"rikers island" news and stories

The knives aren't tethered to the counters in your typical cooking competition.

But then again, the "Top Chef"-inspired cooking contest held at the Riker's Island prison in New York City on Tuesday wasn't your typical cook-off, the New York Post reported.

Inmates were given the chance to compete to show off a "behind-bars culinary arts program" whose goal is to use cooking to help them envision better lives for themselves, the paper reported.

"The object is to change these kids' lives -- not just to teach them cooking," Mark Sauerhoff, a cooking instructor who has worked with girls in the prison between the ages of 16 and 21 for 11 years, told the Post. There is also a group for over-21 would-be chefs.

The adult contestants made sautéed tilapia with lemon caper sauce while the teens served up barbecued salmon with ginger coleslaw. The competition ended in a tie.

The New York Department of Corrections is thinking about putting some fast food on Riker's Island. The food won't be for the inmates - though some nutritionists and others who are not fans of fast food would probably feel that it could be considered a punishment - it will be for the guards and other staff members. Currently, the guards get one (free) meal per shift and eat the same food as the inmates do, but there is a demand for more variety in their meals, so the DoC is seeking "an expression of interest" from companies "that would like to operate a fast-food joint in the joint."

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