Last Wednesday, the 14th floor of ICE was a flurry of activity as 22 high school seniors from New York City Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) schools seasoned and sautéed their hearts out in hopes of becoming scholarship recipients.
C-CAP is designed to encourage high school students who show interest and aptitude in the Culinary Arts to turn their young passion into a long-term career. The 20th Annual Cooking Competition for Scholarships saw finalists from schools in each of the five boroughs spend two hours preparing a classic French dinner and dessert from memory.
This year’s menu was Sûpreme Poulet Chaseur avec Pommes Château (Hunter’s Chicken with Turned, Sauteed Potatoes) and Crêpes Sucrées with Crème Pâtissière and Sauce au Chocolat (Dessert Crepes with Pastry Cream and Chocolate Sauce). Each student presented two plates of each dish to the eight guest judges, including President/Founder of C-CAP Richard Grausman, C-CAP alumni Mehdi Chellaoui of Clearwater and Kelvin Fernandez of Antipasti Restaurant and Bar, as well as ICE’s own Chef Instructor Ted Siegel.
The day culminated in interviews with each candidate to determine who will be awarded the full and partial scholarships that range from $500 to $88,596 to help defray the costs of attending a wide variety of culinary schools across the country. The results will be announced at the 20th Annual C-CAP Awards Breakfast on Friday, April 30 at the Pierre Hotel. We can’t wait to see some of the students here at ICE in the very near future!
Photos by Jerry Ruotolo. Top: President/Founder of C-CAP Richard Grausman, ICE President Rick Smilow, a C-CAP student and Mark Gagnon of Abigail Kirsch Culinary Productions. Left: C-CAP students with their dishes.
