Cooking up a trip to nationals

Marisa O’Neil

Students in Newport Harbor High School’s Culinary Academy advanced to

a national competition after taking top state honors over the

weekend.

Each member of the four-person team also won an $8,000 scholarship

to attend culinary school. The team cooked up a three-course meal in

60 minutes, beating out 14 other student teams at the ProStart

Student Invitational Saturday at Cal Poly Pomona.

“Everybody that competed did an incredible job,” teacher Janet

Dukes said. “I’m extremely proud of the time they put in and their

dedication. It’s amazing to see how much these kids have grown.”

In the weeks leading up to the state competition, the team put in

extra hours after school to practice getting everything just right.

Professional chefs Jeff Riggs from the Pacific Club and Tom Curran

from Laguna Culinary Arts helped the students develop their menu and

train for the big day.

Team members Venecia Delgado, Michael Silverstein, Juan Rosales

and Thomas Martin had to make the entire meal of warm ratatouille

salad with balsamic glaze, poached mussels and prawns with lime

saffron rice and crispy hazelnut towers with chocolate malt sauce and

creme fraiche using no electricity and only two butane burners. They

brought their own utensils and ingredients for the meals.

Judges kept a sharp eye on all the teams, Dukes said, grading them

on taste, presentation, sanitation and technique.

Even a thumbprint on a plate would mean points deducted.

“They were so prepared,” she said. “They were ready for it.

They’ve practiced with the entire class watching them and [chefs

Riggs and Curran] have always been there, so they didn’t feel

intimidated.”

Juan, 17, kept his cool, sauteing vegetables, stirring chocolate

sauce and answering questions for the judges at the same time, she

said.

The next step will be to go to the National ProStart Student

Invitational in Orlando, Fla., in April. As the state winners, all

expenses for the trip will be paid.

Venecia and Michael are seriously considering attending culinary

school, especially after getting the $8,000 scholarship, Dukes said.

Juan, who works as a cook at Pick Up Stix in Newport Beach, plans to

take full advantage of the scholarship.

Thomas, 17, a tailback and middle linebacker who’s captain of the

football team, said he’ll keep the scholarship in mind.

“It depends on how football goes,” he said. “If I don’t get a ride

to a school on a [football] scholarship, I’ll be going into culinary

arts.”