A-B Tech Culinary Team Wins State Competition

ASHEVILLE, N.C., Nov. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's Student Culinary Team won the American Culinary Federation North Carolina State Team competition Nov. 13 at the College's Asheville campus.

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Team members will advance to the ACF Southeast regional competition in Atlanta Feb. 19-21, to vie for a chance to attend nationals in July in Dallas.

"This is a very dedicated, hard-working team. They had a short period of time to prepare for this competition," said team coach and Culinary Instructor Charles deVries. "They put in two practice sessions a week since September and the results show. We are very proud of their accomplishment and the level at which they performed. We look forward to the challenges ahead." Chef Fred Snyder also serves as coach for the team.

The team prepared a clarified tomato broth with seared sea bass, mixed greens with a grilled radicchio roquefort pear tart, Poulet Saute a la Catalane, and an Almond cake with pomegranate gelee and lemon sauce. The four-course meal must be prepared in one and a half hours, then judges score teams on taste, presentation, timeliness, and accuracy.

Danny Schwalje serves as team captain while each member prepares a course. Members are Jonathon Zetterholm (appetizer), Stephen Hertz (salad), Tracy Williams (entree), and Sidney Ann Caton (dessert).

SOURCE Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College