The tables have been set and the contestants wait eagerly as the judging begins, each judge moving carefully between courses, sampling and chewing and making notes. There’s sweetness in the mix for the winner, a monetary prize and a chance to have their dish installed as a permanent fixture. It could be Top Chef, but it’s the third annual Feeding Academic Success Culinary Challenge sponsored by Real Food For Kids.
Three teams of four culinary academy students, one each from Edison HS, Marshall HS, and Chantilly HS met Tuesday evening to prepare grab-and-go lunch items using skills they honed in the county’s academy class program. Their entree had to fit into the FCPS lunch program profile in terms of cost and caloric guidelines so that the winning entree could be considered for inclusion into the county lunch program. Under the tutelage of their professional chef mentors, the students prepared every ingredient from scratch, in the professional grade kitchens on premises at Marshall HS.
“We had to really pay attention to the caloric guidelines,” said Stephen Pungello of Langley HS on the Marshall team. “We ended up having to add more chicken to get the numbers up. We were a little healthier than the guidelines required, but I think that’s a good problem to have.”
Most of the student contestants were drawn to the academy program as a way of wetting their feet for future careers. Pungello hopes to one day attend The Culinary Institute of America, following in the footsteps of chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Duff Goldman. Grace Zirkel of Lake Braddock on the Edison team has already been accepted to Johnson & Wales and credits the academy program for really piquing her interest.
“Working with a real chef was definitely the best part of the program,” said Zirkel. “They treat us like we are actual employees in a restaurant and that is really motivating.”
The camaraderie between the chefs and students is palpable as the chefs stand behind their students offering helpful suggestions but generally letting them run the show. Clay Doubleday is the chef instructor for the Chantilly team and also one of the founders of the program.
“The reason I became a teacher was so I could be for them someone I didn’t have. Kids have an idea of what they want to do, but no real way of exploring it and that is what we provide,” said Doubleday, “give them options so they can make good choices, just like in the lunchroom.”
Once all the votes were in, it was Marshall, the home team, who tasted sweet victory with their oriental grilled chicken salad with sesame ginger sauce and their soba noodle vegetable salad with sesame seeds.
"The real success here lies in putting students in a position to provide solutions for their peers," said Bonnie Moore, founding member of Real Food for Kids, "to use skills they have learned to solve real problems. It's that experience that makes this invaluable."