Competition Highlights Military's Best Cooks

[unhappycamper]

Competition Highlights Military's Best Cooks
March 06, 2009
The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va.

FORT LEE -- Most people probably don't think of five-star dining when they think of a parking lot. But soldiers transformed the parking lot of the Army Center of Excellence, Subsistence into a dining area with a tent, and four mobile kitchens for the field cooking event of the 34th annual Army Culinary Arts Competition.

"There's a lot of stereotypes about food service in the Army, here the public can see just what kind of skills our soldiers have," said Chief Warrant Officer Robert Sparks, project officer for the competition.

It is the largest culinary competition in the United States and is open to U.S. military chefs in all branches of the armed forces from around the globe.

Competitors have traveled to Fort Lee from as far away as Korea to participate in the largest of its kind culinary showdown. The competition -- which last year attracted more than 200 chefs -- includes more than 40 categories including contests for best team and individual events. The centerpiece of the event is the "Installation of the Year" competition, which is the Super Bowl of food service.

The idea of the public trying the food prepared by the soldier chefs is relatively new.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/March-2009/military-food-at-its-best.html



uhc comment: I still have a Charlie-Ration cookbook sponsored by Tabasco from my Vietnam days. Mess halls were pretty ugly back then.