Hospitality Management Students’ Creativity, Skills Tested During Competition
February 5, 2020
Monroe Community College’s team of students and faculty emerged as winners in the second annual Veal Virtual Farm Trip & Recipe Development Competition sponsored by the New York Beef Council (NYBC) in partnership with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI).
Collegiate culinary schools throughout the state were invited to participate.
The competition took place in two stages. First, students learned about veal production through a “virtual tour” of Provitello Farm in Elba, NY, facilitated by NYBC. Students were walked through the stages of the veal lifecycle and saw examples firsthand of how veal raisers take care of the calves. Topics discussed during the tour included facility design, disease prevention, calf nutrition and health management. The new industry-wide group housing standards and Veal Quality Assurance program were also discussed.
The second phase of the competition took place at the students’ school kitchens. Teams of two to four students were challenged to work together to develop a consumer-friendly veal recipe using ground veal or veal cutlets. The recipe was to be designed to make four servings with a price point not exceeding $35. After developing and testing their recipe, students were also asked to put together marketing material including photos of the completed dish and a “hands and pans”-style video that could be used to teach a consumer how to complete the dish. Find the full recipe in the Recipe section of NYBC’s website, www.nybeef.org.
The winning dish was submitted by the Monroe Community College team. The recipe for their Veal Cutlet Caprese blew the judges away. On Jan. 31, the winning team members, which included hospitality management students Aimee Rock and Anthony Hudzinski and Chef Instructor Angela Douglas, were presented a plaque recognizing their accomplishment. Each winning student was also awarded a $500 scholarship.
This competition plays an important role in providing future culinarians the opportunity to learn more about not only veal’s versatility in the kitchen, but where it comes from and how it is raised, said Katherine Staiger, NYBC director of producer communications & influencer outreach.
Shown left to right in photo: chef instructor Angela Douglas, hospitality management students Anthony Hudzinski and Aimee Rock, and Katherine Staiger from the New York Beef Council.