All were earned in American Culinary Federation (ACF) competition. The Noyer Centre Retreat's sous chef won the gold at the recent University of Massachusetts Culinary Retreat.

Chefs vie to create winning menus from materials provided in a surprise package.

"You don't know what strange ingredients will be in the mystery basket," he said. "What do you do with rhubarb?"

Kain said the intense competition is a good test of how chefs respond to stress in the kitchen.

"It challenges your creativity," he said. "You have just 30 minutes to create the menu, then three hours to prepare the food and submit it to the judges for critique and scoring."

The award-winning menu consisted of two pepper cream soup, pan seared sea bass with apple mango salsa, butter roasted chicken, tourné potatoes, sautéed fresh asparagus, butter roasted tomato, and chocolate tulip with strawberry mousse and berry-rhubarb sauce.

Teamwork is essential. Kain was teamed with chefs from the host University of Massachusetts, Penn State University and Purdue University. Only Kain had prior competition experience.

"You have no choice but to trust in each others' skills," he said.

Judging is based 60 percent on taste and presentation and 40 percent on kitchen production, including sanitation, organization and skills.

Scoring is on a point system. This means there can be multiple gold medals – or none. Kain's team earned gold, as did a team representing a neighboring institution.

"We finished second overall only to Harvard's team of executive chefs," he said.

The ACF competition was the finale for the culinary conference which covered numerous topics, including the current interest in low-carb foods.

"Low-carb dieting is not a fad, but a plan for long-term overall wellness," Kain said. "Based on what we have learned, controlling carbohydrate intake is the most significant thing you can do to maintain your blood sugar level."

Part of the problem with carbs, Kain said, is that they increase insulin in the body which increases appetite, causing people to eat more and thus gain weight.

Ball State's Residence Hall Dining Services is responding by adding all new low-carb elements to its selection of 54 different menus at such locations as Kain's Noyer Centre Retreat.

The gold-medal chef said he enjoys greeting the "foodies" who frequent the faculty-staff dining facility.

"We have a great customer base and we want to expand on that," he said. "Many people don't know the level of cuisine we have here, and we're located right in the center of campus."