Sherbet a sure bet to impress

If you like pina colada…then a junior in the University of Idaho’s food science program has invented a new sherbet flavor you might want to check out.

Clarisse Vaury, who hails from Normandy, France, helped The Schwan’s Food Co. develop the flavor while she was an intern at the frozen-foods company. It is available in Schwan’s new summer catalog.

“Do you dream of a cool refreshing treat with a delicious island flavor? Our yummy new Pina Colada Sherbet makes dessert a little more exotic – and healthy!” the catalog says.

Sure, it’s a study in contradictions: A French woman from a North Idaho college concocting a tropical treat while working in Michigan. But Vaury said she had a great time conducting taste tests with colleagues in Schwan’s laboratories to perfect the flavor, according to a news release. She worked with industrial flavoring suppliers, proposing concepts that considered texture, color, taste and additions.

Vaury is double majoring in food science and Spanish and hopes to get a job working for a company that can take advantage of her fluency in three languages. She was recently named the outstanding undergraduate researcher for the university’s Department of Food Science and Toxicology. She is considering a career working with ice cream or perhaps cheese, which would reflect her heritage and Normandy’s fame for its dairy products.

Culinary competitors

A four-member team of Moses Lake high school students recently returned from a run against national culinary competition in Orlando, Fla.

Although they didn’t place in the top three, just getting to the competition is an honor. The team – captain Melissa Camancho, Cori Hill, Sofie Uribe and Nathan Jacobs – beat four Spokane area teams and 40 teams from west of the Cascades in March during the Washington’s Boyd Coffee Culinary Cup in Seattle. To win, they had to prepare a three-course meal in one hour using two gas burners. (That’s all, folks. No oven. No microwave.)

In the four years the team has competed, the contest has been dominated by West Side schools. The team prepared Fontina and Prosciutto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mango Curry, Baby Green Cauliflower, fried purple and sweet potatoes, Sunrise Salad with Blood Orange Sauce and Steamed Chocolate Cake.

Look inside today’s section for some of the winning recipes.