{"id":45381,"date":"2023-04-21T13:14:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T13:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/21\/navy-dishes-out-awards-for-best-culinary-crews-across-the-service\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:52:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:52:27","slug":"navy-dishes-out-awards-for-best-culinary-crews-across-the-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/04\/21\/navy-dishes-out-awards-for-best-culinary-crews-across-the-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy dishes out awards for best culinary crews across the service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Navy recently announced the winners of the Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Awards for excellence in food service, honoring culinary crews who set the standard for serving up top-notch eats across the fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a memo<\/a> from Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro<\/a>, the service highlighted winners in categories determined by installation location and vessel type. Among the winners, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Thomas Hudner<\/a> took home the top price in the \u201cSmall-Medium Afloat\u201d category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Chief Culinary Specialist Kenya Ruiz, who has been in the sea service for 20 years, the award represents a career defined by dedication and planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got very emotional,\u201d Ruiz told Military Times. \u201cI was very proud of my [crew], and I have to say this is such an accomplishment in the [culinary specialist] world. It was a good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ship\u2019s motto is \u2018Above All Others,\u2019 so we kind of took that to heart,\u201d CS1 Jorge Miranda, a 14-year veteran, added. \u201cI guess that kind of set us aside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hudner\u2019s culinary crew tapped into that level of selfless commitment while passing the rigorous test for a \u201cSupply Management Certification,\u201d a credential that yields an automatic nomination for the award. Next, the crew\u2019s performance was inspected in December to determine award qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sustain the ship\u2019s crew of about 220 sailors, Thomas Hudner\u2019s culinary specialists start preparing breakfast at 4:30 in the morning and continue through lunch and dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation includes a 21-day menu cycle for the ship. Despite a strict calendar to ensure the ship remains adequately stocked, the expansive meal prep also requires keeping up to speed on the crew\u2019s likes and dislikes \u2014 and what meals are a hot commodity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Culinary Specialist Nina Mae Castro prepares food aboard the amphibious assault ship Bataan, which won an award for food service excellence. (Seaman George Fotopoulos\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps taco Tuesday is on the menu, for example. For sailors, chicken and beef are far more popular than the fish variety. With this approach, consideration of each and every meal must go into preparing store rooms to carry the 21-day menu cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, as ships deploy, culinary specialists have to take into account food availability based on geographical location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ordering based off of our area of operation,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cThere are some things we\u2019re able to get very easily [stateside], whereas [when] we\u2019re going overseas, it\u2019s not so easy. Being flexible with the items that we order is very important. … There\u2019s a constant rotation of change or additions to our menu that help us stay flexible, stay on mission and be combat ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked how food preparation and service on a ship compares to land, Miranda noted that, even after stints serving on land installations, working on as a culinary specialist on a ship is incomparable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing in the environment that we\u2019re in on a boat in the middle of the water, taking heavy rolls, the trust that you have to have amongst yourselves and amongst the team to put out the meal on time … it\u2019s a different ball game,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t compare it to anything really out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Hudner, six other awards were issued to ships or installations across the fleet. The Navy determines each award by cleanliness, food quality, organization, inventory, galley presentation, and culinary specialist job efficiency, according to a statement<\/a> from the carrier Ronald Reagan<\/a>. The service\u2019s culinary winners include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n