UB Chef Kaprishia Covington was awarded a silver medal in the Culinary Challenge at the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) Northeast Regional Competition held last week at Boston College.

A graduate of Johnson and Wales University with more than 20 years of cooking experience, the Northeast competition was Covington’s first solo cooking competition. She was part of the UB culinary team that won a silver medal at last July’s American Culinary Federation Collegiate Team Competition.

Covington and the other individual competitors faced off against the clock to prepare their original recipe featuring mandatory ingredients: two 3–5-pound skin-on gutted whole catfish and fresh okra. The chefs had to prepare the protein using two different cooking methods while building a nutritionally balanced plate that included starch, vegetables and sauce.

Covington prepared a dish called “Southeast Coasts,” featuring catfish and okra-stuffed napa cabbage with curry sauce, along with a seared, five-spice catfish over a crispy rice cake topped with a pickled salad and served with sautéed vegetables.

The winner from the Northeast competition, as well as the winners from NACUFS’ five other regional competitions, will compete at the national conference July 15-18 in New Orleans.