Student Competition Review
By: Chris McAdams
Thursday, March 29th marked the end of the 2018 Research Chefs Association Conference held in beautiful Savannah, GA.
While we hate to say goodbye, it marked the end of another wonderful week of learning and interacting with our peers. A chance to come together and strengthen the bond the makes our community so strong and unique. And, perhaps most importantly, a chance to see the Culinology students, who represent the future of this great industry, in action.
This years Student Competition required the participants develop a frozen retail, single serving, microwaveable meal based on the cuisine of Southern Georgia in a “Mom and Pop” style. While this was a difficult task, our student competitors came at it with thoughtful execution, creativity, and unbridled enthusiasm.
Here’s how it worked out:
______________________________________________________________________________
1st Place // Flipp’in Biscuits
Southwest Minnesota State University
Team: Peachy Keen
• Megan Forster
• Dean Zinda
• Clarissa Geisel
• Alexandra Froman
• Dr. Xiao Zhenlei (Advisor)
_______________________________________________________________________________
2nd Place // Shrimp Frits ‘n’ Grits
Southwest Minnesota State University
Team: Original Georgia
• Madison Merritt
• Keaton Crowley
• Jose Pedroza
• Gabrielle Tellijohn
• Dr. Xiao Zhenlei (Advisor)
_______________________________________________________________________________
3rd Place // Georgia-style Pork & Grits
University of Minnesota
Team: Food Science & Nutrition Club
• Carmen Owen-Block
• Sophie Held
• Daniel Vlodaver
• Ellie Lu
• Dr. Tonya Schoenfuss (Advisor)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Finalist // Artillery Punch Chicken & Three
University of Guelph, Canada
Team: Gryphons
• Alison Marczenko
• Chloe van Acker
• Colin Jones
• Rachel White
• Dr. Lisa Duizer (Advisor)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Finalist // Chicken Pot Pie
Dominican University
Team: Georgia Wild
• Morganne Schmidt
• Joseph Oh
• Raitwain Couch
• Caren Messina-Hirsch (Advisor)
_______________________________________________________________________________
On behalf of the entire RCA we would like to congratulate all the participants. The level of ingenuity and complexity in these dishes was impressive and the execution was truly great.
To learn more about the Student Competitions, follow this link. For photographs check out the Flickr album, or search #RCAScholars or #RCA2018 on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
The Culinologist 