6 Sep 2017
On June 14th, 2017, the Puratos Corporation held its second annual sandwich competition at the Culinary Institute LeNôtre (CIL) in Houston, TX. Future chefs enrolled in the institute were asked to develop creative recipes using innovative Puratos breads.
The eight finalists, announced earlier in June, competed in a cook-off using a choice of ten different breads provided by Puratos in their recipes. The sandwiches developed were judged on the following criteria: taste, ease of preparation, innovation, creativity and presentation.
Puratos worked with CIL in selecting the eight finalists from a pool of over 40 submissions by CIL’s current students and alumni. Selected sandwiches featured surprising ingredients such as coffee, mango, beer and a variety of homemade sauces. A panel of 4 industry professionals, including Puratos executives and 2010 CIL alumnus Rodolfo Fernandes, author of the bestseller, You Will Never Be Hungry Again, tasted and evaluated each of the finalist’s recipes. Prizes amounting to $2250 in scholarships were donated by Puratos and awarded to to the winners.
Luis Marenco earned first place and a $1000 scholarship prize for his well-executed Loaded Breakfast Sandwich which featured a multigrain baguette bagel made with O-tentic Origin and Softgrain Multigrain, bacon, sausage, cheddar and chimichurri sauce. Second prize went to Marie-Christine Dieppe for her Mandalay Medley Sandwich—an asiago chives roll made with O-tentic Durum, topped with a salmon burger and a mango julienne. Third prize went to Tiara Guard for a Waldorf Chicken Salad Sandwich on a green tea golden raisin roll made with Sapore Aida and green tea powder —a quick, easy, and light sandwich specially made for summer outings and picnics. Puratos also chose to recognize the finalists’ innovation, awarding a creativity prize to Richard Whitman for his Meatloaf Sandwich Bourguignon using an onion dill roll made with O-tentic Durum.
Emcee Chef Michael Gabriel added that he believes the “The competition experience is vital,” speaking highly of its ability to provide “just the right amount of push” for future-chefs. He also stated that “Whether you lose or win, it's going to provide growth. Friendly competition is the best competition."
Contestants who didn’t make it this time will be able to resubmit recipes around new bread concepts for the 2018 Competition.
About Puratos
Puratos is an international group, which offers a full range of innovative products and application expertise for artisans, industry, retailers and food service customers in the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors. Our headquarters are located on the outskirts of Brussels (Belgium), where the company was founded in 1919. Today, our products and services are available in over 100 countries around the world. In many cases, they are produced locally by our subsidiaries. Above all, we aim to be ‘reliable partners in innovation’ across the globe to help our customers deliver nutritious, tasty food to their local communities. In the US we are headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and have 4 production sites and 6 branches.
For further information, visit www.puratos.us.