Consider this for your next team-building event: a cook-off. I'm doing a workshop tomorrow on teams - both face-to-face and virtual and as prelude to the day (and as part of a leadership program that the participants are enjoying) tonight's activity was this: People formed into teams, donned their chef's jackets, toques, and aprons, and were presented with tables full of ingredients, butane burners, a wide assortment of knives and cooking implements, and plates for presentation. The first few moments were spent with teams preparing their menus - and figuring out what ingredients other than those on the tables in front of them that they might need. Then the clock was set for an hour and off they went.
My team swung into action with an ambitious menu of bruschetta, melon wrapped in prosciutto, scallops seviche (my sole contribution to the menu), minestrone, beef tenderloin topped with blue cheese, and...memory fails - a nice concoction of veggies and something with veal. And fruit with whipped cream. We didn't win (a panel of four chefs from the hotel served as judges) but we sure had fun.
The cook-off is the brainchild of Scott Gambone, executive chef of the Ritz Carlton at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, 75 miles east of Atlanta. Delighted to learn that Scott recently held the same position at the Ritz Carlton in Boston - which gave us a chance to trade famous-names-in-Boston-cooking stories. Great exercise, Scott. I'd recommend it for any team-building event. For those of us who hate heights, a lot better than bungee jumping.
NB: I'll add some pictures to this post once I get home. Forgot the cord that attaches my camera to my computer. Bad me, bad.
