High school students interested in the culinary field will test their skills in a pressure-cooker — a new “Iron Chef”-style contest at UW-Stout.
The Recipe for Excellence competition will be held Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Student Center. A total of 18 students, in teams of two, will cook from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in staggered starts. Awards are at 2 p.m.
The event is open to the public, with a spectator viewing area available.
Similar to the Food Network’s “Iron Chef” television cooking show, student chefs will have a set amount of time, 60 minutes, to prepare two identical pork entrees and side dishes on butane burners. One entrée will be for taste-testing by judges and one for display.
Along with taste, students’ efforts will be judged on menu design, cost analysis, safety and sanitation, presentation and fundamental cooking techniques.
Wisconsin high schools represented will be Amery, Bruce, Middleton, Neenah, Pewaukee, Green Bay Preble and St. Croix Falls.
First- through third-place students will win $500, $200 and $100 scholarships to UW-Stout. The judges will be faculty from UW-Stout’s hotel, restaurant and tourism management undergraduate program, part of the School of Hospitality Leadership.
The School of Hospitality Leadership and Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation are hosting the competition.
“We’re partnering in creating opportunities for high school students to showcase their culinary skills,” said Professor Brian Bergquist, interim chair of UW-Stout’s hospitality school. “This is also an excellent opportunity to recruit high school students who are already interested in culinary food service and hospitality as a possible career area.”
The event will serve as a warmup for a state competition, the ProStart Invitational March 12-14 in Milwaukee, part of the Wisconsin Restaurant Show. The state winner advances to the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation ProStart Invitational April 27-29 in Providence, R.I.
Bergquist has been a judge at the ProStart state and national competitions for the past 10 years and is a member of the WRA Education Foundation Board of Directors.
Event sponsors include ConAgra, Hormel, Phil McGuirk, the Froke family, Pepsi, Mercer Cutlery, Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation, WESTconsin Credit Union and the School of Hospitality Leadership.
The School of Hospitality Leadership, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, was ranked No. 8 in the world -- No. 6 in the U.S. -- for 2017 by CEOWorld magazine. The school also was named one of the best in the U.S. in the December issue of Hotel Management magazine.
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Professor Brian Bergquist of UW-Stout’s School of Hospitality Leadership instructs students in a culinary class.
