Le Cordon Bleu Schools launch student culinary competition

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 11, 2002 by Erika Friday

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- The inaugural Le Cordon Bleu Schools' North America Culinary Competition here last month was no mere flash in the pan.

Eighty-one Le Cordon Bleu students entered the competition by submitting their interpretation of a classical chicken fricassee recipe. Students from nine of the 10 U.S. schools participated; the California Culinary Academy, which just started offering the Le Cordon Bleu program earlier this year, will participate in 2003. From those recipes Le Cordon Bleu International executive chef Patrick Martin selected three students from each school to advance to the next round. Those semifinalists prepared their dishes before a panel of judges at their home schools. The first-place student from each school traveled to the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin for the competition's main event Oct. 7.

The crux of the four-hour competition was to display "the highest standard of excellence in food preparation and presentation," according to chef Kirk Bachmann, Le Cordon Bleu Schools' North America education director and one of the final-round judges. For that final round each student prepared carre de veau roti sur matignon, which is roasted rack of veal with aromatic vegetables, along with three garnishes: one based on braised, stuffed lettuce, one with phyllo dough and the third with potato. All contenders were given identical recipes to interpret as well as identical ingredient baskets and pantry ingredients.

The strict competition format allowed the judges to evaluate the students' ability to amalgamate "traditional technique with contemporary style," Bachmann said.

Ultimately, the students were judged on the range of facets involved in running a fine-dining kitchen. First, each student presented a written draft of his or her interpretation of the recipe along with a photo or sketch of the presentation. Second, each was required to submit a professionally designed menu format that detailed all methods and techniques. Third, every contender was judged upon his or her work in the kitchen and on the dish created. The judges' criteria included creativity, taste, technique, organization, punctuality, sanitation and waste.

Judging the Austin event were Andre Cointreau, president of Le Cordon Blen International; Kathy Shaw, marketing director, Le Cordon Bleu International; Harvey Giblin, president, Texas Culinary Academy; David Bull, executive chef, Driskill Grill; and chefs Martin and Bachmann.

Contest winners were Robert Covich from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, honorable mention; William Weister from Scottsdale Culinary Institute, bronze medal; and Degan Lynn from Western Culinary Institute, silver medal. The gold medal and winner of the Champion's Trophy was Martin Hintz from the Le Cordon Bleu program at Brown College in Mendota Heights, Minn.

Hintz, who said he "had no prior experience in the culinary field before attending Le Cordon Bleu," credited "all the insight and information that I received from my instructors at Brown College" for making his presentation stand out while it still met the traditional guidelines.

Hintz said he chose to coat his rack of veal with "a persille, a moist bread crumb and parsley coating with garlic, seasonings and melted butter," a technique that Bachmann said he sees as "a classical presentation and one of the more difficult choices. Martin's dish was perfectly roasted." Hintz seared and baked the veal to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, packed the breadcrumb coating on the outside of the rack and baked it for about 10 minutes more until it was golden brown. "I was the only one of all the competitors who used a bread-crumb coating; it made me stand out," Hintz said.

"Several other little details made [my presentation] stand out," he continued. For "my matignon, I took the time to turn my carrots, cutting them by hand into a football-shaped figure." For his phyllo garnish, Hintz said, "I was the only one that made packages out of my phyllo dough. I had my filling of shuiitake, onions and bechamel and wrapped it in a little 2-by-2 square of phyllo to make a package, garnished with a blanched leek, sliced thinly and used like a ribbon, tied in a bow on the package."

Hintz, 40, a former construction worker and gold miner, hopes to pursue a career as a chef on an offshore oil rig upon graduation. His award includes a 14-day symposium at the Le Cordon Bleu School at the Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute as well as a $1,000 stipend.

Bachmann said Le Cordon Bleu sees many benefits deriving from holding the annual contest, such as "encouraging new, innovative styles of presentation, bringing traditional styles to date and fostering the development of nutritionally and financially sound presentations."

Le Cordon Bleu next year is considering a pastry competition instead of a dinner menu type of competition.