Date: Fri 27-Oct-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-11

Quick Words:

Mike-Pelillo-Cully-Eagle-Hill

Full Text:

The Secret Is Out: Mike Pelillo Is A World Class Chef

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

It's no secret any longer: Friends and family have known all along, but now

members of the cooking and food industry know Mike Pelillo of Sandy Hook is

one of the best chefs in the country. Not only is Mike creative with the

recipes he uses from books, he can also come up with winning recipes from

scratch.

In San Francisco in front of over 500 food industry professionals, Michael

Pelillo, director of support services at Cornerstone of Eagle Hill Substance

Abuse Treatment Center in Sandy Hook, was awarded a grand prize in the first

annual EMCO Cully Awards this past summer. The EMCO Cully Awards is a national

culinary competition sponsored by 14 national manufacturers and EMCO Food

Service Systems, Inc.

Chef Pelillo's recipe, "Sesame Secret Bread," was judged best in the category

for recipes featuring Golden Summer Specialty Oils, manufactured by Anglia

Oils. He and his wife, Marcia, won a fully-paid round trip to San Francisco,

with spending money, for the awards ceremony at the San Francisco Hilton. Mike

was presented with a sculpted brass chef's hat during a formal ceremony

resembling the Oscars.

Mike's mother, Angela Pelillo, a lifelong resident of Brookfield, is a great

cook, making it pretty easy to see where Mrs Pelillo's son was bitten by the

cooking bug.

A chef at Cornerstone for 15 years, since the center opened, Mike knew from

the moment the Navy started him in a three-month culinary course in San Diego

in 1971 that cooking was what he wanted to do. Always one to take a challenge

and a believer in cooking from scratch, Mike learned quickly how to, say, whip

up lemon meringue from scratch for 1,000 sailors by lunchtime.

Mike took additional courses in food management, graduating from the

Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel Association at Michigan State

University. Before beginning his career at Cornerstone (where he was first

director of food services), Mike worked for a few years at Fairfield Hills

Hospital, then in Lower Fairfield County for a few more years. This was where

Mike first had his own kitchen, where, he says, "I could break loose and go

for it."

Along the way he also took his institutional chef's exam. Today, Mike is

already registered with a Safe Serve Certificate through the Educational

Fountation of the National Restaurant Association, which all food service

professionals will soon be required to have.

Advertised nationwide in restaurant and health care trade magazines, the Cully

Awards competition was open to anyone in professional food service. Recipes

had to be completely original, using the sponsor's product - in Mike's case,

it was Golden Summer Oil - as a key ingredient. The chefs had to provide

direct, specific instructions on how to prepare their recipes.

Emco Corp. had a food economist look at all the recipes entered in all

categories. That person broke the entries down to the ten best recipes in each

category, then gave the recipes to the manufacturers to make the final

decision on who would win.

The program was sponsored by 14 of the industry's largest manufacturers,

including Anglia Oils, General Foods, Pioneer Food Service, Hershey Pasta

Group, and other very recognizable names. Manufacturers then sponsored each of

the 16 categories, which resulted in one grand prize winner in per category.

When Mike arrived in San Francisco, he was told a little more about his

winning recipe. Representatives from Anglia told him that of 165 original

recipes in his category, he not only made it into the top ten selection, but

the Golden Summer Oil subsidiary based in Maryland went through the ten and

picked his as a winner.

They then sent his recipe to England, where Anglia Oils is situated, and

without telling Anglia which recipe had been chosen in Maryland, the English

representatives chose Mike's recipe... unanimously!

"That was pretty neat," the chef said last week. "They told me my recipe will

now go out throughout the world. The Australians, the Japanese, they're always

asking for new recipes."

Created by Chef Pelillo, Sesame Secret Bread is a delicious, hearty bread. It

can be formed into loaves, rounds or twists for cooking, and can stand on its

own or be topped with butter or similar spreads. The flavored specialty oils

add a deeper flavor to the bread than is usually found.

After coming up with the recipe itself, Mike needed a name for his soon-to-be

award-winning bread. He went home with the recipe and Christine, Mike's

daughter, came up with the name, after a family pow-wow that also included

Mike's wife, Marcia.

"He was telling us about the oils in it and we were all trying to come up with

names for it," Christine says. "Sesame Secret Bread sounded good, because the

sesame oil is a secret."

Sixteen Cully Awards were given out, and Mike was the only winner in

Connecticut; he was one of two winners in all of New England. Entries were

judged on originality, taste, visual appearance and appropriate use of the

sponsoring manufacturer's product. The contest drew 2,000 entries.

Any recipes that were entered became the licensed property of contest

organizers. A lot of chefs and restaurants have signature recipes, which stops

them from entering a contest of this type.

Mike says when he was notified by mail of winning the contest, all he was able

to read on the letter was "Congratulations... Cully Awards... trip to San

Francisco."

"My mind went blank," he still says with a laugh. Listening to Mike and Marcia

relate of their four-day trip to the West Coast, it is easy to see that this

contest is the epoch of a long career for the chef, and a lot of patience for

the wife living with the chef. Mike and Marcia, and even daughter Christine

(older daughter Joanna is away at college these days; son Mike has married and

moved out of the family home), are a close-knit bunch, interjecting, laughing

and telling the story as a group. This may have been Mike's win, but it is an

exciting family experience.

"He was very excited," said Gloria Garofalo of Emco Foodservice Systems, Inc.,

who presented Mike with his Cully at the awards ceremony.

"He was the first person we called up on stage and I think his excitement

helped carry the entire event. He was almost speechless."

Competitions like this bring something else that is important to Mike to

light: the fact that so-called "institution" food is no longer what it was

once thought to be. One of the winners of a Cully Award was master chef Victor

Gielisse. There are only 57 master chefs in the entire country.

"Whan I heard that I said `Boy, I'm in this category? I'm doing alright!'"

said Mike. "The exciting part is, health care, colleges, institutions like

that are not what they used to be. We're coming out of the dark ages of `Oh my

God, hospital food.'

"At Cornerstone of Eagle Hill, that's what our philosophy has always been:

home-style, great food. This is starting to show."

The thrill of this win has not died down yet for Chef Pelillo. When he

returned to work after the trip to San Francisco, he was greeted in the

kitchen by a banner declaring "Welcome Home Our Hero," which had been ordered

by his boss, Eagle Hill owner Norman Sokolow. The entire cooking staff -

senior cook Julie Stassi, Jim Murray, Mark Getchell, Jay Andrews, John DeBruyn

and Beverly Witsel - were also waiting, with congratulations all around.

Mike's photo, recipe name and category, along with the 15 other winners of the

Cully Awards, are being featured in the October issue of Restaurant &

Institutions , a trade magazine; and the sponsors are putting together a

full-length video of the awards ceremony for all winners.

For Mike's friends and family, however, the thrill of knowing this outstanding

cook and being able to taste his creations is the best ongoing prize of all.

Mike Pelillo's

Sesame Scret Bread

BREAD DOUGH:

11¬ c all-purpose flour

1 Tbs salt

Ô c Golden Summer Toasted Sesame Oil

¬ c Golden Summer Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Garlic

2 Tbs dry yeast

3 cups tap water (warm, approx 75-80 degrees)

Take one cup of water and add dry yeast; mix and set aside. Using a dough

hook, mix at low speed flour and salt, approx 1« minutes. Combine oils; add to

flour and mix at low speed, approx 1 minute. Add yeast mixture; mix at medium

speed until dough is smooth; release from mixing bowl. Remove hook; let dough

rise, covered, in warm area. Prepare sheet pan by lightly greasing and

sprinkle with corn meal.

TOPPING:

« c sesame seed

« c dry chopped parsley

1« tsp paprika

¬ c fresh minced garlic

« tsp salt

2 Tbs Golden Summer Toasted Sesame Oil

2 Tbs Golden Summer Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Garlic

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare topping by combining all ingredients,

mixing thoroughly.

When bread dough has doubled in size, punch dough down and remove from bowl.

Cut dough into three even pieces; form into round loaves. Place loaves on

sheet pan; let rest, covered, 10 minutes. Push down on dough ball, starting

from middle and working toward sides; leave «-inch border. Spread topping mix

evenly over the loaves. Place loaves in 400-degree oven approx 20 minutes;

rotate pan, and bake another 20 minutes. When cooked, place on rack to cool.

Yield: 3 loaves.

Autumn Creme

This light topping is a great addition to liven up bread pudding, baked

apples, poached pears, apple crisp, banana nut bread, chocolate brownies,

vanilla ice cream, hot chocolate... just about anything you might snack on

during these crisp autumn days.

1 c chilled whipping cream

3 Tbs confectioner's sugar

« tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chill mixing bowl and beaters; set aside. Sift together sugar and spice. Pour

whipping cream into chilled bowl; add vanilla and sugar/spice mixture. Whip

until creme peaks.