Asia-Pacific Sailors Join Prestigious Culinary Organization
By PACOM Public Affairs
HONOLULU - In a sunlit dining room usually reserved for the highest military officials, Alicia Boada, an American Culinary Federation (ACF) executive chef evaluator, sat with pen in hand waiting to be served.
A potential executive chef urgently walks through a door with a bowl and plate held in hand with samples of lobster, salmon, and other items placed with all the care and sensitivity that only a parent gives to a child.
With a sigh of relief and resignation, the chef carefully sets the platter and promptly leaves the room. All hopes placed in white porcelain, he knows the outcome is out of his hands.
With a slow measured pace, Alicia samples the chef’s best culinary efforts, lobster and salmon, lingering over every spoonful all while keeping a watchful eye on the two other evaluators.
“He nailed it!” she exclaimed with the clink of the spoon on the saucer. “That was beautiful! My bowl is empty!”
Her fellow evaluators smiled and nodded in agreement.
An ACF executive and sous chef certification event was hosted at U.S. Pacific Command, Camp Smith, Hawaii, May 22 – 24. Ten culinary specialist sailors exhausted their talents in pursuit of the esteemed certification in order to take their place among the elite in this culinary organization; a rite of passage in the world of chefs reserved only for the best.
Founded in 1929, the ACF is the largest professional chefs organization in North America and is known as “the authority in cooking in America” according to their website http://www.acfchefs.org/.
“Being at PACOM is very significant,” said Navy Master Chief Culinary Specialist Michael Carter, an ACF executive chef and evaluator. “This is a most prestigious environment and it shows how far we’ve come to recognize these sailors.”
Urs B. Emmenegger, also a certified ACF executive chef and evaluator who traveled from San Diego to provide his services to this event, explained the process and challenges of certification.
Evaluations are based on sanitation, preparation, time management, organization and the quality of the food presented, he said. Each individual must provide a three-course meal ready to be served in three hours using ingredients and food items not served on a daily basis.
“I don’t think I have met anyone who wasn’t nervous,” said Emmenegger. “Some are nervous to the point where they don’t sleep the night before, some don’t eat and some get so stressed that they get sick.”
All evaluators on site agreed that being a chef is more than just getting the ingredients and timing right.
“It takes a lot of guts to step forward and take the test,” said Boada. “We really make sure that the standards are high.”
“You have to have passion,” said Navy Culinary Specialist 1st Class Zachary Brown, a participant who sought certification. “The nervousness didn’t come out until I woke up… then all those butterflies came out.”
This article was originally published at: http://www.pacaf.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123303374/
-PACOM: (posted May 29, 2012)-