Corrito Geologo, Race to Cannes winner

Corrito Geologo’s grapefruit mousse profiteroles clinched the deal. After winning the Louisiana Culinary Institute’s annual “Race to Cannes” cooking competition, she heads to France in May to cook at the Cannes Film Festival. “I still have to pinch myself,” says Geologo, 24. The LCI tournament takes place every spring over several weeks and culminates in a Chopped-style face-off that presents two students with pesky mystery ingredients and an intimidating time limit.

The competition was close, but Geologo, a pastry student, won over judges during the dessert round, in which she incorporated grapefruit into grapefruit mousse-filled profiteroles. This followed an appetizer round that saw Geologo transform required Roma tomatoes, egg whites and alfafa sprouts into a Napoleon of grilled tomato with fried egg white and alfalfa sprout sauce, and an entrée round in which she prepared pan-seared monkfish fillet with lemon garlic butter, parsnip puree and crispy julienned zucchini. Click here to read more about her win in this week’s Du Jour.—Maggie Heyn Richardson