Culinary arts students participate in competitions to enhance their ability to work under pressure and to expose them to the challenges they will face in the real world of culinary arts.
Many types of competitions make their way into the lives of students; some compete to create the best meal using surprise ingredients while others, like those in the story below, get to show off their candy making and baking skills with desserts fit for a king.
Culinary judges in Mannington Township were treated to chocolate creations at a competition recently:
(New Jersey Online) MANNINGTON TWP. — One of the tastiest competitions of the year took place here Thursday, as more than 60 rich, chocolate desserts were displayed for judging at the Salem County Career and Technical High School during the annual Chocolate Competition.
A group of about 20 judges from the community were charged with the daunting task of sampling the culinary students’ 63 desserts, which were temptingly named things like “Broken Hearts of Chocolate,” “Six Sides of Paradise,” and “Chocolate Knockout.”
“This is a competition for all of our culinary students,” said Pastry Arts Instructor Roland Carter at the vo-tech. “It gives the students experience in organizing and working under pressure, and it also allows them to express themselves creatively.”
Armed with forks, napkins and a bottle of water, judges went through and sampled each of the desserts, awarding points for technique and skills used, taste, and overall presentation.
“I’m looking for flavor and presentation, and smoothness of the chocolate,” said Salem Community College President Joan Baillie, who was one of this year’s judges. “I prefer a very smooth textured chocolate over something more granular.”
Mike Bomba, a chef at the Salem City Cafe, also helped judge the annual competition.
“The number one thing I look at is presentation… read more.
More Culinary Arts School News:
Tiverton Administrative Assistants Dine on Students’ Worldly Menu
N.J. culinary arts students compete for bragging rights
