Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) recently recognized 12 Johnson & Wales University culinary students for their outstanding recipes incorporating Wisconsin Cheese. The contest, presented in conjunction with Johnson & Wales, challenged postsecondary culinary students to create a unique recipe featuring one of three Wisconsin Cheeses: Carr Valley Cranberry Chipotle Cheddar, Sartori BellaVitano, and Emmi Roth Grand Cru Gruyere.
Individual recipe competitions were held at the four Johnson & Wales campuses: Providence, Rhode Island; North Miami; Denver; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Sara Hill, culinary manager, Cheese Education for WMMB visited each campus prior to the start of the competition to conduct a Wisconsin Cheese education session with the students. The competition drew more than 20 recipe entries from each campus.
“I was very impressed with the quality of the entries we received,” says Hill. “The recipes reflected the knowledge gained from the education sessions, resulting in very creative applications for Wisconsin Cheese.”
The top five recipes at each school were selected by school instructors, with the students participating in a cook off-style final judging session. First, second, and third place cash prizes were awarded at each campus.
Deborah Neel received first place at the Denver campus for her Wisconsin BellaVitano Baked Empanadas recipe. Second and third place awards were presented to Kiley Fraley and Diedra Hill, respectively.