An Elegant Meal Prepared for UTC Basketball Queens

“People have to eat and if you can cook a great meal you will always have a job”

Hartmut Handke winner of 38 gold medals in national and international culinary competitions

 

It was a meal fit for queens.

Queens as in players of the UTC women’s basketball program.

After a Saturday morning practice on campus, UTC head coach Jim Foster then introduced them to the world of international culinary cuisine at his home thanks to his longtime friend and world class chef Harmut Handke.

 Simple, elegant and down-right mouth-watering, the players and staff dined on skinless chicken breast topped with a tomato-onion-basil-garlic-mushroom–kosher salt-olive oil sauce, tossed green salad with spaghetti and for dessert - yogurt over fresh raspberries - while watching the Michigan-Michigan State football game.

In town visiting Jim and Donna Foster for a few days, Hartmut and his wife Margot – who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May - treated the players to not only a meal elegantly, but simply prepared, but also showed them the step-by-step preparations.

Chop, Chop: Chef Handke reminded the captive audience “not to chop the herbs too fine and always remember to curl you fingers under while using a knife so as not to cut you finger nails too short,” he said with bit of humor and kitchen intelligence.  

 “My mom is a good cook, but we never have had anything like this for dinner,” said senior Red Payne with a smile.

“Campus food is good, but we don’t see anything like this in the cafeteria line,” said Moses Jonson who barely slowed down between bites to offer a comment

Asked how he knows when the spaghetti is ready, he said in his heavy German accent “you take some in your hands and if the middle is not too mushy then it is ready.”

Mrs. Foster quickly said with a sarcastic tone, “and he definitely doesn’t use the ‘throw it against the wall and see if it sticks’ trick.”

Ohio State Connection: While coach Foster was head coach at Ohio State (2002-2013), he and Donna ate many a meal at Handke’s Cuisine in Columbus (1991-2008) which was voted the top restaurant in Columbus and all of Ohio four  straight years; 2001-2004.

“The four of us have been friends for a long time and have taken vacations together,” said coach Foster.

While coach Foster can get longtime friend and the best coach in the women’s college game Geno Auriemma to bring his three-time national champion UConn Huskies to town next month (Nov.30) at McKenzie Arena, he now invites a world renowned chef to town for the ultimate early “pre-game” meal.

Known as a chef and not a cook is easily distinguishable as a cook can make the team grilled cheese sandwiches - albeit very good ones - and can scatter, smother and cover with the best of the locals, but with Handke we are talking the best this side of heaven’s finest kitchen.

He has more culinary titles after his name than basketball championships won by Geno Auriemma (10), Pat Summitt (8), Red Auerbach (10) and Mike Krzyzewski (4) combined.

His pedigree is the finest.

He has judged in the culinary Olympics, has won just short of 40 gold medals and the only chef to receive the prestigious culinary triple crown of awards presented by the American Culinary Federation.

He has been the lead chef (1986-1991) at the prestigious Greenbrier in West Virginia which is what Carnegie Hall is to a musician, entering Cooperstown is to a pro baseball player and becoming a champion at the Masters is to a golfer.

A World Class Life Thanks to His Dad:  Now 75, Handke recalled when he was six years old in 1946 and living in East Germany, one day his dad told the family members to pack their suitcases in preparation of a trip to freedom.

Because his dad, a former Prisoner of War in the German Army, had distant relatives in West Germany they could cross through to the west.

“I didn’t really know a lot of what was going on, but one day we packed our things left our home behind and left East Germany for freedom.

Once we settled in Schottun, West Gernany we had few worldly possessions – for awhile I had no shoes – and my mother and I would walk quite a ways each day to purchase milk since we did not have a refrigerator.”

A whole new world would eventually open wide its doors for this young German to step through, who would become one of the best ever in his field and also one to quickly give back.

Handke’s profession has taken he and his family around the world knowing, “people have to eat and if you can cook a great meal you will always have a job”

“The most gratifying part of being a chef is passing on your knowledge to others and seeing them succeed,” stated Handke who has seen close to 60 of his pupils graduate from various culinary schools.

One of his daughters is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (New York) and is a chef in Oregon, while the other daughter is a veterinarian in Chicago.

One would believe those animals under her care think it’s Christmas every time he comes to town to prepare a family meal wishing and hoping for any “world class scraps” from the Handke table.

Now retired from competition and the rigors of owning a 5 Star restaurant, he devotes his time to teaching others the finer points of making a meal - simple or elegant - but always with class.

His next “job” is with four other chefs to cook the meal of the year next month for 250 guests at a major fund raiser for the Columbus Children’s Hospital.

While he and his talents are is still in high demand from coast to coast, it’s impressive to see him take the time to be with friends on a fall Saturday afternoon doing what he does best and knowing that the quieter the room the better the food.

And for the ladies on the women’s basketball team they were very appreciative and real quiet.

 

contact B.B. Branton at william,branton@comcast.net