2008 Woodie Awards
Iron Chef Cedar Rapids provides a delicious opportunity for students
Brandon Williams
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Web Exclusive
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The event is a fund-raiser for the Junior League of Cedar Rapids, an organization that promotes voluntarism and developing the potential of women.
"The idea is to bring local restaurants in to do a demonstration for the general public to see what goes on in a real kitchen," said chef David Horsfield, "It's a great opportunity for our students to go head to head against three local restaurants working against professionals in the industry."
Three local restaurants and a team of Kirkwood culinary arts students competed to create the best dish in one hour that had to include a key ingredient, pork tenderloin. They also had to include white chocolate, a mystery ingredient that they didn't know about until the day of competition. Also, they had to include a vegetable, a starch and a sauce. Five industry professionals judged the competition, looking at the presentation of the dish and the taste.
The team of Kirkwood students Eric Ehler and Laura Olive won the event, beating teams from Daniel Arthur's, Vino's Ristorante and Zins.
The culinary arts department ran a competition with Kirkwood students to decide who would represent the college in the competition. Students who were interested needed to pass a written theory test and then participated in an Iron Chef competition between other students that was judged by Chef instructors.
"I think it's exciting that we do something to challenge people," said Dettman, "It gives Kirkwood a chance to showcase our culinary skills. It produces good leadership and team abilities and many, many skills that you wouldn't normally get in a normal routine of our classes."
"This experience is fun because I like cooking in front of people, I like talking and meeting people and I think this will be a good way to get my name out," said Eric Ehler, the head chef for the Kirkwood team and a student in the Culinary Arts program.
A slideshow of photos from the event can be found by clicking the banner below
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