Culinary Specialists assigned to U.S. Naval War College (NWC) won the “Grand Champion” title during the second-annual Military Chef Barbecue Challenge held at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.,
this month.
“In the last few years we’ve done a lot to raise the reputation of the food service here at the college,” said Senior Chief Culinary Specialist Michael Edwards, assigned to NWC in Newport, Rhode Island. “These individual victories and everyone’s passionate dedication add to the idea that NWC is at its pinnacle and its food service should be at its pinnacle too.”
During the competition, Team NWC out-cooked Team U.S. Marines, Team White House, Joint Team Pentagon, Team Naval District Washington and Team Fort Lee. They won “Best Barbeque Sides” with a smoked pear crostata with bourbon caramel and corn ice cream dessert, “Best Seafood” with an applewood smoked salmon served with creole sauce, shrimp, country grits, homemade tasso ham, and crawfish beignet, and “The Michael Angelo,” best themed table display.
The NWC team was led by Edwards and consisted of Culinary Specialist 1st Class Jerromiah Payne, assigned to NWC, Culinary Specialist 1st Class Paul Brown and Culinary Specialist 1st Class Ian Brown, assigned to U.S. Naval Academy, Chief Culinary Specialist Gary Askins, assigned to U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and Culinary Specialist 1st Class Naomi Alba, Navy Food Management Team instructor.
“One of the challenges was that we didn’t get a chance to practice this together,” said Payne. “We had to coordinate a lot over the phone, and it takes months of preparation. We worked very well as a team.”
The competition required all foods to be cooked using a barbecue but the dishes themselves were diverse.
Team NWC decided to make their dishes Louisiana-themed and prepared about 50 components in total, including a smoked pastrami poutine with potatoes fried in duck fat, smoked chicken cooked with waffles served with whiskey syrup and coleslaw made of red cabbage and green apples, and a roasted lamb neck shawarma with a Moroccan salad.
“With barbecuing you have to maintain a low temperature and you always have to be awake to watch the food,” said Payne. “There was no sleep to be had, so it was tiring but fun.”
Fifteen judges reviewed the teams as they competed for titles in several categories ranging from Best Ribs to Best Barbecue Sides.
The success of Team NWC at the Military Chef Barbecue Battle has also earned them qualification to compete in the World Food Championships’ World Barbecue Championship in November at Orange Beach, Ala.