A team of four SMSU students qualified to compete in the Student Culinology Competition at the Research Chefs Association’s Annual Conference and Culinology Expo. The event takes place March 11-14 in Portland, Oregon.
The team consists of Eric Iserman, Katie Langel, Alissa Partain, and team captain Erin Badzinski. The group is overseen by Dr. Michael Cheng, Director of Culinology and Hospitality Management.
“We are all very excited that we advanced to the finals,” said Badzinski. “Taking part in the competitions has been the best hands on learning experiences that I have taken away from my college career.”
“Not only is it a great experience to compete, but also a great opportunity to network and learn more about the industry,” said Langel, who is competing for the first time.
To qualify, teams had to complete a detailed written proposal of their plan. Out of the teams from other universities that submitted, just six made it to the finals. Competing teams include Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island, Kansas State University, University of Minnesota, University of Guelph, Canada and Taylor’s University, Malaysia, SMSU’s sister school.
“The day that we found out we were going to Portland was like waking up on Christmas morning,” said Badzinski.
At the competition, the teams must show their ability to create a fresh product that matches a previously made frozen product. The students make the frozen product themselves ahead of time and bring it along.
Their product must reflect cuisine of the Pacific Northwest and feature a sodium reduction technology. An expert panel of five will judge their presentation. Teams have an hour and a half to prepare their dish.
The team will be making pufflings, inspired by Polish cuisine.
“Through research and testing, [we] determined processing methods that would allow us to make the same recipe available as an extended shelf life frozen item,” said Iserman. “Polish cuisine is under-represented as a whole. We feel confident that our concept is the most unique amongst the six finalist teams.”
To prepare, the team practices three days a week, five to six hours per meeting. In addition, they meet with Dr. Cheng once a week. This is all to ensure their planning, formulas, and techniques are to perfection.
“We put in so much time and effort to prepare for the competition,” said Partain. “We spent all of last semester just doing the research and development of our concept, not even knowing if we would make it to the actual competition or not.”
SMSU is not new to this competition. Last year’s team received first place for their dish “Chick’n Waffles.” The team this year uses that as a learning experience.
“Having competed last year, I took that experience to help my team be better organized and operate smoothly,” said team captain Badzinski. “Everything has been a huge group effort and I couldn’t had asked for a better team.”
“They have been practicing very hard, and I think the team is dedicated and ready to compete,” said Dr. Cheng. “Their qualification is a testament to the continued high quality and relevance of the Culinology curriculum in the industry.”
