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Finalists Cook to Win at Sperry's 6th Annual Future Chefs Challenge
Sperry Elementary students participated in the 6th annual Future Chefs National Challenge at which the five finalist chefs gave everyone a taste of their cooking skills. Early in March, these young chefs gathered in the kitchen of Sperry Schools’ cafeteria and cooked up delicious dishes made from their favorite recipes. This year’s challenge was themed “Healthy Mexican Food.”
To qualify for the Future Chef’s National Challenge, each aspiring chef submitted a favorite recipe based on Mexican cuisine. The recipes were reviewed by a panel of professional chefs, and the chefs behind the five top recipes advanced to the finalists level. In the final challenge, these five finalists were invited to measure, mix, and cook to prove that healthy foods can taste good. On Tuesday, March 5, the finalists put on aprons and chef’s hats as they prepared their meals for the final part of the competition. Each student worked with an adult staff member of the Sperry Child Nutrition department who assisted them in transferring their written recipe into a plate of delicious, healthy Mexican meal.
The three judges questioned the finalists about their cooking experience, took samples of every dish to taste, and separately scored each entrée.
Third grade student Colten Faucett made Spicy Nacho Supreme as his dish for the challenge. “It’s actually pretty easy,” he said about preparing the meal, “but you have to cook the pulled pork overnight, then cook it again to melt the cheese.” He was glad to have been a part of the challenge, saying, “It will give me a kickstart for being a chef or a baker or someone who cooks.”
Kassidy Mauldin, another third grade finalist at the challenge, made her Taquitos and Black Beans. She found that participating in the challenge was fun, but, “the best part was cooking the whole meal.” She enjoyed being a chef so much she plans to participate in the challenge again next year. “It was nice to be a chef,” she said about her experience. “It will help me make good food in the future.”
Fourth grade participant Jaycee Bridgeman submitted her Veggie Enchilada recipe for the challenge. Jaycee noted that chopping and mixing the ingredients was something that required adult assistance, but said her favorite part of being in the competition was “getting to cook in the school kitchen with my partner.” Jaycee noted that she had participated in the challenge the previous year, and her experience these two years will have a long-term effect. “It will help me in the future,” she said, because I won’t have to waste money going to a restaurant to eat what I like.”
Ragan McCutchen, a fifth grade finalist in the challenge, made her Low Carb Mexican Stuffed Peppers. “The best part was cooking the meat and the spices,” Ragan noted that her cooking assistant, “taught me some new cooking tricks.” Ragan had been a finalist the previous year as well, and noted that with two years of experience cooking, she would definitely benefit in the future. “I won’t have Raman Noodle skills,” she said of her future cooking ability. “I’ll be able to cook what I like.”
Anna Coffey was also a fifth grade finalist, and she fixed her recipe of Shrimp & Ceviche for the competition. Anna was no stranger to the Future Chefs Challenge, and was the challenge champion the previous year. “I cooked my Nana’s Mexican dish,” she said. “The best part was getting tips from the executive chef.” She was pleased to be a finalist again and learn even more about cooking. “I’ll be able to cook instead of going out to eat all the time. I will save money because I can make what I like myself.” She added, “Everyone should try the challenge because you learn a lot and it is fun.”
The completed dishes were each awarded points from a strict judging rubric. The three judges awarded points for Points for each of the six categories: Healthy Attributes, Kid Appeal, Ease of Preparation, Originality, Plate Presentation, and Taste. The ingredients and final dish had to meet the requirements of being a healthy dish. The dish had to appeal to the food interests of fellow students. The preparation steps had to be simplistic enough for kids to be encouraged to make it for themselves and their families. Although the dishes had a theme they were required to follow, there had to be an element showing the young chef’s creative impact to make it an original creation. Each entrée had to appear appealing in order to encourage kids to want to try it. Once having tried the dish, the taste had to be good or kids wouldn’t bother to eat it.
“Each category is an important part of the competition,” Sperry Director of Child Nutrition Susan Sherwood said. “Of course they must be healthy, but they must be fairly easy to make, look inviting to try it, and taste good, or no one would make it and eat it.” Each judge awards points to each dish in each category, not knowing how the other judges are scoring the same dishes. Future Chefs Challenge judge, Janette Freyre, noted, “We sampled five well-made, tasty dishes, and as for me, I couldn’t tell you one that absolutely stands out above the others. They were all so good.”
“In the end,” Susan Sherwood said after points had been tallied for all the dishes, “only a single point separated the top dish from the runner-up.” Each of the five had already won the first level of the challenge, so in this portion, each was awarded a medal. Colten Faucett, Kassidy Mauldin, and Ragan McCutchen all received bronze medals. Anna Coffey was awarded the silver medal. Jaycee Bridgeman took home the gold medal. Each finalist also received cooking utensils and other prizes, and the gold-medal winner also received a bicycle. Jaycee will now compete in the regional level of the competition.
