Page 38 - gfs0517_Magazine

MILITARY CULINARY AWARDS

BEST RESERVE FIELD MESS
come out here think too much about it, but they forget to
enjoy the competition.”
Brown added that these competitions help to sharpen ***WINNER***
the skills of an important job in the Marine Corps. 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine
“If you think about it, there are only two things a Ma- Division, MARFORRES, Baltimore, Md.
rine needs: a bullet and a sandwich,” said Brown. “We
provide the sandwich. If you think about it, no warrior is Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Henry A. Henegar
worth anything without being fed; that is our job. Our job * * *
is to keep the Marine’s morale up with great food in the Food Service Officer: 1st Lt. Timothy Cowan
* * *
morning and all throughout the day; keeping the warrior Field Mess SNCOIC: Gunnery Sgt. Richard Zurowski
fueled, this has to be one of the most important MOS fields
the Corps has.”
Roberts and Hilton will go on to compete
in the MCI-West Chef of the Year Competi-
tion in 2017.

SKILL AND TEAMWORK
A pair of first-timers were Chef of the
Quarter winners for April on Marine Corps
Base Camp Lejeune: Cpl. Reggina Dixon
and Lance Cpl. Samantha Mangiasosa of
Marine Corps Air Station New River in
North Carolina.
“It felt really nice (to win first place.) I
was shocked because the competitors had
done the competition before and had more
experience,” said Dixon, food service spe-
cialist at the air station. “I was a little shaky, but I felt good ate what you did. I would love to see more of this.’ When
knowing that I had a good cook with me.” they saw that, and people laughing and smiling at the
Besides testing their skills, the competition also teaches food, I think that really motivated them.”
members how to work together as a team. Dixon and Man- The Marines served Insalata Di Uova (egg salad) as an
giasosa had mostly cooked Southern and South American appetizer. The main dish was Salsiccia and Zucchine In-
food, respectively, but managed to mesh with team members fornare and Hash Di Patate (baked sausage and zucchini
to prepare a meal with an Italian theme. and potato hash.) For dessert, they served Rotolo Dolce,
“It was pretty funny (watching them prepare for the which is a sweet roll (cannoli). They paired the meal with
tournament). Mangiasosa is from South America and Dixon a virgin pomegranate Sangria.
is from South Carolina. Their style of what they eat for “We had two weeks to prepare. On the day of the com-
dinner is different. One eats Southern food. The other petition, that’s when we show our talents. For four hours
eats Hispanic food,” said Staff Sgt. Laron Murray, assistant pretty much we’re cooking this whole meal that we’ve
Marine liaison. “At first they were trying to come up with a practiced,” said Mangiasosa, food service specialist at the
theme and they couldn’t find one right away. They came up station.
with a Valentine’s theme and tried mixing Southern food The competition is broken down into two sections — a
and Hispanic food. When they finally found their theme written exam and the preparation of the meal. Marines
it took them out of their element. It was Italian food and and Sodexo employees are eligible to participate in the
neither one of them is Italian, so they researched.” competition.
Participating in the competition also helped inspire “We made an exam, which was a knowledge test on
other Marines to learn about their job, as well as boost basic things that everybody should know as (food service
unit morale. specialists). We got second place against another team (from
“When I first got here the Marines didn’t want to do Camp Lejeune in the written test),” said Mangiasosa. “We
(the competition). They weren’t really motivated until my- ended up winning first place by getting picked as the best
self, Gunnery Sgt. Nathan Nagler and Gunnery Sgt. Lenard dish by all four teams.”
Tilley stepped on deck. I wanted (Dixon and Mangiasosa) The next competition is for Chef of the Year. The team
to do it so when the Marines go out there, they want to hopes to compete again later this year.
do it as well,” said Murray. “When they saw (Dixon and “We wouldn’t have been able to get as far without our
Mangiasosa) win, now everyone wants to do it. They love command. They were behind us every step of the way,”
the (response.) The generals, sergeants major and colonels said Dixon. “They pushed us to work hard during and
came out, shook their hand and said, ‘Hey I really appreci- outside of work.” —GFS
38 GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • MAY 2017