Career Center students take cooking second
Toolbox
Published: November 28, 2009
BRATTLEBORO — A group of students from Windham Regional Career Center placed second in New England Culinary Institute's Vermont Culinary Classic competition.
Green Mountain Technical and Career Center of Hyde Park won the two-year-old contest again this year.
The competition was held recently among 100 high school culinary program students from around Vermont, representatives of NECI said Friday.
Student chefs had 90 minutes to create three dishes: minestrone soup, sautéed statler chicken breast with rice pilaf, green beans with NECI's beurre blanc and season crepes, NECI said.
Second place finishers from Windham Regional Career Center were: Brittany Cox, Erica Fisher and Michael Velazquez.
Representatives of Randolph Technical Career Center took the third place prize and included Jon Poland, Elizabeth Clark and Alicia Hrubovcak.
The students were rated by NECI chefs on the general cooking skills of safety, sanitation, production efficiency, use of equipment, personal hygiene and grooming.
They were also evaluated on degree of difficulty and creativity, cooking technique and doneness, texture, flavor and salability.
Students from Green Mountain's team included Josh Norton, Spencer Eley and Travis Stearns, who were coached by Doug Becker, chief instructor.
Founded in 1980, New England Culinary Institute, (www.neci.educ), of Montpelier is widely recognized for its innovative style of teaching in small classes, hands-on learning and personal attention.
Known for its fine dining and catering, the school operates diverse food service outlets serving the public daily. Graduates are often sought after around the world for their level of skill, NECI representatives said.
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