MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- As guests from all over the base started to gather in the Anderson Hall Dining Facility, food service specialist Marines finished their dishes for a chance to claim the Chef of the Quarter title on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Aug. 21, 2013.
Three Marines participated in the competition at the dining facility, where they showed off their passion and dedication for culinary arts through meals. They started cooking Aug. 21 at 5 a.m. to have a starter, main dish and dessert ready by 11 a.m. for the judges to critique.
“The judges here today aren’t just tasting food, but all the hard work we put into our meals,” said Sgt. Kendall Joseph, the winning Chef of the Quarter, a food service specialist with Headquarters Battalion and native of New Orleans. “We put weeks of (planning) into each and every dish before we made them for the judges today.”
Competitors are given two days to physically prepare their meals. On day one, Marines do a dry run of the competition, creating the meals to work out the kinks for the next day.
“I knew I wanted to challenge myself with some dishes that would be hard to make,” Joseph, 24, explained. “A lot of people told me not to make these dishes, but I knew that I didn’t want to make the same kind of meals that everyone else makes.”
Joseph took first place for the“Fresco Italiano” meal he created for the judges. His winning meal included a Caesar salad, baked lobster tails, mushroom risotto, asparagus and carrots, and he served up cannoli for dessert.
“This is my first time in the competition,” said Lance Cpl. Joseph Cantagallo, 21, a food service specialist with Headquarters Battalion and a native of Long Beach, New Jersey. “I’m up against two very experienced cooks and I’m looking forward to learning a lot from them. Early on in the event, I could tell there was going to be some great product going out of the kitchen.”
Cantagallo took third place with his Australian-style dishes. His appetizer included an Aussie Salad consisting of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and croutons. For his main course, he served prime rib with a pineapple sauce, Cajun oven-roasted potatoes and grilled corn on the cob. He finished his meal off with red velvet cupcakes.
The contest let everyone have an opportunity to see how they stacked up against each other in the kitchen, according to Cantagallo. He said Chef of the Quarter is great because every Marine likes to compete.
“I don’t do this competition for myself,” Joseph said. “I have noticed that a lot of junior Marines don’t think they can do the Chef of the Quarter. I just want to show all the Marines they can do it, and should strive to be in the competition and to learn how to be a better cook.”
Since Joseph won the Chef of the Quarter, he will move on to the Chef of the Year competition to compete for top honors for the best chef of 2013 aboard MCB Hawaii.