Stretching Culinary Muscles

There’s always a certain kind of pressure that comes with others watching you work. Smith College chef Peter Masiero knows that feeling all too well—and as evidenced by his second-place finish at the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) Regional Culinary Challenge in Boston earlier this year, it’s also a situation in which he thrives.

“You have the chance to stretch totally different culinary muscles,” Masiero says. “From the moment you get picked to the moment you’re at the medal ceremony, [the judges] are looking for a very professional atmosphere where nothing gets wasted. It’s almost like an out of body experience.”

Each year, the NACUFS Culinary Challenge is open to chefs around the country who work in collegiate dining. Chefs are provided with two mandatory ingredients they must build a dish around and submit to NACUFS. The finalists are then invited to regional conferences where they have an hour to recreate their dish and ten minutes to plate before judging, where they are evaluated for organization, technique, cooking skills, and taste. The winner of each regional competition moves on to the national event; this year’s will be held in New Orleans in July.

Having participated in Smith’s Culinary Innovators Challenge, the UMass Culinary Competition, and the NACUFS Culinary Challenge in Myrtle Beach, Masiero is no stranger to the competitive food scene—or what he can learn from it. When Director of Culinary Services German Alvarado sent out an email late last year to gauge interest in this year’s NACUFS, Masiero was quick to respond, saying, “I was just hungry for it again.”

(Pun not intended, just pretty perfect.)

Keeping this year’s required ingredients—catfish and okra—in mind, Masiero worked with Alvarado to begin crafting a dish inspired by the flavors of New Orleans. After extensive discussions, taste tests, and recipe refinements, Masiero submitted his final dish, seared aromatic catfish with pomme parisienne, okra and catfish maque choux, spicy tomato emulsion, and basil oil. Masiero is quick to extend credit to Alvarado for helping craft the dish. “He’s so knowledgeable and he’s a great resource for these kinds of things. He really wants to help you, and he really will,” Masiero says. Alvarado, in turn, echoes the praise.

“While I was happy to provide guidance and support along the way, Peter deserves tremendous credit for the dedication and effort he put into preparing. He truly took ownership of the process and committed himself to improving every aspect of his dish,” Alvarado says. “Watching him embrace the challenge and push himself outside of his comfort zone was incredibly rewarding.”

A few weeks later, Masiero was selected as a finalist for the northeast regional challenge, where he’d recreate the dish and compete against chefs from Boston College, Fairfield University, Rhode Island School of Design, UMass Amherst, and University at Buffalo.

In addition to his regular work as a chef at Comstock House, Masiero spent weeks practicing, perfecting the smoothest, most efficient way to cook and plate his dish as well as the best way to organize his station. By competition day, Masiero knew his station’s setup, down to the locations of specific seasonings and cooking utensils, like the back of his hand.

“They’re watching you like a hawk,” says Masiero, who adds that everything from his prep station to his process to his plate was scrutinized during the fast-paced, high-intensity event.

Masiero’s critique went well, with judges praising his dish and offering minimal suggestions. The dish was awarded a high silver score of 89, missing out on gold by just one point to Boston College’s Phyllis Kaplowitz—who, surprisingly enough, Masiero recognized as a contestant on a past episode of the popular cooking show Chopped. The razor-thin margin underscored the elite level of competition.

As much as Masiero would’ve loved to have taken home the gold, he’s quick to acknowledge the work of his fellow chefs and how he’s improved from last year. “Everyone did an amazing job. Really, shout-out to all the schools,” Masiero says. “It’s tough, but we did much better as far as neatness, technique, cooking, flavors. Everything looked really good, and we were very proud of the dish.” 

“I was thrilled for Peter,” Alvarado says. “I was incredibly proud of him. The NACUFS competition brings together some very talented chefs from colleges and universities across the region, so placing at that level is a significant accomplishment. More than the medal itself, I was happy to see Peter's hard work recognized. He represented Smith College Dining extremely well, and it was exciting to see him succeed on that stage.”

While Masiero would love to compete in the event again, if the opportunity is between himself and someone else, he thinks he would defer to a first-time chef instead. “My whole thing about this is that I would love to see more people do it, to give more exposure to our dining program. Once you do these competitions, they do make you a better chef. The whole thing gives you a fresh perspective,” he says. “It’s new and it’s different and it’s uncomfortable, but you grow from it. It’s a dope experience.”