Taste of Central events offers a vast variety of 21 dishes to more than 200 guests
By Adam Gingrich
March 1, 2010
934
Twenty-one amateur chefs cooked up their favorite dishes at the Central Christian Schools fourth annual Taste of Central competition held at the School in Kidron.
The initial interest was to get more alumni involved in Central, so the initial goal was to get alumni to be chefs, said Bruce Kooker, advancement director. The competition has opened up to now allow parents of students, the students themselves and the general public to be chefs.
It was meant to be a fundraiser, but its also a fundraiser, Kooker added.
Tickets were $15 per person. This year, Taste of Central drew more than 200 guests to sample the chefs dishes. Kristen Conrad, administrative assistant in advancement, noted that the 2010 turnout was a record for the event. In fact, she said, so many people came that organizers had to put up more tables and chairs.
Dishes were in three categories: main dish, dessert and appetizer/other. By buying a ticket, all guests were allowed to vote for their favorite dish in each category.
What we have is jars at everybodys table and the tasters are permitted to put tickets into the jars. Just for the fun of it, whoever gets the most tickets [in each category] is Chef of the Year, he explained. Chefs of the Year won an apron with the Taste of Central logo.
In the main dish category, Joe and Lori Wenger won with their bierocks dish. In the dessert category, Pam Bartholomew won with her baklava. Current Central students Erin Steiner and Kaitlyn Wenger, daughter of Joe and Lori Wenger, won with their Pina Coladas in the appetizers/other category.
A Central alumna, Bartholomews baklava is a family favorite, She found the recipe in a magazine approximately 15 years ago. The baklava is one of her husbands favorite dishes as well. In fact, I make it for him for his birthday instead of birthday cake, she added.
John Michaels, also a Central alumnus, brought coffee samples from his new business, Orrville Coffee Company.
Michaels began his business because, I love coffee. I thought that would be a good way to go, (to) go with something I love.
At his business, he roasts coffee beans from all around the world and packages them in either beans or grounds for customers to brew the coffee at home. People dont want to spend $2 a cup or $3 a cup to stop at their local coffee place, but theyre willing to spend a little bit more to get good quality coffee to brew at their house, he said.
Many of the coffee beans Michaels buys to roast are Fair Trade. I like the concept of Fair Trade, where everybody gets enough to survive. It also seems to be something a lot of people in this area are interested in.
2010 was Michaels first year of participating in Taste of Central, but advancement director Kooker commented that the event has become multigenerational. We have some alumni that are now parents of students that are part of it, he explained.
This is my fourth year doing Taste of Central, said Jennifer Shue, another chef. Shue and her niece Bethany Nussbaum are both Central alumni. They teamed up with Shues sister-in-law, Kay Shue, to make their hot artichoke cheese spread.
Ive always done a main dish, so I wanted to do something different this year, Jennifer Shue said. I usually do it alone, but I got my niece and sister-in-law to help. She got inspired to make the artichoke spread and after she and sister-in-law Kay Shue had been at a gathering last month. They asked for the recipe and decided to make it for Taste of Central.
Carolyn Reed and husband John, of Wooster, were a few of the over 200 that came to sample the chefs dishes. Were grandparents of two of the students, they explained.
This was the Reeds second year coming to Taste of Central. They encouraged others to make the trip out to Kidron because the food is so good and you get to take the recipes home.
Along with the Chef of the Year awards, door prizes were also given at the event.
