Dining Services Blog

18th of September 2008, 10:25 PM

Local Chefs, Unlimited Produce

I hope you are enjoying your DCs so far. We are busy running different specials for various weeks. As one of our focuses is on going green at the DCs, the month of September has been dedicated to promote sustainability. Not only are we using as much local produce as we can, this week we have done something we have never done before. Mission: Bring in three local chefs, for three dining commons and use as many local ingredients as possible. In fact, the more the merrier. The whole idea behind this event was to showcase local talents and at the same time to promote the use local produce which is at its peak of harvesting. I also think our UMass chefs can learn a few things from outside chefs and our students always enjoy a variety of new recipes. The whole idea sounded easy on paper but we needed to find the right chefs to make it happen.

It can be difficult to find quality chefs that understand high volume food service and are able to cook in batches. With close to 3000 meals for supper at each DCs, this number could be quite intimidating to many chefs. We decided to invite two chefs from well known restaurants plus a personal chef that grew up in this area, but also has some international cooking experience. Chef /Owner Casey Douglas of Apollo Grill, Chef Jake Perkins of the famed Eastside Grill and last and not the least, Chef Chris Ramirez, is a well-travelled chef who also cooks for celebrities regularly in New York. Three different chefs with different experiences and all had one common mission of using as much local produce as possible.

I attended all three “Local Guest Chef Week” events this week and chatted with several students. Generally speaking, students were excited to have guest chefs cooking for them. Here were some of the observations.

The three chefs are working chefs and all are very good at what they do; they may not be as flamboyant as celebrity chefs, as they are more reserved and humble, but very talented just the same.
Corn meal crusted scallops with Avocado Tartar sauce was a big hit with students at Franklin; a serving of three jumbo New England scallops sauted with local onions and peppers, a heavenly dish - who doesn’t like scallops?
The butternut squash soup with blue cheese and pears from Chef Perkins at Hampshire DC was out of this world, using local grown squash from Hadley. Butternut squash and pears made a wonderful combination, and both flavors were evident in this warm fall and winter soup.
The Draymans Porter braised short ribs were so tender that you could eat them without a knife. These ribs were customer-cut from Arnold’s meats, a local butcher shop out of Chicopee. It was a high calorie item and I was told one of the more popular menu items in the restaurant.
Tonight’s meal at Worcester DC from guest Chef Ramirez was so “local” that you need to give the chef a 10 for using local ingredients. The sweet corn from (Bembem Farm) with Parmesan and Parsley Butter was so sweet that you might have thought that the chef added sugar to it. From Roasted Beet Salad (Joe Czajkowski Farm) with Goat Cheese (Hillman Farm), Heirloom Tomatoes (Joe Czajkowski Farm) to Oven Roasted New Potatoes (Smiarowski Brothers) with Rosemary, everything was outstandingly flavorful and fresh

I think overall it was a great event and it surely exceeded our expectations; our staff enjoy working with the guest local chefs and using local ingredients. It was nice to see several parents tonight; we have planned more local specials to wow you in the next several weeks.

Ken
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu