NACUFS: Culinary

Culinary Challenge Information

ELIGIBILITY

ENTRIES & DEADLINES

THE CHALLENGE

PRELIMINARY PROCEDURES

COMPETITION DETAILS

JUDGING & PRIZES

ELIGIBILITY

The NACUFS Region II Culinary Challenge is an ACF Sanctioned Food Show Competition open to all culinarians employed at NACUFS Region II member schools. The competition is classified as Practical & Contemporary with F/3 - Regional Taste / Customized and S/1 - Vegetables Skill Based as the competition categories.

The field will be limited to ten competitors. Each institution may submit one primary and one alternate applicant. Please clearly denote the primary applicant. Primary applicants will be accepted in order of receipt. In the event that all spaces are not initially filled, alternate applicants will be chosen by a lottery system to fill all flights to compete at the NACUFS regional conference at the Pennsylvania State University. It is important to note that you must be a paid conference attendee to be able to compete. This is an open competition, any person on staff (managers, part time and full time staff) are eligible.

** Competitors' institutions must be NACUFS members in good standing.

** The Region II Culinary Challenge is open to all culinary professionals
(chefs, cooks and production personnel) employed at member schools.

** In the event a regional winner leaves his or her institution before the national
competition and is employed by a member institution in the same region, he or
she may represent that region and compete in the NACUFS Culinary Challenge.

** In the event a regional winner leaves his or her institution before the national
     competition and is no longer employed by a member institution in the same region,
     the region will send its second place winner to compete in the NACUFS Culinary
     Challenge.

** Culinary professionals on the staffs of committee members are eligible to
compete.

top

ENTRIES AND DEADLINES

The deadline to submit Culinary Challenge entries is September 14, 2002.

The Culinary Challenge Entry Form, Recipe Form and Contestant Bio forms are linked below. These entry forms are formatted in Adobe Acrobat. In order to view this document you must have the Acrobat Reader program installed on your machine and properly configured for your World Wide Web browser.

Each entry must include the following:

** Culinary Challenge Entry Form

** Original hot entrée recipe and accompaniment recipe on Culinary Challenge
Recipe Form. (The recipe will be reviewed by the committee to ensure a
consistent format.)

** Contestant's photo (4"x 6" photo, in uniform)

** Contestant's Bio Form (one or two paragraphs about the contestant's professional
experience and interests.)

** Contestant's resume

** All descriptive material must be neatly typed and professionally presented.

top

THE CHALLENGE

Each contestant must prepare four portions of an original hot entrée and up to two side dishes, not including sauces. There is no limit to the number of sauces provided they can be prepared in accordance with contest time limits.

The entrée recipe must feature the mandatory ingredient. The featured ingredient for this year's Culinary Challenge is Beef Tenderloin Steaks (189A - Full Tenderloin, Defatted, Side Muscle on). Each contestant must produce four portions of an appropriate size. Any portion of the tenderloin not utilized must be properly wrapped and stored.

All mandatory ingredients (Beef Tenderloin) will be supplied by the challenge and will be available the day of the competition. The entrée recipe should be nutritionally balanced and follow these guidelines: based on overall calories, no more than 30 percent should come from fat, no more than 50-60 percent from carbohydrates and 15-20 percent should come from protein.

The winning regional recipe must be duplicated for the National competition. All entries must be received by September 14, 2002.

top

PRELIMINARY PROCEDURES

** Only the mandatory ingredients will be supplied by the Challenge and will be
available on the day of the competition.

** All other additional recipe ingredients are the responsibility of the contestant. All
ingredients will be proctored and only those ingredients listed on the recipes will be
allowed for use.

** All ingredients must arrive in a raw/unprepared state. No prepared foods will be
allowed in the prep kitchen, with the exception of commercially prepared sauces or
bases.

** Contestants must provide their own knives, additional cookware, and/or small
    appliances. All cookware should be induction burner compatible. Any cooking
    appliances brought by contestants must be approved by the judges and must be
    listed on the entry form.

** Each contestant will be allowed up to 45 minutes of proctored prep time before the
competition.

** No advance preparation or cooking is allowed during the preparation period.
Vegetables and salads may be cleaned and washed, but not cut or shaped in any
form.

** 15 minutes of the 45 minute prep time will be devoted to demonstrated knife skills.
Knife skills will be judged. Contestants will demonstrate three of the following cuts:

*Julienne (1/8" x 1/8" x 2" - 2 oz. by weight)

*Medium Dice (1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2" - 2 oz. by weight)

*Brunoise (1/8" x 1/8" x 1/8" - 2 oz. by weight)

*An 80 count potato will be used for each cut. All cuts will be measured with a
template and scale for accuracy.

** Contestants will work unassisted, a runner will be provided to send plates to the
judges.

top

COMPETITION

Contestants must wear the double-breasted white chef's coat supplied by the Challenge, black / dark blue (or black and white checked) pants, (no pepper or patterned pants, please) and foodservice safety shoes. Athletic shoes are not allowed.

Three portions, for tasting and evaluation, must be presented on the 10-inch white plates supplied by the Challenge. The fourth portion, for display and photography, must also be presented on a 10-inch white plate supplied by the Challenge or a plate of the contestant's choosing.

Each competition cooking station will be supplied with the following equipment:

2 6-8 foot skirted tables

1 Full size chaffer with two half pans

2 Single induction burners

2 Sauté pans, induction burner compatible

3 Large cutting boards

4 10-inch white china plates

1 Trash container with liner

Assorted spoons, tongs, spatulas, utensils, aprons, hats, towels and cleaning
supplies.

Contestants will have a total of 60 minutes to compete:

Up to 5 minutes to set the station

50 minutes to cook and plate the recipes

5 minutes to deliver finished plates to judges, clean and exit the work station.

Volunteers will be available to assist each competitor in cleaning and delivering plates to the judges. No other assistance is allowed. Competition times will be staggered. Start times will be randomly assigned one week before the competition.

top

JUDGING

Three certified Executive Chefs will judge the contestants on a 40 point scale, as follows:
Organization	Total: 10 points
*Sanitation (HAACP guidelines will be followed)	0-5 points
*Utilization of ingredients and use of allotted time)	0-5 points
Cooking Skills, Culinary Technique & Competition Cuts	Total: 10 points
*Creativity, skills, craftsmanship and portion size	0-5 points
*Skill and accuracy of competition cuts	0-5 points
Taste	Total: 20 points
*Taste, texture and doneness	0-10 points
*Recipe compliance, ingredient compatibility & nutritional balance	0-5 points
*Serving method & presentation	0-5 points
Total Score:	0 - 40 points

All contestants are required to pre-scale their recipe. The following ready-made dough may be used: puff pastry and fillo dough. Basic nutritional balance in recipe development in the simplest form means the competitor should use the following guidelines in formulating a recipe: based on overall calories, no more than 30 percent of the calories should come from fat, 50-60 percent of the calories should come from carbohydrates and 15-20 of the calories should come from proteins.

Contestants may lose points or be disqualified from the Challenge for lack of compliance with contest rules. Noncompliance may include, but is not limited to:

* Use of copyrighted or unoriginal recipe

* Lack of mise en place or disorganization

* Deviation from the recipe; lack of cooking integrity

* Inappropriate or unsafe food handling practices

* Improper portion size

* Violation of the uniform code

* Inappropriate conduct or unethical behavior

* Tardiness

* Late submission of registration materials

Judges will offer individual critiques to contestants at the close of the competition. The decisions of the judges are final.

PRIZES

ACF Medals

Gold	36 - 40 points
Silver	32 - 35.99 points
Bronze	28 - 31.99 points

Prizes will be awarded based on point totals.

First Place:	Trophy & trip to the National Culinary Challenge
	Kansas City, Missouri, July, 2003
Second Place:	Trophy
Third Place:	Trophy

All contestants will receive certificates of participation. Awards will be presented during dinner at the Nittany Lion Inn on Tuesday, October 15.

All recipes entered into the Region II Culinary Challenge become the property of NACUFS.

By entering, contestants grant permission to NACUFS to publish and/or use in any way the materials submitted, including the names and photos of competitors.

Use of copyrighted materials, symbols, etc. must be verified with a copy of the permission from the copyright owner.

NACUFS shall not be liable or responsible for personal, college or company equipment that is lost, stolen or broken unless such equipment has been authorized in writing by the executive director for use in connection with association activities.
(NACUFS P&P A-220)

top