Competition notes from a contender

In a prior life, Chef Francine Marz, MBA, CEC, and director of the Culinary Arts Institute for Montgomery County (PA) Community College, led the culinary competition teams at the Art Institutes of Phoenix - and competed herself in multiple regional and national competitions on other teams.

She's also mentored students through competitions, and served as a CCAP judge through many contests.  So when she talks competition, she speaks from real experience (and that's winning experience, btw). 

Her experience is what led her to develop a major "Competition Readiness" checklist - and we have it to share with you. 

Here's how she has her teams and competitors get set.

Chef Francine's general rules for competition readiness:

Know the rules on the competition and make sure you’re observing them to the letter.

Know your recipes inside and out.

Develop a timeline that includes techniques for each step of each recipe.  You can tape a timeline to the top of your tool kit or keep it in a pocket for reference.

Keep a clean working area. 

Don’t leave anything stacked on the cutting board while you continue to cut another ingredient

Have a waste bucket and a scrap can (so usable ingredients can be salvaged).

Clean up as you go and remember to maintain sanitation.

Be careful of cross-contamination.

Have enough gloves along with you (more than you think you'll use is the right number).

Ditto on pots.  Have an extra one or two on hand in case something burns or you need to redo a step quickly.

Don’t use glass containers for your mise en place – if they shatter, it’s a sanitation mess.

Don’t wait until the night before competition to sharpen your knives – you need to know how sharp they are so you can avoid accidental cuts.

During competition, stay busy every minute – or, at least, look as if you’re busy.

Know how to think on your feet, so that nothing throws you off course.

Taste, taste, taste! Know how each recipe is supposed to taste and get it as close as possible.

Get a good oven thermometer and make sure you use it.

Know your cooking temperatures as well as times!

Stir everything as it should be stirred.

Use enough ingredients to create a presentation plate, a tasting plate, and to resolve any mistakes or problems that may develop.

Leave the food alone while it cooks!

Don’t leave a plate to sit with half a presentation on it – plate everything at one time.

Remember when plating: hot food, hot plate; cold food, cold plate.

Chef Marz says, “If you want this, fight for it.  The night before, review every step and make out lists.  Visualize everything you will do and what your plates will look like.”

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     More than that, she says, “Develop a sense of urgency in your work.  And visualize how it will feel to win.  You want an emotion to hang on to as you work.”

Coming next: how to wow 'em at your CCAP interview (and others, for that matter - we'll take you through step by step for real confidence)