Culinary Art: Dining facilities make Thanksgiving memorable

By Karen A. Iwamoto, Hawaii Army Weekly, U.S. Army Garrison, HawaiiDecember 30, 2014

Culinary Art: Dining facilities make Thanksgiving memorable
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Culinary Art: Dining facilities make Thanksgiving memorable
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Culinary Art: Dining facilities make Thanksgiving memorable
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- Spc. Avelino Arizapo is seated in the kitchen of the Bronco Cafe Dining Facilities Administrative Center, or commonly know as DFAC; carefully molding a piece of tallow into the shape of a miniature bucking Bronco.

He's already finished sculpting a miniature double-hulled canoe out of tallow; the Bronco is the finishing touch.

Seated near Arizapo is Spc. Yuanhua Zhang, who is carving orange wedges. The canoe will serve as a tray for various carved fruits.

Arizapo and Zhang, both culinary specialists from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, are prepping for Thanksgiving at the Bronco Cafe DFAC. It's the Monday before the holiday, but they, like others in the Army's Food Service Branch, have been hard at work since the weekend (actually, for several months, if you count the time spent to acquire some of the necessary equipment and to do all of the planning and coordination).

Other Soldiers who are culinary specialists are doing the same at the K Quad DFAC managed by the 8th Transportation Sustainment Command, the Warrior Inn DFAC managed by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and the Wings of Lightning DFAC managed by the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.

-- Holiday Food on a Large Scale

Thanksgiving is a significant event for all of the DFACs because of the scale of production (approximately 1,700 pounds of turkey, 420 pounds of shrimp and 810 pounds of ham, among other items) and because it allows their staffs to showcase their culinary skills beyond the typical day-?to?-day fulfillment of mass?produced meals.

The Thanksgiving meal preparations are also special because the DFACs are serving Soldiers, families, Department of Defense and Department of Army civilians who may be away from home or separated from their friends and relatives during this quintessentially family?oriented holiday.

"It gives them some place they can come and have a family meal," said Master Sgt. Robin Propes of the 8th Sustainment Command, while rolling out dough for sugar cookies in the kitchen of the K Quad DFAC. "It's a home away from home where they can eat food like they might have at their parents' house."

For this Thanksgiving, the emphasis seems to be on preparing more meals from scratch and incorporating higher?end culinary techniques instead of relying on ready?made and pre?fabricated foods.

Culinary specialists at the DFAC relied on training from the Logistics Readiness Center

Culinary Lab and mentoring from non?commissioned officers who shared their culinary experience, to execute some of the more elevated elements of the cuisine.

Staff Sgt. Sheryl Stewart of the 6?47 Air Force Support Squadron is a certified chef and a member of the U.S. Army Joint Culinary Arts Team Hawaii. She worked with some of the Soldiers at the LRC Lab to help them elevate not just their cooking technique, but their presentation.

"Because everybody eats with their eyes first," she explained.

Pfc. Keaundra Stewart of the 2nd SBT, pauses between talking to colleagues in the Warrior Inn DFAC and making adjustments to her Thanksgiving cake to describe her experience at the LRC Lab. "I learned a lot there," she said. "I didn't know how to make stocks and gravies from scratch. That was really cool to learn."

The Soldiers also incorporated ice carvings into their Thanksgiving preparations. While ice carvings are often used for decorative purposes, they also serve as an elegant way to present or cold food, such as ice creams, fruit, sorbet or beverages.

To add to the fun of the festivities, the DFACs took part in some friendly competition. Each DFAC chose a Thanksgiving theme upon which to base its decorations and agreed to have their decorations and food judged by the Army's Food Services Branch, which is part of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, 404th Army Field Support Brigade, Logistics Readiness Center, Hawaii Supply & Services Division.

Themes included Thanksgiving Harvest and Hollywood Thanksgiving (Warrior Inn DFAC), Thanksgiving Carnival (K Quad DFAC), Thanksgiving Luau (Bronco Cafe DFAC) and Graceful Thanksgiving (Wings of Lightning DFAC).

Related Links:

U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii