Culinary smorgasbord

Photo By 1st Lt. Anna Doo | Sgt. 1st Class Matt Hogsett, center, introduces the foods he and his team created during the first International Cook Off competition on Camp Bondsteel. Visiting magicians turned judges for the event, Joel Ward, left, and George Sateriale, right, sample the homemade barbecue, vegetables, southern style sweet ice tea and dessert of apple crisp with ice cream.  

CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO

09.05.2011

Story by Staff Sgt. Anna Doo 

200th Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - The first International Cook Off provided a feast for the eyes and the taste buds. While celebrating Labor Day here on Camp Bondsteel, eight teams entered to vie for the top award Sept. 5.

Teams were judged based on culinary creations cooked over barbecue pits, open flames, in traditional cookware, and fried in pans over outdoor burners. Six categories were scored by six judges and included appearance, aroma, flavor, texture, food temperature and uniqueness.

The teams were as varied as the spices used to add kick and pizzazz to the culturally diverse cuisine and embody the international flavor of Multinational Battle Group East. Teams representing Croatia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and three teams from U.S. soldiers and civilians slaved over hot fires for hours in preparation of foods from their homelands. The teamwork displayed by each of the groups made the workload well dispersed.

“It took all five team member’s hard work and a couple extra last minute volunteers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Matt Hogsett, team leader for the U.S. Aviation crew. “As a team, we all have a special position and know what we need to do when the time comes. We all have a love for cooking and enjoy made-from-scratch meals.”

The competition began mid-afternoon and ended when the judges sampled the fare created by each nation. A gastronome’s paradise, the foods offered were worlds apart but shared some staple elements.

Each nation prepared at least one meat dish and one vegetable dish. Even these, by virtue of cooking methods and seasoning infused into the types of meats, represented diversity in taste.

Nearly every team roasted peppers, but one team then breaded and fried them into crispy strips, and another used them as garnish beneath a plate of grilled liver with sesame seeds topped by a fresh fig.

Some foods were spicy hot due to regional peppers used in just enough quantity to add flavor without taking away from the pleasure of eating.

Other foods were sweeter and touted as desserts such as polenta stuffed with plums and cheese and grilled to a crisper outside. Or the dessert created by the grand champions of the competition, Hogsett’s Aviation team managed to cook a platter of homemade apple crisp on the grill.

“We made smoked and barbecued beef brisket, with a secret homemade barbecue sauce, homemade cole slaw, southern style wax green beans, buttered potatoes with cabbage and parsley, southern style sweet tea with a lemon slice and homemade apple crisp with vanilla ice cream,” said Hogsett. “Everything we prepared was cooked on the grill and served like a Sunday dinner.”

Soldiers perusing each nation’s booth enjoyed beautiful visual presentations of the food prepared that day. After the judges were able to sample enough of the fare to fairly review, anyone who happened to be lured by the aromas were able to taste the treats. Polish grilled, stuffed peppers alongside potatoes with an herb sauce plated with meats seasoned with a secret blend; Greek sausages and grilled feta cheese; Slovenian tomato and onion salad in pumpkin seedoil with spicy peppers and grilled meats; Croatian stew that had simmered in a cook pot all afternoon; and honeyed ribs grilled by one of the U.S. civilian teams are just a sampling of the multitude of flavors offered. The Romanians grilled skewers of shrimp with sesame seeds and fruit, roasted zucchini and made a soup of it, as well as a spread of roasted eggplant and berries. The Liaison Monitoring Team from New Mexico made fajitas on a traditional disco and served them with Spanish rice and beans along with fried green chile strips.

Everyone enjoyed the culinary delights including the judges. Greek Maj. Mylosis Konstantinos, U.S. Capt. Todd Kontny and Della Hodges with Area Support Team Balkans made up half the judge pool. The other half was comprised of three visiting magicians who performed their feats of comic magic later that evening. Chris Mitchell, Joel Ward and George Sateriale arrived at Camp Bondsteel to entertain the troops with a magic show, and were given the opportunity to sample the multinational make-up of the Kosovo Forces 14 mission.

Appetites for culinary delights satiated, participants, judges and passers-by slowly made their way to the magic show after enjoying an afternoon of flavors sure to be reminisced about for months to come. Renee Favors, morale welfare and recreation aficionado, said the event was a great success and hoped there will be many more like it in the future.

• Date Taken: 09.05.2011
• Date Posted: 09.26.2011 07:31
• Story ID: 77590
• Location: CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ