FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Jan. 31, 2024) -- “Brain is delicious.”
That statement by Pfc. Evan Merwin might seem odd in the wrong context, but inside the Fort Drum Culinary Arts Center it makes perfect sense.
The conversation among team members went from cooking animal brain in a soup or stew to the most edible insects they’ve ever eaten, before veering into a short discourse on the location of kidneys in a rabbit.
That last tidbit came from the team captain, Staff Sgt. David Wisbauer, who said that chefs often ease the “pressure cooker” atmosphere of competitive cooking with entertaining banter.
“Any time we have a fun conversation like that, it’s actually creating camaraderie in our team,” he said. “We spend a lot of time getting to know each other, because when you can laugh and enjoy the person you are working with, it becomes easier to deal with stressful situations. It might be hard to believe, but those weird bug-eating conversations are team building.”
Merwin, the resident hunter on the team, rattled off his Top Ten favorite proteins to cook with. It begins with bear and deer, and then possum, raccoon, and duck also made it on his list.
“I’ve cooked every game I hunted, everywhere in the United States,” he said. “I want to hunt overseas, bison and water buffaloes.”
He recently made himself a meal in the barracks from coyote meat he kept in the freezer.
“I blanched it with buttermilk and soaked it for two good hours to get some of the gamey taste out of it,” he said. “Then I used duck that I bought from the Asian market to make a roulade, and then I used the outdoor grill to cook it for me and my roommate.”
Like most Army teams, this one has Soldiers hailing from across the U.S. and beyond. They talk about their home states and countries, language barriers, and cultural differences. Wisbauer said chefs are enthusiastic when talking about where they’re from – especially when it involves food.
Spc. Diego Rios, from Big Spring, Texas, loves eating authentic Tex-Mex, but he also likes cooking Asian cuisine. Pvt. Kaled Villatoro, from Paramount, California, said his favorite dish is a Honduran burrito called a bealeadas.
Before enlisting in the Army in 2022, Spc. Crystal Gordon took a culinary course at her school in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and she loves cooking dishes from home. Likewise, Spc. Ruby Bach, from Dong Nai, Vietnam, enjoys cooking traditional family meals from her country, like Pho.
As the captain of the Student Chef Team, Bach said communicating with her teammates can be difficult sometimes since English is her second language. She said trust and motivation are key factors to building a good team.
“It is very important because we have to discuss who does this and who does that, and we divide up all the jobs we have to do,” she said. “But we work well together, and we know each other, so if someone need help, we are able to jump in and get the job done.”
Villatoro said when he joined the team, he only knew one other Soldier from his brigade.
“I didn’t know these Soldiers, but over time we learned each other’s strengths and flaws,” he said.
There’s another form of communication that is important among chefs.
“We had to learn to say what we are doing in the kitchen for safety reasons,” Villatoro said. “If I’m walking behind someone, I say ‘Behind’ so they don’t back into you.”
Loud and clear, culinary specialists will call out, “Hot pan,” when moving among team members, or “Flambe” if there is a controlled fire on the stove. When instructions are given, the rest of the team is quick to respond, “Yes, chef” or “Heard.”
“It was weird at first, but it makes sense,” Villatoro said. “Now it’s just the way we communicate all the time.”
In addition to working with shared communication, the culinary specialists all share a unifying purpose – creating American Culinary Federation medal-worthy food. And that motivates the team as they continue training for the 48th Joint Culinary Training Event at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, in March.
“I feel like we are all comfortable with each other, and we definitely understand each other a lot more,” Villatoro said. “We understand that we are a team, and we all share a common goal.”
Photos of the team training inside the Fort Drum Culinary Arts Center are available at www.flickr.com/photos/drum10thmountain/albums/72177720314478479.
Social Sharing