A Fork on the Road
Keith Lorren, a local entrepreneur known as the “Spice Dude,” offers a line of spice blends on his website and at a store in Opa-locka. He is finishing classes at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and after winning school competitions in chowder (he added curry and plantain chips) and pizza (with ratatouille), he decided to give back by offering a $2,000 cash prize to the winner of his contest seeking the most creative use of any of his spice mixtures. It is open to any student, professional chef or home cook for the next two months and if it is a success he will hold the contest twice a year (apply on his website). Lorren started out teaching business classes and then followed his passion for cooking; he hopes the prize might help someone else make a life change.