Army cooks flex their culinary muscles

FORT LEE The four Army cooks from Fort Bragg rushed around the field kitchen—really, a glorified tent—toiling over steaming pots and simmering pans as they prepared lunch.

What was on the menu?

Glad you asked.

Chicken roulade stuffed with spinach and prosciutto on a bed of carmelized red onion and smoked rice, with pepper blend seasoned Brussels sprouts and crisp bacon honey glazed carrots, in a Kentucky bourbon sauce.

Not exactly ham and chicken loaf or some other less-than elegant military meal in a pouch.

But that’s the point at the 34th annual U.S. Army Culinary Arts Competition where the military’s best cooks can stretch their imaginations and show off their skills. The competition concludes today and tomorrow with free public demonstrations at Fort Lee.

. . .

“It’s a far cry from what people expect coming out of a field kitchen,“ said Louis Perrotte, a Florida chef and restaurant owner who was among the judges in white jackets for the Field Cooking Competition in which the Fort Bragg team competed.

Of the meal prepared by the Fort Bragg team, Perrotte said: “The food was hot, wellpresented, appetizing. The portion control was healthy. It was really like eating in a very good restaurant. I would eat that food any day.“

Besides the chicken roulade, rice and vegetables, the Fort Bragg team prepared Carolina blue crab soup as an appetizer and, for dessert, warm peach and blueberry cobbler, with vanilla bean ice cream.

Culinary teams from the Army and other branches of service, as well individual cooks, showed up to show off at Fort Lee, home of the Army’s Quartermaster Center and School, which provides training in food preparation.

The team from Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, N.C., was among a dozen four-member teams competing over three days in the field cooking. Other teams served made-from-scratch entrees such as roast veal loin with potato gnocchi, almond-encrusted pork scaloppini with quenelles of potato, and turkey breast stuffed with sausage, fennel and Craisins. Even bacon and leek quiche. Winners will be announced later this week.

All teams cooked in field kitchens—tents on stilts—set up at Fort Lee. They were judged on their cooking methods, preparation, presentation and taste, as well as meeting a time deadline. Each team prepared 60 meals, which were served to base workers and members of the public in a large party tent set up between the field kitchens.

Chief Warrant Officer Robert Sparks, project officer for the competition, described the scene as “transforming our parking lot into a five-star restaurant.“

Most military mess halls won’t be confused with five-star restaurants, but the culinary event at Fort Lee, competitors said, is indicative of strides the military has made in recent years in the quality of its food; soldiers deployed in the field can now have meals such as pre-packaged shrimp scampi, said Spc. Javier Muniz, a member of the Fort Bragg team. The competition also demonstrates what the military’s best cooks can do with fresh ingredients and the right equipment—neither of which is generally available in the field.

The four Fort Bragg team members all have culinary experience outside the Army, though none has cooked in the field for fellow soldiers; for example, Spc. Michael Allen, 24, of Jacksonville, Ill., has helped run two Italian restaurants, and Muniz, 33, of Puerto Rico, formerly owned a restaurant. The four were chosen to represent Fort Bragg after competitive tryouts, much as if they were going out for their high school baseball team.

Leading up to the event, they practiced like a baseball team, too, cooking the meal they prepared in competition “day after day for three months,“ said Allen.

It’s a fine meal, but every day? Did they still eat their work?

“We don’t eat it as much,“ Allen said with a laugh. “But we still eat it.“

Allen was in charge of the soup and Muniz took care of the chicken roulade and all of the “folding, stuffing, rolling and searing”—as he put it—it required. Pfc. Anthony Patterson, 24, of Denver was team captain, keeping an eye on the clock and helping out on a little of everything. Sgt. Orlando Serna, 32, a naturalized citizen originally from Mexico, prepared the cobbler.

“It’s very simple,“ Serna said. “A lot of sugar.“

Piped up Muniz, “And a lot of love.“

So, what do these guys like to cook when they’re not on duty?

“Macaroni and cheese,“ Patterson said with a laugh.

Contact Bill Lohmann at (804) 649-6639 or .