Baker culinary student wins top state award


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PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — Calie Nelson likes food.

She likes it a lot.

"I have a passion for food," said the 19-year-old from Otisville. "It's almost like I have a feeling for food that doesn't match any of the relationships in my life."

Nelson, a second-year student at the Baker College of Port Huron Culinary Institute of Michigan, recently won the Michigan Chefs de Cuisine Association 2015 Student Chef of the Year. Baker student Jill Tucker, from St. Clair, won the award in 2014.

"I've always wanted to be a chef since I was little," Nelson told the Times Herald ( http://bwne.ws/1JQuWpz ). "When I was a little girl, all the other kids were writing poems to their mom because she loved them.

"I was writing poems to my mom telling her I loved her because she cooked me food."

The award was announced Sept. 21 at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. Nelson competed on Aug. 11 against eight students from other collegiate culinary programs in Michigan.

The students had 60 minutes to prepare two portions of a signature chicken dish and 10 minutes to plate it.

Nelson prepared a "Summer Trio of Chicken" that included a sautée with a mousseline forcemeat stuffed under the skin.

Chef Thomas Recinella, program director and COURSES Restaurant executive chef at CIM Port Huron, said competitions give the school and its students opportunities to shine.

"What it means for the school is it shows the continued excellence we have in our classrooms," he said.

"The competitions don't define us. ... The excellence in our classrooms defines us.

"It's an opportunity to showcase to everyone what we can do."

Nelson said preparing a signature entrée in front of a panel of judges was nerve-wracking.

"The reason I was nervous was I didn't think I had what it takes," she said. "A lot of people believed in me and spent a lot of time with me in the kitchen training me for this day because they saw the potential in me I didn't see."

Nelson said she wants to become a butcher.

"I don't want to stay in Michigan," said Nelson, who was born in Arkansas. "My dream would be to live in New Orleans."

Nelson expects to complete an associate degree in culinary arts in June. She plans to work in Ireland during her last term.

"She's taking the long way to New Orleans," Recinella said.

Nelson said she has not decided what is her favorite thing to cook.

"I'm still learning, and there are so so many techniques," she said. "I couldn't tell you my favorite thing to cook every day."

She knows what she likes, however.

"I like Big Macs," Nelson said. "I have a strict diet of fast food."

___

Information from: Times Herald, http://www.thetimesherald.com

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Times Herald (Port Huron).

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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BOB GROSS(Port Huron)

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