With simply 60 minutes to cook dinner, 10 minutes to plate, and 5 minutes for some wiggle room, strain mounted as Phyllis Kaplowitz raced the clock — watched by an viewers and judges — throughout the 2026 Northeast Culinary Challenge, hosted by the National Association of College & University Food Services. The competitors, held March 5 at Boston College, demanded pace and ingenuity as Kaplowitz labored to complete her dish earlier than time ran out. The campus govt chef at Boston College, and a Framingham resident, was considered one of six campus eating cooks competing from the Northeast. Her rivals represented Fairfield University, Smith College, UMass Amherst, Rhode Island School of Design, and the University at Buffalo. Each chef acquired the identical problem: create an unique dish with their very own recipe utilizing two to a few 5-pound gutted complete catfish and recent okra. Six weeks earlier than the occasion, they discovered what substances they’d be working with. Now, extra than simply bragging rights have been at stake — the winner would earn the coveted likelihood to symbolize their area on the National Conference in New Orleans this July.
Even although Kaplowitz had as soon as competed as a finalist on the TV sequence “Chopped,” she says this problem nonetheless felt intense. “It was nerve-racking — especially being on my own turf with my managers watching.” For weeks, she debated what to cook dinner. At first, she deliberate to present these Southern substances a New England twist. Then she modified course. “I told myself, do what you know,” she says. “And I gravitate toward Asian flavors.”
Her dish turned out to be a catfish and pickled vegetable roulade, tempura togarashi okra, catfish shrimp shumai, coconut pink curry, lemongrass cilantro oil, rice noodles, and Thai basil. In quick, she created a coconut curry Southeast Vietnamese–impressed noodle bowl, with okra remodeled into crisp tempura.
When the outcomes have been introduced later, Kaplowitz says, “I was in shock.” She had gained first place — and on prime of the distinction, she had additionally earned a uncommon gold medal from the American Culinary Federation.
Now Kaplowitz goes on to New Orleans this summer season, the place she’s going to put together the identical dish once more as she competes towards the highest contenders from the 5 different areas throughout the nation for the nationwide win. “Being assured in my execution is reassuring, however I’ll be flying to an entire completely different stage of stress, she says.
Ann Trieger Kurland could be reached at anntrieger@gmail.com.
