U.S. Army Student Chef of the Year is a Sky Soldier

Photo By Spc. Josselyn Fuentes | Specialist Ross, who earned three medals stand next to Special Pended, who won U.S. Armed Forces Chef of the Year.  

VA, UNITED STATES

04.03.2018

Story by Pfc. Josselyn Fuentes 

173rd Airborne Brigade

The 43rd annual Joint Culinary Training Exercise (JTCE) held at Fort Lee, Virginia crowned a Sky Soldier as the Armed Forces Chef Of The Year. The JTCE is an American Culinary Federation (ACF) sanctioned competitive training event which expands operational readiness and showcases military culinarians across the U.S. Armed forces and international partners This event is held with over 250 military chefs from across the world, including teams from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Canada.

In order to participate in this competition a Soldier has to make it through tryouts. Tryouts for the team from Europe took place in Germany. The chefs were provided with a mystery basket filled with many different ingredients from which each participant had to make a main dish and a dessert. Specialist Naomii Ross and Specialist Naya Pender were the two Sky Soldier chefs who represented the 173rd Airborne Brigade in this competition. Once a Soldier completed the tryout phase they moved on to the two month train-up. Following this, they were then sent to Fort Lee, VA. where the competition started March 10th and ended on the 15th.

At this international competition there were many events that took place to include: nutrition, Mobile Kitchen Trailer (MKT), and cold table. “Going into the competition I was nervous but confident. It was my first time so I didn’t think I was going to do as well as I did. Although after I was awarded three medals my confidence level went up,” stated Ross. Ross received a gold medal in the MKT event, which consisted of a team of five Soldiers preparing a meal in the mobile kitchen. She also earned a silver medal in nutrition. This event consisted of a two Soldier team cooking a three course meal: the main dish, a salad and dessert. The prepared meal had nutrition and calories requirements. Lastly, Ross earned a bronze medal on cold table which consisted of making three different cold appetizer plates.

Pender participated in the Student Chef Of The Year competition which consisted of two phases. Going into the competition Pender said, “I was told what it took to get gold. It was up to me to work for it.” Phase one consisted of a team of five whom displayed skills of butchery, classical cuts, and cooking skills. Phase two consisted of cooking and presenting a four course menu. For her demonstrated skills and cooking talents, she earned the title of Junior Chef Of The Year. “At first it was overwhelming, but I was just grateful for the opportunity,” said Pender after realizing that she had won. She scored a 94 out of 100 on her presentation. This lead to her being asked to join the U.S. Army Culinary Arts Team (USACAT). "The U.S. National Military Culinary Team, which is part of Team USA, sanctioned by the ACF. USACAT competes at local, national, and international culinary competitions, as well as provides training and conducts demonstrations all over the country" (Quartermaster.army.mil)

For those of you who are looking for some great food prepared by a now Internationally renowned chef, you no longer need to travel to Milan or Paris. This fine dining is as close as our 173rd Airborne Brigade dining facility. The lucky Paratroopers who dine at Caserma Del Din and Grafenwoehr are feasting on award winning meals, courtesy of the Armed Forces Gold Medal Chef and Chef of the Year. Bon Apetit’.

• Date Taken: 04.03.2018
• Date Posted: 04.03.2018 11:31
• Story ID: 271625
• Location: VA, US