thedrifter
03-08-08, 07:24 AM
Marines make a mess into a meal
Bill Duncan
For the Capital Press
My sister, Frances, who lives in Florida, sent me a news clipping from the daily newspaper that serves her city. She knew it would interest me because it was about the Marine Corps. The Associated Press story said the Marines were sending 11 Marine mess cooks to the training kitchens of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., to learn to be chefs.
My sister probably thought that news note would surprise an old corps Marine like myself. I already knew the Marine Corps had the best cooks of any of the armed forces. That is because much of my Marine Corps duty was serving aboard Navy ships and Navy stations, and I knew the Navy cooks were all electricians. I will explain that comment at the conclusion of this column.
I was also certain that the Army cooks must have been trained at the same Navy culinary school. While stationed aboard the submarine base at Key West, Fla., I learned that bit of information from a soldier. He was arrested by local authorities trying to board a ferry to take him to Cuba, just a 90-mile trip from Key West. That was 1940s B.C. (before Castro) when we still made liberty in Havana.
Because he was AWOL from Fort Campbell, Ky., the civilian authorities who had arrested him turned him over to the Marine brig to await military action. That particular day, I was on prisoner-chaser duty at the Marine brig. It was late in the evening when he was brought to the brig. He had not eaten, so it was my job to escort him, under arms, to the mess hall.
The meal that day was liver and onions. If anyone could turn liver into shoe leather, the Navy could. The soldier ravenously ate the meal and asked if he could have seconds.
I made some comment that if he could stomach it, yes. His comment was "Do you guys always eat this good?" Right then I knew the Army must feed worse than the Navy. Little wonder he went over the hill.
The AP story my sister sent me said the chef school was a five-week course under the tutelage of Phillip Crispo, a chef instructor who tested their mettle in the heat of the training kitchens. The Marines reported to duty in chef's whites and paper toques and hearty "oorahs."
When they graduate from chef's school, they get a ProChef Level 1 certification, which is recognized in the industry as a marker of culinary skill. They will have learned everything from knife work to menu planning.
Some of the Marine cooks have cooked in oil barrels cut in half to create makeshift barbecue pits in Afghanistan.
As far as the Marine Corps is concerned, it is an effort to make a few better cooks who will turn out "semper fi(ne)" meals for a few good men who serve in the Corps. Instead of that beans-for-breakfast chow the Navy serves, the Marines are about to get flounder meu-niere sautéed in butter with a bit more butter and some lemon juice to create its own sauce.
Perhaps I didn't get such a fancy meal served to me when I was in the Old Corps, but I never had a bad meal in a Marine mess hall. I can't say as much for the Navy mess.
And that's why the Marine Corps is the better part of the Navy. My brother Rignal was a master chef who owned his own restaurants before he was drafted for the Navy in World War II. In the wisdom of the Navy, they made him an electrician. He wrote home saying that he was sure the electricians were doing the cooking.
I rest my case.
Bill Duncan can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 974770.
Ellie
Bill Duncan
For the Capital Press
My sister, Frances, who lives in Florida, sent me a news clipping from the daily newspaper that serves her city. She knew it would interest me because it was about the Marine Corps. The Associated Press story said the Marines were sending 11 Marine mess cooks to the training kitchens of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., to learn to be chefs.
My sister probably thought that news note would surprise an old corps Marine like myself. I already knew the Marine Corps had the best cooks of any of the armed forces. That is because much of my Marine Corps duty was serving aboard Navy ships and Navy stations, and I knew the Navy cooks were all electricians. I will explain that comment at the conclusion of this column.
I was also certain that the Army cooks must have been trained at the same Navy culinary school. While stationed aboard the submarine base at Key West, Fla., I learned that bit of information from a soldier. He was arrested by local authorities trying to board a ferry to take him to Cuba, just a 90-mile trip from Key West. That was 1940s B.C. (before Castro) when we still made liberty in Havana.
Because he was AWOL from Fort Campbell, Ky., the civilian authorities who had arrested him turned him over to the Marine brig to await military action. That particular day, I was on prisoner-chaser duty at the Marine brig. It was late in the evening when he was brought to the brig. He had not eaten, so it was my job to escort him, under arms, to the mess hall.
The meal that day was liver and onions. If anyone could turn liver into shoe leather, the Navy could. The soldier ravenously ate the meal and asked if he could have seconds.
I made some comment that if he could stomach it, yes. His comment was "Do you guys always eat this good?" Right then I knew the Army must feed worse than the Navy. Little wonder he went over the hill.
The AP story my sister sent me said the chef school was a five-week course under the tutelage of Phillip Crispo, a chef instructor who tested their mettle in the heat of the training kitchens. The Marines reported to duty in chef's whites and paper toques and hearty "oorahs."
When they graduate from chef's school, they get a ProChef Level 1 certification, which is recognized in the industry as a marker of culinary skill. They will have learned everything from knife work to menu planning.
Some of the Marine cooks have cooked in oil barrels cut in half to create makeshift barbecue pits in Afghanistan.
As far as the Marine Corps is concerned, it is an effort to make a few better cooks who will turn out "semper fi(ne)" meals for a few good men who serve in the Corps. Instead of that beans-for-breakfast chow the Navy serves, the Marines are about to get flounder meu-niere sautéed in butter with a bit more butter and some lemon juice to create its own sauce.
Perhaps I didn't get such a fancy meal served to me when I was in the Old Corps, but I never had a bad meal in a Marine mess hall. I can't say as much for the Navy mess.
And that's why the Marine Corps is the better part of the Navy. My brother Rignal was a master chef who owned his own restaurants before he was drafted for the Navy in World War II. In the wisdom of the Navy, they made him an electrician. He wrote home saying that he was sure the electricians were doing the cooking.
I rest my case.
Bill Duncan can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 974770.
Ellie