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Here's a great article I found at www.northwestnavigator.com: -- Members of the Navy, Air Force, and Army competed in the Olympic Community College’s (OC) annual Armed Forces Culinary Arts Competition, May 17. The big winner of the event was Naval Station Everett’s All American Restaurant with their collection, which astounded the judges. “I think my guys were outstanding, and they are well deserving of this award,” said Culinary Specialist 1st Class (SW/AW) Glendon Turner, All-American Restaurant leading petty officer. “They are truly some of the best culinary specialist’s in the rate.” The competition was broken into six events as each branch was able to show their mettle in the kitchen as well as have the opportunity to show their craft to people who would not normally get to sample their cooking. “This is a great chance for military cooks to display their talents,” said Lt.j.g Justin Hall, Naval Base Kitsap food service officer and event coordinator. “They not only get to show off amongst themselves but also to the public. This is also a good way to relieve stress and it creates a friendly competition at the same time.” The event was divided up into six different categories: Hors d’Oeuvres, garnish display, cake decorating, sugar arts, chili cook-off, and the Iron Chef competition. “We each worked on a course, there was only a one-course requirement, but we did three,” said Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Adalberto Araiza of All American Restaurant. “The main course was a curry-stuffed tenderloin with shrimp pate in the middle with a curry shrimp sauce on top. On the side was rice pilaf, with various peppers and onions and a vegetable medley.” Each category was critiqued and judged using the same basic guidelines: general appearance, taste, presentation and creativity, originality, display of skill, and colors and harmony. “Each critique was based on a one-to-ten scale, ten being the highest,” said Steve Lammers, (OC) chef instructor and competition judge. “It is never an easy decision when judging food of this caliber, but someone has to do it. I thought I might as well be one of the lucky few who gets to indulge themselves in a wonderful tasting event such as this.” “There were seven bases around the area that participated in the event so overall there was a good turn out for the event plenty to see, smell, and taste throughout the event,” added Hall. Naval Base Kitsap, Naval Hospital Bremerton, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, USS Nevada (SSBN 733), Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base were also participants in the events. They scattered themselves competing in events they chose to enter. “This is my third cook off event that I have been able to participate in,” said Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Savoy, Naval Station Everett. “I entered the cake-decorating portion of the competition. I definitely think that this portion allows for the most creativity and personal touch. The cake I entered took me about three days to fully complete.” Members of the All-American believe they had some help before they entered the cook-off, during a visit from a guest the previous week. “One thing that gave us the opportunity to compete was that we were all here to work with the Iron Chef last Thursday,” said Culinary Specialist 2nd Class (AW)Michael Dacanay of All-American. “He helped us prepare, and practice our skills we had to use during the competition. This was a really good learning experience, we have to learn from our mistakes, and our opponentsí mistakes. The critique of our performance was very beneficial.” http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/regionalnews/navsta_everett_nabs_top_honors_in_iron_chef_competition/