something magical must have occurred. But of course, chefs aren’t magicians...or are they?
