OCC Culinary Program Produces "Gold Chefs"

Posted by – Shawn Keenan, Water Resources Coordinator

When you hear the names Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Monimoto, Cat Cora, or Michael Symon two words come to mind … “Iron Chef.”  Many may know that the prestigious Iron Chef title is given to the winning contestants in the famous Food Network series, which involves a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient.

Now what words come to mind when you hear the names Doug Ganhs, Sarah Rougeau, Brian Beland, or John Miller?  Is it that same metal associated with popular Food Network series or another metal listed on the periodic chart that’s more precious?  After October 10th, it should be a metal associated with a competition on a worldwide scale … like the Olympics … like the Culinary Olympics … like gold, silver, and bronze.

Michigan’s very own Olympic Culinary Team, lead by OCC Culinary Studies Institute’s very own Chef Doug Ganhs, returned home from the International Culinary Exhibition, (a.k.a. “Culinary Olympics”) held in Erfurt, Germany, October 5-10 with three gold, one silver, and three bronze medals.

This is an astonishing accomplishment when you realize more than 1,500 chefs from 54 countries participated in this year’s competition, which is considered one of the world’s most prestigious culinary event.

Knowing how well OCC faculty and graduates performed at this world-wide event, you can see why OCC’s Culinary Studies Institute has a well deserved reputation for providing its students with a quality education in the culinary arts.

So, the next time you watch the Iron Chefs compete on the Food Network remember many of the OCC Culinary faculty members and graduates have proven their mettle too.  Pretty amazing!