Posted by Salt Lake Tribune, UT on April 20, 2008 at 11:23:02:
Military chefs battle for bragging rights
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Just last week, if you had asked Kelli Trousdale about military cooking, she probably would have crinkled her nose.
"I didn't even know they had chefs in the military," said Trousdale, a Utah Valley State College culinary student. "And I probably would have passed on military food - I imagined it was like backpacking food."
Trousdale learned otherwise Saturday, when she was invited to assist a team of two Air Force chefs in the Freedom Chef Challenge - an "Iron Chef"-style event that pitted crews from all five military service branches against one another at the American Culinary Federation's regional conference at the Salt Palace.
"These guys have the goods," Trousdale said of the 10 military chefs from across the country chosen to represent their services in the contest.
And, she marveled, they were surprisingly calm under the pressure. "I've been to competitions where everyone is screaming and yelling at each other," she said as she chopped vegetables to serve alongside a course of seared scallops. "But these guys are so laid-back."
Of course most of the chefs assembled around "Kitchen Pentagon" typically cook for hungry service members and demanding flag officers.
"We just came here to have a good time," said Air Force chef Mark Veanett - his boss is a three-star general - as he worked on a crusted tilapia. "And maybe talk a little
smack with our colleagues."
Indeed, unlike most cook-offs, the judges added extra points for banter.
"You want a joke?" quipped Navy chef Brandon Parry. "Did you see Army's performance in the Army-Navy game? That was a joke!"
There was nothing funny about the menu. From carpaccio to gazpacho to walnut pilaf to a savory shepherd's pie, the chefs were out to prove there's nothing "general issue" about G.I. cooking.
Becky Piacente knows that to be true. The Art Institute of Salt Lake City culinary instructor spent several years in military food service - including six months in Iraq. "Here I am, walking into a war zone, and I couldn't stop laughing because I was looking at a food facility you could find anywhere in the United States," she recalled of her realization that combat cooking "isn't all Meals Ready-to-Eat."
Chef Dave Turcotte of the winning Army team agreed. "The best military in the world deserves the best food in the world," he said.
The Army's offering: beef carpaccio, pan-seared duck breast, sautéed sweet breads, seared scallops with mustard dill sauce, créme brülée and - in a nod to their Utah hosts - green Jell-O.
mlaplante@sltrib.com