Culinary student prepares for regional competition

Rose de la Rosa, a North Las Vegas resident, will participate in a competition during the American Culinary Federation's 2008 Western Regional Conference in Salt Lake City Saturday through April 21.

A cook at Stack restaurant at The Mirage and a member of ACF Chefs of Las Vegas, de la Rosa will compete against three other chefs for the title of ACF Regional Student Culinarian of the Year.

De la Rosa, 24, has taken part in competitions for the past two years with a student culinary team from the College of Southern Nevada and this year decided to compete on her own.

"I was hopeful I would be selected and surprised when I was," says de la Rosa. "There are always so many people who go out for the competition."

De la Rosa, who received an associate's degree in culinary arts from the college and is currently a senior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas studying for her bachelor's degree in culinary arts management, loves to make pastries and chose to enter a dessert for the competition.

For the past month, she has practiced making her dessert three times a week. She will prepare a warm-vanilla spongecake with lemon curd filling, warm strawberry compote, candy almond ice cream and orange-almond laced cookies.

De la Rosa decided on her dessert because she says she likes to keep things simple.

"I like to choose flavors that I know and recognize," she says.

"My main focus is pastries. They are my favorites and I love desserts," de la Rosa adds with a laugh, noting her favorite desserts to make are eclairs.

At the competition, de la Rosa will have an hour to cook the dessert and five minutes to bring out four portions: three for tasting and one for presentation. The dessert will be judged on taste, sanitation, timing and skills.

"I feel strong going into the competition because I do have the experience from the past competitions," de la Rosa says. "But, whenever you go into it you really never know. Some judges are very classical in the cooking style they like and some prefer new and modern."

The regional winners will advance to compete July 14-17 at the 2008 ACF National Convention in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.

If you know of a worthy candidate for this column, mail information to Newsmakers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, or send faxes to 383-4676.