SULLIVAN UNIVERSITY CULINARY STUDENTS COMPETING IN BRITISH ISLES CUISINE COMPETITION

PUBLIC INVITED TO SERVE AS JUDGES

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Great food will be prepared by top Sullivan University international student chef competitors and college scholarships will be at stake during the Feb. 27th British Isles Cuisine Competition from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the historic Pendennis Club of Louisville ballroom.

Sponsored by The English-Speaking Union of Kentucky, eight teams of two student chefs from Sullivan – flying under the banners of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales – will compete for best entrée and dessert competition with dishes from the British Isles.

Guests to the event will cast votes for their favorite dishes and students from Sullivan’s international and advanced classes will be vying for $4,000 in scholarships from The English-Speaking Union of Kentucky. Celebrity chefs will serve as judges. Music, silent auction and cash bar are also part of the event.

Among the silent auction items is a Sullivan University donation of a Feed-Me-Chef Dinner for eight guests prepared, cooked and served in the Kitchens of the College of Hospitality at Sullivan University’s main campus on Bardstown Road.

“This year we are thrilled to be working in partnership with Chef David Dodd and Sullivan University to present the first, which we hope will become an annual, British Isles Cuisine Competition,” said Kate Nitzken, president of the Kentucky Branch of the English Speaking Union. “Our desire is to interest the citizens of Louisville as they watch young chefs showcase their work in order to win scholarship money designed to help with continuing education.”

Chef David Dodd, the executive director of the National Center for Hospitality Studies at Sullivan University, said students competing did research on the dishes they want to prepare.

“We have a great group of kids this year,” Chef Dodd said. “This is a chance for them to do some research on international dishes, then serve 300 to 400 people. It’s great experience and practice. And they could also win a scholarship.”

The English-Speaking Union of Kentucky’s mission is to be an organization that promotes scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community. The Kentucky Branch is a vibrant, active organization with a devoted focus on enabling student and teacher-scholars to study in the United Kingdom and promoting scholarship with students from Kentucky.

Chef Dodd said the cuisine of the British Isles has changed quite dramatically since he left the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

“The food used to be epitomized by fish and chips, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding,” he said. “Now, because of the changing population, you get Central European, Middle Eastern, German, Dutch, Ukrainian, Eastern European cuisines. It’s quite different and it is something the students learned as they did their research.”

Nitzken said she came up with the concept for the competition as she pondered ways to introduce Louisville residents to the Kentucky Branch Scholarship program and have some fun doing it.

“Sullivan University students have never received a scholarship from our organization and this chef competition, providing student scholarships, is another way for the city of Louisville to understand how scholarship opportunities change lives,” she said. “As a devoted foodie, my dream of this competition and the commitment of both Sullivan University and Chef Dodd are making that dream a reality.”

The competition will be held Feb. 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person if purchased by Feb. 20; after that the price rises to $30. To learn more about the competition and for tickets visit here.

“I hope that the public will experience the British Isles Cuisine Competition event and enjoy watching young chefs accomplish one more step in reaching for their dreams of becoming professional chefs,” while, as Chef Dodd says, ‘doing it through hard work’,” Nitzken said. “By researching and presenting unique versions of the dishes from foreign countries, where they may never have traveled, the world will become a little closer and the audience experience so much tastier.”

About Sullivan University
Sullivan University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Sullivan University or visit them online at www.sacscoc.org.

The University offers numerous certificates, diplomas, and degrees in career-orientated programs, ranging from business, pharmacy, human resources, I.T. and cyber security, supply-chain management, culinary and baking and pastry arts, hospitality studies, conflict management, nursing, allied health sciences, HVAC-R, interior design, and legal studies. Sullivan University has campuses in Louisville and Lexington, an extension in Fort Knox on the U.S. Army Post, and Learning Centers in Louisa and Mayfield. Sullivan University also has many programs available partially or wholly online. For more information, visit www.sullivan.edu.