Chef Earl Returns to Hooked on Nature

Clark's MCI team brings culinary finesse to annual community event

Pictured (L to R): Chef Earl Frederick, second-year student Kim, alum Holly, and second-year student Esteban.

On the grounds of Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center, Clark College's Chef Earl helped turn a conservation event into a culinary creation. 

It was the 25th anniversary of Hooked on Nature, the center's annual dinner auction, which connects community members to the environment while raising funds for conservation efforts, invasive species awareness, and outdoor education programs that impact thousands of youths in the community.  

But for the guests gathered beneath the event tent, one of the evening's biggest attractions was on their plates.  

Local celebrity chefs were tasked with creating dishes featuring invasive species found in the Pacific Northwest. Chef Earl answered the challenge with wild boar chile verde with fermented habanero-mango sauce, braised dandelion greens, coconut rice, and tostones (pictured right). Both the boar and dandelions are considered invasive species in the region. 

Other competitors included chefs from Kismet and Ondus restaurants, featuring invasive species in their dishes such as rabbit, crayfish, and blackberries. 

This marked Chef Earl's fifth time in the tent. He was runner-up last year and has won two times before. Although he didn't win this year, his dish was a hit with guests. Several attendees told him how much they enjoyed his creation the previous year and said they couldn't wait to taste what he brought to the table this time. 

Chef Earl had help from two culinary students and a recent graduate: second-year students Esteban and Kim, and graduate Holly. They helped him prepare the food prior to the event, then plated it and served it alongside him. 

Clark's culinary students are required to complete 80 internship hours each summer, but the event also provides students with a valuable lesson that can be difficult to replicate in a classroom: how to execute under pressure in a professional setting. Chef Earl showed the students how to plate the dish beautifully, but he also gave them room to develop their own system for achieving the final result. 

It was also an opportunity to see how culinary work often relies on teamwork. 

The evening highlighted the camaraderie of the local culinary industry, with competing chefs supporting one another throughout the event. At one point, Esteban even jumped in to help a neighboring chef plate their food, proving that collaboration is a key ingredient to any successful dish.

Learn More About Clark's Culinary Institute

The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College is the only public, accredited culinary program in the metro region offering a two-year associate in applied technology degree. Students benefit from a rigorous curriculum, a seasoned team of instructors with real-world experience, state-of-the-art culinary facilities, and strong industry partnerships. Learn more about the Cuisine Management program at the McClaskey Culinary Institute. 

Photos: Clark College/Malena Goerl

Story by Malena Goerl, Staff Writer, Communications and Marketing