Seven students battled it out April 10 for the title of “Iron Hawk” in the second annual Mountlake Terrace High School Premier Chef Cookoff.
The competition was hot, and nerves were running high.
While defending champion Clayton Stacks stirred his “top-secret family recipe” of baked beans and tended to his filet mignon, Obaid Quadri was whipping up a culturally classic dish of chicken tandoori and baghara chawal just across the room. And while Allison Giuffrida assembled her salmon fettucine with ease, Micah Zaremba and his assistant expertly wielded cutlery while putting a finishing touch of orange zest on their coconut pudding.
Jordan Russell-Garza, while preparing a cream cheese and cocktail sauce dip with shrimp and crackers, said, “I’m really nervous, but I’m also having a lot of fun. I’ve been preparing for this all week.”
The competition, designed by Family Consumer Science teachers Lisa Omdahl, Patti Weber and Kimberly Nelson, is based on the Food Network Japanese television show, “Iron Chef.” To enter the competition, juniors and seniors must have already taken one of the three cooking classes offered at the high school and had to submit a menu and cost analysis of the meal they wanted to make. After the seven students were chosen, they were given $20 for groceries. If they needed more, they had to pay for it themselves. On the day of the competition, they were given a half hour to set up, an hour and 15 minutes to prepare their meal and a half hour to present it to the judges.
Students are judged in five categories: sanitation, preparation techniques, taste and texture, presentation and visual appeal and menu choice.
“I’m looking for what is actually made by the cook – if the sauce is strait out of a jar, or if they know how to make it themselves,” judge Angela Amundson, co-owner of Cafe on the Terrace. “I’m also looking to see that they don’t cross-contaminate, that they properly wash everything, and if they have that aura of confidence about them and are not checking their recipe every time they turn around.”
Other judges for the competition included Mountlake Terrace High School teachers Pam Salvator and Mary Hartline, chef Brian Ferrens from Buca di Beppo, and Tana Baumler, the owner of the Maltby Cafe.
After the “five-minutes to finish” warning was sounded, the student chefs prepared one large plate for presentation and five smaller plates, one for each judge.
“This is the hardest part – it all looks so good,” one judge said.
As the judges simultaneously took bites and marked their score sheets, the student-chefs took deep breaths and dished out the rest of their food for hungry onlookers.
And though every competition has a winner, each student in the cookoff left with an award and a gift.
Micah Zaremba, won the Iron Hawk award for his chicken teriyaki with orange honey butter carrots on mixed salad and coconut pudding with orange zest. The first place prize Zaremba won was a set of Sysco professional knives, a carrying case and his name on the Iron Hawk plaque.
Other winners included Alia Lathan, for best basic dish with a warm flair; Allison Giuffrida for best use of quick cuisine; Obaid Quadri for best presentation and best international dish; Clayton Stacks for best US regional cuisine; Jordan Russell-Garza for the most improved and Sandy Percy for best team. They each received a bouquet of cooking utensils wrapped in a dish towel.
But the awards were not the only thing students took from the competition.
“It’s all about having fun and eating good food,” Giuffrida said.
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