C-R students create recipes for success

RAWSON — Members of the International Food and Culture Class at Cory-Rawson High School have spent the school year learning about cuisines from different countries and getting hands-on experience with new ingredients, cooking techniques and flavors. They were also given the opportunity to create an original recipe for the Ohio Grown: Student Chef Showcase, a statewide student-centered culinary competition offered by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Their dish — Holy Cajun Trinity — celebrates Louisiana's rich culinary tradition. Their team was chosen as one of five finalists and barely missed taking home the title by a mere 0.25 of a point. "For me, when we went down, I said, yeah, it'd be fun to win," said their teacher Becky Bucher. "But I said, my greatest prayer for them is to have fun. And let me tell you, every time I looked at them, they were having fun." And although Cory-Rawson is a small K-12 school, the five class members are also friends and take the school's motto — "Small School. Big Opportunities" — to heart. "The thing is, we were going up against culinary schools," said Violet Simon, who is a sophomore in the class. "And it felt kind of validating to come from a small school and to be able to do big things without having that structure. I mean Cory-Rawson provides very good structure. I mean small schools give opportunities. That's our slogan." Students meet five days a week with Bucher, who is both a business and family and consumer science teacher. This year they studied Poland, South Korea, Germany, France and Brazil. For the unit on Poland, the students learned how to make pierogis which are filled dumplings. "We've been focusing on those a lot," Senior Jason Davis said. "So we made a few pierogis like apple pie pierogis. We made like mashed potato pierogis and a spinach and cheese pierogi." But starting in November, the class took on the Ohio Grown: Student Chef Showcase. The competition is designed to develop student interest in nutrition and culinary arts career pathways through hands-on experience creating and preparing an original school lunch recipe using fresh, locally sourced Ohio ingredients. They worked together to combine their ideas into the dish. "And since it was an international foods class, I remember Jason and Addi, I think, mentioned Louisiana. And they have the Cajun spices that are inspired by the indigenous people," said Jessunique Moon, a sophomore. They also had to remember that this was a recipe that could be used with the National School Lunch Program, said Bucher. "You have to follow the guidelines, but you also have to watch how hot it is as well," she said. "Obviously, not everybody likes hot." Working with Kirsten Gast, food director at Cory-Rawson, Sophomore Addison Torres helped make the sauce. "We used chicken broth, milk, mostly the Cajun seasonings like smoked paprika, cumin and pepper. We also used parmesan cheese to make it thicker so it thickened up while it cooled," Addison explained. The dish also included tomatoes, corn, bell peppers and onions along with pasta and turkey sausage. It was combined with celery sticks, orange pieces and cornbread for the meal. One day they had to prepare enough to feed 50 people, then serve it to students and poll their opinions. "And we were going up against macaroni and cheese with pulled pork (which is a favorite). But a decent portion of students actually got it instead of macaroni," said Violet. In all, 29 students liked the dish and three disliked it, mainly because they wanted more "heat." Bucher said using locally grown produce is also emphasized in the school lunch program, especially in Ohio. Violet and Eli Egts, who is also a sophomore in the class, are also in the garden club. They helped plant, grow and harvest some of the vegetables that were used. The application was submitted in February. A month later, they learned Cory-Rawson was one of just five Ohio schools selected for the final round. Addison and Jason took charge as co-leaders, and together they voted on a name — Team Juava, which is based on the first initials of each of their names and also refers to the guava fruit. Working with Gast, they also had to break down each ingredient by nutrition and cost which came out to $1.31 for the entrée and $2.34 for the entire lunch. "With this recipe, I felt like we tried our best to make it the healthiest it can be and the best for everyone else," said Jason. The competition was Friday at Columbus State Community College and included preparing the dish and giving a 10-minute presentation to the judges. Each team had two hours to prep, cook and plate their entries, which was plenty of time, they said. Some schools are career centers and have two hours for classes, while Team Juava has to finish making any of their dishes during a 43 to 45-minute class period. Once the scores were tallied, a winner was announced. Team Awesome Sauce from Community STE(A)M Academy in Xenia took top honors, besting Team Juava by .25 of a point. Other finalists were Hamilton Culinary Crew from Hamilton City School District, Supreme Greene Team from Sycamore Community Schools, and Defenders of Flavor from Youngstown City School District. "I really felt achieved," said Jason. He said when they returned to the van afterwards, they thanked one another and told each other that they had done an "amazing job." Bucher said people gravitated towards the team after the competition and many commented on what a great, well-mannered and fun group they were. "We later found out that some of the students had been picked to be on their teams. This was a group that was a class. And it was so evident watching them work that they were having fun. To me that was the greatest thing," she said. Photos from the competition can be seen on the Cory-Rawson Business and FCS Facebook page.