NEW YORK TIMES Coverage of the NEXT GREAT KOSHER CHEF

Here's the amazing article published on December 13th, 2010, in the New York Times:
At Kosher Chefs’ Cook-Off, Forget Foie Gras:

To promote its curriculum and the broader art of fine kosher cooking, the school solicited competitors to take part in an all-day kosher cook-off. The grand prize: a scholarship for a 152-hour training course, which Ms. Pinson said costs $5,000.

Professional chefs could not compete. Batsheva Goldstein, 32, a contestant from Brooklyn, cooks constantly at home and dreams of hosting a show on the Food Network, but she works as a nurse.

“It’s a job I can get a paycheck for,” she said, laughing.

As a hired film crew recorded the proceedings — the organizers are hoping to interest producers in the tape — the contestants went about a series of vaguely sadistic tasks. Step One: beat a dozen eggs to a puffy meringue, create a carrot julienne with a mandoline slicer, squeeze a few words in pastry buttercream and scale a fish, all in 15 minutes.

This came after a written exam in which the contestants were asked to weigh in on the New York City trans-fat ban and identify the kosher animal from the following: camel, giraffe, zebra and hare. (Answer: giraffe.)

Read the Full Article by clicking here!

The Forward's 'The Jew and the Carrot' Blog Covers Next Great Kosher Chef

Here's the article (and a great photo!) by Itta Werdiger-Roth, published on Forward.com.

There is more to cooking than food, three home cooks and passionate foodies discovered on Sunday. The Next Great Kosher Chef competition, the first of its kind, was hosted by The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts. With grueling written and physical parts of a eight-hour competition the heat was definitely on.

The prize: A scholarship to attend the school’s cooking program, valued at $5,000.

Want-to-be contestants first had to send in a short video and a personal essay. Of hundreds, ten were chosen for interviews. Three finalists took part in a televised elimination process. At 8 A.M. Sunday morning they began a written exam, with questions covering a variety of related topics such as “What temperature does water boil in Denver, Colorado? (answer; 203 F because of the different atmospheric pressure of a higher altitude.) A series of five surprise culinary challenges (julienne carrots, scale a fish and whip eggwhites to a stiff peak for example) followed. Then the competition culminated in a cook-off.


Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/133955/#ixzz18CwYM0V2

Jewish Week's Description of Next Great Kosher Chef Challenges

The Jewish Week published what is sure to be one of the best descriptions of the challenges our contestants endured as Next Great Kosher Chef finalists. We invite you to check out the article here. It's called, "Out of the Kosher Frying Pan, Into the Fire," by the great Amy Spiro.

Following the written test, the competitors — who were narrowed from a field of over 50 video applicants — faced a grueling, 15-minute, four-station challenge, to test their “endurance, speed, leadership and ability to multitask,” said Jesse Blonder, director of the three-year-old culinary school in Brooklyn.

The contestants raced through the course, separating 10 eggs — and checking for blood spots as per kosher specifications — then beating them to a stiff peak by hand, peeling and slicing a handful of carrots with a mandoline, filling a pastry bag with raspberry buttercream and piping out the same message six times, then finally gutting and de-scaling a black sea bass, under the watchful eye of chef Avram Wiseman and pastry chef Philippe Kaemmerle, both instructors at CKCA.

One of the competitors, Josh Pashman, 32, showed his cool under pressure; after slicing two of his fingers on the ultra-sharp mandoline, he opted to continue with the tournament, despite the blood loss, and the limited use of his hand.

Read the full article here!

Congratulations to all our Participants!!!

Hearty congratulations and Yasher Koach to all the participants today's NEXT GREAT KOSHER CHEF competition. Special congrats to our NEXT GREAT KOSHER CHEF JASMINE EINALHORI!

We will report on the event as soon as we have all the details, but for now, we invite you to enjoy our coverage in today's NEW YORK TIMES! Click here for the article!

Enter the Raffle to See the Live Next Great Kosher Chef Competion!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts’ (CKCA) search for The NEXT GREAT KOSHER CHEF concludes with its final round on Sunday, December 12th. Three finalists will compete in a filmed competition at the Entrepreneur Space in Long Island City, NY, for a full scholarship to the CKCA Winter 2011 Professional Program in Culinary Arts (Cash value: $5,000). Besting the other competitors in the competition will also grant the winner the title of NEXT GREAT KOSHER CHEF.

The three finalists are Jasmine Einalhori, of Los Angeles, Calif., Batsheva Goldstein, of Brooklyn, NY, and Josh Pashman of Manhattan. These finalists faced stiff competition from many applicants and they have already survived a grueling application process, which indicated they possess strong kitchen skills and a passion for learning, while confirming their status as “amateur” chefs. Biographies about the finalists appears at the end of this release.

The December 12th finalist competition has three parts: a written exam, a series of surprise culinary challenges, and a final market basket challenge. Three judges will preside over the final market basket challenge, which is an "Iron Chef" style cooking competition in which the participants will create several dishes on a timed basis with the materials they are provided in a market basket. The event will be professionally filmed and will be made available to the public shortly.

The public can enter here to win two free tickets to the limited space live event.

Congrats to our Next Great Kosher Chef Finalists!!

Congratulations to Jasmine Einalhori, Batsheva Goldstein and Josh Pashman, our three finalists in the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts' Next Great Kosher Chef Competition! These finalists faced stiff competition from many applicants and we congratulate every one of our contest participants and thank everyone for their enthusiasm and involvement.

Our three finalists will compete on December 12th in Long Island City for a full scholarship to the CKCA Winter 2011 Professional Program in Culinary Arts, and of course, bragging rights to the title of NEXT GREAT KOSHER CHEF.

The December 12th competition has three parts: a written exam, a series of surprise culinary challenges, and a final market basket challenge. Three judges will preside over the final market basket challenge, which is an "Iron Chef" style competition. The event will be professionally filmed and will be made available to the public. Stay tuned next week for the opportunity to win one of two free tickets to the event!

The event will be judged by Elan Kornblum, editor and publisher of Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine, Jamie Geller, author of Quick and Kosher, Recipes from the Bride Who Knew
Nothing, and more recently Quick and Kosher: Meals in Minutes, and Seth Warshaw, executive chef/owner of ETC Steakhouse in Teaneck, NJ, who is a graduate of the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE).

About OUR FINALISTS:

Batsheva Goldstein, from Brooklyn, NY, currently works as a registered nurse and is a mother of two. She views cooking as an adventure and dreams of opening a catering company or cafe in several years, and hopes to even be able to juggle chefwork with her current nursing career. She sees the reward of cooking as being able to provide satisfaction and pleasure to other people, and she enjoys the challenge of adapting kosher ingredients to non-kosher recipes. She also works hard to introduce new flavors and ingredients to non-adventurous palates. Batsheva has a strong interest in learning about molecular gastronomy, and her favorite things to cook are sweet and sour corned beef and chocolate polka dot cheesecake. Watch Batsheva's application video on YouTube.

Josh Pashman, from New York City, currently works as a senior strategist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He holds a master's degree in global health from Yale University and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa. He has also worked in Ethiopia and traveled extensively in Latin America. At the age of six, Josh ran "Josh's Pizza and Pasta House," a restaurant in his own house, with his older brother as the primary restaurant patron. Considering that his mother didn't let him use the stovetop or any kitchenware, the restaurant was a runaway success. Josh hopes to do an apprenticeship in a restaurant and eventually gain enough experience and capital to open his second restaurant. (This time, for real!) He envisions someday owning a bed and breakfast hotel combined with a dairy restaurant with an emphasis on healthy cooking and global cuisine. His favorite things to cook are breakfast foods and fish. Watch Josh's application video on YouTube!

Jasmine Einalhori, from Los Angeles, California, currently works as a nanny. She holds degrees from Bar-Ilan University and NYU, and has wanted to be a chef since she was six years old. Jasmine finds cooking soothing and one of her favorite things is to satify even the pickiest of eaters. Jasmine's goal is to open a small catering business or restaurant in Israel. Her favorite things to cook are what she calls "Savta" or grandmother's food, because saftas "cook from the heart and with three hands." With her family's roots in Iran and Israel, she most often cooks middle eastern comfort foods, such as shabbat meals that include every middle eastern salad imaginable. Watch Jasmine's application video on YouTube.