Military Chefs

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Comment by Jason Talcott on July 15, 2009 at 11:58am

Congrats to MSG David Turcotte, CEC, AAC on recieving a presidents award at the ACF National Convention!

Comment by Jason Gray on July 14, 2009 at 2:41pm

Greetings! Just chiecking into the group for the first time. Capazzi turned me on to the site and I'm glad to be here.

Jason

Comment by Jesse Parker on July 13, 2009 at 1:01pm

Congratulations SGM

Comment by Jason Talcott on July 12, 2009 at 11:16pm

Congrats SGM! They are getting quite the military representation in the AAC!

Comment by Mark Webster, CEC, CCE, AAC on July 12, 2009 at 11:06pm

SGM Warren Chef congratulations on your induction into the AAC.

Comment by Travis Smith on July 11, 2009 at 8:08am

Please join me in congratulating SGM Mark W. Warren CEC, AAC for his recent induction into the American Academy of Chefs. Mark, thanks or always being the unltimate professional and representing the military so well.

Comment by Jeff Fritz on June 23, 2009 at 11:42pm

Just wondering if anyone has competed in the Military Chefs challenge and if so who do you need to talk to. I’m in the AF and love to cook, my job in the AF is not cooking but I just graduated from culinary school. Thanks

Comment by Barbara Kuck on June 22, 2009 at 1:45pm

Christopher,

Your group might me intested in knowing about Mrs. Mary A. Wilson instructor of cooking in the United States Naval Commissary Schools 1916-1918. The article is from the Szathmary Family Culinary Collection.

Barbara Kuck HAAC, Culinary Historian & Chef, ACF Culinary Ambassador

Daughters of the American Revolution magazine
Vol. LIV July, 1920 No. 7 By Daughters of the American Revolution p. 744

UNITED STATES NAVAL COMMISSARY SCHOOLS - MRS. MARY A. WILSON

There had been great difficulty in securing cooks and chefs for the Navy, or at least men who could prepare palatable and nutritious meals, and on June 1, 1916, Frederick R. Payne, Lieutenant-Commander, U. S. N., retired, acting for Captain Hetherington, Commandant, United States Naval Home, conferred with Mrs. Mary A. Wilson, instructor of cooking, in reference to the establishment of a school in which cooking could be taught.

The first class was started by Mrs. Wilson on June 5, 1916, with fifty recruits of the United States Naval Reserve forces. After the first class was trained and sent to ships and stations and produced palatable meals, the Regular United States Naval School at Newport, R. I., sent a detachment of fifty men to the school. The men trained for the first six classes were used as cooks for Naval Base No. 20 in France, on the coast patrol boats in the Fourth Naval District, and on Pier No. 19.

The success of the school soon spread, and Chaplain Tirbou, then on Commonwealth Pier, Boston, Mass., sent his daughter to investigate and to ask Mrs. Wilson to help them at Boston, where there was a great shortage of dependable cooks. William Rush, commandant of the First Naval District, urged Mrs. Wilson to spend part of the time in organizing a school there, which she did in the fall of 1916. Harry Schiffman, cook, first class, who was a salesman before he enlisted for the cooking school in the Fourth Naval District, was sent with Mrs. Wilson on leave of absence, and there on Commonwealth Pier started a school similar to the one in Philadelphia, alternating weekly between Boston and Philadelphia.
The quality of the food and the splendid records of the men, caused the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Daniels, to send Rear Admiral Albert E. Ross to investigate, and his report, after a rigid inspection of the class, to the Surgeon-329-J An "All Philadelphia" Class. General of the Navy at Washington, D. C., was that he found the men well berthed, though in tents, and the food was of splendid character. The men were willing and earnest and took great pride in their work. The variety and quantity of food far surpassed other stations in the Navy, and at a cost of 28 cents per day per man.
In Boston, Mass., Admiral Wood, upon the inspection of bread made by the boys in the commissary school of which Mrs. Wilson was instructor, inquired the cost of the bread, and was told it averaged about 52 cents per pound, not counting the cost of the labor and heat. He then issued orders that men were to bake sufficient bread to supply the boats patrolling the coast as well as the five or six thousand men on the pier, and he remarked that he would give the order because of the quality of the bread, even though it should cost 16 cents per pound instead of 512 cents per pound, and because he believed that men should have good bread whenever possible. This school made 2,800 pounds of bread daily. In a short time it was found that this home-made bread was not only economical in price, but also that when the bread purchased on contract was used 25 percent of it was wasted, against only 12 per cent of the bread made on the pier-so the commandant decided that was a splendid advantage of the navy; the contracted bread cost 12 cents per pound, and bread made on the pier cost D 2 cents.

The fame of the naval cooking school in Philadelphia spread, and Lieutenant-330 Commander Parker of New London, Conn., urged Mrs. Wilson to come to the fort there and establish a school. The Food Administration and the other organizations active in war work in Philadelphia were constantly seeking to have the boys sent out to display their ability with cooking as an incentive to the housewife in her patriotic duties. During the "flu" epidemic the cooking school of the United States Naval Home manned the municipal hospital and other places, helping out *- emergencies. Harry Stinger, who in 1916, before enlistment, was a boxmak'- , is now the United States Naval Commissary steward at the United States Naval Home at Philadelphia. James A. MacAnally, now steward for the Philadelphia Electric Recreation Club, Llanerch, who before the war was an inspector for the electric light com-pany, went right from the United States Naval Cooking School to become steward to the United States Naval Home and held this position during the war.

Mrs. Wilson closed her own school in Philadelphia and devoted her entire time, day and night, to the training of naval cooks, from June 5, 1916, to December 31, 1918, without compensation of any kind. She used the equipment of her school, including ranges, tables and bake ovens, utensils, etc., and from June until October purchased such supplies-flour, baking powder, eggs, shortening, etc., for the classes to work with. After October, Captain George Cooper, upon an inspection trip, offered a yeoman's wage to cover expenses, but his offer was declined.

Captain Ernest F. Bennett, Chief of Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D. C., gave Mrs. Wilson much valuable information on the naval mess, and Secretary Daniels personally commended her for the meritorious work done. Mrs. Wilson's title was instructor of cooking in the United States Naval Commissary Schools. No other schools of this character were recognized by the United States Naval Department at Washington, D. C. Two or three attempts were made by other commissaries to run schools, but they were turned into mess galleys. The Bureau of Navigation at Washington recognized the United States Naval Commissary Schools at Philadelphia and Boston as the only schools of their character outside of the training stations at Newport, R. I., where cooking instructions were abandoned during the war.

Comment by Mark Webster, CEC, CCE, AAC on March 21, 2009 at 12:11pm

Travis,
Thank you for submitting the essay from Tom. It really serves as a reminder not only for the great advancements that the Cooks/Chefs have made, but the incredible foresight by men like General McLaughlin. I just wanted to say I owe alot to the pioneers who raised our profession to a much higher level. They did so much to validate our skills and profession. Please pass on to Tom a thank you from someone who had the opportunity to meet General McLaughlin during the final stages of a Ney Memorial Award competition when he toured with Internatonal Food Service Executives Association.

Comment by Travis Smith on March 21, 2009 at 7:09am

My good friend Tom Recinella wanted me to pass this essay he wrote on for as many chefs to see as possible so I will post it here:

“In the foot steps of a legend”
Cooking in McLaughlin Hall with Americas Finest

I recently found myself experiencing something that I had only heard of but had never seen. The 34th Annual Army Culinary Competition held at Fort Lee Virginia. After only being there a short time I realized very quickly that not enough ACF members know about this amazing event that goes on every year. So why don’t more ACF chefs know about the wonderful things that go on every year in the “school house” as it is known to the regulars on the base? I just don’t have a good answer for that question. However it is my goal to change that and hopefully I will be able to do so when chefs read about the incredibly humbling experience that it was mine and my students honor to have for seven days as the month of March raged into being with a blizzard battering Richmond Virginia.

As I stepped out of the van in the slushy rain I was more concerned with the smell of exhaust fumes emanating from the van than thinking about the fact that we were at our destination, the 34th Annual Army Culinary Competition at Fort Lee. Nine hours driving in snow and rain with the very prevalent stench of a leaking exhaust system had made my students and I all sick with headaches.

But, that all changed and was forgotten when I turned and looked up and saw the huge black letters proudly stating, “McLaughlin Hall”. I was finally here. Known to most of the people that are around it everyday as building 4200 or the “school house,” it had much deeper meaning to me than just bricks, glass and tiles. This building represented to me the man himself, the person who along with Dr. LJ Minor and Chef Louis Szathmary was the driving force behind the US Labor department redefining the definition of chef to professional. LTG. General John D. McLaughlin. I had never met him but I felt as though I knew him. I knew about what he had done for all chefs in the industry military and civilian alike. I paused a moment to collect myself as a shiver worked it’s way down my spine. I held the door for my students and as the five of them filed past me I fell in behind them bracing myself for the honor of walking into this building, an honor that was not and will never be lost on me.










As Master Sergeant Turcotte and Chef Roland Schaffer gave us a tour of the building, I strained my memory to remember the first time I had ever heard the general’s name. Was it in my early twenties when I had finally decided to listen to my dad and leave the diner short order cook life that I loved so much, and go to culinary school? I certainly heard his name there but it was further back than that I am certain. As we filed past the many awards won by the military Olympic teams all results of the general’s efforts, I contemplated the question. When had I first heard of him? It hit me as we walked into one of the kitchens that would soon be filled with Soldiers, Marines, Airman, Sailors and Coastguardsmen all vying for military chef of the year. The earthy smell of some potatoes and onions brought it back to me.

When I was sixteen I worked in a diner. I worked with a cook who seemed ancient to me but now that I look back through the perspective of middle age he was probably about twenty eight. I remember him telling me that he was in the Army at some point and that there was this general guy who had done amazing things for Army foodservice and some chef organization. He told me his name and after that I never heard it again until I went to school. And now almost thirty years later after a career in clubs, banquet halls, restaurants and college foodservice, and for ten years as a teacher I had finally arrived .It took twenty two years in the ACF but I made it. I doubt the building bore his name at the time that the salty “old” line cook told me about him. In fact I don’t really even know how he knew him or if he had just heard about him. He never explained, and unfortunately I didn’t ask.

I tell all of my students about the general; how the entire modern Army system of foodservice can be attributed to him. When I want to inspire them and plant the notion that anything is possible I will sometimes tell them about the fact that he was a “Maverick” an enlisted man who became at the time the youngest sergeant in his regiment and eventually an officer. And now here we are in the building that bears his name. We have come to share our knowledge and experiences with the military cooks that are present for the 34th Annual Culinary Competition held at Fort Lee. It will run for two weeks. As we left those hallowed halls that night, I knew that we would be learning as much, if not more than what we would be sharing.








In the face of every Soldier I talk to as they cook or cut their vegetables, I see my Uncle Paul’s face a disabled WWII Army veteran of the Anzio campaign. He was a man whose physical wounds earned him the purple heart but whose wounds in the very fiber of his being deep in his soul stayed with him his whole life. I see as well my uncle Hectors face as an Army Pearl Harbor survivor. When I am talking to the Sailors I see my dad’s youthful features in the crisp WWII navy blues or whites he is wearing in the many pictures that grace my home. As I careen through the field kitchen of the Marines working my way around those antiquated burners that they use so effectively to produce their wonderful meal for us, the judges, I see and feel my brother there with us in his dress blues. He would be so surprised I think to see and taste the food that they make on this day certainly much different than his experience in the early seventies. What an honor and privilege it is to be here with these military chefs, my students may be on a higher level in their culinary skills than some of them, but these young men and women are on a totally different level with life experiences and sacrifices for the betterment of the whole. We are thrilled for the opportunity to help them in any way that we can. It is hard to leave every night we want to stay longer and share with them whatever they need from us. It too, is hard to leave because we can not express to them enough how grateful we are for their service to our nation and to us.

Every morning we enter under those giant letters, we file past the general’s picture and a plaque giving a far too brief explanation of the man to me personally a legend, the champion of the professional American chef. Every morning we walk up the stairs and enter a completely different world than we exist in. There is cooking in this building, competition, and critiques. There are kitchens and ingredients and everything that is so familiar to us. But it is different here. There is a sense of honor, purpose and deep meaning. We move through the week, my students delivering educational workshops, hands on demonstrations and one on one instruction. I judge and help the troops any way that I can. Our days mesh into each other and meld together. As long as the days are the hardest day comes on our last day. When it comes time to leave we find it almost unbearable. We want to stay. We go from lab to lab to say our goodbyes. We find ourselves staying long enough to give one more tip, one more idea, one more hand shake and thank you.

My students are presented with their awards for the areas that they were judged in. Than I am presented with a beautiful pen from the Quartermaster General and finally a coin from the United States Army Culinary Arts Team and I am asked to be an advisor. I am thrilled and am nearly unable to speak. But I want to take this opportunity to thank them, and I try my best to do so.



When I am done they fall in line coming to thank me and congratulate me. It is over whelming and I find myself feeling embarrassed inside. After all what have I really done for them? I shared a technique, a cooking method, maybe a few fabrication tips here and there, and some advice on aspic work. It is nothing compared to what they have done for me, protecting my freedom, my way of life and safe guarding our country. What will I offer them when I return next year, a lot of the same that I gave them this year, perhaps some new things that I learn between now and then. What might they give for me before I return next year, a limb, their mental well being, perhaps even their life. Yet they are thanking me. It humbles me beyond words.


We leave Fort Lee in the darkness but the giant black letters of McLaughlin Hall burn bright in my mind’s eye. We came here to teach. But many lessons were reaffirmed for us this past week. Freedom is never free, sacrifices must be made have been made and will continue allowing the six of us in our van to live the lives that we do, really lives of privilege, and in many ways, even frivolity. Yes, we did some teaching this past week, and perhaps we helped some people with their goals. But mostly we learned and relearned some important lessons ourselves on our journey walking in the footsteps of a legend.


By: Tom Recinella, CEC, AAC
Associate Professor
Program Director of Culinary Arts
State University of New York at Delhi

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