They know food at SCC
A team of students from Spokane Community College recently placed second in the national Culinary Knowledge Bowl competition in San Antonio.
Chef instructor Peter Tobin said the team battled to the finals but finished behind Schoolcraft College of Livonia, Mich. at the competition late last month.
The five students began cramming for the American Culinary Federation’s Jeopardy-style competition after winning Western regional championship this spring. It was the first Knowledge Bowl team from SCC to make it to the national finals.
The team included Captain Dennis Woolard, Jesse Blackwell, Mike Caruso, Anne Bauer and Pepper Safford. The students studied together for two hours a week for the past year to prepare for the game-show style competition in which they answered questions about classic culinary techniques, general cooking, sanitation and nutrition.
Although they fell short of the national title, team members said they hoped the regional win and national appearance would raise the profile of SCC’s Inland Northwest Culinary Academy among culinary schools.
Spokane Athletic Club Executive Chef Raymond Delfino also was considered for a top award at this year’s American Culinary Federation’s National Convention. Delfino won the 2004 Chef Professionalism Award for the ACF’s Western region. The honor is chosen by fellow chefs and given to a chef who maintains the highest standard of professionalism, continuing education and training, culinary competitions and community involvement.
The national professionalism award was give to Thomas Macrina, executive chef at the Desmond Great Valley Hotel and Conference Center in Malvern, Penn. Delfino said he was honored just to be nominated for the award.
Toss that kitchen sponge … or microwave it?
A recent Fresh Sheet item about trashing your kitchen sponge prompted a handful of phone calls from people (including one Washington state senator) who wanted to know, “If I microwave my sponge, will that make it safe to use?”
The answer: a definite maybe.
Sandy McCurdy, a University of Idaho Extension food safety specialist, says her advice is still to throw the bacteria breeding ground in the trash. But she acknowledged there was a 1997 study that showed sponges could be disinfected by popping them into the microwave.
Microwaving sponges to kill sickness-causing pathogens might sound like a good idea, but McCurdy said she suspects people fall short in practice. Sponges stay wet for a long time and collect food particles that are hard to remove. People probably just won’t remember to do it often enough to kill bacteria.
“People might have good intentions…. I’d just as soon not see them in the kitchen,” she said.
If you insist on the microwave method here’s McCurdy’s advice: Get the sponge wet (but not dripping) and toss it in on high until it is “steaming hot.” And be sure that the sponge is not too dry either. A dry sponge in the microwave could be a fire hazard.