DVIDS – News – Army/Navy Chefs display cooking chops at annual PA Farm Show

Staff Sgt. BreAuna Delpesche and Navy Culinary Specialist (CS) 3rd Class Chassidy Chisholm faced off for the Army vs. Navy Cook-off event at the 108th Pennsylvania Farm Show Jan. 11.

The cook-off was a close one, the first-ever tie in the competition’s history resulted in a judge’s conference that awarded Army the win due to extra seasoning sprinkled on the dish at the last minute.

“The Army versus Navy cook-off is a great way to showcase the talents and expertise of our joint military team. It was truly a privilege to sit in the audience and watch both competitors, said Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Command Master Chief Mark Schlosser.

Each chef and team had only 30 minutes to create an innovative food dish with surprising ingredients from agricultural products grown, produced or processed in Pennsylvania.

CS3 Chisholm was teamed up with two local media personalities, Joe Calhoun and Christine Ferreira from WGAL News Channel 8, to help her make a dish that would stand apart from her competitors.

Both chefs were under pressure as they quickly pulled out different ingredients which included bok choy, carrots, mixed hickory nuts, apple butter, organic plain yogurt, garlic, tomahawk ribeye steak and other spices.

With the help of her sous-chefs, Chisholm plated pan seared, crispy rib eye steak over bok choy, puréed yogurt, apple butter and nuts with a side of roasted carrots.

The four-person judging panel evaluated the final dishes from both teams. The judges were John Moeller, former White House chef and author of “Dining at the White House – From the President’s Table to Yours”; Barry Crumlich, executive chef, Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence; Jason Rohrs, Special Command Aide Program manager, Office of the Commandant, United States Coast Guard; and Carlos Cuoto, director, Comcast NBCUniversal Military and Veteran Affairs.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show is held every January at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. It is the largest indoor agricultural event in the United States, offering 24 acres of exhibition space under one roof. The event attracts more than half a million visitors every year.

Later in the afternoon, Culinary Specialist 1st Class Sarah Server provided a cooking demonstration of rabbit stew with spiced gravy, mashed potatoes, poached carrots and bacon lardons.

“I wanted to make sure I was going to show you something that you could walk away from today going, ‘I could make that,’” said Server.

The live audience of at least one hundred was given the opportunity to sample the meal. While cooking, she engaged with the crowd and spoke about her German heritage, cooking in the Navy and the opportunities the Navy provided her.

Today’s CSs have greater culinary instruction than ever before. With more than 8,000 Navy CSs across the globe, ready to adapt to the nature of their deployment. They are taught taste and nutrition are important when creating meals for their shipmates because nothing impacts Sailors’ morale more than the food prepared for them.

NAVSUP is headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics and Sailor & family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars. Learn more at www.navsup.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/navsup and https://twitter.com/navsupsyscom.