Ten Students Win American Culinary Federation 2011 Student Culinarian Invitational, Will Cook At Dallas Reception And Travel To South Korea

The results are in, and pork brisket, scallops, barbecue ribs, pork tenderloin and braised bison are among the winning dishes created by five two-person teams of culinary students from Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey and Oregon. Today, the American Culinary Federation (ACF), the nation's largest organization of professional chefs, announced winners of its first-ever Student Culinarian Invitational.

The Student Culinarian Invitational, which was announced in January, was designed to foster mentorship between culinary students and professional ACF members, and to nurture culinary excellence. The invitational challenged two-person student teams from across the country to create two original recipes (appetizer and entree or entree and dessert) by May 13 that represented their region's cuisine. Thirteen teams entered and five were selected as this year's winners.

Students will win a trip to attend the 2011 ACF National Convention in Dallas, July 22-26, and will cook at a special fundraising reception July 23. In addition, students who are not older than 25 by May 1, 2012, will travel to South Korea to attend the 2012 World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) International Congress in May 2012.

"ACF appreciates all the time, effort and culinary creativity that went into all of the teams' applications," said Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, ACF national president. "The five winning teams' recipes stood out for their originality, regional flair and presentation. ACF hopes that the students' experiences at the 2011 ACF National Convention and WACS International Congress act as steppingstones in their careers and inspire them to continue dreaming and striving for success in the culinary industry."

The Winning Teams:

Central: ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs Association: James McCausland and Jordan Rainbolt, students at Johnson County Community College (JCCC), Overland Park, Kan.; mentored by Edward Adel, chef-instructor at JCCC

Northeast: ACF Professional Chefs Association of South Jersey: Jennifer Dougherty and Elizabeth Penn, students at Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing, N.J.; mentored by Philip Cragg, CEC, CCE, AAC, chef-instructor at ACCC

Southeast: ACF First Coast Chapter: Ian Fleischmann and Matthew Kemp, CC, students at The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Fla.; mentored by Noel Ridsdale, CEC, CCA, AAC, culinary instructor at the school

Western: ACF Bay Area Chefs Association of Oregon: Edalyn Garcia and Reilly Meehan, students at Oregon Coast Culinary Institute (OCCI), Coos Bay, Ore.; mentored by Randy Torres, CEC, chef-instructor at OCCI

At-large: ACF Professional Chefs and Culinarians of the Heartland: Katie Arant and Chase Grove, students at Metropolitan Community College (MCC), Omaha, Neb.; mentored by Brian O'Malley, chef-instructor at MCC

Visit www.acfchefs.org/StudentCulinarianInvitational to view the teams' winning menus. Tickets to the Student Culinarian Invitational Fundraising Reception in Dallas are $40 and can be purchased online.

More than 1,500 chefs, cooks and foodservice professionals will attend this year's national convention in Dallas. There will be educational seminars, culinary demonstrations, networking and social functions, culinary competitions, meal events and national awards. Learn more at www.acfchefs.org/convention.

About the American Culinary Federation
The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 20,000 members spanning 225 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official repres