Chefs compete to improve culinary skills, readiness
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Scallops, tomatillos, pork loin and corn flakes were the essential elements of a cooking competition at McConnell’s Chisholm Trail Dining Facility June 4, 2025.
The cooking competition is formally known as the SHEF competition, which stands for Salute Hospitality Epicurean Faceoff. SHEF continues a recent tradition of quarterly culinary competitions at McConnell’s dining facility, which was selected as the top food service program in the Air Force in 2024.
Initially, team of competitors were drawn from within McConnell’s 22nd Force Support Squadron, and the list of competitors eventually expanded to include a few local off-base teams. Now the competition has expanded further, this time drawing in teams from Altus AFB, Oklahoma, and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, to compete against a McConnell team.
The competition boils down to this: Teams of three are each given four mystery ingredients and have one hour to prepare and cook three dishes to present to a panel of judges.
"Judges will evaluate the dishes based on taste, creativity, appearance, presentation, and the use of all four mystery ingredients,” said Tech. Sgt. Tammy Santana, 22nd FSS Food Service Operations Manager, in her briefing to the competitors.
Further aspects of the rules were also defined. Ingredients and spices beyond the four mystery ingredients were allowed, which added to the creative potential for each dish. Use of electronic devices was also allowed, although use of those to research recipes does eat time from that one-hour time limit, and necessitates additional hand-washing, further chopping away at that hour to prepare the meal. Teams also had to clean as they went, further adding to the need for effective time-management.
Once the mystery ingredients were revealed to be pork loin, scallops, tomatillos and corn flakes, the teams immediately started scheming recipes and gathering additional components for their chosen dishes. Each team quickly crushed their corn flakes to become breading for their pork dishes, but then went their separate ways to collect additional components, spices and sauces.
McConnell’s home team of Staff Sgt. Leo Gonzales, Senior Airman Anthony Horne and Airman Elaine Christian brought in sour cream augmented by sriracha and sweet chili sauces and lime to add additional flavors to their main dish, utilized tomatoes to offset the sourness of the tomatillos, but also ensured the corn flake-based breading for the pork was included, with a guest appearance of paprika.
Select seafood seasonings populated Team Whiteman’s preparatory work, while Team Altus elected to use coconut milk for a base and drew in celery, onion, cilantro and leeks into their main creation, adding a honey topping with a touch of brown sugar to add sweetness to their pork dish. Team Altus also added select garnish with fruit to add to their plates, putting a fine-dining twist on their presentation.
Each team presented their products to the five judges, who were drawn from the 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron, 22nd Security Forces Squadron, 22nd Maintenance Squadron, 22nd FSS and City of Andover. After sampling the dishes and questioning each team, the judges selected Team Altus as the overall winner, followed by the McConnell and Whiteman teams.
“We made a curry tomatillo with a side of pork,” explained Senior Airman Mark Manigat of Altus’ 97th Force Support Squadron. “We did a simple sear on the scallops and we made a topping for the pork which used red pepper, carrots, with honey and the cereal they provided.”
The repetitions provided from this cooking competition will help him refine his skills, both during his military career and beyond.
“I will go into culinary arts after I’m done with my 20 years in the Air Force,” he added. “I also have a food truck, and I plan on opening a restaurant. So everything I take in I learn and I continue to progress.”
The competition enhances more than just cooking skills and one’s choice of spices and garnish, but is designed with a deliberate mindset toward overall readiness.
“The SHEF competition is a great way to showcase the ability of our Airmen to tackle challenging problems under pressure and as a team,” said Maj. Dylan Henley, 22nd FSS director of operations. “When we chose our McConnell Airmen for this competition, we chose Airmen who don’t work in the dining facility during the day, but could be tasked to provide expeditionary feeding at a moment’s notice. As we continue to prepare Mission Ready Airmen, it’s important that we showcase their capability to enact creative solutions when faced with unpredictable resource constraints. Being able to partner with teams from Whiteman and Altus AFB created a great competitive environment, and we’re looking forward to continuing this awesome program.”