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Northwell Health
Ultimate Chef Challenge, Long Island
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Northwell Health
Ultimate Chef Challenge, Long Island
The Hospital Chef Cook Off!
Photography By HENRY HARGREAVES, words by HENRY HARGREAVES
After the NYPD Northwell Health is the largest employer in NY State. They run 21 hospitals, have 61 000 employees and serve over 8 million meals a year!
For the past five years chefs representing various Northwell Hospital kitchen's, responsible for feeding both the patients and the staff, have come together to compete in the Ultimate Chef Challenge. Each team has to cook a 3 course menu that abides by the strict nutritional criteria of the food served at the hospital.
THE LOCATION AND RULES
This year's Chef Cooking Challenge is held Glen Cove Hospital on Long Island. five teams are made up of three members each. Each team are given the same cooking equipment, a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables that they can help themselves to and a mystery meat item to build their menu around. They then have 60mins to prepare the meal and present it to the judges for their verdict.
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THE NUTRITIONAL RULES
The chefs have to stay within the same guidelines that rule any meal being served in the hospitals – contain no more than 700 calories and stay under 15g of fat and 750mg of sodium. Several dietitians (dressed in blue) are assigned to each team that monitor the ingredients to make sure the final platings fall within these restrictions.
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THE JURY
There are three judges presiding over the event –
Robert Graham, MD, MPH – Director of integrative Health and Wellness for Northwell Health and a renowned advocate and speaker on healthy eating, his TEDx talk can be seen here.
Todd Daigneault – Executive Chef for Overlook Medical Center NJ, radio host and personality.
Sven Gierlinger – Chief Experience Officer for Northwell Health and former Michelin Star rated Chef from Germany.
Michael Kiley – Emcee. Founder and organizer of the event and Director of Dining Services for Northwell Health.
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THE RESULT
The winning team was Janisa Freysinet of North Shore University Hospital, Patricia Sobel of Northern Westchester Hospital, and Russell Ficke of Syosset Hospital. They created three dishes consisting of - Gobi dumplings, cauliflower steak chana masala, and meringues with pineapple and peaches