Hospital Chefs Will Throwdown in a Culinary Competition

Last year’s winner, Boston Children’s Hospital. Photos from last year’s event provided.

Classically trained chefs who studied at the some of the world’s most acclaimed culinary institutes will be competing for the top prize Tuesday night at the Massachusetts Health Council’s annual gala. Except these chefs don’t work at restaurants and you’ll never want to taste their food. That’s because if you do get to take a bite, you’re in a hospital.

The hospital chefs from across Massachusetts will battle it out to create healthy appetizers to be named “Best Chef in the Hospital Industry.”  The panel of judges includes New England Patriots two-time Super Bowl winner and owner of Innovative Foods, Jarvis Green, and famed Boston-area chef Michael Schlow of Via Matta, The Sinclair, Tico and more.

The Council is a non-profit, non-partisan statewide organization of more than 150 governmental and voluntary agencies, consumer and advocacy groups, and professional societies whose mission is to improve the health of Massachusetts residents. The event honors the people and places that exemplify that mission. They include: Dr. Stephen L. Boswell, president and CEO of Fenway Health; Donna Latson Gittens,founder of More Advertising; The Honorable Senate President Therese Murray; Eric H. Schultz, president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; and Eastern Bank.

“Our event is focused on promoting healthy living and eating. We want to set an example of how incredible food can be nutritious while we honor members of our community who have done so much to improve the health status for our residents,” Susan Servais, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Council said in a press release. “By honoring awardees and highlighting the exceptional skills of those hospital and health care industry chefs, we hope to recognize champions while promoting that healthy eating can be fun and delicious.”

Hospital food has never looked so good.

The evening’s cocktail reception and hospital chef competition includes 10 executive chefs from the healthcare and hospital industry. The teams competing are: Atria Senior Living, Beverly Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Healthcare Services Group, Lowell General Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Charlton Memorial Hospital, and South Shore Hospital.

Last year, Boston Children’s Hospital took top honors. The competition works like this:

• Each team will prepare 300 portions of a tasting size appetizer
• Each portion should weigh approx. 3 oz
• Less than 10 percent of total calories can come from saturated fat
• No trans fats allows in the dish
• A dietary label must be provided at each station
• Teams can serve whatever they want as long as it meets these standards

“As a father and a chef, I live and breathe the importance of taking care of the people I love with food,” Schlow says. “Now, more than ever, it’s important to educate people on the benefits of healthy eating, organic products, and non-GMO foods. It’s an honor to support the Massachusetts Health Council and their mission to promote healthy eating habits among the people of Massachusetts.”