Services chefs battle for title

  • Published
  • By Jamie Haig
  • 16th SOW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Four 16th Service Squadron chefs competed in the Chef of the Quarter cook-off July 21 in the Reef dining facility.

The contest has been reborn after a two year hiatus, thanks to Staff Sgts. Jean Coleus and Eric Brown, 16th SVS.

"We did this as an incentive for the chefs," said Sergeant Coleus. "We wanted to show our appreciation because they do a good job and always put pride into their work.

The chefs for the competition were chosen by their peers in a vote. The Reef was given two slots due to the volume of food that is produced by that facility.

Two chefs, Senior Airman James Vest and Airman 1st Class Louis Velencia work at the Reef full-time. Senior Airman Vanessa Williams was the chef of choice from the Riptide dining facility and Senior Airman Thomas Claybrooks represented the Oasis.

The Airmen had one hour to prepare a plate, which included the entrée, starch and vegetable. Judging was done by other 16th SVS members and based on presentation, taste, texture and creativity.

Since the three dining facilities are different from each other, it proved to be a challenge to at least one Airman.

"I work in the flight kitchen," said Airman Claybrooks. "I've not had to cook a meal in forever."

Ranging in cooking skills from six months to five years, the chefs took their places in the kitchen and went to work.

Airman Vest prepared chicken parmesan with French peas and sautéed Boston salad. Airman Williams made fried catfish with a cauliflower-broccoli combination and rice pilaf. . Airman Claybrooks' dish-of-choice was pork chops, peas and mashed potatoes. Airman Velencia grilled up steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

"I'm better at steaks so my choice was built around that," said Airman Velencia.

On a usual day, the facilities recipes are generated by a computer. They enter in the meal choice and how many people will be served (up to 1,000) and the computer produces a recipe. Since each of the kitchens produce 40 to 700 meals a day, making just one meal was a challenge.

"I'm not used to cooking small meals," said Airman Vest. "And with only one frying pan, we all had to share."

Each meal was presented by Sergeant Coleus and the judges tasted small portions of each meal. The four chefs waited out the judging in the cooler area of the Reef, talking to each other about the competition.

"I was a little nervous," said Airman Williams. "But broccoli is my favorite, so I went with that."

"It was good seeing my level of cooking compared to the others," said Airman Velencia. "I would do this again."

"My choice was based on side dishes we don't ever serve here," said Airman Vest. "I wanted to try something new."

"Next time, I'm serving a box lunch," said Airman Claybrooks to his laughing counterparts. "I only make sandwiches, this was tough."

When the judges finished eating, the score sheets were tallied and the winner announced.

"The food service area is one of the toughest areas in services," said Colonel Hansen. "You have to please a lot of people a lot of the time and that's not easy to do.

Senior Airman Vanessa Williams from the Riptide dining facility took top honors this quarter. Airman Williams will receive an engraved pen set with the 16th SVS coin imbedded into the case and her photograph on the walls of each of the dining facilities.

The skillets will heat up again next quarter to determine the next Chef of the Quarter.