Sgt. Kylie De La Rouche with the gold and silver medals she won at the 48th Joint Culinary Training Exercise in the MacLaughlin Fitness Center on Fort Gregg-Adams, Va., on March 8, 2024. (Javon Starnes/U.S. Army)

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A culinary artist from the Army’s Daegu garrison left the 48^th Joint Culinary Training exercise in Virginia recently draped in silver and gold.

Sgt. Kylie De La Roche, of the 498th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion of the Materiel Support Command-Korea, walked away with three silver medals and one gold medal after the event at the MacLaughlin Fitness Center on Fort Gregg-Adams, Va., from March 1 to 8.

De La Roche, a native of San Diego, won silver medals for pastry chef of the year, cold table for plated desserts and mini finger desserts. She took gold in the mobile kitchen trailer event, according to a March 19 news release from Maj. Javon Starnes, spokesman for the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command at U.S. Army Garrison Daegu, South Korea.

The Joint Culinary Training Exercise is the largest military culinary competition in North America and has been held every year since 1973, except for 1991 and 2003, during Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Army Quartermaster Corps website.

De La Roche began competing on culinary teams in 2022, when she was encouraged by her mentor Master Sgt. Joshua Babcock to join the team at Fort Liberty, N.C., she told Stars and Stripes

In Virginia her biggest fan watched while De La Roche cooked up her wins. Sgt. De La Roche looked up during the competition to see her mother, Kenya De La Roche, seated in the audience.

“This year was the first year she came to see me compete. She flew to Virginia from California just to watch me,” Sgt. De La Roche said.

“It’s been a year since I’ve seen her. She’d heard about everything, but this was the first time she’d seen me in action,” the sergeant said.

Sgt. Kylie De La Rouche made pistachio truffles, chocolate Nutella cake, lemon-blueberry macarons and chocolate strawberry butterflies at the 48th Joint Culinary Training Exercise in the MacLaughlin Fitness Center on Fort Gregg-Adams, Va., on March 8, 2024. (Javon Starnes/U.S. Army)

Her mother’s presence helped De La Roche push past the nerves she said are part of the event.

“It was unique and nerve-wracking seeing everyone compete, seeing everyone’s pace and the team events. It was exciting and nervous at the same time,” De La Roche said.

The Daegu culinary team strategy for the competition was to divide and conquer, De La Roche said.

“Sgt. Derell Warfield, one of my teammates, assisted me with baking pastries even though his specialty was entrees,” she said. “This assistance helped me to prepare more efficiently.”

The Daegu team scored highest overall in the nutrition and student team categories; the Army won installation of the year, earning the most medals and top scores overall.

For the pastry chef of the year award, De La Roche made a strawberry coulis, a lemon-blueberry sorbet, a tuile, lime and basil cake with macerated berries, piped chocolate, pineapple curd, lime mousse, and coconut mousse. For the finger foods, she made pistachio truffles, chocolate Nutella cake, lemon-blueberry macarons and chocolate strawberry butterflies.

Neapolitan pyramid mousse served with vanilla bean ice cream on top of pistachios and mangoes at the 48th Joint Culinary Training Exercise in the MacLaughlin Fitness Center on Fort Gregg-Adams, Va., March 8, 2024. (Javon Starnes/U.S. Army)

The third silver medal was for the four-plated dessert within the cold-plate category. The first plate was a chocolate-layered dome mousse with a tuile. The next was a cheesecake with a variety of macerated fruit. The third plate was a Neapolitan pyramid mousse served with vanilla bean ice cream on top of pistachios and mangoes. The fourth plate was a chocolate strawberry layered cake served with strawberry ice cream. The ice cream contained dragon fruit and diced kiwi.

For the gold medal, she made vanilla bean ice cream over crushed pistachios with a thin layer of white cake and a thin layer of caramel panna cotta. She served the dessert with a thin slice of bourbon pie filling rolled in phyllo dough.