Weapons cook stirs up award-winning menu

6 Sep 2002 | Cpl. Alisha R. Fitzgerald Marine Corps Training and Education Command

Lance Cpl. Gerald Madsen, mess hall cook, Weapons and Field

Training Battalion, was named Chef of the Quarter at WFTBn. Mess Hall Sept. 12.

The competition marked the last of its kind and the last time a Marine would be given the title, due to mess hall operations being taken over

by civilian personnel beginning Oct. 1.

After close examination of Marine Air Ground Task Force operations, the Department of Defense awarded Sodexho, a civilian food service

company, the contract to take over all East and West coast Marine Corps mess halls in an effort to become more cost efficient. Therefore,

mess hall Marines will become a thing of the past.

"The last of our cooks will be phased out during January 2003," said Capt. James D. McCoy, officer in charge, Depot Food Service. "Out of the

19 cooks I have, 12 will remain in food service as quality assurance evaluators."

The participants in this final competition were handpicked by their mess hall managers. The cooks, then, underwent a three-part analysis to

determine who would be named Chef of the Quarter, including a comprehensive exam, board and cook-off.

Each cook prepared his choice of menu items for the cook-off. Three chefs from The Salt Marsh Grill, an upscale restaurant on Dataw Island,

were on hand to judge the competition.

"We were basically looking for who put in the extra effort," said judge Linda LaBonte, Salt Marsh sous-chef. "For instance, were fresh or

frozen products used and how did each item taste."   

Although civilians have always judged the Chef of the Quarter competition, this was the first time this particular team had been given the

opportunity, according to Gunnery Sgt. Lia Vandernat, property chief, Depot Food Service.

"The judges we select must be food-trained from an accredited culinary institute," said Vandernat. "We called around and luckily got three

from the same restaurant."

After the judges sampled each of the six contestants' menu items, they came to a unanimous decision in favor of Madsen.

"He made the effort to do something different," said LaBonte. "You could see he had gone the extra mile by doing things like making homemade

bread and preparing more than one vegetable side dish. His items also had a slightly better taste than the others."

Madsen's winning combination included grilled salmon, sautéed spinach, garlic butter potatoes, sautéed broccoli, sautéed carrots and Italian

pastries for dessert. For his award-winning efforts, he received a certificate signed by Brig. Gen. Joseph J. McMenamin, Depot and Eastern

Recruiting Region Commanding General, an opportunity to train with culinary chefs at the Fripp Island Resort and his name engraved on the

traveling Chef of the Quarter plaque that will hang on the WFTBn. Mess Hall wall for the remainder of the quarter.

Madsen was confident going into the competition.

"I had a good idea that I might win," he said. "I have prior experience with these types of things. I worked as a cook in an Italian

restaurant for almost three years before joining the Corps."

After the changeover to civilian personnel, Madsen hopes to get orders to a grunt unit where he can work as a field cook.

Marine Corps Training and Education Command