Sous chef Stephane Gawlowicz developed the dish, which included a vegetarian option. Both options featured a stuffed baby squash with glazed “Penn Succotash” and a yellow corn polenta cake. The succotash was a combination of red onion, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, corn, apples, pears, basil and rosemary. Students could then choose either a grilled beef strip loin with rosemary au jus or a tofu kebab with vegetable au jus.
“I came up with the idea for the dish knowing this was the best time of year for this kind of meal, especially in our latitudes,” said Gawlowicz.
Gawlowicz continued on explaining that the squash, while still growing, have a soft skin, are easy to carve and better to digest. In addition, the variety of fruits and vegetables allowed them to be combined without mixing in many spices or other supplemental ingredients that would only mask the real flavors.
“A bit of honey and rosemary, et voila! The sun did all the work.”