Pricedale chef takes love of cooking to international stage
Art Institute of Pittsburgh culinary department chair Shawn Culp of Pricedale recently traveled to Erfurt, Germany to coach the American Culinary Federation Culinary Youth Team USA for the International Culinary Olympics.
Holly Tonini
Art Institute of Pittsburgh culinary department chairman Shawn Culp checks on third-quarter student Carlos Quezada of Pittsburgh as he slices an eggplant.
Shawn Culp’s first memories in the kitchen are of helping his mother make pierogies in their Pricedale home.
The kitchen was his mother’s expression of love.
“The kitchen is the epicenter for any home,” Culp said. “It’s where people hang out and congregate.”
Now 38, Culp never lost that love.
“I’m a grassroots kind of guy who found his passion at an early age and worked really hard,” Culp said. “I have done something not a lot of people can say they did.”
Culp has taken his culinary talents to the international stage.
Recently, he was coach of the American Culinary Federation Culinary Youth Team USA at the International Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany. Under his direction, the youth team won two silver medals.
Like any coach, Culp advised and helped train the chefs “in the right direction for winning success.”
The two-week event, held at the Messe Effurt convention center, involved roughly 50 nations.
“Each day, there are 17 in each bracket,” Culp said. “They are judged by a panel of international judges who have been coaches and certified team members.”
Taste makes up 50 percent of the judging. Other aspects of the judging are presentation, texture, sanitation and look.
Culp joined the coaching ranks after years of competition experience.
In 2010, he tried out for and earned a spot on the U.S. culinary team which competed in 2012 in Germany. He earned a gold and a bronze medal at the tryouts.
At the 2012 international Culinary Olympics, he was awarded a silver medal and ranked fourth overall in the world rankings.
At the 2013 United States Culinary Olympic Team tryouts, Culp was awarded a silver and a bronze medal.
He subsequently competed at the World Cup in Luxemburg in November 2014. The team won a gold medal in hot foods and a third overall.
Competitions include a cold food bracket and hot food bracket, with sub-brackets.
Cold food sub-brackets include such categories as pastries, vegetarian, five-course, garde manger and appetizers.
Hot food sub-brackets categories include three courses of a hot food, entree and dessert.
Each team must prepare 110 portions.
Culp transitioned into a coach roll this year, coaching the 2016 youth team USA. There are youth, national and military teams.
A Pricedale native, he graduated from Belle Vernon Area High School in 1996. Culp presently lives in Bridgeville.
He earned an associate in applied science degree from Westmoreland County Community College and a bachelor’s degree from Le Cordon Bleu in culinary management online. He has an MBA in hospitality management from South University in Savannah, Ga.
Culp is the department chairman of the culinary arts department at the Art Institute of Art in Pittsburgh.
A 2010 Culinary Hall of Fame inductee at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, he was a 2011 ACF Pittsburgh Chapter Educator of the Year and 2015 ACF Pittsburgh Chapter Chef of the Year.
Culp said his love of cooking comes from his family and a natural passion for it.
“Basically, when I started getting into the professional side of cooking, I realized it was the career for me and took it from there,” Culp said.
He said his mother and grandmother were big influences in shaping his career choice.
“Growing up in Pricedale, every person has a mother who prepares home cooked meals,” Culp said. “You hang around in the kitchen and learn a little bit from them, and you observe how they make it.”
Culp’s favorites growing up included pierogies and stuffed cabbage rolls.
“Those childhood favorites take you back in time,” Culp said. “At an older age, you appreciate home-cooked meals rather than fast food.”