Student Chefs Shine Again!

Sabrina Bailey and Millie Kau win "Galley Master" best overall in K-5 Group

By Madie Murray

“Every entree presented for judging by students, ranging in ages from 5 to 15 at the Third Annual OISD Student Chef Competition, was suitable to serve at a first class restaurant,” and those very words were uttered by Orcas Island’s own first class chef and one of five on the judging panel, Christina Orchid, during the competition. The prize-winning student chefs were able to fulfill the criteria set forth in the requirements and grab top honors, and every contestant took home gifts and ribbons and a heap of admiration from their peers.

In the morning K-5 group, the best overall “Galley Master” award went to Millie Kau and Sabrina Bailey with their perfect preparation of Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Pineapple Kabobs.   The “Local Yum” winner was Lillyan Otto and Evan King serving up a savory Caribbean Chicken Casserole. The “Pizazz” award went to Arla and Sam Sutton with Colorful Caribbean Tortillas.  Birdie Greening and Zora Leck won the “Burn Your Tongue” award with their zesty Plantain Crusted Caribbean Chicken, and Kayleigh Horton and Katarina Schiller won the “Ship Shape” award by efficiently preparing Trinidad Garlic Pork with Caribbean Black Beans.

Monica Connell captures First in the 6th Grade group

The First Place Winner in the 6th Grade group was Monica Connell who prepared Caribbean Jerk Stir-Fry and received perfect scores on her recipe, presentation, taste, mise en place and cleanliness.  Finalists were Violet and Tori Sturk with their colorful Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas and Alexis Pense with her unique St. Lucia Plantains Casserole.

The High School contestants were teamed up with teachers and gave the audience the show of a lifetime.  So much so that it took almost a half hour for the judges to determine the winner because it was so close.  In the end, however, the passion and preparation of Denis Riordan with his teacher counterpart Jill Sherman came out on top with Denis’s recipe of Caribbean Crab Cakes with Scallion Pancakes and Caribbean Fruit Salsa.  Katie Holley and teacher Paul Evans came in an achingly close second with a first class presentation of Caribbean Jerk Chicken elegantly served with a lovely fruit “mocktail.”

Denis Riordan receives the highest award in the High School group

This event creates a lot more opportunities than just competing alongside fellow students. Scott Otto, father of Lillyan Otto mentioned one when he said, “The best part of this competition was the quality time I was able to spend with my daughter in the kitchen learning something new together.” Another parent remarked that this competition helped her daughter step outside her comfort zone and learn new culinary styles. One of the judges, Cathy Ferran, put another bid in the benefit box when she said “I see the kids learning a skill they can use the rest of their lives. Cooking is doing for other people; it’s not just for oneself.”

The whole event was captured on video by student Alexis Cuthburt and will soon be available on YouTube, and a slide show and downloadable recipes along with a blow-by-blow account of the whole day is on the Farm to Cafeteria web site at www.orcasislandf2c.org.

An enormous amount of gratitude goes out to our sponsors: Roses, Smalldog Network Solutions, Maxdigger Productions, Doe Bay Cafe, the Reed Family, The Lawlors, Chilada’s, Tim Blanchard and Peg Manning and the Orcas Hotel who enabled us to secure some very nice prizes and pull off a first class event for the kids.