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Skidmore College Hosts, Earns Gold in ACF Competition

he Skidmore College culinary team mushrooms, pan-roasted purple cauli-
Tearned its fifth consecutive gold flower and blood orange reduction sauce
medal for culinary excellence in the Dessert: citrus pound cake with soft
American Culinary Federation (ACF) chocolate semi-sphere hazelnut tuile with
sanctioned competition held Friday, Jan. caramelized pineapple
12, 2018, on the Skidmore Campus in Buffet: pork loin stuffed with BBQ
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. jackfruit featuring a warm kamut salad
“We are extremely proud of our with tropical fruits and sautéed spaghetti
gold medal, and it is our pleasure to squash
host this unique event each year to high- Eleven colleges and universities from
light Skidmore College, our facilities throughout the Northeast participated in
and the culinary talent of our staff. We the ACF-sanctioned competition, which
were pleased that all teams and judges awards gold, silver and bronze medals
were impressed with the quality of our based on a point system.
food, the friendliness of our staff and Skidmore led the competition, earn-
the overall content of the event,” said ing the highest total points for a gold
Mark Miller, Skidmore’s director of medal, followed by Cornell University,
dining services. which also earned gold.
The “Chopped”-like competition The University at Albany, Ithaca Col-
challenges four-person teams to create lege, University of Rochester, University
unique and delicious recipes using identi- at Buffalo, SUNY-Geneseo and SUNY-
cal baskets of ingredients and a shared Cobleskill each earned silver medals.
table of staples and spices. Facing tight SUNY-Cortland, participating for the
time limits, and without the use of broil- first time in the competition, Williams
ers or fryers, each team is challenged College and the University of Connecticut dining program.
to produce a salad or appetizer, a soup took home bronze medals. “The annual competition allows our
or dessert, an entree, and also a buffet The judging panel consisted of two staff an opportunity to enhance their
platter. The dishes must be stylish but certified master chefs, including the Capi- knowledge, while also expanding their
practical, nutritionally balanced, with tal Region’s Dale Miller as lead judge; practical culinary skills,” says Skidmore
complementary flavors and textures and head judge Fritz Sonnenschmidt; certi- Dining Services Director Miller. “The
good eye appeal. fied executive chefs Michael Morgan, conference provides seminars, demonstra-
Skidmore’s culinary team, including James G. Rhoads III, Walter S. Zuromski tions, tastings and networking opportu-
chefs Joe Greco, Bryan Bidwell, Donovan and Michael Stamets, and apprentice nities for all participants. It’s important
Preston and Paul Karlson, prepared the judge Alain V. DeCoster. Judges critique that our staff are actively learning and
winning four-course meal: originality, taste and presentation, and testing new recipes that can eventually
Appetizer: poached flounder with they award or deduct points for timing, be incorporated into Skidmore’s menus.”
herb mousseline appetizer featuring a teamwork, utilization of food, skills, sani- Skidmore’s food service regularly
crispy buttermilk fried avocado, pine- tation and overall preparation. achieves high rankings nationally, in-
apple-napa slaw with toasted hazelnut This was the seventh annual con- cluding being named Best College Food
crunch in a citrus butter sauce ference and competition organized by in 2017— second only to the Culinary
Entrée: blood orange glazed Maple Skidmore’s Dining Services to provide Institute of America—by Niche.com. The
Leaf Farms duck breast with Yukon Gold ongoing staff development and keep rais- ranking is based on meal plan costs and
potato and braised duck thigh meat cro- ing the standards of culinary excellence Skidmore student reviews.
quette, sautéed broccoli rabe with wild on campus, and to highlight Skidmore’s

From 11 colleges and universities in the Northeast, 44 chefs
participated in a January ACF-sanctioned culinary competi-
tion at Skidmore College. All 11 teams won medals.

ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY MARCH/APRIL 2018 | 7