NE North Dakota News

The University of North Dakota's Catering and Bakery departments are known for their ability to serve large groups, often relying on specialized equipment to meet high demand. Executive Chef for Retail Dining Mitch Vervalen introduced "The Birdbath," a large stainless steel bowl used to prepare pasta salad for big events. The kitchen also uses a custom paddle to mix ingredients in the oversized bowl.

Bakery Manager Caylie Salge demonstrated another key tool, the Dough Rounder, which can divide and shape 6 pounds of dough into 36 buns in less than half a minute. Salge explained that this device simplifies bread production by removing air bubbles, cutting dough into equal pieces, and shaping them before baking.

Salge also described the Cookie Depositor, a machine capable of producing 960 cookies per batch. She noted that after updating UND’s cookie recipes to work with the machine, demand quickly outpaced supply: “We thought we’d have enough for the whole year, but we went through almost all of them just this fall semester,” Salge said.

Summertime is especially busy for the bakery team as they produce and freeze cookies and pizza dough in advance of the academic year. Popular cookie varieties include Chocolate Chip, M&M Monster, Sugar, Snickerdoodle, and Chocolate Chunk.

Vervalen encourages his staff to develop new recipes annually: “As part of their positions, I ask them to bring a few new recipes to the table each year to help our department grow and give them some ownership in what we do,” he said. He cited recent examples such as Catering Chef Micheal Longwell’s spicy wing sauce and Lead Catering Chef Matt Fashingbauer’s family recipe for Fried Polenta with Braised Beef and Red Sauce.

Fashingbauer also prepares meals for UND’s football team throughout the season: “I’m already a huge football fan in general, so that makes it extra special for me to be able to cook for them. You almost feel like you’re a little bit more a part of everything,” he said.

Longwell shared that his interest in cooking developed from reading fantasy novels and watching anime: “Making something out of what most people would consider virtually nothing is what I really like to do. I like to call it living my best Studio Ghibli lifestyle.”

Charcuterie tables at UND events showcase Longwell’s creative approach with careful arrangement of cheeses, fruits, vegetables, jams, mustards, and decorative elements such as rosettes made from salami slices.

President Andy Armacost praised the department's work: “Day in and day out, our catering and bakery staff at the University of North Dakota do amazing work. I come to so many functions at the Memorial Union... Everything is impeccable. The food is the best in the city, and the service is incredible.

“Our student employees do a great job, as do the permanent staff. I’m just so proud of them for everything they do — for the awards they’ve won for their great work and for all the leadership they’ve shown in making it such a great enterprise. Even the coffee is the best I’ve ever had. My colleagues say it tastes like butter.”