Culinary skills put to the test during mobile kitchen event

Photo By Terrance Bell | Staff Sgt. Darmel Carrasquillo, Team Hawaii, helps to serve customers during the Military Hot Food Kitchen Challenge of the Joint Culinary Training Exercise March 12. The MHFKC is an event that closely mimics feeding troops in a field environment.  

UNITED STATES

03.15.2019

Story by Terrance Bell  

Fort Gregg-Adams

FORT LEE, Va. (March 15, 2019) --The annual Joint Culinary Training Exercise here is a military food service showcase, testing ground and professional development event bundled into a delectable week of action-packed events.

There is one competitive category in particular that exemplifies what the JCTE is all about … the Military Hot Food Kitchen Challenge.

All teams stepped up to the MHFKC plate March 11-14 at Fort Lee’s MacLaughlin Fitness Center. With each iteration, a five-person group planned and prepared 50 servings of a four-course meal from scratch over the course of four hours in an area the size of a Mobile Kitchen Trailer. It is the only category requiring teams to produce meals for actual diners, who are paying members of the public.

“This event is awesome,” remarked Staff Sgt. Jonathan Pimentel, a member of the Fort Bragg, N.C., culinary team that took its turn at the challenge March 12. The benefit for his team members, he observed, was the requirement to mentally work through obstacles in an environment that’s far from routine.

“It’s a good opportunity for the Soldiers because they got a chance to cook in a fine dining atmosphere,” he added.

The hitch of the MKT challenge is putting together a meal with equipment that’s not conducive to elaborate food prep. Essentially a dining facility on wheels, an MKT is designed to feed troops in field environments – up to 300 at a time. It comes with two burners, two ranges and small counters fitted in an area of roughly 20-by-11 feet.

The observations of Pimentel’s teammate, Sgt. Edgar DeJesus, punctuated how difficult it was to cook upscale meals under conditions not purposed for such. “It was hard without a doubt,” he confirmed. “We had a lot of problems with oven temperatures, but we pulled it together and made fancy foods here.”

In a typical field environment, meals served off MKTs are far from “fancy.” They require only heating or boiling and not the hours needed to build the flavors of competition-worthy soups, salads, meat dishes, sides, sauces and desserts – all requirements for the MHFKC.

Fort Bragg’s Spc. Naomi Ross said the simulated setup at the JCTE felt “roomier than a real MKT,” and weather, of course, was not a factor for the indoor event.

Comparisons aside, Sgt. Ariana Elliott from the Fort Bragg team said training and feedback from competition judges were her big payouts of the day. The event, she noted, allowed the participating culinary specialists to demonstrate their skills in ways they do not always get the opportunity to – whether in field environments or in DFACs.

“I’ve done (this event) a couple of times now, and I can really feel myself getting into this rhythm,” she said, “so when I do go back to work, more people will be influenced by me and want to be a part of this as well.”

In the end, Elliot observed, it is all about improving food service and the MHFKC is a means to that end.

“This shows we can put out quality food as opposed to serving something bland and routine, and we can get the job done even when conditions aren’t ideal,” she said. “If we incorporate more of this at the DFACs, more people will eat there and more culinary specialists will become more adept at their jobs, which will benefit our career field and the industry if they head out into the world.”

• Date Taken: 03.15.2019
• Date Posted: 03.15.2019 18:13
• Story ID: 314511
• Location: US