Top Mesothelioma Cancer Center Sloan Kettering Wins Big Apple Health Care Culinary Challenge

Chefs from some of New York City’s top hospitals gathered last Thursday night, February 11^th, to battle for the spot of best cuisine.  Taking the place of Jell-O and gray hamburgers was fine culinary art whipped up by the Big Apple’s finest hospital chefs. Top culinary honors were rewarded to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center who beat out Manhattan's New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, New York University Langone Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Modeled after the popular Food Network show, Iron Chef, the Big Apple Health Care Culinary Challenge featured three cooks from the four health care centers.  Each team was given an hour to create a three-course meal. Like the show, the mystery ingredients were revealed just minutes before the whistle sounded. 

Salmon, shrimp and skirt steak were their tools. Winner Pnina Peled and her two assistants, representing Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, cooked up a skirt steak with salsa verde and herb-crusted salmon and their appetizer: spiced crusted shrimp with citrus vinaigrette.

Peled added, “A lot of people think hospital food is pre-frozen, prepackaged, microwaved crap. We don’t go by that assumption…there is no reason to get op of the line medical care and low quality food.” She says the hospital holds an internal Iron-Chef-style competition to boost creativity and enhance quality.

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is highly regarded for being the oldest and largest private cancer center, harvesting innovative research and generously contributing to new and better therapies for cancer treatment. Sloan-Kettering specializes in providing a comfortable environment those enduring cancer in its many forms.

The Sloan Kettering Mesothelioma department is one of the best of its kind offering aggressive treatment regimes and maximum patient comfort. This form of cancer, often referred to as asbestos cancer, is formed when asbestos fibers are inhaled and embedded into the mesothelium. The mesothelium is the protective tissue that lines the body’s vital organs and aids in lubricating the lungs to move without resistance in the chest cavity.

Urgency to host a strong mesothelioma  cancer division within this New York City cancer center was reinforced by the events of 9/11. The tragic events that occurred this day not only took the lives innocent people, but also threatened those surrounding the area with hazardous airborne material. The construction of the World Trade Towers came well before the institution of new asbestos-usage laws.  As the buildings fell and debris rose, first responders, volunteers and residents were breathing in airborne asbestos and other contaminants.

New York City’s hospitals maintain a certain level of preparedness given these past events to ensure their patients are in the best of hands.  Programs like the Big Apple Health Care Culinary Challenge bring about new and out-of-the-box ideas to lessen the dreariness of the hospital environment.

Brian Conway of the Greater New York Hospital Association adds, "Food is an important part of the hospital experience. Good food makes for happier patients,"