Celebrity chef highlights NCLS kick-off event
Celebrity chef Chef Robert Irvine talks to U.S. Air Force Academy cadets during a cooking demonstration at the 31st National Character and Leadership Symposium kick-off event at Mitchell Hall Oct. 12, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley)
By Randy Roughton
U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – World-renowned celebrity chef Robert Irvine discussed cooking and culture with U.S. Air Force Academy cadets during his Oct. 11-12 visit.
Irvine’s appearance was a kick-off event for the Center for Character and Leadership Development’s 31st National Character and Leadership Development Symposium, scheduled for Feb. 22-23, 2024. The event included a cadet team cooking competition, food preparation demonstrations, cuisine discussions, and a question-and-answer session with the celebrated chef.
Crossing Cultural Divides
Irvine stressed the importance of culture and food as an opportunity for building conversations and relationships.
“We come from different backgrounds, but we do not understand the diversity of our income levels, religion and all the things that we do we do differently,” Irvine said. “Food allows us to open a conversation about those sorts of things. Food breaks all boundaries.”
Irvine hosts Food Network’s TV series, “Restaurant: Impossible.” The former British Royal Navy chef is a prominent military advocate and owns a restaurant in the Pentagon. Some proceeds from his work benefit the Robert Irvine Foundation, which helps the first responder and military communities worldwide. Irvine is on the road more than 150 days a year for his role in supporting senior leadership in modernizing military dining facilities.
“We were honored to welcome and host celebrity chef Robert Irvine to the Academy to help kick off our 2024 National Character and Leadership Symposium,” said Center for Character and Leadership Development Director Col. Kurt Wendt. “Chef Irvine stressed the value of food to build cultural connections and strengthen work relationships, which I think we can all relate to in our lives. Without a doubt, he provided a meaningful and memorable experience for our cadets.”
Cadet 3rd Class Kirsten Cannon prepares an African-inspired dish of fried catfish and stuffed bell pepper with a crossover of jambalaya and dirty rice at the 31st National Character and Leadership Symposium cadet cook-off competition at Mitchell Hall Oct. 11, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Cadet 1st Class Jared Cruz)
Cultural influences on cadet cuisine
Three cadet team leaders shared distinct cultural influences on their respective dishes before the cook-off judging. Irvine served as a cook-off competition judge with Academy Commandant-of-Cadets Brig. Gen. Gavin Marks and Wendt. Cadet 3rd Class Kirsten Cannon’s team won the competition with an African-inspired dish of fried catfish and stuffed bell pepper with a crossover of jambalaya and dirty rice. Tomato sauce, which Irvine called “one of the best he had ever tasted, highlighted the winning dish.
Cadet 3rd Class Anastasia Winters’ team made borscht, a traditional Eastern European beet soup comprised of about 15 ingredients. The dish was her Ukrainian mother’s recipe. Cadet 3rd Class Mychele Delauney’s team prepared an arroz con gandules dish to honor a close friend who shared her Puerto Rican culture with her.
Inspiring stories
Irvine discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each dish and how they could be improved but said his favorite part of the competition was the stories that inspired them.
“What I loved were the stories,” Irvine said. “Some of the food was great. Some of the food needed work, but the stories of how [the cadet teams] came up with the recipes and the dishes were very important to me, because it shows the diversity and inclusion of what we have in our force today.”
Celebrity chef Chef Robert Irvine prepares a dish during a cooking demonstration at the 31st National Character and Leadership Symposium kick-off event at Mitchell Hall Oct. 12, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley)
Cadet 1st Class Hilary Nolen, the cadet in charge of organizing the kick-off event, took advantage of her escort duties with Irvine to ask him questions about his travels and how he uses cooking to bridge cultural gaps.
“Chef Robert Irvine’s approach to cooking and his involvement in various culinary and philanthropic endeavors align with the theme of valuing human conditions and cultures by promoting cultural appreciation, inclusive, sustainability and community engagement,” Nolen said. “He uses food as a medium to showcase the richness and diversity of human conditions and cultures, fostering a greater understanding and respect for these aspects of our world.”
The following day, Irvine framed cooking’s ability to connect cultures to three simple statements at his fireside chat with cadets.
“Food is culture. Food is hope. Food is diversity,” he told them.
‘Embrace Culture. Empower People.’
The fall event kicks off the NCLS theme for the year, starting the conversation among cadets and preparing them to continue reflecting on it through the February symposium. The 2024 NCLS theme is “Valuing Human Conditions, Cultures, and Societies.”
Cadet 1st Class Hannah Wingo and Cadet 1st Class Kelly Yoon sample celebrity chef Robert Irvine’s dish during a cooking demonstration at the 31st National Character and Leadership Symposium kick-off event at Richter Lounge Oct. 12, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley)
See more photos of Chef Robert Irvine’s cooking demonstration and the fireside chat video.