Iron Chef Challenge
By Payton Cederburg
Every year in fundamentals of food & nutrition, a family and consumer science class at Pierce High, teacher Angie Brodersen holds an Iron Chef challenge for the student’s final. Students will do various research and use cooking techniques to create a three-course meal to impress a panel of judges. This year, the four countries chosen by the groups were Italy, India, South Africa, and Slovakia.
To start, Brodersen divided the class into four groups, and the groups decided what country they wanted their meal to come from. These groups then researched to create a presentation for the class. During this research, students learned the different cooking techniques to make their dishes. They also learned about the country they were representing, including facts about religion, language, population, and more. This whole final took over a week for everything to be finalized. Brodersen gives her students five full days to cook if they need it. If the students choose not to cook during this time, they keep on researching because the judges will also ask questions about their food, so everyone in the group has to be prepared to answer.
“I honestly don't think I could pick a favorite dish. There were so many interesting flavors, creative uses of the secret ingredient, and beautifully plated dishes,” Melissa Legate, one of the judges, states. “Each time I get to judge a competition for their class, I am always so impressed with what the kids come up with and how well they do with even some pretty complicated cooking methods. I hope I get many more chances to be a judge in the future!”
The judging took place on December 13. The presentations that every group made were presented on December 16. There were a few hiccups during the final. For example, only some groups got the ingredients they needed, so they had to use a different substitution. Other problems included needing to be fully prepared or planning out their whole cooking procedure. Brodersen had every group member create a timeline so they knew what they were doing each day. If this was not taken seriously, it would be difficult to get everything done.
“I feel the challenge went very well this year. The class did an exceptional job of putting in maximum effort and their finished products showed that,” Brodersen recalls. “The students did a really great job of handling unexpected setbacks, mostly because of the amount of planning they had to do.”
In the end, Italy ended the challenge on top, South Africa in second, Scandinavia got third, and India in fourth. The Italy group members were Skyler Stern, Brody Coulter, Bradyn Schwartz, Aylla Weeder, Brenden Bolling, and Peyton Kruntorad.
