Portland, OR – Three U.S. culinary students who created recipes featuring fresh USA Pears earned a trip to Portland, Oregon to compete for the top prize in the 2012 USA Pears Culinary Student Recipe Competition. Chosen from dozens of entries from students around the country, the top three culinary students recently competed at Portland’s Le Cordon Bleu with an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert recipe featuring multiple varieties of fresh USA Pears.
Jennifer Williams of Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, Georgia took top honors from the judges to win a scholarship prize of $1,000 with her “Pear and Prosciutto Ravioli.” The judges were impressed with the balance of sweet and savory flavors from Ms. Williams’ use of four types of USA Pear varieties, cheeses, prosciutto and fall-inspired spices in the ravioli stuffing and the sauce.
Adrienne Harris of The Art Institute of Atlanta earned the second place prize of a $750 scholarship for her innovative appetizer “Pear Popper with Grilled Pear Salsa,” a jalapeño pepper stuffed with pears, blue cheese, bacon and walnuts, deep-fried and topped with a grilled pear and basil salsa.
Susan Oliver of Ivy Technical Community College in Indianapolis, Indiana was awarded a $500 scholarship for her “Pear and Goat Cheese Torte,” a festive dessert layered with Concorde pears, goat cheese, cream cheese and spices in a hazelnut crust, topped with granola and cranberry sauce.
All entries were awarded points in the following categories: prominent use of fresh pears, originality, creativity, appearance, texture and taste. Each of the three finalists prepared their dishes and presented them to the panel of judges, Mary Petersen, President of the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education; Executive Chef David Anderson of Genoa in Portland; Lola Milholland of Edible Portland magazine; and Chef DJ Wendeborn, Lead Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu, Portland. The judges scored each dish, then gave comments to the students.
Each of the finalists’ schools, along with host school, Le Cordon Bleu, received a donation to their respective scholarship funds from the Pear Bureau Northwest.
A similar culinary student pear recipe competition is taking place nationwide in Canada as well. The deadline for entries from Canadian culinary students is March 5th, and the final competition will be held in Vancouver, BC on April 17th.
For more information about USA Pears contact the Pear Bureau Northwest at 503-652-9720 or visit the website at www.usapears.org.
The Pear Bureau Northwest is a non-profit marketing organization established in 1931 to promote, advertise and develop markets for pears grown in the states of Washington and Oregon, under the USA Pear brand. The Bureau represents more than 1,600 growers and 55 packers who produce approximately 84 percent of the nation’s fresh pear crop, and develops national and international markets for Northwest pear distribution.
Source: Pear Bureau Northwest