Six elementary school students put their chef’s hats on and gathered Tuesday at O.W. Best Middle School to help promote healthy food.
After submitting recipes in September, Makenzi Gwyn, Camille Mazzola, Elizabeth Silverthorn, Noah Tromblay, Payton Tumpkin, and Mariam Yousif of Polk and Pardee elementary schools were Dearborn Heights School District No. 7’s finalists in the Sodexo Future Chefs challenge. They were to prepare creations that fit in with this year’s theme, Asian fusion.
Many students said their recipe ideas came from cooking at home. Birthday girl Mazzola decided to make beef kabobs after watching her dad grill. Tumpkin mentioned making sushi and pizza at home with her mom and sister. Gwyn wants to be a restaurant owner when she grows up, and her uncle in Ohio lets her chop ingredients in his restaurant when she visits.
Sodexo is an international quality of life services corporation that provides food service, including the district’s meals. This is the eighth year of its challenge, open to students in third through fifth grades. About 400 school districts take part.
“(It is) great for community involvement, sharing of ideas/recipes, and a great way to promote interaction with the food service department and students,” Sodexo General Manager Fred Marinucci said.
The kitchen smelled delicious, with strong waves of ginger and teriyaki passing by, as students cooked dishes from stir fry to nachos. Bright ingredients scattered the tables: scallions being sliced, parsley plucked from stems, red peppers cut uniformly while a young chef stuck her tongue out and furrowed a brow in concentration. Some were unfamiliar even to the students’ Sodexo helpers, like rice noodles and tofu, but the students all seemed prepared and excited, hardly nervous at all. With no time limit, they were able to work with care and consideration as they looked at their handwritten instructions.
Tromblay, the youngest of the finalists, made his Asian Creation with tofu, an ingredient he had never worked with before. He didn’t skip a beat as he took it out of the package, examined it, and decided to cube it up, guiding his knife through the wobbly block with a mix of uncertainty and confidence.
“I was a little nervous until about halfway through, then I knew I was straight,” he said. “I’m happy with what I’m presenting.”
The challenge had students thinking like a chef. When problems came up, quick thinking resolved them. Silverthorn had to reconsider her presentation when she realized the tortilla chips she requested were not scoops. Gwyn, last year’s D7 first place winner, forgot to strain her chicken before adding teriyaki sauce. She tried to drain the chicken first, then went on to make new sauce. Yousif’s rice noodles stuck together, and she reached for oil to separate the clump.
The aspiring chefs gleefully chatted and encouraged one another before the judges, Annapolis High School student Maisie Fujita, O.W. Best Principal Aaron Mollett, and past Future Chefs participant Nathan Koska, came out to test the food.
Dishes were judged based on six categories: originality, easy preparation, healthy attributes, kid friendly, taste, and presentation. Additional points were given for use of bonus ingredients like bok choy, fresh mushrooms, tofu, garlic, ginger, low sodium sauces, and lean proteins.
Gwyn’s teriyaki chicken and rice presentation stood out, as it was served in a hollowed out, halved pineapple. Mazzola’s beef kabobs were the only grilled entrée, and adults in the audience kept trying to taste them. Tromblay’s Asian creation with tofu was innovative, as were Yousif’s tasty stir fry rice noodles. Silverthorn’s balanced dish was colorful and appealing.
First place, though, was Pardee fifth-grader Tumpkin’s Egg Fusion Surprise. It was a healthy, unique and delicious dish. A sheet of egg was sprinkled with vegetables including cauliflower rice and placed on top of nori strips. Tumpkin baked the egg instead of cooking it in a pan to ensure she would get the desired texture.
“I’m still working on flipping eggs,” she said.
She then tightly wrapped all of the ingredients in spring roll wrappers, making sure not to break them, and served the rolls alongside soy sauce to dip. The final result was a plump, non-fried spring roll, translucent enough to see alternating stripes of yellow egg and dark nori.
Tumpkin was all smiles as her name was announced, and family quickly surrounded her. All six students received medals and gift baskets with kitchen goodies. Tumpkin went home with a wok, kitchen gadgets, and the coveted white apron. She will go on to a regional event where 40 semi-finalists will be chosen.
Shania Herrington and Aliza Troyan were also district finalists, but couldn’t make it to the event.
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