Campus chefs compete in 2014 Winter Olympic Culinary Competition

Five colleges, five international cuisines battle for the gold

As the world’s athletes head to Sochi to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics, regional campus chefs throughout New England prepare for a culinary battle. On February 5th at 4:30 p.m., Curry College will host Mitchell College, Providence College, Babson College, and Dean College in Sodexo’s Olympic Culinary Competition.

Executive chefs, joined by a sous chef, will each prepare cuisine from one of five countries participating in the Winter Olympics.  The chefs must submit their recipe in advance to Gary Symolon, Sodexo District Chef and recipes must equal an average plate cost for a student meal plan.

Providence College Chef Denise Meicke will represent Lithuania in the competition.  As part of the original Baltic States, Lithuania shares similar cuisines with neighboring Latvia, Russia and Poland but what Chef Meicke will create is a new twist to the traditional favorites of a country with a very long history in the world.  Using local farm raised pork and potatoes, barley, rye, beets and mushrooms, Chef Meicke may emphasize dishes like dumplings called pierogi; the blynai or crepes or even kibinai (meat stuffed pastry [knish]).

Babson College Chef Bill Bailey will represent Japan. Although Japan is famously known for Sushi, the more modern Japanese feast on variations of raw and cooked seafood that involve a variety of seasonings and spices.  Dashi (fish and Kombu stock) seaweed shoots, and buckwheat noodles cooked in Gyokura tea are some of the items Chef Bailey from Babson College will be using.  Word on the street is that where there’s smoke there’s fire and Chef Bailey will be using some of those traditional and very non-traditional culinary techniques during the culinary competition.

Curry College Chef Christian King will represent the Dominican Republic. From the Dominican Republic comes cuisine with plenty of tropical heat.  With original island influences from Spain, Africa and Taino, Chef King may feature flavors of yucca, plantains, potatoes, and a variety of legumes, rice and corn with beef, pork and fish.  Sofrito, a mixture of local herbs and spices will be highlighted and is used in many dishes as the tradition of full flavor and aroma is key to Dominican cuisine.  Chef King’s use of colors and textures in his plate presentation is always a game changer!

Mitchell College Chef Tim Quinn will represent the United States of America. No Olympic Culinary Competition would be complete without a huge entry from the great USA.  Chef Quinn will dazzle the crowd like only a true American can.  Originally from New England, it is speculated that Chef Quinn will highlight the local and sustainable ingredients from the farms near his home town in Connecticut including seafood from Rhode Island, potatoes from Maine, polenta and apples from Connecticut, cider from Massachusetts, and pork from North East Family Farms.  The northeast region is well known for its many family run farms and we’re excited that this true New England Chef will take advantage of the many locally produced and grown products from the local area.

Dean College Chef Marc Needham will represent India. Chef Needham has 5000 years of culinary delights to choose from India. And if that wasn’t enough, there are 36 regions of India that feature its own style of cuisine.  One of the more common techniques with Indian cooking is the toasting of the coriander, chili, fenugreek, black mustard and cardamom before it’s used in typical home-style dishes.  Chef Needham is up for the challenge of blowing away the competition with his culinary entry and utilizing his vast knowledge and scope of India’s diverse climate and cultures.  Look for betel nut, fermented fruit, pickled mango and spiced up yogurt.  You’ll think you could be in downtown Mumbai
Bronze, silver and gold medals will be awarded to the top three teams in each category: People’s Choice, voted on by the Curry students, and Culinary Excellence voted on by a panel of judges including Rush Sherman, Regional Vice President for Sodexo Campus Services.

While the competition is underway in the dining room, the Curry Marketplace will resemble an Olympic world pavilion for students with menu items from Spain, Jamaica, Italy, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico, Germany, Greece and the United States. Students will have an opportunity to interact with the chefs, sample the food entries, and vote on their favorite recipes in the competition as well as experience international fare for dinner. The event will conclude with medal ceremonies at 6:45 p.m. where students will have the opportunity to congratulate the winners in the true spirit of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

For more information, contact Jennifer Pfeiffer at 508-259-9450 or Jennifer.pfeiffer@sodexo.com.