Vice Adm. William Lee, commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, and Vice Adm. Charles Ray, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, stand with food service specialists attending Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma after a cook off competition, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. The cooking competition raised awareness of the training and importance of Coast Guard food service specialists. (Coast Guard photo by Lt. Erin Chlum)
Vice Adm. William Lee, commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, and Vice Adm. Charles Ray, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, stand with food service specialists attending Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma after a cook off competition, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. The cooking competition raised awareness of the training and importance of Coast Guard food service specialists. (Coast Guard photo by Lt. Erin Chlum)
Vice Adm. Charles Ray, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, chopped alongside a food service specialist instructor at Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma during a cooking competition, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. The competition raised awareness of the training and importance of Coast Guard food service specialists. (Coast Guard photo by Lt. Erin Chlum)
PETALUMA, Calif. — Coast Guard Atlantic and Pacific Area commanders competed during an annual culinary showdown at Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, Thursday
Vice Adm. Charles Ray, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, and Vice Adm. William Lee, commander, Atlantic Area, reversed roles as both admirals took commands from a food service specialist "A" School instructor and a food service specialist "A" School student. Each team had 90 minutes to prepare a three-course meal with one mystery ingredient: acorn squash. The teams had access to numerous pantry items of spices, seasonings, starches, herbs and stock bases to assist them in their preparation.At the end of the 90-minute cook time, a panel of judges consisting of a previous food specialist instructor and two local reporters. The judges determined the winner based on presentation, portion, nutritional balance, menu and ingredient compatibility, creativity, flavor and teamwork.The cook off was not only good morale for the crew, but provided motivation and visibility of the food specialist rate by highlighting the facilities and training atmosphere.Coast Guard Food Specialist "A" School at Training Center Petaluma trains around 120 new professional culinarians each year. Within the 13 weeks of training, students execute around 100 recipes starting with cutting techniques and breakfast dishes then progressing to meats and seafood. The students are offered many geographic locations and platforms to be stationed at including cutters, stations, a chef at the White House, Culinary Instructor and Homeland Security Chef.