By TORY DENIS
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CHESTER — With the 2018 Jr. Iron Chef VT competition a few weeks away, three Green Mountain Union High School student teams have been hard at work perfecting their chef skills.
The statewide competition is scheduled for March 17 in Essex, Vt.
One of the school’s teams, The Cheftains, was busy Wednesday in the high school cafeteria kitchen, chopping and preparing cauliflower, sweet potato and other fresh ingredients for a Buddha Bowl recipe that includes couscous, falafel and a special harissa sauce.
The kitchen was an organized flurry of spicing and drizzling as trays went into the school’s large oven and a food processor whirled. After months of practice, the team worked seamlessly together on the multiple parts.
“We have three teams this year all working very hard,” said Jack Carroll, director of food and nutritional services for Chester-Andover Elementary School and Green Mountain.
The other two Green Mountain teams are Turnip the Beet, a middle-school team; and Skillet Takes, another high school team.
Jr. Iron Chef VT is a statewide culinary competition organized by Vermont FEED.
It challenges teams of middle- and high-school students to create healthy, local dishes that inspire school meal programs, so students understand how they can effect change in the food system.
The Cheftains team includes Simone Martorano, Caitlin McCoy and Alexandria Pippin, all of Chester, and Chelsea Rose of Cavendish.
Simone, Caitlin and Alexandria discussed what they enjoy about the Jr. Iron Chef competition.
One perk was clear: “The food,” Caitlin said, laughing. They also said they began the program this year with little to no experience cooking.
All agreed that learning additional life skills and more kitchen expertise was a benefit of taking part in the program.
The teams take turns in the school kitchen with several volunteer coaches. They have been practicing weekly after school since September to prepare for the Jr. Iron Chef competition, in which Green Mountain has earned prior awards.
The Cheftain’s coaches on Wednesday were Carol Neff, who works at Chester-Andover Elementary, and Christine Anderson, who owns ReStyled, a custom and vintage furniture restyling business in Chester.
Both have been coaches in the program for three years, though not with the same groups, they said.
The group also goes on culinary outings, such as a recent trip to Yama Restaurant in West Lebanon, N.H., where members had an opportunity to “think outside the box” for some different kinds of foods, Neff said.
Student teams can earn awards in three categories: The Lively Local Award for best use of local ingredients; the Mise en Place Award for exemplary teamwork, order and professionalism; and the Crowd Pleaser Award, given to the team that best incorporates color, texture and taste for a true crowd-pleasing dish.
The competition takes place in separate “heats” in morning and afternoon, with middle- and high-school teams competing in each category.
Local award-winning teams in the 2017 competition included the Flood Brook Tigers with a Crowd Pleaser award for “Samosa by Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery” (middle school AM heat); the Skillet Takes with a Lively Local Award for “Around the World with Stuffed Pretzels” (high school PM heat); and Turnip the Beet, also with a Lively Local Award for “Open-faced Taco-VT Style, Sweet Potato Bean Kale Pesto” (middle school PM heat).
The first Jr. Iron Chef event took place in April 2008 as a collaborative effort between two leaders in the Farm to School movement — The Burlington School Food Project and Vermont Food Education Every Day.
In the past nine years, nearly 3,000 Vermont students have crafted original recipes that highlight local and seasonal ingredients and inspire school meal programs, all according to vtfeed.org.
The program is supported partly through local and statewide sponsors and reimbursement, and occasionally the coaches and school provide fresh ingredients and condiments. The school also provides the practice space and tools needed to be ready for the timed competition, which allows 90 minutes to prepare a recipe.
The public is welcome to watch the competition. Busing will be provided by the school for all student participants.
The competition is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 17 at the Champlain Valley Exposition fairgrounds in Essex Junction. Admission is $3 per individual or $5 per family, up to four people. Morning heat is scheduled for 9:30 to 11, with awards at 12:30 p.m.; the afternoon heat is scheduled for 1:15 to 2:45, with awards at 3:30 p.m.
For more information on Jr. Iron Chef, past competition recipes, or the farm-to-school project Vermont FEED, visit https://vtfeed.org/jrironchefvt.
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