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Press ReleaseYoung St. Louis Cooks Rank Fourth in World Overall at "culinary Olympics"Culinary Youth Team USA Brings Home a Gold Medal and a Silver Medal St. Augustine, Fla., October 23, 2008 - American Culinary Federation (ACF) Culinary Youth Team USA finished with an overall ranking of fourth in the world at the Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) International Culinary Art Competition, or "culinary Olympics," Thursday, Oct. 23, in Erfurt, Germany. "The youth team was exceptionally well-trained and well-coached," said ACF National President John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC, from Erfurt, Germany. "They looked professional and acted with a high degree of professionalism throughout the competition, and they worked very hard." The team earned a gold medal in cold food, Oct. 20, and a silver medal in hot food, Oct. 22, against 20 international teams. Germany placed first overall, Switzerland placed second and Sweden placed third. The team competed on two separate days. During the cold-food competition, Oct. 20, they prepared show platters, four different kinds, prepared cold, displayed cold; show platters, four different kinds, prepared hot, displayed cold; one cold display platter for eight; and six different hors d'oeuvres. Judges evaluated presentation/innovation, composition, correct professional preparation, and arrangement/serving. On their second day of competition, Oct. 22, the team competed in two categories: hot kitchen and culinary studio. In the hot kitchen, the team prepared 110 dishes of rib-eye steak two ways. Later that day in the culinary studio, team members showcased their culinary skill as designated members prepared a duck course and dessert in 30 minutes. Teams were evaluated on mise en place and cleanliness preparation, correct professional preparation of food, arrangement and presentation/innovation, and taste. The team's culinary studio menu featuring duck included: Oriental-style duck crêpe with carrot-ginger vinaigrette; duck consommé with roasted-garlic royale and profiteroles; proscuitto-wrapped duck breast with seared foie gras, stewed apples, parsnip silk, buttered vegetables and a port-laced duck sauce; potato and onion casserole; white-chocolate panna cotta with pear jelly, cranberry foam, spiced cake, pear sorbet and warm-prune compote. "We are proud of what the team accomplished in Germany," said Steve Jilleba, CMC, CCE, AAC, the team's head coach. "We are very happy with the outcome of the restaurant kitchen-their timing was good, they were really moving, and they executed the meal they trained to produce to perfection." ACF Culinary Youth Team USA members are:
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. In 2004, ACF Culinary National Team USA was named world champions in hot-food cooking. 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 # # # High resolution photos are available upon request. To schedule an interview with the team when they return from Germany, please contact ACF. To view photos from the competition, visit www.flickr.com/photos/acfchefs/collections/72157608232724746. Contact: Patricia Carroll Leah Spellman |
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