Young chefs, gastronomes to meet at Cincinnati State
November 5, 2008
Ten up and coming young chefs will test their skills Nov. 8 in a day-long competition at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.
The event will be co-sponsored by the local chapter of the oldest gastronomic organization in the world. The Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs, Bailliage de Cincinnati will co-sponsor the Young Chef Competition (or, to keep it in French, the Jeunes Commis Rotisseur Competition) in conjunction with the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State.
On Saturday, Nov. 8, each contestant will be given identical “market baskets’’ containing a few key ingredients. Using those ingredients as a foundation, contestants will be required to design and prepare a three-course meal that will serve four people. They will have just a few hours each to complete the task.
“Culinary competitions have a whole set of expertise, including time-oriented skills, that a student needs to have,’’ notes Joe Moss, director of the Midwest Culinary Institute. “It’s not the same as being able to go into a kitchen and put together a five-course meal. But the time element, the variability of the ingredients and the speed at which you have to assemble a menu have a lot of corollary to the real world.’’
Winners at the Young Chef Competition will be selected by a panel of judges.
On hand to watch the closing hours of the contest will be members of the Cincinnati chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, an organization of decidedly serious foodies that traces its roots to the court of King Louis of France in 1248. The organization began as the Guild of Rotisseurs, its membership limited to those who roasted geese. Over time eligibility was broadened, and the guild came to include cooks and chefs attached to noble families throughout France.
In 1610 the guild received, by royal warrant, the coat of arms that its successors display to this day, featuring crossed spits (of the sort used to roast meat over an open flame) on the seal.
The Guild of Rotisseurs prospered until the French Revolution, which took a bit of a toll on France’s noble families. Along with a number of other guilds, the Chaine was eventually dissolved.
In 1950, however, it was revived in Paris by two professional chefs and three gastronomes, as part of a larger effort to restore respect for culinary excellence. The French government did its part, formally bestowing the seal and coat of arms of the former guild upon the new organization, dubbed the Confrerie (or Confederation) de la Chaine des Rotisseurs. Today the organization boasts bailliages (or chapters) in more than 110 countries, with 80,000 active members worldwide, including about 7,000 members in the U.S.
The Cincinnati chapter was formed in 1981 by a group of wine and food lovers who had been meeting informally for several years. The initial group of inductees had 28 members, led by Joseph Falceto, who at the time was food and beverage director of the Westin Hotel downtown. After Falceto left Cincinnati, the baillage was led until 2000 by the late George Rieveschl, a scientist who invented the drug marketed as Benedryl and who became a major benefactor to the University of Cincinnati and charitable causes throughout the region. He was succeeded by Peter Hainline, who retired in 2005; today the bailli of the Cincinnati group is Irwin Weinberg, an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
As co-sponsors of the Nov. 8 competition, the local members of the Chaine will do more than observe the closing moments of the competition and salute the winners. After the award ceremony, they will assemble at the Summit, the fine-dining restaurant at the Midwest Culinary Institute, for a “dine-around’’ style meal prepared under the direction of Executive Chef Matthew Winterrowd.
About Cincinnati State
Cincinnati State offers more than 75 associate degree and 40 certificate programs in business technologies, health and public safety, engineering technologies, humanity and sciences and information technologies. About 8,150 students were enrolled in the early fall 2008 term; last year 14,000 separate students participated in credit and non-credit classes.
Cincinnati State has a 93% placement rate within three months of graduation, and its students have a 91% pass rate on required licensing and registry exams. It has the largest co-op program among two-year colleges in the U.S.
