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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Friday three students of Yuba College Clear Lake Campus culinary program will compete in a statewide competition in Downey.
The California Community College annual Culinary Arts and Hospitality Competition is challenging community college students with this year's theme, “Celebrating the Cuisine of Northern Africa.”
Advanced baking students Katrina Carrillo and Logan Curtis, who are competing as a team, and culinary arts student Andy Vieiro are participating in the challenge after spending the past several weeks perfecting their respective entries in the Aroma's kitchen at the Clear Lake Campus.
Culinary instructor Robert Cabreros chose the competitors – all of whom are second-semester culinary students – for participation in the competition based on their performance in class.
He recognized Carrillo’s and Curtis' ability to work as a team and commended the dedication of Vieiro, who he said has never been late to class and boasts a record of perfect attendance.
“I'm very excited to see them compete on this level. This is a community college level and there is some stiff competition,” Cabreros said. “I'm proud of them all and excited for them to have this opportunity.”
Cabreros said such opportunities are important to the growth of the students, helping them to hone their kitchen skills, from organization to timing and their attention to details.
“It also lets them network with others chefs and puts them in front of one another. It adds pressure and there can be a lot of intense pressure in the culinary industry,” he said.
For their entry in the baking competition, Carrillo and Curtis were assigned the task of creating a two-level, tiered cake with chocolate mousse and a jungle theme.
“The theme is Northern Africa so we had to incorporate that into our design. We incorporated spices from Northern Africa into our recipe as well,” Carrillo said, adding her confidence with the entry. “(Curtis and I) work together well and I think we can handle the pressure.”
Curtis said the theme seemed a bit challenging, but the main task at hand, he said, is flavor.
“Everything has to taste right and there has to be consistency,” Curtis said. “We made practice cake the other day and it turned out pretty well. We need to work on our chocolate mousse a little bit, and I think we'll have it.”
Vieiro, who is competing in the hot food division, was given the opportunity to create an entry of his choice consisting of protein, starch and vegetable.
His dish features chicken, couscous and a vegetable medley. He said he researched the cuisine of Northern Africa to determine his dish.
“It was hard to find a meal from Northern Africa that wasn't a stew and I wanted a dish I could plate well because that is a big aspect of the judging,” Vieiro said.
“This challenge has given me a chance to work with a lot of ingredients that I haven't work with before,” Vieiro added. “The dish has a little bit of a spice to it, but the flavors blend well and the couscous has a nice local blood orange olive oil that gives it a nice twist.”
Students at the event, which is being held at the Energy Resource Center in Downey, also will have the opportunity to participate in a job fair and symposium.
Email Denise Rockenstein at
