by Leslie Stewart
Ville Voice Eats Correspondent

Get ready to scrounge around for your copies of the Larousse Gastronomique or Escoffier if you even hope to understand what was on the menu late last month when the Sullivan University Student Culinary Competition Team competed in the American Culinary Federation’s Student Hot Food Culinary Salon.

The team garnered a silver medal during the ACF’s annual Southeast Regional convention held in Charlotte, N.C. The five-member team was led by coach Chef Eugene Bell, CEC (Certified Executive Chef), who also serves as president of the Kentucky chapter of the ACF, along with student captain and Sullivan culinary tutor David Wheatley.

Here’s what was on the menu:

Paupiette of Sole á la Trouvilliase was the appetizer – a rolled fillet of Dover Sole, poached in its own essence with white wine, served with mussels, shrimp, mushrooms and a shrimp sauce.  One of the requirements of the competition was a classic presentation of sole.

The salad was a Bibb and frisée dish with a citrus vinaigrette. A grapefruit and Riesling sorbet, along with a pink peppercorn puff pastry twist, a mozarella-proscuitto roll and plum chutney were the accompaniments.

For the entrée, the team chose a chicken breast suprême with a mushroom and apple brandy sauce, accompanied by red cabbage with apple, a crispy potato onion pancake, and a chicken, currant and pistachio sausage.

Dessert came in the form of a an orange scented vanilla panna cotta, a cooked Italian style cream dessert, with a hazelnut cookie, fresh mango, and a sorbet of verjus, which is a tart juice of green grapes.

Hungry yet?

In addition to the four-course meal, the students also competed in a cold food platter presentation, and a “relay” which included classical knife skills, meat fabrication skills, and pastry skills.  The team actually began working together back in October of 2008 to create the four course menu for this prestigious regional competition.

In addition to Wheatley, participating students were Elizabeth Stogner, Erica Sung, Eric Smith, and Brad Stout.  And, although not on the culinary team, Samantha McNamara represented Sullivan in the competition for Best Student Chef.