Local Chef Wins Silver Medal in Culinary Olympics
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(Pittsburgh, PA, October 2012)--Chef Shawn Culp, culinary instructor at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, brought home to Pittsburgh a silver medal in the cold platters category of the Culinary Olympics as a part of the five-member Regional Team of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Culinary Team USA. There were no dismounts, no diving, no triple lutzes at these Olympics, but instead- a lot of food!
The team had one goal in mind, and that was to bring home a medal from The International Exhibition of Culinary Art in Erfurt, Germany (in German: Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung or IKA) October 5 through October 11. IKA was termed the Culinary Olympics, a quadrennial chef competition and the biggest culinary exhibition in the world.
“The trip to Germany was an incredible adventure - an adventure that pushed each of us to our full potential and yielded amazing results. The feeling of achieving a high silver and 4th overall in the world against approximately 60 teams is awesome. But more than that, learning about my strengths and weaknesses through the rigor of the process and the competition itself is the bigger prize,” said Culp.
The silver medal team members came from various states of the US. The team included: Brian Campbell, CEC, CCE, ACF North Carolina Chapter; Shawn Culp, CEC, FMP, ACF Pittsburgh Chapter; Adam Heath, CEC, ACF national member; Andreas Proisl, CEPC, ACF Central Florida Chapter; and John Reed, CEC, CCA, ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians Inc.
No stranger to competition, Chef Culp has received nine medals in ACF sanctioned competitions and was awarded a Culinary Oscar at The Greenbrier Resort competition. He has chaired two, and judged four ACF competitions, and served as a coach for the ACF Pittsburgh Chapter 2010 Junior Hot Foods Team, which succeeded to the regional competition. As a Certified Executive Chef with the American Culinary Federation, he is an active member of the ACF Pittsburgh Chapter as well as the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs, Bailliage de Pittsburgh.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is part of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu/), a system of more than 50 schools located throughout North America. The Art Institutes schools provide an important source of education for design, media arts, fashion and culinary professionals. Several institutions of The Art Institutes system are campuses of South University or Argosy University. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is located at 420 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. See aiprograms.info for program duration, tuition, fees, and other costs, median debt, federal salary data, alumni success, and other important info.