2013 World Sandwich Champion
Jennifer Daskevich

2013 World Sandwich Champion: Jennifer Daskevich

Jennifer Daskevich is a strategist. Chalk it up to her experience as an Air Force "brat" or professionally as a Front of House Restaurant Consultant, with Lawyer and Bartender mixed in, Daskevich’s key to winning lies in her ability to quickly and accurately assess the playing field and the players, learning to utilize all resources to the best of her ability.

“I thought strategically about my sandwiches,” said Daskevich. “What are the ingredients and flavors that people love? I tested the heat of the equipment and did test runs on my sandwich components to make sure they would be cooked perfectly and at the right temperature. I made extras of each component so if one was dropped or burned, then I would have a back-up.”

In the three years Dasekvich has been cooking competitively, she’s racked up roughly 30 contests for her competition resume, obtaining either a win or a top placement in approximately 20 of those contests. Daskevich earned her way to the World Food Championships after winning the 2013 St. Francis “Say Cheese” Grilled Cheese Recipe Contest. 

For her Signature Build in the first round of the World Sandwich Championship, Daskevich turned in her “These are a Few of My Favorite Things” sandwich, complete with fried chicken, a bacon, fig and chipotle jam, goat cheese, pickled shallots and fresh basil on a toasted brioche bun. The hills were alive, with the sound of sandwich. Her grilled cheese Structured Build turn-in combined flavors from duck confit, caramelized balsamic, cherry thyme onions and a brie and gruyere wine spread with fresh basil.

Though Daskevich, a Los Angeles resident, was closer to home than most of her WFC competitors, she noted the ease of the preparation process made possible with sponsors like US Foods™ and the Kenmore® brand.  

“It was amazing to have an entire kitchen station filled with such great Kenmore products,” said Daskevich of the Kenmore kitchen colisseum at the World Food Championships. “It took a lot of the guesswork out of the cooking process; it was a very nice setup!”

Daskevich did most of her own shopping for the World Food Championships, but did rely on the US Foods pantry for her staples.

“The folks at US Foods were always so pleasant and nice. They did a great job at getting our ingredients together.”

A “self-taught cook, voracious cookbook reader and Food Network-watcher,” Daskevich’s  Final Table turn-in was a duck confit sandwich with dried cherry caramelized onions, a fresh herb salad with a Dijon vinaigrette, pickled cherries and duck cracklings on a toasted brioche bun.

“Competing was exhausting. I had no idea it would be such a harrowing experience, but it was,” stated Daskevich. “The adrenaline rush and the physical challenge of being on your feet for so many hours left me exhausted at the end of it all. But it was also an amazing experience. I learned so much about cooking under pressure, creating on the fly and balancing time constraints.”

Aside from adding $12,500 to her bank account, and arguably her favorite part of the World Food Championships, Daskevich relished in the opportunity to personally meet many of the people she had previously only known virtually in online cooking world.  

In planning for 2014, Daskevich notes that she would like to think a little more about the overall presentation of her dishes and balance of flavors.