Pennsylvania College of Technology recently announced the winners of its annual Food Show.
The Food Show provides a venue for students to share their final projects in several courses and to gain feedback from industry professionals who judge their work. At the same time, it offers a learning experience for high school students interested in hospitality-related careers, who make a visit to the show as part of a daylong campus experience.
Earning the Chef Eugene Mattucci Best of Show Award was an entry from the Advanced Garde Manger class by culinary arts technology students Chelsea L. Gray, of Marysville, and Summer L. Showers, of Aspers. The pair created a “Game Meats From the Hunt” platter and charcuterie board, featuring a snap pea salad topped with lemon zest, smoked feta and a lemon mustard vinaigrette and paired with grilled quail; pate en croute, featuring venison and pork that was hunted, butchered and packaged by the students’ families; cured and smoked pheasant; and a cold-smoked feta.
The Best of Show Award is named for the late chef/owner of Mattucci’s Italian Restaurant in Mount Carmel. Mattucci was a longtime Penn College advisory committee member and Food Show judge.
Other classes entering final projects were Advanced Breads, Classical and Specialty Desserts Presentation, and Principles of Chocolate Works courses.
The projects were judged by Patrick J. Kelly II, a 2015 Penn College culinary arts and systems graduate and chef de cuisine for Herman & Luther’s in Montoursville; Samantha L. Liedtka-Gundlach, a 2010 Penn College baking and pastry arts graduate and owner of Samantha’s Kitchen in Lock Haven; and Sue L. Mayer, a 1985 graduate of the college’s food and hospitality management major, owner of Grammy Sue’s Cakes and Cookies, and a retired faculty member.
In addition, students from the Hospitality Beverage Management Service and Controls course provided demonstrations and samples of non-alcoholic mixed drinks, giving visitors to the Food Show the opportunity to vote for their favorite.
Winners from each course and their hometowns are:
Advanced Breads – First place: Ally T. Monborne, of Williamsport; second place: George E. Logue, of Montoursville; third place, Carrie M. Phillips, of Trout Run; honorable mentions: Ashley L. Yancey, of Abington, and Kobi A. Shannon, of Lewistown.
Advanced Garde Manger – First place: Gray and Showers (who also received Best in Show); second place: Janelle R. Becker, of Fort Loudon, and Kobi A. Shannon, of Lewistown; third place: Angela M. Linde, of Harrisburg, and Garrett E. Mottern, of Hughesville.
Classical and Specialty Dessert Presentation – First place: Danielle R. Wesneski, of Williamsport; second place: Tyler C. Geer, of Williamsport; third place: Cyril L. Hunter, of Hughesville.
Hospitality Beverage Management Service and Controls – First place team: Ireland Q. Hastings, of Shippensburg, and Lukas J. Seyler, of Williamsport; second place team: Rebecca L. Chapman, of Gilbertsville, Mallory A. Hoffman, of Pottsville, and Nicole L. Sherman, of Towanda.
Principles of Chocolate Works – First place: Sarah A. Bryan, of Bellefonte; second place: Madeline J. Novack, of Selinsgrove; third place: Danielle R. Wesneski, of Williamsport; honorable mention: Cyril L. Hunter, of Hughesville.
Penn College offers hospitality-related associate degrees in baking and pastry arts, culinary arts technology and hospitality management. Its bachelor’s degree offerings include culinary arts and systems, business administration: sport and event management, and applied management. To learn more, visit the School of Business & Hospitality or call 570-327-4505.
For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.
– Photos by Jennifer A. Cline, writer/magazine editor
Ally T. Monborne, of Williamsport, received first place in the Advanced Breads course. Each student submitted breads of his or her own original formulas.
George E. Logue’s ciabatta baguettes took second place in Advanced Breads. Logue is from Montoursville.
“Holiday Bread,” the creation of Carrie M. Phillips, of Trout Run, receives third place.
A garlic and rosemary rye loaf, the original formula of Kobi A. Shannon, of Lewistown, receives honorable mention.
A tantalizing lineup of fresh-baked breads includes honorable mention-winning spiced pumpkin whole wheat bread (light blue ribbon), made by Ashley L. Yancey, of Abington.
A chocolate sculpture by Sarah A. Bryan, of Bellefonte, earns first-place honors in the Principles of Chocolate Works course.
Madeline J. Novack’s lunar entry receives second place.
Butterflies flit across a third-place chocolate piece by Danielle R. Wesneski, of Williamsport.
Cyril L. Hunter, of Hughesville, receives honorable mention for his autumnal sculpture.
Danielle R. Wesneski’s “Raspberry Chocolate Brownie Bombs,” with a white-chocolate flower garnish, earn first place in Classical and Specialty Dessert Presentation.
Tyler C. Geer’s lemon doberge cake, accented with blackberry coulis, receives second-place honors. Geer is from Williamsport.
Cyril L. Hunter’s pate a choux (French for cream puff dough or choux pastry) star, filled with vanilla diplomat cream and paired with a brush of strawberry and kiwi coulis and a dark-chocolate crescent moon, earns third place.
The Best of Show entry – and first place in Advanced Garde Manger – features a “Game Meats From the Hunt” menu by Chelsea L. Gray and Summer L. Showers …
… with a snap-pea salad with grilled quail; cured and smoked pheasant; and other treats.
Janelle R. Becker, of Fort Loudon, and Kobi A. Shannon, of Lewistown, earn second place for an “Early Spring” spread …
… that includes a hearty fruit and vegetable salad, haymarket pate en croute with cranberry orange chutney, horseradish- and beet-cured salmon florets, and spicy smoked chorizo sausage.
Cajun is the theme for the third-place Advanced Garde Manger entry by Angela M. Linde, of Harrisburg, and Garrett E. Mottern, of Hughesville.
The duo’s platter and charcuterie board feature a Cajun corn and kale salad, haymarket pate en croute with a spicy peach chutney, andouille sausage with homemade spicy mustard, and an assortment of smoked Gouda cheese with Cajun seasoning.