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Published in The Spectator, the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire;
Thursday, April 5, 2001
Fishing for a cooking
prize
By Bill Olson
A UW-Eau Claire Dining Services chef cast a catfish recipe into a
national contest and caught second prize.
Angel Alcantar, chef and cash manager at Chartwells, received $500 for
his oriental catfish recipe, which had to be created for the contest.
Alcantar said the recipe had to be something original and never used
before.
“The faculty here were a part of my guinea pigs,” he said. “They
helped me out in determining which were the better recipes.”
Alcantar also relied on students as he refined the dish.
“If it was something that was real popular and the kids accepted it,
as well as the faculty, then that was a real plus,” Alcantar said.
“It showed that individuals were buying it because of its appearance
and texture.”
Eileen Peterson, catering cook, was one of Alcantar’s “guinea
pigs.”
Peterson said Alcantar had her and others taste the recipe and they then
told him what was wrong with it and he would add things to it or change
the recipe accordingly.
“He’d taste it and say, ‘This is what it’s missing, what do you
think?’” Peterson said. “It’s a lot of fun to be part of that
process.”
Travis Welke said he enjoys working with Alcantar and likes his
award-winning catfish dish.
Welke is a marketing intern who helps design promotional campaigns for
the campus’ cafeterias and the Subway restaurant in Davies Center.
“It really was a nice balance of flavor and texture,” Welke said.
“It was a very nice, mellow flavor that accompanied the catfish.”
Alcantar said he loves catfish. If he catches a large Northern Pike when
he goes fishing, he’ll keep it just long enough to take a picture for
the size. After that he let’s it go by throwing it back into the
water. But Alcantar keeps the catfish and takes them home with him.
“Catfish is not real popular in Wisconsin,” Alcantar said.
He said it’s difficult to introduce catfish to Wisconsinites because,
like carp, “they’re bottom feeders, so I guess it doesn’t
enlighten their pallets.”
Alcantar is from Arizona where catfish is more popular, which he
attributes to the state’s proximity to Louisiana and the southern
tradition.
The Mississippi-based Catfish Institute sponsored the competition to
increase consumer awareness of U.S. farm-raised catfish, which are
hatched and nurtured in environmentally-controlled ponds.
Alcantar’s recipe placed second out of 400 submitted in the
noncommercial (business and industry, school, health care, college and
university) category.
Recipes by professional chefs were judged on innovative use of U.S.
farm-raised catfish, taste, ease of preparation, plating suggestion and
applicability to that food service category — commercial or
noncommercial.
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