San Francisco Cooking Spree a Scrumptious Success

On Saturday February 2, top San Francisco-area chefs, doctors and dietitians took over the West Bay Conference and cooked up some of the most delicious gluten-free meals of all time! Five teams raced against the clock to prepare decadent meals that highlighted the event's secret ingredient: gluten-free pasta.

Team 1 included Chef Clare O'Brien (Culinary Institute of America), Pauline Mysliwiec (Chief of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente), Thelma Rodin (Santa Clara Medical Center), and Ashley Warner (San Francisco State University) Ashley Warner (San Francisco State University). This team presented UnGlu'd Mac'N'Cheese, which proved to be a favorite amongst kids in the room!

Team 2 was led by Pasta Pomodoro Chef Adriano Paganini and included Douglas Corley (Kaiser San Francisco), Rugmini Shah (California Department of Health), and Kaley Todd (UCSF). This team went against the norm by preparing a Risotto Salsicia. YUMMY!

Team 3's chef came to San Francisco all the way from Utah to participate in the event! Chef Paul Ruegner (Charlotte's Bakery), Mel Heyman (Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, UCSF), Morgan Camp (Integrative Medical Center), and Vikki Petersen (Health NOW Medical Center) joined together to cook Chicken Schnitzel Schloss Solitude, which was the tasty tongue twister of the night!

Team 4 rocked the salmon, cooking up a Poached Salmon with Pappardelle & Meyer Lemon Crème Fraiche. The dish had fried brussel sprout leaves, which were surprisingly delicious! Teammates included Alex March (Brick and Solstice), Antonio Qiros (Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Sutter Health), Anne Louise Santoro (Kaiser Permanente), and Yulia Rudman (San Francisco State University).

Team 5 prepared a delightful Prosciutto Wrapped Salmon with Herbed Polenta, Kasha, Dried Fig & Balsamic. This team included Glenn Hewitt (Compass Group, Microsoft), Jeffrey Aron (Dir. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, CA Pacific Medical Center), Nancy Wei (Revolution Food Inc.), and Mickael Cardon (San Francisco State University).

CNN Newsroom Anchor and NFCA Spokeswoman Heidi Collins hosted the event with the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Heidi's personal struggle with managing celiac disease coupled with her love of delicious gluten-free food has helped move the Gluten-Free Cooking Spree forward nationwide!

The judges for the evening were Jacqueline Mallorca (Author, The Wheat-Free Cookbook), Elaine Taylor (Taylor Family Foundation), Gail Pyle (Stanford University Celiac Sprue Research Foundation) and two adorable kids with celiac, Riley Collins and Nathanial Corley.

Who were the big winners for the night?? For the first time in Cooking Spree history, there was a TIE! The judges couldn't decide between teams 4 and 5 (both made salmon), so the NFCA decided to let the teams share the honor of winning the San Francisco Gluten-Free Cooking Spree!

And, the tie actually worked out OK since Dr. Jeffrey Aron and Dr. Antonio Quiros are partners in gastroenterology at California Pacific Medical Center. The two will share the prize money from the cooking spree and will use it to partner with the NFCA to advance patient support programs at their new Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

About the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases:
The Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at California Pacific Medical Center is dedicated to focus on the fundamental interaction of the environment—as exemplified by the diverse microclimate and the ethnic composition of Northern California, and the innate and adaptive immune systems of the individual. This interaction occurs at the mucosal surface of the gastrointestinal tract and is at the heart of autoimmune diseases, of which celiac disease is the best-defined model. Investigating the interactions that also occur in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis will help us to develop novel and effective therapies for these diseases.

Dr. Aron says the Gluten-Free Cooking Spree was an "exciting and enjoyable evening, to continue to spread the awareness of celiac disease, and to help the work of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. We are anxious to continue our association as partners in these endeavors."

A huge thank you to all of the NFCA sponsors who make having these events possible and to all of the vendors who graciously donated food for the event! We couldn't have done it without you! An extra special thank you to Bob's Red Mill, Bio-Rad, Quest Diagnostics and Pamela's Products for going above and beyond to make the event a huge success.

And, a HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE for the San Francisco Celiac Community for making this one of the largest attended cooking sprees yet! And of course, thank you to the Cougars for providing fabulous entertainment!

Testimonials From the Winning Teams:
Anne Louise Santoro is a Registered Dietitian with the American Dietetic Association. She holds a degree in Literature from Harvard University and a degree in Nutrition from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ms. Santoro brings to her nutrition practice over 15 years of experience in the food service industry. She has been a Food Service Manager, Cafe Manager, Pastry Chef, and Vegetarian Cook. She has an on-going private practice as The Food Coach...Your Personal Food Trainer where she provides a variety of nutrition services tailored to meet client's specific needs.

Anne says,  "I had a lot of fun participating in the cooking spree! All the teams seemed to be having a blast cooking their meals with such dedication. I have to say I've never tasted so many delicious gluten-free foods, especially the desserts! I learned so much more about celiac disease by participating in this event. I knew there were classic symptoms, but I had no idea about the extent to which one can suffer from Celiac disease, how it can affect ones life in so many ways. Before the spree I wouldn't have even thought about cross-contamination, but now I see how celiac disease extends beyond the food itself to how it is prepared and under what circumstances."

Nancy Wei is a Registered Dietitian with experience in weight management, diabetes, nutrition during pregnancy and childhood obesity. Nancy's nutrition background ranges from improving health status through individual nutrition consultations to implementing large-scale research studies and public health programs. As current Operations Manager at Revolution Foods, Inc, a company specializing in providing fresh, home-style school lunches, Nancy is passionate about improving access to healthy food and the way children eat. Nancy completed her graduate training in Public Health Nutrition at University of California at Berkeley.

Nancy says, "The Gluten-Free Cooking Spree was a fun and rewarding experience. The moment Chef Glenn handed me the vegetable peeler and the bag of organic carrots, I knew he was going to work us hard! It was wonderful to talk to the guests about the delicious gluten-free food we had prepared and see their satisfied smiles of approval after their first bite of the winning dish. The best way to raise awareness and increase support for the celiac community is to bring together delicious food, medical knowledge, and nutritional expertise, which was exactly what this event did. I learned that you can be really creative with safe grains without compromising taste."

Comments

[roger]

looks very nice, would like to attend something like this sometime!