The next Top Chef?

Chef Walter Wright, second from right, with his students from the College of Coastal Georgia's Culinary Arts program.

            When you come to A Taste of Glynn on Sunday, March 25, take special note of the young chefs in white coats, with the College of Coastal Georgia’s name embroidered on the front. These are the future executive chefs that will rule the kitchens of fine restaurants, hotels and resorts in the very near future. And maybe they will end up as contestants- and winners- in televised competitions some day. Under the direction of program coordinator, Chef Walter Wright, the Culinary Arts students learn not only from participating but observing how the other contestants prepare and present their entries.

            “This is an ideal learning experience for us,” Walter noted. “Our students will be cooking, of course, but the colleges are allowed to bring in additional students to study how everyone else operates, and how our ‘customers’ react to what they are tasting. We’ll be asking a lot of questions, both at the event and in classes afterwards. Was there a better procedure we could have used? How does a big event like this come together as a whole? This is a great networking opportunity for us.”

            Culinary Arts students from the College of Coastal Georgia are training to be executive chefs, which involves a lot more than being a great cook.

            “Executive chefs are involved in nutrition planning, purchasing, operations and training,” Walter added. “And they are continually educating their taste buds. In our program, we also emphasize the history of cuisine, to give our students a context of how certain dishes evolved and why they are appropriate for specific events or in certain settings.”

            Students will enter dishes in two competition categories that reflect their educational goals. First, a cioppino for the Soup category celebrates our coastal culinary heritage by combining fish and wine in a tomato base. The dish has roots in Portuguese and Italian food traditions, a tribute to the men who brought their commercial fishing expertise from Europe to the Georgia coast a century ago. Their second entry, in the Gourmet category, is a complex, elegant escalope of pork a la Normandie. This dish includes thin slices of pork loin sautéed with apple and Calvados, a smooth apple brandy from France, plus cream sauce, topped with couscous.

            Other lessons are there to be learned at A Taste of Glynn, Walter pointed out.

            “We try to impress on our students that while the Food Network is good for general awareness, in a professional kitchen, the situation is very different. Chef challenges on TV require you to prepare six to eight servings. They use time-lapse video to compress the cooking process into whatever they need for a half-hour or hour show. You get the impression that it is effortless. Competing in a real high-level culinary event like A Taste of Glynn is a reality check.”

            Anyone interested in sampling the talents of future culinary superstars should put the College of Coastal Georgia’s Culinary Arts offerings on their “must-taste” list at this year’s A Taste of Glynn on March 25, from 5 to 8 pm. at the King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort. New this year: the Celebrity Chefs Choice Award, judged by Georgia Governor’s Mansion Executive Chef, Holly Chute. Tickets are available at the King and Prince, and SunTrust Bank locations on Demere Road and Sea Island Road, Palmer’s Village Café and Doug’s Bar & Grill on St. Simons. In Brunswick, purchase tickets at LaiLai’s, Hattie’s Books, color me happy, Zachry’s Seafood and Steak, Baby Mack’s and Moore Stephens Tiller LLC. Or call the Glynn Community Crisis Center at 264-1348.

Photo by Lindy Thompson, Golden Isles Photography