Press Release

ACF Culinary Regional Team USA Wins Gold Medal at "culinary Olympics"

St. Augustine, Fla., October 22, 2008 - American Culinary Federation (ACF) Culinary Regional Team USA earned a gold medal in cold food at the Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) International Culinary Art Competition, or "culinary Olympics," Wednesday, Oct. 22, in Erfurt, Germany.

The regional competitions consisted of the following three categories. Category A - Culinary Art, which included two show platters, displayed cold; one festive, cold display platter for eight and six different hors d'oeuvres; Category B - Culinary Art, which included one vegetarian platter as a main course for four, displayed cold; one, three-course menu with hors d'oeuvre, main course and dessert, prepared hot, displayed cold, and four different main courses, prepared hot, displayed cold; and Category C - Pâtisserie, which included one showpiece, one platter and four different exclusive desserts.

Now, all 23 international regional teams wait as the judges tally points. The winner of the 2008 IKA Cup and trophy will be announced at the final awards ceremony, Thursday, Oct. 23.

Today's ACF Culinary Regional Team USA gold-medal win is in addition to AAC Culinary Regional Team USA's gold-medal win in cold food, Monday, Oct. 22.

"We absolutely jumped 10 feet into the air when they called our team," Jill Bosich, CEC, CCE, AAC, team manager of AAC Culinary Regional Team USA, said, recalling Monday's competition. "They were still announcing silver medals when they said our team name, paused, and then said, 'gold medal!' I had my head in my hands when I heard the name come up, and when they said 'gold,' we all jumped up and screamed. We seriously didn't hear them call any other names after that, we were just way too in the moment. It was awesome, and it was my best olympic experience ever."

To view ACF Culinary Regional Team USA and AAC Culinary Regional Team USA members' bios, visit www.acfchefs.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/Partnerships/Team/Regional/default.htm.

America;s history at IKA
The U.S. team's history at IKA is long and distinguished. When Americans began competing as an official team in 1956 they were clearly the underdogs. However, American cookery soon established itself as world-class cuisine. The 1960 team captured the first world championship honor for the United States, and ACF Culinary Team USA repeated the distinction in 1980, 1984 and 1988 by taking the prestigious hot-food competition all three times and establishing a new world record for the most consecutive gold-medal wins.

At the last IKA in 2004, where more than 1,200 participants from 40 nations competed, ACF Culinary National Team USA took home a gold medal in hot-food cooking, and reestablished the U.S. as the leader in international cooking. The overall champion of the "culinary Olympics" will be announced Thursday, Oct. 23. Find out how American cuisine fares against the world.

About ACF Culinary Team USA
ACF Culinary Team USA is the official representative team of the United States in major national and international culinary competitions. It comprises one national team of six members, two regional teams with five members each, and a youth team of five members less than 23 years old. Sponsors of ACF Culinary Team USA are Kraft Foodservice, Tyson Food Service, Uncle Ben's, Unilever, Club Managers Association of America, KitchenAid, Chef Revival, Fortessa, The Beef Checkoff, Friedr. Dick, Westchester Country Club and Blodgett. Visit www.acfchefs.org to learn more about the team.

About the American Culinary Federation
The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 21,500 members spanning 230 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org.

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High-resolution photos are available upon request. To schedule an interview with one of the teams when they return from Germany, please contact ACF.

Contact: Patricia Carroll
Communications Director
(800) 624-9458, ext. 147
pcarroll@acfchefs.net

Leah Spellman
Public Relations Specialist
(800) 624-9458, ext. 113
lspellman@acfchefs.net

• ACF Culinary Regional Team USA Wins Gold Medal at "culinary Olympics"