UMass Amherst Chef Jeffrey MacDonald Triumphs in Northeast Region of NACUFS 2024 Culinary Challenge

UMass Dining chef Jeffrey MacDonald won the Northeast Region of NACUFS 2024 Culinary Challenge held April 2 at the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) 2024 Spring Conference in Buffalo, New York. He advances to the national-level competition at the NACUFS 2024 National Conference, taking place July 17-20 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The annual NACUFS Culinary Challenge, created in 2001 and sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation (ACF), recognizes the vast culinary expertise in collegiate foodservice. Each year, a protein is selected that competitors must use to create an original recipe to form a nutritionally balanced plate. Individual competitors’ creations are judged based on a 100-point scale to rate organization, cooking skills, culinary technique and taste.

MacDonald won first place and an ACF gold medal for his kombu-cured branzino stuffed with aonori mousseline. This will be MacDonald’s second year in a row representing the Northeast in the national Culinary Challenge after winning the regional competition in 2023. In the past year, he has earned three ACF sanctioned gold medals and has become an ACF-certified Chef de Cuisine.

He says that the win feels great, and that his plan is to “improve on the dish and just take it to the next level for nationals,” adding that he “can’t wait” for the competition in July.