ACF Competition

The ACF Team competition is one of the most exciting and thrilling experience of the conference. Teams of 4 compete to see who will bring gold back to campus.

Scope

The University of Massachusetts is hosting a Team Competition sanctioned by ACF during the 30th Annual Chef Culinary Conference June 6th and 7th. The competition is classified as a Category W Market Basket Competition for teams of four.

Culinary Competition

All teams will be provided with the necessary equipment for the competition. Each team will be required to prepare a three-course menu choice of appetizer/entree/dessert for 4 servings and one buffet platter for 10 servings plus one plated serving for the judges. Of the 4 servings to be prepared, 2 will be for the judges for tasting, one will be for a photo/critique/press and one for the team.

There will be a mandatory meeting on Thursday June 6th in the afternoon at 3:00 after going over the rules and order of the teams, the teams will be given the market basket containing a selection of materials. Each team will then have 1 hour to submit a menu to the competition proctor and set up their speed racks. No substitutions of items in the basket may be made. Please bring a USB drive for each team to edit and submit your menus to the competition proctor.  Each team will be allowed three hours of cooking time (2 hours for plated and 1 hour for buffet) and a 30 minute plating window (15 minutes for plating and 15 minutes for critique). It is expected that all teams will be dressed in full professional chef’s whites, including hat, apron, scarf; and kitchen towels during the competition, especially in consideration of the exposure to the trade and press that may be on-site to cover the competition.

Prizes

ACF medals will be awarded, based on the following point totals:

  • ACF Gold medal (36-40 points)
  • ACF Silver medal (32-35.99 points)
  • ACF Bronze medal (28-31.99 points)