Young, college-bound aspiring chefs find inspiration at culinary exercise

Photo By Patrick Buffett | FORT LEE, Va. – Nottoway High School sophomores Mikayla Iron and Chalie Scott are captivated by the intricate details of a circus-scape molded from different types of chocolate by a military team entered in the 43rd Joint Culinary Training Exercise here. The 16-year-olds and their classmates visited the competition site March 14. As students of a nutrition and wellness course, the excursion was not only beneficial to their ongoing studies, but also served as inspiration for future career goals. Many other school groups and off-post community members visited the nine-day JCTE that concluded March 16. (U.S. Army photo by Jackie Pennoyer)  

FORT LEE, VA, UNITED STATES

03.19.2018

Courtesy Story

Fort Gregg-Adams

FORT LEE, Va. – The borders between the military community and central Virginia neighborhoods once again melted away last week when members of the Combined Arms Support Command here welcomed more than 400 local high school students to the Joint Culinary Training Exercise.

Filing in orderly groups through the large framed doors of MacLaughlin Fitness Center, the students represented over a dozen high schools from the Tri-Cities, Richmond and beyond, according to representatives from the Joint Culinary Center of Excellence and U.S. Army Quartermaster School.

Some, including students of Nottoway High School in Crewe, bussed for over an hour to watch the 43rd annual meet. JCTE is where rising-star military chefs face a series of cooking challenges under the watchful eye of professional, and occasionally world-renowned, American Culinary Federation judges. This year’s exercise showcased the talents of 232 military chefs from U.S. bases around the globe, as well as four international teams.

Leaders of the visiting student groups raved over the opportunity to tour the nine-day culinary showdown, saying it’s one way they can incorporate real-world, hands-on learning with basic principles discussed in nutrition and culinary arts textbooks.

“I want my students to (walk away from this with) fresh ideas for the classroom,” said Christian Warf, a chef and teacher at Dinwiddie High School who brought his Culinary I and II students to the event. “When we return to the classroom, I’ll be asking them ‘What did you see, what did you like?’ They all have to tell me something they intend to bring to the kitchen by the end of the year.”

Mikayla Iron and Chalie Scott, both Nottoway High School sophomores enrolled in an introductory nutrition and wellness course, said they gleaned the most inspiration from the live-cooking demonstrations where they sampled the military professionals’ creative twists on ordinary ingredients.

For many of the teenagers, the ability to experience the undiluted excitement of this culinary competition – a whirlpool of simultaneous, jaw-clenching intensity and unbridled exhilaration – and the opportunity to speak frankly with industry-trained service members comes at a time when nailing down future ambitions is increasingly important.

“I definitely want to become a chef someday,” said Jacob Cary, a junior at Dinwiddie High. “I haven’t even tasted anything yet because I’ve just been walking around talking to people from all around the world about cooking and food.”

Another student received everything short of a full-on team initiation, Warf pointed out, when the French and British competitors invited the individual – an aspiring pastry chef – behind the table to try one plate after another of their newest recipes.

“I think we’ve basically got a pastry chef now,” his teacher said. “He is thrilled. They came out and showed him all their desserts. He was like, ‘wow, that was really cool.’”

The annual culinary exercise, which attracts up to 4,000 guests each year, also featured booths on nutrition and military dietetics, a team from the French Pastry School in Chicago, representatives from the Defense Commissary Agency and a joint recruitment station for students to speak one-on-one with service members from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

“The (JCTE) is like the Olympics or NBA Championships for culinary arts,” said Staff Sgt. Adina Miller-Pitts, a culinary instructor at the JCCoE. “If you’re interested in food and cooking, this is a great place to learn.”

• Date Taken: 03.19.2018
• Date Posted: 03.19.2018 17:41
• Story ID: 269889
• Location: FORT LEE, VA, US