Culinary Olympics At UConn

( John Woike, Hartford Courant / January 16, 2013 )

From left, Sarah Catania, Allison Carlsen and Melissa Grindal had the daunting task of being Team 1 during the "Boiling Point" cooking competition Thursday afternoon at UConn, but their dishes pleased the panel of judges. The Department of Dining Services sponsored its annual Culinary Olympics at the South Campus / Rome Ballroom. The event is the school's version of the "Iron Chef" competition that involved 12 teams of three chefs representing the different dining facilities within the department. Each team will be presented with a mystery box of ingredients, and using a few minor items from our pantry, prepare three different Tapas (small food or appetizer) on each plate. Teams will have 90 minutes to prepare their dishes for 4 judges. Teams were scored on the following criteria: Creativity of dish, cooking techniques, use of ingredients and taste and textures.