Photo of Louisiana Culinary Institute students Amanda Schall and Rory Wingett, courtesy of Maggie Heyn Richardson.
Last Friday, the Louisiana Culinary Institute (LCI) held its seventh annual “Race to Cannes” cooking competition, an in-house face-off between students for the right to cook at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, which takes place May 13-24.
More than 30 students entered the competition, which began several weeks ago. The final battle featured two young finalists, Rory Wingett and Amanda Schall, who both work for City Pork Brasserie and Bar under Executive Chef and LCI alum Ryan André. Wingett and Schall cooked their hearts out Friday morning during three rounds, each of which forced them to prepare original dishes with specific ingredients.
The appetizer round required shrimp, peanut butter and Granny Smith apples. The entrée round called for baby bok choy, fried tofu, Thai chili pepper, turnips and dates. And the dessert round’s basket included blueberries, bleu cheese, phyllo dough and dried pineapple ring.
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“The idea is to have to cook with ingredients that don’t really go together,” said one of the judges, Aimee Tortorich, a private chef and LCI graduate who won the Race to Cannes last year.
In the end, it was Schall who eeked out a win. The difference between the two contestants was less than a point. She was the fourth female culinary student in a row to win LCI’s Race to Cannes.
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Schall says she is a longtime fan of the Food Network show Chopped. With the basket ingredients, she prepared shrimp salad with a peanut dressing over apple and spicy greens. Her entrée featured homemade dumplings with a filling of tofu, Thai chili pepper, turnips and bok choy and a tangy bok choy-based salad. And for dessert, she made a deep fried “wrap,” a cylinder of phyllo dough filled with blueberries, cream and a hint of bleu cheese. The sweetness was offset by homemade fruit chutney on top.
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Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor and author of the new book, Hungry for Louisiana, An Omnivore’s Journey, which explores 8 of Louisiana’s most emblematic foods. Reach her at hungryforlouisiana.com. Follow Richardson on Twitter @mhrwriter.