By M. McKay, photos by the author

What happens when you challenge your brightest and best master-level culinary students to participate in an international competition? You get a fantastic array of dishes worthy of a medal.

The Intenazionali d’Italia Esposizione Culinaria competitions were held in the month of February in Massa, Tuscany, where Apicius culinary and pastry team members proudly represented the school and returned home with silver and bronze medals. The International Italian Culinary Expo was established over 30 years ago and has been raising the bar in Italian and international cuisine by bringing food enthusiasts, experts, and vendors together under one roof to exchange knowledge.

I am a currently Culinary Arts career student and was invited to join our competing team to photograph the competition. The students, Vincent Rossi, Lin Jo-Chiao, and Paola Caballero are tireless and committed culinary students who can create magic with a few fresh ingredients and the freedom to use their imagination and expertise. They spent countless hours with Executive Chef Andrea Trapani and Executive Sous Chef Massimo Bocus, composing the menu and preparing, tasting, and selecting menu items.

In addition to the culinary students, Sous Pastry Chef Christian Casini, assisted by Pastry Chef Simone De Castro, participated in the Patisserie Competition earning a silver medal for his chocolate creations. I got tasked with holding the most important sculpture element: the white chocolate head with very clear instructions from the chefs: “Nelly, don’t break it!” It was exciting to hold the piece and study the delicate attention to details showing the patience, care, and skills of the sculptor.

The student team presented dishes in the Cold Competition which required finger food/appetizers, 4 main courses, vegetarian menu, four different desserts, and 1 show piece. Why did they choose a culinary career? Which was their favorite dish in the competition? Interesting enough, as diverse as this group of students was, we all had one common thread that united us: the influence of our mothers and grandmothers in our passion and love for cooking. Some have been cooking since childhood, others, like myself, discovered cooking later in life. Every single one of us finds joy in sharing our culinary discoveries with friends and family members.

Paola Caballero, comes from Barranquilla, Colombia. Her interest in food started with pastry and now her drive is channeled towards creating culinary masterpieces. Paola’s favorite competition dish was the lobster, the complexity and beauty of the dish “caught everyone’s attention.”

Lin Jo-Chiao (林若喬), comes from Kaohsiung City, home of the largest port in Taiwan. She preferred the “rolled Carpaccio” dish because of the presentation style and the different textures incorporated into the dish. “When you think about it” she said, “traditional Carpaccio can seem flat and unexciting, so our approach made the dish more interesting…for example, we added dehydrated rice to incorporate new texture.”

Vincent Rossi, grew up in a military family and has lived in so many countries before the age of 18 that it's hard to pin down a city “that he's from.” Nonetheless he spent his childhood in Latin America, and his favorite dish prepared for the competition was the steak filet.

As for myself, like Vincent I have a hard time selecting a single place that I call home. I have spent the past 12 years in Europe. So for now I consider it my home, yes, Europe, not one specific country. I have many dear friends in France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and now Italy, it's impossible to pick one single country. As for my favorite competition display, it would have to be the chocolate sculpture created by our Fedora pastry chefs!

On behalf of the student team, I'd like to thank the school leadership for this wonderful opportunity. We thank all the Apicius chefs who gave their advice and support. A special thanks to Emrah Anteplioglu, Lorenzo Giovannini, and Jay You who volunteered to help the team get ready for the competition.

We look forward to the next one!