Page 12 - mch0218_Magazine

FOOD SERVICE

Marine Corps Cpl. Samantha Rocha, a
foodservice specialist at MWTC Bridge-
port, Calif., prepares her team’s entrée
during the Culinary Team of the Quarter
competition aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif.
‘A Way with Leftovers’

Determines Culinary Team of the Quarter

n Dec. 6, 2017, almost two weeks after Thanksgiving, “It’s an art,” Jordan said. “An art isn’t always a picture on
Othe Marine Corps Installations West “Culinary Team of the wall or a photo you take, but anything you can be pas-
the Quarter” competition for Fiscal 2018’s first quarter was sionate about.”
hosted aboard MCB Camp Pendleton, Calif. “Teamwork is key, that is for sure,” said Benitez, a former
The competition is a way for Sodexo and Marine Corps enlisted USMC foodservice specialist now working with So-
foodservice specialists from the California area to receive ad- dexo. “Time was definitely your enemy.”
ditional training outside of their everyday work environment Marine Corps Cpl. Valeria Galvanizquirdo and Cpl. Alexis
and attempt to change up their menu items. It brings Marine Walton, foodservice specialists from MCAS Miramar, placed
and civilian foodservice specialists together in a head-to-head second in the competition.
competition to see who has the best chow hall. In this contest, Each of the event’s winners took home a custom chef’s
teams from MCAS Miramar, MWTC Bridgeport and Camp jacket, a culinary book, an engraved plaque, medals and a
Pendleton competed. knife set. The first-place Marine Corps team will receive more
“I am hoping that the contestants of this competition go training at the Culinary Institute of America.
back and mentor their peers to attend next quarter’s competi- “I am so proud of all of the competitors and this event,”
tion,” said Donovan Brown, the regional executive chef for Brown said. “Each team had requirements that they had to
Sodexo-West. make and a time frame they needed to do it in, and they all
reached it. This competition was so close — nobody was more
DAY BY DAY than a few points away from each other. That just shows how
On the first day of the two-day competition, the teams good our food service really is.” —MCH
participated in trivia and prepared for the cooking portion.
They were challenged with questions about food safety and
general kitchen and culinary knowledge. Then they were given
a theme —“Thanksgiving Leftovers” — and required to put
together menus based on that theme. Each competitor had to
make entrees consisting of ham, turkey and cranberry relish.
“It’s very difficult” said Cpl. Alexis Walton from the Gonza-
lez Mess Hall at MCAS Miramar. “Everything has already been
cooked once, and to remake it into another meal is difficult”
The second day was the hands-on cooking portion of the
event. Each team was required to present an appetizer, entree
and dessert. The teams started cooking at 7 a.m. on Wednesday
morning, and were given four hours before they presented their
meals to the judges. The teams were disqualified if they were
not finished when time ran out, but that did not happen, as the
teams all finished and presented their meals to the judges in Pennie Jordan and Juan Benitez (center), Sodexo foodservice special-
a timely manner. ists at Camp Pendleton, Calif., placed first in the Culinary Team of
the Quarter competition aboard Camp Pendleton on Dec. 6, 2017.
Those congratulating them included Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Killea (far left),
THE WINNERS commanding general, Marine Corps Installations West, MCB Camp
The winning team consisted of Pennie Jordan and Juan Pendleton and Donovan Brown (far right), the regional executive chef
Benitez, Sodexo foodservice specialists on Camp Pendleton. for Sodexo-West. PHOTOS: PFC DRAKE NICKELS, USMC

12 MILITARY CLUB & HOSPITALITY | FEBRUARY 2018