Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships

Culinary Competitions

Why are culinary competitions important? There are a host of reasons. Such competitions incorporate the element of time into a professional cooking setting, simulating an on-the-job experience for students. They enable the students to meet others from across the country who have the same interests. They may help students receive scholarships, helping to further their education. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, competitions give students the confidence to apply the skills they learn in class in the outside world.

Paul McVety, Dean of Culinary Academics at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, is uniquely qualified to discuss the role of competitions from an insider's point of view. Paul's insights will prove useful to any culinary instructor looking to expand upon their students' existing knowledge, experience, and confidence.

On the Benefits of Competing:

"The benefits of competing vary from winning a tangible prize such as scholarships, medals, blue ribbons, etc., to having a fellow competitor say "nice job!" The tangible benefits are thrilling to receive, providing an emotional rush of accomplishment, which plays a large role in making the experience worthwhile. The many hours of planning and practicing all seem to pay off in that moment when the student's name is called out as a winner. However, there are many non-tangible benefits the student gains in the preparation, execution, and evaluation of the competition. These include building character, self-esteem, talent, discipline, and sense of teamwork, discovering their own passion for competition, and forming new friendships."

On Preparing Students for Culinary Competition:

"Projects play an important role in allowing students to explore and discover their hidden talents, weaknesses, and strengths. All of this can be learned in a non-stressful environment. The best projects provide the student with an opportunity to learn both as an individual and as a member of the team. All projects should encourage students to build on their ability to communicate, coordinate and work with other team members. Projects help build a student's ability to solve problems. They learn to ask questions, which leads them to understanding the problem and, eventually, how to solve the problem. In culinary competitions students have to use their imaginations and creative abilities to compete."

On What Students Need to Succeed:

"All chefs who have won a gold medal (first place) in a culinary competition have had many hours and years of practice to tone their technical ability. There are no short cuts to increasing a student's technical ability. It is important that the team manager (teacher or instructor) know the proper techniques to teach the student. Different competitions may emphasis different techniques. Practice, practice, and more practice builds technical ability and confidence to perform that technique under pressure at the competition, where it counts."

"If natural talent is defined as God-given physical abilities such as hand-eye coordination, then it does play a small part in competition. Excellent knife skills require the competitor to have a steady and quick hand and a high level of hand-eye coordination to perform classical knife skills accurately. Another natural talent or ability is controlling nerves. Some students can naturally channel their nervousness into an asset for them. I am not sure if it is a natural talent but a lot has to do with personality, which I believe is a God-given gift. Also tied to personality is a great attitude, which is essential in being successful no matter what you are doing!"

"Teachers need to incorporate a practice plan that begins with easy, fun beginning practices and builds up to more complex, difficult, and stressful practices. The idea is, as the competition date gets closer, the practices should start to simulate the competition environment and atmosphere. A student should have a complete understanding prior to the actual competition of what they will need to do and how to perform during the competition. Much of the success from practicing lies in the student's level of discipline, which is determined by his or her desire and motivation to learn and accomplish competitive goals."

On Leading and Setting Goals:

"An ultimately positive experience for the student begins with the teacher's attitude and ability to lead. The teacher has to set goals that are positive and achievable, and not only focus on winning. The student has to experience and believe that they are winners regardless of the results of the competition. This is done by setting personal goals with each student and with the team."

"For example, many chefs who compete for the first time set achievable personal goals that will allow them to expand on their abilities to win at a later competition. Of course, every competitor wants to win the gold medal and it can be done. However, be a realist and set goals that will allow the student to become a better competitor and, most important, a better person after the competition is over. Teachers need to plan for and talk with the student about the entire process before, during, and after the competition. Reflect upon the positive and negative experiences that come from competing. Whether the student wins or does not place, the moment of joy or sadness only last for a few days, but the values learned will last a lifetime."

On Lessons Learned:

"Teach your student to always plan for the unknown. I know of one competitive team that learned this the hard way. For this particular competition, the team had to bring all of their ingredients. They were competing in knife skills/ technical abilities and executing their classic cuts on potatoes. During the competition, one student was cutting a particular potato that turned out to be rotten on the inside. The team did not have any more potatoes so the results were not exactly what they had planned. The team learned a valuable lesson that day. (However, they did earn third place!)"

Johnson & Wales offers summer sessions for culinary teachers. Learn more about Johnson & Wales University at www.jwu.edu.

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