Iron Chef, Dining Center Edition

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Daniel Fries ’15 (left) and Damon Motz-Storey ’16 teamed up for the Iron Chef competition.

 
Dinner hour at the Dining Center saw a lively addition to the usual fare last Friday when Fords Against Boredom hosted this year’s DC Edition of Iron Chef, a cooking competition whose participants could only use ingredients they could find in the Dining Center. As a fascinated audience observed the action in the Sunken Lounge, where work stations with hot plates and supplies had been set up, the four competing teams worked to devise an appetizer, entree, and  dessert that all used the secret ingredient: apples. And they had to do it all in under 30 minutes.
The panel of  judges, which included Miriam Abaya ’14, Dean Martha Denney, Associate Director of Dining Services Anthony Condo, and Dining Center employee Jeff Gladney, sampled the food and rated the dishes based on taste, presentation, and overall quality.
One creative cookery team (made up of  Isabel Gross ’17; Carolyn Poutasse, Jade Andrade, Shana Burstein, and Leah Hollander, all ’15; as well as Evan Joslin, a visiting professor of chemistry) found a place for the mandatory apples in a spinach salad (with cranberries, walnuts, and feta cheese), a dish of penne pasta (with grilled chicken and parmesan), and as topping for vanilla ice cream (the slices coated with cinnamon and a honey-chocolate glaze).
The competition was fierce, but Team 2, comprised of  William Tortorelli, a visiting professor of classics, and first-year students Sarah Betti ’17, Erin Lipman ’17, and Zak Oglesby ’17, emerged victorious.  Among the team’s culinary innovations was their interpretation of an Asian-influenced moo shoo pork style wrap (utilizing flour tortillas) that they assembled right on the judging table.  Their prize: Dining Dollars redeemable at campus cafe, The Coop.
 
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Team 2, the winning chefs of the evening, prepare their dishes. (from left) William Tortorelli, visiting assistant professor of classics, Sarah Betti ’17, Erin Lipman ’17, and Zak Oglesby ’17.

 
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Ali Lamacki ’16

 
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(from left) Judges Martha Denney, Dean of the College; Anthony Condo, Associate Director of Dining Services; and Jeff Gladney, who runs the  DC’s “Sizzle Bar.” Miriam Abaya ’14 also served as a judge.

 
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Photos by Thom Carroll.