10th Mountain Division culinary specialists test their skills at Chef of the Quarter cookoff

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Dec. 11, 2023) -- Faced with a mystery basket of ingredients to cook with, eight culinary specialists from across the 10th Mountain Division (LI) felt the heat of competition during the Chef of the Quarter event Dec. 7 inside the Fort Drum Culinary Arts Center.

What chefs could do with a whole chicken, chocolate, an orange, a potato, and corn meal became an exercise in creativity and cooking fundamentals. Junior chefs had two hours to develop a two-course menu (appetizer and entrée) to serve to a judging panel of chefs from the Fort Drum Culinary Arts Team.

While the culinary specialists cooked, floor judges graded them on food handling and sanitation, cooking techniques, mise en place, use of ingredients and time management.

“Don’t overthink it – it’s just food,” Staff Sgt. David Wisbauer repeated whenever a chef seemed perplexed or overwhelmed. “Just make it taste good.”

Wisbauer, event organizer and Fort Drum Culinary Arts Team manager, said the ingredients weren’t exotic or difficult to cook with. The challenge for many culinary specialists, who are used to feeding the force rather than feeding a few, is working without recipes and relying entirely on their own food knowledge.

“One of the hardest ways to compete is with a mystery basket,” Wisbauer said, “And we do Chef of the Quarter that way because it is difficult, and we want to see what our Soldiers are capable of. I’m not expecting any of them to be ACF (American Culinary Federation) gold medalists, but I want to see if they can work clean and organized, if they can come up with an idea and then make it flavorful.”

Spc. Perfecto Esposito managed to wow the judging panel with a chocolate cream soup appetizer, using the chocolate, orange, and cornstarch from his mystery basket. Spc. Crystal Gordon, a member of the Fort Drum Culinary Arts Team, said she loved it.

“When someone can take two impossible ingredients, put it together and make something you never thought was possible – that was innovative,” she said. “Tasting the chocolate and the citrus together, I was not expecting that. It was really mind-blowing.”

Esposito, with 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, said he was much more relaxed in the kitchen than during the board appearance that preceded the cookoff.

“This keeps my confidence up,” he said. “It was my first time competing, but it was good. Time management was important while cooking. You have to think about what’s the first thing you need to cook, and how long can you cook a certain product and then what’s next.”

Two senior chefs competed with an entirely different mystery basket, which included pork loin, blackberries, canned peaches, and sweet potatoes, and they had three hours to cook a three-course menu.

Sgt. Donte Jackson, with 593rd Field Feeding Company, 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade, made peach-infused festivals for a dessert. The Jamaican-fried doughnut uses cornmeal to produce a crisp exterior.

“I like doing cookoffs because I can show different skills I have,” he said. “If you love cooking, this is a great experience.”

Sgt. Maj. John Huth, 10th Mountain Division (LI) chief culinary management sergeant major, said Chef of the Quarter is meant to encourage Soldiers to put their skills to the test and take pride in their abilities to cook in a challenging environment.

“We don’t want them to be discouraged after this,” he said. “You’re probably not going to win the first time out, but you can learn a lot.”

Relieved is how Spc. Marcia Lidell felt afterward, but also confident that she cooked better than when she competed last year.

“I just felt relieved to be finished, and happy with how everything turned out,” she said.

She had a moment of panic late in the cookoff when she forgot to incorporate the cornmeal into her menu. Lidell added it to into the rice she was boiling for stuffed peppers.

“Every time I cook, I learn more, especially about time management,” she said.

Lidell, with E Company, 41st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, said she isn’t one to seek out challenges such as this. It’s only afterward when she appreciates the opportunity given to her.

“Even if I’ve done something over and over, I still feel that way because people have expectations and I want to live up to them,” she said.

At the end of the day, Lidell earned the Junior Chef of the Quarter title. Jackson was named Senior Chef of the Quarter. Both Soldiers are eligible to compete for the overall Chef of the Year title in September 2024.

“It’s always good when Soldiers experience competition,” Wisbauer said. “We work hard in our dining facilities every day. Having a Chef of the Quarter competition gives them a chance to demonstrate their skills in a different way, and it gives us a chance to recognize them for a job well done.”