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Cooking on stove
Firefighters spend 24-hour shifts together and thus often form a family-like bond that includes preparing and sharing meals. The firehouse cooking culture will be celebrated at the Iron Mountain Refrigeration Firehouse Cook Challenge, a live cooking contest that takes place Thursday, Aug. 8, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Polish Center of Wisconsin 6941 S. 68th St., Franklin. The event is open to family and friends of firefighters, and contestants will be sharing the dishes with attendees.
Three finalists have been selected from recipe submissions from firehouses across the area: Briona Conway, a paramedic firefighter with the Milwaukee Fire Department, will prepare a Teriyaki Chicken Pineapple Bowl with Jasmine Rice; Adam Wendt, a paramedic firefighter with the Wauwatosa Fire Department, has entered his South of the Border egg bake recipe; and Jason Katz, a heavy equipment operator and paramedic with the North Shore Fire Department, will show off his Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice dish.
The culinary-style competition recognizes local firefighters who love to cook for their stations. Finalists will be judged based on taste, originality, visual appeal and the inspiration behind the recipe. The first-place winner and their fire station will receive $5,000 in Iron Mountain Refrigeration equipment of their choice. Second and third place winners will receive $2,500 and $1,000 in refrigeration equipment, respectively.
Iron Mountain Refrigeration’s Founder and CEO Trevor Crivello is also a local firefighter and sees the competition as a way his company can thank local first responders for helping keep our communities safe.
Conway has been with the Milwaukee Fire Department for three years. She found the original recipe for her dish on TikTok. “Some recipes can get repetitive at the firehouse, and I like trying new things. I've changed some measurements and substituted a few ingredients, but the crews love it.”
Wendt’s father also worked for the Wauwatosa Fire Department and received the South of the Border egg bake recipe from a co-worker and put his own spin on it. “Firefighters often exchange recipes. I recall him making this for our family during my childhood,” he shares. “I’ve tweaked the recipe slightly, but for the most part, it remains unchanged from when it was passed to me.”
Katz says his dish was inspired by a family trip to Cape Cod, where he enjoyed a breakfast fried rice burrito from a local coffee shop. “I enjoy all foods with Asian flair. Adding the burst of flavor from the fermented kimchi to a bacon-based montage of deliciousness never seemed like a bad idea, and the firehouse favorite was born.”
Cooking an Integral Part of Firehouse Life
Wendt says the routine in their firehouse consists of a morning meeting where the Captain or Lieutenant outlines the daily tasks. The final order of business is the question “who is cooking?” Someone always volunteers, collects a few bucks from everyone, and uses that to buy dinner. They do brunch each Sunday. He remarks that some of the best pizza he’s ever had has been at the firehouse, with some firefighters even making dough and sauce from scratch.
The special moments in life always seem to happen around food, Wendt observes. “The feeling you get when you see family for the holidays, we get a little of that every day. We catch up with friends we haven’t seen in a while, joke around, razz each other and share laughs. Our job can become chaotic in an instant. There’s a unique bond that comes with that. We are family, and family eats together.”
Conway affirms that in the fire service, cooking and mealtime are sacred traditions that bring crews together. “As we share meals, we strengthen our bonds and create a sense of family. It's a tradition I plan to continue when I start my own family. There is primarily one firefighter responsible for cooking. I am not the primary cook, but I love to bake. My crew often says, ‘my desserts are too fancy for the firehouse,’ but presentation is just as important as taste. It entices the taste buds.”
Katz grew up in the kitchen with his mom. “Once I found my way into the firehouse, I quickly learned that the easiest way to get through a career was to be able to provide food that people enjoyed,” he reflects. “Problems in the fire service are abundant; however, they are typically solved around the kitchen table in a firehouse. There are two powerful things in the firehouse that bring the crew to the table in search of resolutions to the world’s problems—food and coffee. When the problems involve too much talking and noise, then good food is the answer!”
