March 1, 2006
Culinary students present cuisines of the world
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Presenting cuisines of the world, students in the Great Lakes Culinary Institute wowed a sold-out crowd at the Hagerty Center Friday evening during the 12th Annual Taster's Guild Scholarship Auction.
Teams of first year chefs-in-training satisfied the gourmet tastes of the 450 attendees with dishes from Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the Mediterranean, the Cajun Creole region, India and Spain. A river of luscious desserts flowed over multiple tables in the main dining hall while a dozen regional wineries poured reds and whites to accompany the food.
The Northwestern Michigan College students culled recipes from books, picking what they thought would be most appreciated and passing by ones that seemed pedestrian or too exotic.
"There's a few things we didn't think the public would like," said Crystal Luce.
Luce, part of the Mediterranean team, spent the previous day cutting out enpanadas de plantano. She termed the whole process of choosing recipes, planning the table and creating the food a "real good learning experience."
The evening was not just about good food and sampling wine from a dozen area wineries. Live and silent auctions boosted the total raised to $26,400 for scholarships to Culinary Institute students, which will be granted during next year's event.
Friday night, 20 first-year students received $24,450 in scholarships, representing some of the money raised during 2005 Taster's Guild Scholarship Auction. The amounts of the grants ranged from $500 to $2,000, with 11 students receiving Taster's Guild scholarships. Nine other students received scholarships from individuals and organizations, such as Tapawingo, Chef Pierre and the National Cherry Festival.
"The scholar winners were certainly very deserving students," said Fred Laughlin, director of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.
Laughlin believes that the event is special because it is so student oriented. The evening was a team effort by all Great Lakes Culinary Institute enrollees. Second-year students, just months from graduation, helped out by pouring wine, bussing tables, supervising and mentoring.
"There probably isn't a better event that's more educational and the students have more ownership in," Laughlin said. "Everything that you saw there is from scratch, no one opening boxes; they were boning the meat and making all the pastry crust and prepping the fruit."
Darric Newman of Folgarelli's Market and Bill Borre of E&J Gallo launched the Taster's Guild Scholarship Auction in 1995. Having founded a chapter of the Taster's Guild organization in the region, one of only 55 chapters nationwide, their vision was to share and promote good food and wine while supporting the industry.
"Regarding the food part of it, that's really a big part of the focus of the event," Newman said. "Yes, we're looking to raise money and awareness of the school, but the quality of the food every year incrementally goes up."
Newman attributes this trend to the school's upward trend in quality, especially since its 2004 move to the new facility at the Hagerty Center. This in turn attracts top-notch students to the program, many of whom enter the region's talent pool after graduation.
"It is our industry, we fell it's important for our industry and for everybody that eats out," Newman said of the event.
As for the students beginning their culinary careers, they relished the chance to cater an event for hundreds while serving myriad dishes from a dozen cuisines. Earlier this semester, they signed up for the region they wanted to work on and teams began planning what to make and how to serve it.
Debbie Cikalo was drawn to the Cajun Creole style of cooking, which she termed a fun and pretty simple cuisine.
"There's a lot of fresh ingredients and it's all healthy, except the deep-fried crab cakes," she said. "But we had to do that so they would stay together."
Her team also offered jambalaya using half oyster shells as the plates, eliciting numerous comments from diners.
"You've gotta serve it in something cool," Cikalo added. "It's all about presentation."