SUNY Delhi Team Bound for National Culinary Championship

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SUNY Delhi's winning Hot Food Team

DELHI, NY (03/04/2017) (readMedia)-- SUNY Delhi's Hot Food Team has won the American Culinary Federation (ACF) 2017 Northeast Region Student Team Championship and now advances to the National Championship held in Orlando, Fla. July 9-13.

SUNY Delhi has the distinction of being the only team from New York State to have claimed the national ACF title, winning in 2010 and 2012. SUNY Delhi has secured the Northeast Region Championship for a seventh time. The team has won a total of 13 state championships.

"This was a tremendous victory, and validates the hundreds of hours of preparation the students and their coaches have invested in reaching this milestone," said Dr. David Brower, SUNY Delhi Dean of Business and Hospitality Management. "This is our most diverse hot food team. Age, gender, race, cultural background-none of these things are stumbling blocks when they are in the kitchen. They understand the value of working as one."

The Delhi team made its way through a grueling schedule, competing at the state level in January, and then moving on to the regional championship in New Rochelle, before earning a spot at the nationals. At the national championship, the team will go up against three other teams, each representing one of the four ACF regions.

SUNY Delhi's Hot Food Team members include Alex Johnson of Herkimer (captain), Peter Blayne of Westbury, Matthew Julius of the Bronx, Carly Yezzo of Schenectady and Arthur Grady of Syracuse (alternate). Daniel Hess of Salisbury Mills, Jerusaline Johnson of Mumbai, India, and Jessica Shultis of Schenectady serve as apprentices. Faculty who coached the team include Instructor Victor Sommo, CEC, and Assistant Professor Brianne Slocum, CHE, alumni of Delhi's Culinary Arts program, Assistant Professor Sean Pehrsson, CEC, CHE, and Instructor James Margiotta, CEC.

The team's winning hot food menu was as follows:

• First Course-Filets de Sole Lady Egmont

• Second Course-Salad of Beets, Pickled Grapes, Fennel and Orange with Goat Cheese Mousse and Beet Gelee

• Third Course (entrée)-Chicken Trio, Fall Vegetables, Apple Cider Calvados Sauce

• Fourth Course (dessert)-Pistachio and Chocolate Terrine, Passion Fruit Bar, Raspberry Sorbet, Tropical Fruit and Mint

Last summer, the college's Hot Food Team won its first international competition in the U.S. as champions of Copa Culinaria Mundial Junior in Costa Rica. SUNY Delhi students and faculty have won hundreds of ACF medals at local, regional and national events.

SUNY Delhi's Culinary Arts programs offer graduates a firm foundation from which to start their careers as professionals. Students can choose from a variety of specialized courses depending on their interest or direction in the field, including advanced meat cutting, culinary competition, advanced pastries and confections, and culinary sculpting, a course in which students learn to sculpt 300-pound ice blocks made in the campus lab. A capstone course, Signatures by Candlelight, gives students the experience of operating a full-service, fine dining restaurant that is open to the public.

The Culinary Arts programs are part of SUNY Delhi's award-winning hospitality offerings. Delhi offers two- and four-year degree programs in Hotel and Resort Management, Restaurant and Foodservice Management, Event Management, and Culinary Arts.

For more information about SUNY Delhi's Culinary Arts programs, visit www.delhi.edu.