By COLIN M. STEWART
By COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
It all came down to the perfect meal — or as close to perfect as they could make it.
For second-year students of the Hawaii Community College Culinary Arts Program in Hilo, Friday was their final chance to shine before graduation. The 14th annual Culinary Classic featured all the various techniques they had learned, consisting of three-, five- and even seven-course meals, multi-tiered cakes and wildly original display desserts.
According to program Head Chef Allan Okuda, the event held at the Manono Campus Cafeteria served as a “capstone” for the second-year students, who would graduate and go on to fill jobs in the many hotels and restaurants on the Big Island, throughout the state, and the mainland.
“Right here in our little hamlet of Hilo, Hawaii, we’re showing that we can do world-class work,” he said as the judges worked their way around the tables. “The work for this day begins the first day they come in (to the school). We’re grooming them for this. It’s how they show off to their friends and family, the community, what they’ve learned and what they can do.”
While the second-year students’ final grades depend largely on their performance in the competition, first-year students may also voluntarily participate, Okuda said. Also in attendance were students from area intermediate and high schools, who were judged in their own categories as they took their first steps into the world of culinary arts.
Many of the HawCC students had remained awake all night preparing their dishes, said first-year student Keoki Medeiros. Once the results were announced and the event came to an end around 1 p.m., they were all planning on hitting the beach to celebrate.
“I’ve been up since 6 a.m. yesterday morning,” he said. “It’s really tough. … I had to do my polentas over and over again. To get it perfect.”
He and his teammates — Martina Laimana, Diana Mitchell, and Anson Alameida — claimed a silver medal in their category for their efforts.
Before the doors were opened to the public at 11 a.m., the competition’s three judges spent the morning inspecting each of the dozens of entries. They judged each plate on criteria like presentation, themes, combination of flavors, consistency, and others. Ironically, the one thing the judges didn’t do was taste the entries.
According to longtime Culinary Classic judge, and former owner of O’Keefe and Sons Bakery, Jim O’Keefe, the logistics of having everything come out hot and ready to eat while accomodating the sheer number of entries is simply too much for the judges.
“A judge can only eat so much,” he said with a smile. “After four or five plates, you’re just not tasting the same.”
But, he said, a good judge is a chef with years and years of experience, and they can usually tell exactly how something is going to taste, and how its flavors will combine, just by looking at the dish and knowing how it was prepared.
Following their inspections, the judges moved from plate to plate with the students, sharing their critiques and doling out tips on how to perfect their creations.
“Your portion sizing is definitely on point, and good call on your gnocci,” said judge Casey Halpern, head chef at Cafe Pesto, to one team.
“Remember, if you see a fingerprint on your plate, it’s not too appetizing,” added O’Keefe.
Student Mark Sadang, 19, said he agreed with the critiques of his dishes. He prepared a “Five-Course Menu Gastronomique” and won a silver medal in his category — without the aid of any teammates, something which few of the participants were willing to try.
“They (the judges) made a good point that I should have had another sauce,” he said. “But I thought I did a pretty good job. It was pretty hectic back there (in the kitchen).”
After the critiques were shared with the participants, members of the public were admitted to the cafeteria to enjoy a buffet of heavy pupus and to peruse all of the entries themselves. Proud family members posed for photos and videos with the students and their creations. The winners were then announced, and medals and trophies were handed out.
Grand Prize winners Karen Tanaka and Stephanie Dawson beamed as the crowd marveled at their meticulously fashioned showpiece dessert, called “Hilo High Tea.” Its powdered sugar and corn starch base resembled a surreal swan, with its long neck curving and swooping several feet above the table, serving up delicious-looking little yellow, orange and brown treats on platters along its edges. It was a project that took a combined six months of planning and trial and error, Tanaka said.
“It was difficult because it was all new,” Dawson added. “It was a learning process for us, because it was something we’d never tried before.”
Friday’s winners were:
College Division and Overall Winners
• 1st Place – Karen Tanaka/Stephanie Dawson
• 2nd Place – Candicelee Spencer
• 3rd Place – Roxanne Daguio
Intermediate/High-School Division
(all winners are from Waiakea Intermediate)
• 1st Place – Maiyah Turner
• 2nd Place – Jasmine Caban
• 3rd Place – Kaytlen Kort-Prudencio
Former Student Division:
• 1st Place – Lazareth Sye
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.