Honeyed Pain Perdu And Honey-Smoked Pork Belly Confit Win Top Honors In NHB Recipe Competition

Firestone CO — Culinary Institute of Charleston (Charleston, SC) students Laura Vein and John Evans used pure honey and well-learned culinary skills to capture top honors and $2,500 in cash prizes in the National Honey Board's first 2010 student culinary competition. Laura Vein impressed judges with Pain Perdu with Crème Fraîche Pastry Cream, Honeyed Oranges and Orange Blossom Honey Syrup, using floral orange blossom honey to give this southern classic a contemporary twist. John Evans employed honey in complex culinary techniques to create a flavorful and succulent Honey-Smoked Pork Belly Confit. Elizabeth Freer claimed second place ($750) for Almond-Crusted Chicken Roulade, Beet Greens and Raspberry Honey-Red Beet Sauce; and Arlette Park took third place ($500) for Proscuitto and Goat Cheese Bouchée with Honeyed Fig-Golden Raisin Compote.

The CIC competition rules followed ACF guidelines and required the students to present four servings of an original recipe that used at least 1/3 cup of honey. CIC chef instructor Ward Morgan used the competition as the final exercise of a recipe writing class, so the honey recipe had to meet standards for clarity, consistency, composition and [reader] comprehension. The three judges—Chef Miles Huff (CIC), Chef Mark Matter (Art Institute of Jacksonville) and Marion Sullivan, food editor of Charleston magazine—also evaluated the recipes on sanitation, presentation, taste (honey identity), execution and technique.

The National Honey Board created the culinary student competition program to develop awareness of and appreciation for honey's purity, culinary value and menu benefits in the next generation of chefs. For more information about the Honey Board culinary competitions or to learn more about the National Honey Board's foodservice program and to browse the recipe database, log on to Foodservice. To join the Honey Board's conversations online, visit Facebook.com or tune in to Twitter.

The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey. The National Honey Board is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

(Above photo) Winners of the National Honey Board Culinary Student Competition at Culinary Institute of Charleston—(from the left) Arlette Park, Laura Vein, Elizabeth Freer and John Evans—pose with Ann Segerstrom, consultant to the National Honey Board.

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