CCHS students compete in Iron Chef Competition
Fri, 2016-05-27 05:00
News Staff
By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press
Copperas Cove High School students showed off their cooking skills in the culmination of their culinary class.
Culinary Arts students were able to slice, dice, boil and bake dishes to compete in the CCHS Iron Chef Competition. Students put their talents to the test to create dishes that were both creative and delicious in a bid to win the title of best. Dishes were scored based on appearance and plating, taste, degree of difficulty, and use of the secret ingredient. The secret ingredient for Wednesday’s class was cilantro.
“I have a lot of confidence,” said Celina Smallwood, whose team created and served a flatbread chicken sandwich with cilantro guacamole. “I’m proud of our presentation, and I feel like it’s going to taste good because it smells good.”
“There have been some really awesome dishes,” said Culinary Arts teacher Amy Loughran. “I’ve really loved what some of them have done.”
Loughran’s students come from a variety of backgrounds, and there were a few in her class that had no, or very limited, cooking experience prior to attending her class.
“Before I got here, the only thing I knew how to cook was eggs,” said sophomore Melanie Schaub. “This class has been very fun. I’ve learned many new things about cooking,”
Other students had experience coming into the class. Sophomore student Skylar Kline said that she cooks at home all of the time. Kline added that someday she wants to be a head chef and eventually own her own restaurant.
Loughran said that the Iron Chef Competition will also serve as a final exam for her students. She said that the competition is designed to assess the student’s growth and to determine the mastery of their skills. Loughran said that some of the students were able to get creative in ways that she would never have expected.