Competition schedule, 2011

Here’s this year’s full C-CAP Arizona competition schedule. Students and teachers will be contacted with full information, and are urged to review C-CAP standards and rules well ahead of time.

Plan to arrive well ahead of the scheduled start time, in order to complete registration and set up a work station. Those in Heats 2 and 4 will be finished by 2 p.m.; Heats 1 and 3 will finish by 11a.m.

Contact Jill Smith if you have not yet received the equipment list for the preliminaries.

February 5

Preliminary competition

Metro Tech High School

1900 W. Thomas Rd., Phoenix 85015

Heat 1 – 9 a.m.

Heat 2 – 12 p.m.

February 12

Preliminary competition

EVIT

1601 W. Main St., Mesa 85201

Heat 3 – 9 a.m.

Heat 4 – 12 p.m.

February 26

Scholarship 101 for Senior Finalists

Final competition practice

The Art Institute of Phoenix

2233 W. Dunlap Ave., Phoenix 85021

10 a.m. – 2 p.m

March 26

Final competition

Arizona Culinary Institute

10585 N. 114^th St., Scottsdale 85259

9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

March 28

AWARDS BREAKFAST

Full information coming soon!

Practices this coming week

Don't forget - contact executive director Jill Smith (623-606-6213) to reserve a spot at practice. ANY student intending to participate in the 2011 C-CAP competition may attend ANY scheduled practice!

Jan 31 - Flagstaff HS 2pm

Feb 1 - Mesquite HS (Gilbert) 3:30

Feb 2 - Paradise Valley HS 3pm

Feb 3 - Canyon del Oro HS (Tucson) 4pm

More practicing…

Last week’s practice at Thunderbird High School attracted five students, including Moon Valley students Carrie Beletz, a junior, and seniors Jason Langham and Emily Sterrett. Two Thunderbird High juniors also participated, Brandon Bratset and Marcus Johnson.

Culinary instructors Brandi James, Moon Valley, and Joanne Michael, hosting, from Thunderbird were on hand to work with their students and Glendale Union High School District staff member Amanda Shively stopped in.

With only five participants, both omelets and salads were reviewed. C-CAP Arizona’s executive director, Jill Smith, offered continuing assistance and assessment as students worked.

Some of her suggestions include:

· Take control of your own competition – know your timing, the recipes and techniques.

· Save points by making sure your attire and appearance meet competition standards.

· During competition, running at 37 minutes for your salad is okay, more time than that will lose points.

· Do not finish early! If you do, clean your stations, double check your plate and presentation.

· Taste everything! Make sure your vegetable to vinaigrette ratio is right.

· Keep your cutting board clean; handle one vegetable or food product and one tool at a time and don’t forget to clean the board in between tasks.

· Omelets need to have the right proportion of salt and pepper, and no evidence of under-whisked egg whites.

Remember: It’s a competition and competitions have rules. Make sure you’ve read and understand all of the rules before you begin.

Practice at Thunderbird High ... 25January2011

What judges want:. an update

What judges want -

Last year, C-CAP Arizona's executive director Jill Smith took a few minutes to briefly outline what students most need to understand about the C-CAP cooking competition. None of this is earth-shaking news, but it's worth reviewing now that practices are in full swing, and the preliminaries are just over the horizon.

Best of all - this is simple stuff. Approach it with this perspective, and you'll be steps ahead before Chef Glenn says, "Time is....NOW."

“You want to err on the side of caution,” Jill says. “A lot of these are easy points, so don’t lose them needlessly,”

Here are a few of those she mentions most often:

1. Be professional in demeanor and appearance. (This counts for a total of 10 points in competition.)

a. Black or checked trousers, a neckerchief, a hat (no ball caps!). Sturdy kitchen shoes, not tennis shoes.

b. Little or no makeup, no nail polish, no acrylics and no jewelry.

c. Hair up in a hat, no tendrils or wisps.

2. Understand the size of different kinds of cuts and how to cut them (slice, baton, julienne, chop, dice, brunoise, mince, etc.) Learn to visualize the cuts as you do them and get out a ruler to practice if necessary.

3. Keep your cuts even, so that all the pieces in the salad are the same size.

4. Memorize the recipes. Save your scraps, but not the garbage. Think of what else you can do with the scraps (“’Stock’ is always a good response for vegetable scraps,” Jill says.)

5. Make sure your plates are clean after you’ve plated your food (clean up droplets, small spills, etc.)

6. French omelets are not like American omelets! There should be no browning, and eggs should be beaten so there are no remnants of white showing when the omelet is cooked.

7. Shake and stir, shake and stir – you want it creamy inside and out.

8. Get the whole seam of the omelet on the bottom of the plate. If you’ve shaken it enough, it shouldn’t stick to the pan at all.

9. Taste all along the way with each recipe. You want a balance in flavors – with a little zing in the salad dressing.

10. Practice, practice, practice.

One more thing. If you’re confident of your skills, know your recipes and your techniques, it’s okay to be nervous. You’ll be fine.

Practice makes….

Nope. Not perfect. That’s why it’s practice until you have it down.

Then you’re done with the practice and can start reviewing!

This week’s practice at Tempe High School drew seven aspiring competitors.

There were Ericka Hoth and Alexandra Olive, seniors from Skyline High, along with two Skyline juniors, Colby Cable and Katie Ibarra. There were Ace Peterson and Adrian Jacobo, juniors from Tempe High, and Sam White, a sophomore from Dobson high School. Sam won’t be able to compete until next year, but he’s determined to practice until he gets to perfect.

Kyle Pommer and Jelani Port, both C-CAP alumni, were on hand to judge the salads on this afternoon’s practice schedule.

Both roamed through the kitchen, stopping frequently to give hands-on advice in technique.

C-CAP Arizona’s executive director, Jill Smith, was there, too, providing clear directions in C-CAP’s standards and objectives for competition.

Jelani proffered advice from his own experience, suggesting that students “stay late after class and don’t be afraid to ask (for advice). And practice, again and again and again. Practice.”

Kyle seconded the advice about practice, and added, “You want to have a plan, and practice in the order you’re doing the recipe. Work on time management. This is Skills 101 and what you will do in your first week of culinary school.

“Practice until you know you can get through the competition.”

“Don’t worry when it’s wrong,” Jelani added. “This is how you learn.”

Finally, from both: “Taste! Don’t forget to taste what you’re making. It has to look right, yes, but it also has to taste good.”

And yes – taste is subjective. But still: don’t forget the salt.