By Lisa Parrish, GMC Editor

The task is to create a delicious, creative three-course meal that will impress industry-leading expert judges in 60 minutes with just two butane burners and no access to running water or electricity. No, this is not a Top Chef segment; this is the National ProStart Invitational Culinary Competition for high schools.

Polaris Career Center’s Chef Training team bested 47 other teams in the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's (NRAEF) ProStart® competition to take first place. The team was evaluated on creativity, communication, teamwork, organization, time management, skill level, safety and sanitation at the Grapevine, Texas, event held in May.

Amber Stevens, the Ohio school’s team captain, said, “We dedicated more than 600 hours of practice to the competition. Last year, our team placed third (in the national competition.) Our goal was to just be third place and anything else would be amazing. Then we placed first. We did it! I am super proud of my team.”

Students were tasked with cooking their meal in an hour while also answering challenging judges’ questions. “We did get frustrated a little bit. But, we just multitasked and answered the questions and kept working,” Stevens said.

The team prepared an appetizer of pan seared scallop, Ohio sweet pea puree, creamed winter corn, applewood bacon jam, espelette pepper oil and tomato ginger relish. The entrée portion consisted of filet mignon, truffle foie gras potato croquette, morel mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, leeks and Swiss chard. For the dessert course, the team featured Gianduja chocolate mousse with dark chocolate glaze accompanied by mango Bavarian, almond coconut brittle, orange scented fritter, raspberry foam and mango coulis. 

Stevens explained they selected their meal by examining food bibles looking for ideas. “We came across peas and corn and thought they went together. From there, we just put flavor profiles together and everything just fit.”

The team competed at the local and state levels before moving on to the national stage. They decided to keep their meal plan the same for every competition. “Everyone loved the food and we did too. We just kept perfecting it,” Stevens said.

The championship team included Amber Stevens as well as Therese Napier, Dakota Stevens, Chris Hritz, and Emily Leopold, all of Ohio.

Winners of the culinary competition, sponsored by Golden Corral and Cargill, earned $6,000 each in scholarship money to continue their foodservice education at a college or university of their choice. Stevens is planning on attending Ohio’s Hocking College in August majoring in culinary arts.

There were a total of five teams who placed in the 15^th annual national competition with each team earning scholarships ranging from $500 to $5,000.

"Congratulations to all of our winners," says Rob Gifford, executive vice president of NRAEF. "We are so proud of each and every one of the teams. These students are the future of the restaurant industry, and we look forward to seeing what they accomplish next."

For more information on the National ProStart Invitational, visit http://www.nraef.org/ProStart/Invitational.

Photos courtesy of Polaris Career Center.