Friday, March 29th, 2024
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Alligator on the Menu at Millesville Iron Chef Competition

Alligator: It’s what’s for dinner.

The ever-changing and ever-exciting Millersville Iron Chef Competition returns on March 29 at 7 p.m. in Gordinier Hall’s Lehr Room. This year, alligator is on the menu.

“We try to change up the competition each year,” says Allison Yarrow from the Campus Recreation Department, which co-sponsors the cooking competition with the Student Memorial Center (SMC) Fitness Center and Dining Services. “It adds a fun dynamic to continue to make the competition interesting.”

Iron Chef1
Iron Chef Competition from 2016.

Each year, the Iron Chef Competition committee selects a mandatory ingredient that participants must include in their dishes. For the 2018 competition, teams will have to create a balanced plate with side dishes that showcases this year’s unique, mandatory ingredient.

Following those guidelines, five registered teams must submit their recipes ahead of time to ensure that Dining Services collects all the necessary ingredients and equipment. On the day of competition, the teams will have 50 minutes to cook, 10 minutes to plate and five minutes to clean their stations before presenting their dishes to three judges and the audience. Free food samples and live cooking demonstrations contribute to a high level of excitement for audience members throughout the competition.

“The students definitely rise to the occasion and put out some pretty amazing dishes,” says Louis Logan, executive chef of Dining and Conference Services. “The audience participation helps to spur the teams on.”

The 2018 Iron Chef Competition judges are Millersville University Police Chief Peter Anders, Executive Director of Financial Aid Dwight Horsey, and Interim Director of Student Success Programs Darlene Newman. In addition to the Overall Competition winner selected by the judges, the audience will vote on a People’s Choice winner. Both winning teams will receive prize packs with Millersville University products and gift cards.

“When the first Iron Chef Competition started in 2010, Peer Educator students were attempting to find an engaging way to educate campus about nutrition,” explains Jayme Trogus, director of the Center for Health Education and Promotion (CHEP) which first partnered with Dining Services to offer the competition.

“We feel that part of going to college is providing a well-rounded experience for students,” adds Sara Burcin, the manager of the SMC Fitness Center which joined with Campus Recreation to take over for CHEP in 2015. “This event helps meet that goal.”

Interested students, faculty and staff must register their teams for this event by March 9 at noon. Registration packets are available in the SMC Fitness Center. For more information about the 2018 Millersville Iron Chef competition, contact Allison Yarrow at Allison.Yarrow@millersville.edu.

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