Student chefs dish up proof healthy food can taste great - Sentinel & Enterprise

The judges, including Fitchburg Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale (standing in back), begin the judging process as the Future Chefs contestants prepare to serve their dishes on Thursday night at Fitchburg High School. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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By Chad Garner

Special to the Sentinel & Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- Delicious aromas wafted through the Fitchburg High School cafeteria last week as students participated in the Fitchburg Nutritional Services 10th annual "Future Chefs" competition.

Seven students, ranging from third to fifth grade, tested their cooking skills against one another in the Future Chefs culinary competition -- a nationwide recipe contest run by Sodexo.

This year's cooking theme was healthy Mexican food.

When the cooking was finally complete, the food plated and the judges sampled these delicious cuisines, South Street Elementary School third-grader Isabella Maldonado was awarded the top prize for her rotisserie chicken tortilla soup dish and was named Fitchburg's cooking champion.

At left, students line up with their dishes Thursday as the judges of the annual Future Chefs competition at Fitchburg High School, including Fitchburg Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale, far left, prepare to dig in. At right, contest-winner Isabella Maldonado, a third-grader at the South Street Elementary School, gets congratulated on her victory by her mother Molly Beaudette, left, and grandmother Sharon Beaudette. courtesy photos

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"I'm very proud because I was very nervous," said Maldonado, who practiced her recipe twice previously at home with her grandmother, Sharon Beaudette. "I was hoping (to win), but I thought I didn't practice enough. I thought people had practiced way more than me."

Maldonado's mother, Molly Beaudette, thought her daughter did an "awesome" job with cooking and presenting her dish to the judges.

"I'm super proud of her," she said. "I was really proud of her that she came in first."

The proof was all in the taste.

"I'm so elated. I figured she had a good shot if the recipe was good," said Maldonado's grandmother. "When I went up there and tasted it, I was like, 'Wow this is phenomenal.' I thought it was great.

She's awesome."

The students competing were third-graders Ailanie Clarke and Samantha-Ann Racine, of McKay Arts Academy, and Maldonado; McKay fourth-graders Tomas Fernandez and Marlena Delfeld; and fifth-graders Mash'al Wagar (Memorial Middle School) and Adeline Van Hazinga (Longsjo Middle School).

Wagar finished in second place with her chimichurri potato breakfast tacos recipe.

Fitchburg Public Schools Superintendent Robert Jokela, School Committee member Peter Stephens, Nursing/Health Services Director Pamela Rivers and Mayor Stephen L.

Nature lovers take part in Saturday's walk through the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster. The event was hosted by Growing Places, the Greening the Gateway Cities Program and North County Land Trust. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

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DiNatale served as this year's judges.

"This year we had seven Future Chefs who created seven great meals, and all judges agreed that this year's dishes were fantastic," Jokela said. "It was difficult to select one winner because they were all great."

Added Mayor DiNatale: "Very nicely done by the young folks."

Maldonado won the grand chef prize pack and her winning recipe will be entered against other Sodexo district winners in the Northeast.

Garner is the public school district's communications coordinator.

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