On March 5, seniors Catherine Kuehner, Ricardo Perez, Claire Patterson and junior Gus Unwin competed in a culinary cook-off at Parkway South High School.  The competition included all four Parkway schools.

“Whenever any of our teams compete against other Parkway schools, there’s automatically a sense of rivalry, no matter what the occasion is,” Unwin said.

Patterson and Unwin represented one team, while Kuehner and Perez represented the second, both for Culinary Arts teacher Katie Hashley.  Competitors received salmon, radicchio and olives as necessary ingredients to use along with their choice of other mystery foods.  Each dish had to consist of a protein, starch and vegetable.

“Going into the competition, I had a little confidence because I cook at home a lot,” Kuehner said, “but I was also extremely nervous since it looked like there were lots of kids there who knew more than I did.”

All teams had one hour to produce two identical entree dishes of their choice with the ingredients given to them.  Patterson and Unwin chose to make fish tacos while Kuehner and Perez made a salmon dish topped with a lemon dill sauce, accompanied by a salad and butter garlic asparagus.

“Having a one hour deadline was a little stressful, but we managed to pull it off,” Unwin said.

After the judges scored the entrees, award were given based on appearance, taste, and aroma.  Although Patterson and Unwin did not place, Kuehner and Perez received second place.

“I was really surprised that we got second because I didn’t think we did as well as some of the other teams,” Perez said.

Overall, both teams were pleased by the results of the competition.

“Even though we didn’t win, our dish came out a lot better than we expected,” Patterson said.  “It was a really fun experience to be a part of.”