New produce-based competition provides scholarship opportunities

Culinary students don your whites and sharpen your knives because a new contest from the Southeast Produce Council is too delicious to pass up: R.E.C.I.P.E.—or Recognizing Educational Creativity in Produce Excellence—is a new culinary-student scholarship competition designed to educate future food professionals about the bounty of fresh produce items.

The competition challenges students attending culinary schools in the Southeast to create a three-course vegetarian menu that includes a starter, main course and dessert. Students can choose from a variety of fresh fruit and vegetable items as part of their pantry.

A committee of industry professionals will select the top six recipes, and the winning students will be invited to compete in a three-course meal cooking challenge in Tampa, Fla., at the Southern Exposure Convention on March 7, 2009. Finalists will also be judged on knife skills and other fundamentals.

Scholarships of $10,000, $7,500 and $5,000 will be awarded to the first-, second- and third-place winners, respectively.

Recipes can be submitted through Dec. 1, 2008. For more details, go to www.seproducecouncil.com.