If there’s such a thing as a signature Camp Nebagamon event, it’s got to be Chef’s Cap, our outdoor cooking competition. After a season of practicing their outdoor cooking skills, tonight, our campers put those skills to the test at our campcraft project, the Camp Nebagamon Outdoor Center (CNOC). Two campers from each cabin are hard at work as I type, finishing up their presentation of a three course meal for a panel of staff judges. In a lot of ways, our campers have been preparing for Chef’s Cap all summer long. With their cabin at our weekly Monday night cookouts, campers have worked on knife skills and cast iron cooking. On trail, they practice firebuilding and proper campsite cleanup. And plenty of campers have worked through their higher ranks in CNOC, many of which include learning how to make foil packets or cook brownies in a reflector oven. Outdoor cooking is woven into the DNA of the Camp Nebagamon program, and Chef’s Cap serves as a culminating celebration of those skills.
Formal preparation for the Chef’s Cap began on Saturday, when the CNOC staff measured out spaces outlined in twine throughout the CNOC area and campers horse-n-goggled to choose which cabin would cook in which site. Over the past few days, campers from each cabin raked their sites out, dug a fire pit, painted cabin signs, chopped firewood, collected and peeled birch bark, and built a fire. Many put their own personal touch on their sites: one cabin arranged stones to spell their cabin name, some cabins scavenged for tree stumps to use as a stool, and a group of Lumberjacks have constructed an 8’-tall signpost out of branches so campers across the Lower Diamond can identify their site. This wasn’t just the two chefs from the cabin – it’s always a whole-cabin affair to get their little 8-foot square ready for the competition.
Just a few hours ago, I mozied down the hill from the Big House right before the Day Push rang the 4:30 G-Swim bell to be in position for the mass fire lighting and the start of Chef’s Cap. This has got to be one of my favorite moments of the summer – a fire pit for each cabin, all arranged on the Lower Diamond, all going up in smoke at once. Plenty of fires lit right away, and the few whose fire sputtered had plenty of encouragement and help from their cabinmates to get their blaze going. One Logger who was proficient in using a strike-anywhere match took a few precious early minutes of the competition to ensure all his competitors knew how to use the dutch oven lid to properly strike the match. Chefs ran to the Rec Hall to pick up a cookout box full of ingredients, and were soon furiously peeling and chopping their appetizers. A couple of campers donned swim goggles in an attempt to stave off the smoke from their fire and the fumes from the onions that would go into their Pesto Carb (a Nebagamon classic that lacks all the key ingredients to carbonara, save for noodles and cheese). At the Swamper sites, one camper took a particularly distinctive route to serving what would normally be a pretty rote dish: crudite with ranch dressing. Instead of chopping the veggies into neat sticks like his competitors to make the judges’ eating easier, he approached the table and somewhat nervously asked if the judges had heard of hibachi. Intrigued, the judges egged him on as he used a plastic fork to fling small bits of carrots and broccoli into their mouths from afar. Despite the fact that one of the judges had trouble catching the food in their mouth, the camper got a lot of points for creativity.
As I walked around CNOC and surveyed each site, there was also a good dose of the drama you’d usually expect to see on your favorite TV cooking competition. As appetizers were served, a team from the Lumberjack village approached the judges table with a fully loaded baked potato, toppings piled high, that spent nearly 45 minutes wrapped in foil on a bed of coals. About two feet from the judges table, the chef fumbled the plate and dropped the whole appetizer on the ground. Undeterred from this stumbling block, the campers maintained a great attitude, cooked up some backup bacon, brushed off their cooked potato, and replated for the judges. This time the plate made it to the table unscathed, and with a little bit of extra grit from the roll in the sand, the judges enjoyed their baked potato appetizer. Additionally at the Lumberjack sites, campers worked with a surprise ingredient: blue cheese! They needed to find a way to incorporate it into one of their three courses, and the unexpected challenge encouraged a lot of fun creativity. While none were brave enough to try to add it to their dessert, in what was probably a wise choice, it made a lot of salad appetizers and steak entrees a good deal tastier. There wasn’t a chef tonight for whom the event went exactly as they planned, and each twist and turn of the competition was met with flexibility and creativity, and made for a great learning experience for the chefs. And all of our chefs were able to successfully cook a three course dinner, despite each individual challenge.
As you can imagine, the campers take immense pride in their work for Chef’s Cap, and you can see it on every determined and sweaty face at CNOC tonight. They carefully presented each course to the judges, and tried to read into the slightest body language each judge made as they tried the food. Campers constantly offered up the food they made to Noah and me, asking for our thoughts and approval of their cooking – so much so that a few of them had to head to the Rec Hall and get a little something extra for dinner for themselves. As they are judged on cleanup as well, later tonight our chefs will diligently practice Leave No Trace, cleaning their cookware and filling their firepit to ensure their campsite is left cleaner than they found it.
Taking a step back… the mastery our campers displayed tonight is astounding. Sure, there were a few overcooked burgers in the Swamper village, and a pot or two of particularly al dente pasta. Still, looking out on CNOC this evening, I saw a bunch of kids who were able to build their own fire, prepare and cook a tasty dinner over it, and will clean up after themselves, all without any adult assistance. (Rest assured there is plenty of adult supervision!) Campers come to camp seeking autonomy, and I know many parents would be thrilled to know that their camper has made their bed all on their own every single day of the summer. What our campers did tonight at Chef’s Cap is on a whole other level. To cook your own meal over an open fire lights a sense of fulfillment in our campers that they will carry with them for years – I know this, because after decades of Chef’s Cap competitions, our alumni constantly reflect back on the long-lasting personal impact of competing in Chef’s Cap.
I claimed at the beginning of this article that Chef’s Cap is our signature event, and I believe that because it helps to teach so many lessons and values that are essential at Camp Nebagamon. The values learned at Chef’s Cap are present throughout camp, in our cabins, out at projects, and on trail – resilience and grit, independence and interdependence, and self confidence and leadership. But Chef’s Cap captures them all so perfectly, and helps show these campers that they have learned these valuable lessons in their time at camp.
The chefs will go to bed tonight a little more grown up than they were when they woke up this morning. The feeling of pride that wells up in their chest as they reflect on their day, drifting off to sleep, can of course be partly attributed to a meal well cooked. I’m also sure there’s pride in the growth they’ve experienced here at camp this summer. They’ve worked hard at Chef’s Cap, and it provided obstacles for them that they may not have been able to overcome at the beginning of the camp season. Succeeding in the competition took a few days of effort and persistence, took some flexibility and creativity to work through the challenges and drama, and took autonomy and leadership on the part of every single camper who participated. And they’ve all succeeded. Each camper learned something, surely about how to tend a fire and prepare food, and hopefully about themselves – how they respond to difficult situations, how it feels to take ownership in a task, or how hard work pays off when they set their mind to something. In a few days, we’ll announce the results for each village’s competition at our Awards Ceremony, but the sense of accomplishment and the feeling of independence our chefs will take home with them this summer is the real prize.
All is well in the Northwoods