Sophia Nelson adds meat to tomato sauce for her lasagna, with the help of Angie Summers.
Jane Vaughan/JPR
Seven elementary school students from the Phoenix-Talent School District traded sleeping in on the first day of spring break for a shot at something bigger: turning family recipes and cooking skills into a winning dish.
The Future Chefs Challenge is run by the food service company Sodexo, which serves the district. These students were chosen to compete from a pool of others who submitted recipes for consideration.
Milo Springer chops onions for his G.O.A.T-o risotto.
Jane Vaughan/JPR
Amy Honts is the Sodexo general manager for the district and a certified pastry chef. She said the goal of this contest is to inspire kids to get into the kitchen.
“My passion came from about this age when I was baking and cooking with grandma, and we want to help that creativity grow with them,” she said.
The theme this year is “passport to flavor” to inspire students to think globally. The recipes span the globe, from lasagna and mixtas to smoothies and pozole.
Before the competition starts, Honts runs through kitchen safety protocols with the kids: hand washing, hair nets, cut gloves.
Then, the teams spread out, some in the culinary classroom and some in the cafeteria down the hall. Each kid has an adult staff member as a helper.
Fourth grader Milo Springer starts with chopping onions for his risotto, which he calls G.O.A.T.-o risotto, using the acronym for Greatest of All Time.
He said he likes cooking with his family, but he doesn’t like one part of the process.
“How much you have to move your hand, and it can get tired,” he said before quoting the 2003 movie Holes. “‘I’m tired of this grandpa. That’s too damn bad!’ Gotta make the frickin’ meal.”
Behind him, Everly Rogers is slicing a mountain of leeks for her Irish potato leek soup, a recipe she said her mom makes that feels like home.
She thinks Milo is the competition to beat today because his cooking is pretty good. But she’s not too worried.
“My dad said it’s not about winning but having fun,” she said. “But if you do win, it’s the cherry on top of the day!”
Meanwhile, Rudy Mishan is confident in his recipe for mixtas — Guatemalan street food of hot dogs in tortillas with toppings — because he learned it from his dad.
“I know the recipe very well, and it’s easy for me to make,” he said.
Nearby, fourth grader Fernando Gutierrez said he’s making his recipe for the first time today: pozole.
At one point, he realizes he’s missed a crucial step: washing his tomatillos with soap.
He fetches them and blasts them in the big kitchen sink. Soon, he’s back on track.
Down the hall, Audrey Duewall is prepping strawberries for her almond butter and fruit cookie cups.
Audrey Duewall mixes strawberries with sugar for her almond butter and fruit cookie cups, while her helper Carlie Shute looks on.
Jane Vaughan/JPR
She said she enjoys everything about the cooking process.
“Just like the whole thing itself is fun to do,” she said. “Making everything and then tasting it afterward and being able to say, ‘Ooh, I made this,’ that’s cool.”
But she has some steep competition.
Around the corner, fifth grader Sophia Nelson is competing in her third Future Chefs challenge.
When I meet her, she’s standing on a stepstool so she can reach the béchamel sauce on the stove for her lasagna.
“There’s not many recipes of lasagna that I like,” she said. “I wanted to find one that I liked.”
One student’s recipe is a bit simpler. Eva Ruby’s island bliss smoothies contain ingredients like berries and orange juice and come together pretty quickly. She said she chose the recipe because her family often eats smoothies for breakfast.
Fernando Gutierrez arranges samples of his pozole.
Jane Vaughan/JPR
Two short hours later, it’s time for plating. The kids prepare larger servings for the four judges, 50 smaller samples for attendees and one display plate.
But one contestant has a problem.
There was a mixup with the recipe for Audrey’s cookie cups, meaning she only added one-quarter cup of flour, rather than six and one-quarter cups.
She answers smoothly when the judges ask about the ingredients.
“A lot of butter and not as much flour,” she said.
The dessert is still delicious but sticky and chewy, rather than the usual cookie texture.
One by one, the kids present their creations while the judges ask questions. They rank the dishes on qualities like originality, taste and healthy attributes.
At the end, everyone gets a medal and a cookbook, but there are a few winners, who go home with extra kitchen equipment, like mixing bowls and frothers.
They’re announced by Superintendent Brent Barry, who called this “one of the closest battles in Future Chef history.”
The crowd favorite is Fernando’s pozole.
First place goes to… Audrey’s cookie cups!
She wasn’t confident in the judging and said she was preparing herself not to cry if she didn’t win.
“I was very, very, very surprised,” she said. “It was pretty good in flavor. I didn’t like the texture that much, though.”
Audrey’s recipe will now be sent on to the national judging.
She said she plans to work in the culinary industry one day, and her dream recipe is to successfully cook beef Wellington.
Jane Vaughan is a reporter with Jefferson Public Radio. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
