Phi Beta Carotene

Sure, Ken Jennings may hold the record for the longest winning streak on the TV game show Jeopardy, but can he answer this: What is the precursor to Vitamin A? A team of Spokane Community College students aced that question in February to become the Western regional champions in the American Culinary Federation’s annual Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl.

Ten seconds. That’s all the time they had to think about each question. (Did you get it? The answer is beta carotene.)

“The team just clicked at the right time,” Chef Peter Tobin and the team’s coach said of the win that earned them a spot at the coveted national championships in San Antonio in July.

The victory was especially sweet for Tobin, who has coached local Knowledge Bowl teams for eight years and has come within an angel hair of winning several times.

“Three teams have lost on the last question of the last game,” Tobin said, describing the competition as a “phenomenally nervous” time.

Throughout the game-show style competition, teams must answer rapid-fire questions about classic culinary techniques, general cooking, sanitation and nutrition. They earn points along the way toward medals, but they also compete, double-elimination style, for a chance to go to nationals.

The five-student team from SCC didn’t care about the medals.

“Our ultimate goal was to go to nationals,” said Anne Bauer, one of the four team members, who along with Pepper Safford, the team’s alternate, studied together for two hours a week for nearly a year in preparation for the competition.

“Plus we studied all the time at home,” added teammates Jesse Blackwell and Mike Caruso.

Tobin gushed with praise of the team’s dedication saying they voluntarily took on the extra studying even as they juggled work, family and other commitments. Bauer, for example, is the mother of two and drives from Priest River, Idaho, to attend classes at SCC.

And, unlike Jeopardy, other than a plaque they will proudly display in Orlando’s, the student-run restaurant at SCC, there’s no huge jackpot waiting for the winners. The students, however, do earn points toward becoming certified chefs.

The team also had to work at least two events – the annual Spokane Cork & Keg Festival and the Wine Dinner/Silent Auction – to raise money for their trip to the regional contest in Sacramento. As far as the approximately $6,000 they need to get to San Antonio this summer, Tobin said he’s going to worry about that.

“I want these guys to concentrate on studying,” he said, adding that the local ACF Chapter, Inland Northwest Chefs de Cuisine, is seeking donations to help pay the team’s expenses. “We’re destined to get there one way or another.”

As the team regrouped recently to begin studying for nationals, Tobin said, “Now we’re treading on new ground. To my knowledge, no Western team has ever won nationals.”

He likened the Knowledge Bowl to an Olympic sport in which athletes train all year for one chance. Tobin said that as he sat in the audience with other chefs, the tension was too much for some who had to get up and take a break.

But that wasn’t the case for the team, as members said they were too busy to be nervous. “There was more tension in the audience than on stage,” said team captain Dennis Woolard, who is the only member returning from last year’s team.

Woolard hopes the team’s regional win and national appearance will boost Spokane’s image in the culinary world. All teams must represent American Culinary Federation certified schools and each member must be a junior member of the ACF. The SCC team beat several other Western schools including The Art Institute of Seattle, South Puget Sound Community College and Alaska Vocational Technical Center to earn a trip to the national conference where they’ll compete against teams from three other regions, including the Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach and teams yet to be determined from the Northeast and Central regions.

“When I first started looking at culinary schools…I didn’t see Spokane anywhere,” he said. “This is a chance to put Spokane on the map.”

The team said the competition is fun and added that the extra studying has helped them learn more about how food works and why certain ingredients do what they do.

“You get a better understanding of what you’re cooking,” Safford said.

Of course, they all want to win. Even as community colleges took Spring Break recently, the team gathered at Huckleberry’s to study.

“I’m really excited we did so well,” Caruso said. “I’m hoping for a repeat.”

Tobin, too, would love to see them take the national honors, and has only one request of the team members if they do. “All I want is a dinner in your restaurant,” he told them.

Sample questions

Knowledge Bowl proves there is a lot of book work behind becoming a certified chef. The team from Spokane Community College’s culinary program is studying four thick books in preparation for the national competition this summer.

On Cooking – A Text Book of Culinary Fundamentals, Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals ServSafe Coursebook and Escoffier – The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery.

Here are some questions the students are studying in preparation:

1. The ability to define a food’s flavor requires taste and …

A. appearance

B. presentation

C. processing

D. smell

2. What are the three main Dietary Guidelines for Americans?

A. Reduce risks, evaluate eating habits, change attitudes

B. Eat light, eat right, eat smart

C. Aim for fitness, build a healthy base, choose food sensibly

D. Keep food safe to eat, drink in moderation, evaluate nutrition programs annually

3. The Food Guide Pyramid is designed to promote health for which group of people?

A. Children between the ages of 2 and 6

B. People 7 years of age and older

C. Men

D. Pregnant women

4. Which type of rice has a nutty flavor and chewy texture?

A. Long-grain white

B. Basmati

C. Brown

D. Converted

5. Starchy foods are used as thickeners in cooking because the granules:

A. Absorb water and swell

B. Break down into sucrose

C. Bring liquids to the boiling point quicker

D. Keep food from sticking

6. A protein must reach which stage before it is functional?

A. Original structure

B. Primary structure

C. Secondary structure

D. Tertiary structure

7. A three-ounce portion of meat is about the size of:

A. The palm of your hand

B. A deck of cards

C. Your fist

D. A hamburger bun

8. Which of the following is the sweetest of the natural sugars?

A. Fructose

B. Glucose

C. Sucrose

D. Galactose

9. Which of the following foods contains a significant amount of fat?

A. Amaranth

B. Artichokes

C. Asparagus

D. Avocados

10. The part of the seed that is left after processing wheat to make white flour is the:

A. Bran

B. Endosperm

C. Germ

D. Hull

Answers: 1: D, 2: C, 3: B, 4: C, 5: A, 6: D, 7: B, 8: A, 9: D, 10:B