ECC culinary students spice it up at Colonial Café competition Nov. 17

Elgin Community College will be hosting the second annual Colonial Café & Ice cream culinary competition finals at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17. The competition will take place in ECC's Spartan Terrace Restaurant, Building I, Room I100, located on the main campus at 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.

Ten semifinalists from ECC's Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program will battle for first place as a professional panel of judges decides which student best incorporates sriracha, a popular Thai hot sauce, into their dishes.

Camila Ramos of Elgin will prepare maple sriracha pork sausage with honey cornmeal pancakes. Michael Berlin of South Elgin will enter his BEST (bacon, egg, sriracha hollandaise & tomato) Benedict.

Andrew Narm of Hanover Park will bring his shrimp and andouille sausage pasta to the table. Elena Cortes of Elgin will make a sriracha grilled cheese.

Jonathan Snell of Elgin will whip up a chocolate sriracha fortune sauce. Brit Steffensen of Elgin will prepare Cajun shrimp and grits with sriracha butter sauce.

Milton Banuelos of Elgin will enter honey sriracha glazed chicken. Veronica Vasquez of Lake in the Hills will enter her pan-seared sriracha chicken wrap with dressing. Kirsten Schreiber of West Chicago will make her sriracha breakfast nachos and Amanda Adams of Sycamore will prepare her sriracha honey chicken poutine.

The first-place winner will receive a $900 scholarship. The second-winner will receive a $700 scholarship. The third-place winner will receive a $500 scholarship and the fourth-place winner will receive a $400 scholarship.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Toya Webb, Communications Specialist, at (847) 214-7769.