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CONTACT: Rebecca Robinson
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas
512.327.7555 office
512.350.4621 cell
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Dallas Student Sweeps $15,000 Stephan Pyles Scholarship Cookoff
Austin, Texas – March 18, 2007 – The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is proud to announce its Seventh Annual Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship Cookoff winner, Tagan Gann-Couch of the Art Institute of Dallas beat out two other student chefs in a statewide Iron Chef style cook-off on Sunday, March 18th at the Center for Foods of the Americas in San Antonio.
The three student finalists battled both Saturday and Sunday in San Antonio to prepare and present a three-course meal they invented using a pre-determined “basket” of mostly Texas ingredients, which included many challenging ingredients such as oysters, squash, okra and Texas goat cheese.
Traditionally held in Austin, the contest will now be rotated between four Texas cities each year, Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. This year the Foundation selected San Antonio for the second year in a row due to the opening of the Center for the Foods of the Americas – the new state-of-the-science non-for-profit culinary school recently opened at the renovated Pearl Brewery.
Ms. Tagan Gann-Couch, the 2007 winner, is from Wichita Falls, Texas and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico. She relocated to Dallas to pursue becoming a chef, working for Gaylord Texan, one of the finest hotels in the Southwest, for two years before attending the Art Institute of Dallas to pursue her culinary degree. She will graduate in December of 2007. Tagan then plans on pursuing a degree in hospitality management followed by a Master’s Degree in Education. Her end goal is to become a chef educator.
“I appreciate being included in the top three finalists. This was a great experience that will enrich my culinary career,” Tagan stated.
The championship menu included ‘Shrimp in a Nest’ appetizer paired with San Martino, Chenin Blanc 2005, an entrée of Flat Iron Roulade with Smoked Tomato Hollandaise Spinach Custard, Star Squash and Spicy Grits paired with a Flat Creek Shiraz and a dessert which was Mango Vino Flan with Su Vino Sweet Symphony wine.
The two other finalists in the competition were Chris Wilson and Carlos Mehdi from the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin.
Now in its seventh year, the Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship Cook-off is considered one of the most prestigious culinary competitions in the Southwest. Open to culinary students throughout the state it is named for renowned Texas chef and author Stephan Pyles, a pioneer of Southwestern Cuisine and recently named ‘Chef of the Year’ by Esquire magazine.
“We want to help shape the future of Texas cuisine,” stated Chef Pyles. “This competition is a true test of knowledge, skill, imagination and grace under fire. It’s excellent training for the marketplace. Just going through the application process is a challenge and will help prepare young chefs for the increasing demands of the workplace.”
The Foundation’s Scholarship and Awards Committee is responsible for setting and monitoring the rules governing the selection process. A blind tasting of the contestants cuisine is administered at the cook-off in order to conceal the identities of judges and contestants from each other until a winner is declared. Pat Sharpe, Senior Food Editor for Texas Monthly leads the judges’ panel. Other 2007 judges included Chef Stephan Pyles, Thierry Burkle from L’Etoile in San Antonio, and Jonathan Parker, Chef and restaurant consultant in San Antonio.
As winner, Tagan will receive a $15,000 check to the Art Institute of Dallas to help cover tuition. In addition, she will be given the opportunity to travel with Chef Pyles to a celebrity fundraiser in California this fall. Tagan will also assist Chef Pyles with the Foundation’s Stephan Pyles Celebrity Chef Dinner at Pyles’ new flagship restaurant, aptly named Stephan Pyles, in Dallas. This star-studded dinner funds the scholarship each year.
Quincy Adams Erickson, Scholarship Chair and Foundation Board Member, was responsible for coordinating the competition. Erickson is a Paris-trained Le Cordon Bleu Chef and Owner of Fête Accompli, a party
Previous winners of the Stephan Pyles Scholarship include Jesus Lugo of El Paso, Christina Van Zandt, Natalie Guerrero and Jodie Liwanag all of Houston, and Susan Harkness and Carolyn Bream of Austin.
The competition was hosted by the Center for Foods of the Americas, and sponsored by H-E-B, with additional support from Aqua Panna & San Pellegrino waters.
About The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is a statewide organization dedicated to recognizing and developing creativity, professionalism and state of the science research in all areas of the culinary and viticulture arts. The Foundation provides grants, scholarships and fellowships to outstanding individuals and other entities who achieve excellence in these areas.
The Center for the Foods of the Americas
Located in the gateway city to Mexico and Latin America, the San Antonio Center for Foods of the Americas is a private, not-for-profit, culinary school dedicated to providing the world’s best education to aspiring professionals. For more information on the Center for the Foods of the Americas culinary program visit www.foodsoftheamericas.org.
H-E-B
Food for the Cook-off provided through charitable funding from H-E-B, www.heb.com.
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