From soup to scholarship

SANTA ANA — When Huntington Beach’s Liberty Christian School senior Tiffany Frett was 8 years old, she started her culinary creativity, adding ingredients to cans of soup she’d make.

From there, she graduated to salads and sandwiches, and by the time she was 12, Frett was preparing whole meals at her Garden Grove home.

But when she graduates high school in Surf City this June, she’ll be heading for another culinary adventure at the Art Institute of California-Orange County, where she received a $1,000 scholarship as a semifinalist in the school’s Best Teen Chef Scholarship Cook-Off Saturday.

Frett, 18, was one of 10 semi-finalists to win the $1,000 scholarship and to prepare pre-selected dishes at the school in Santa Ana.

The nine Orange County students and one who came from Georgia for the competition will start their college careers this fall at the Art Institute’s culinary program.

Besides being a scholarship program, the competition prepares the students for their future culinary education.

“They’ve practiced so much, and it really gives them some headway into the program,” Art Institute spokeswoman Kim Jones said. “Before they start their classes, they’ve already been in our kitchen, met the instructors, been critiqued by the instructors, practiced plating and followed a recipe — I can’t see how it wouldn’t prepare them to start school here.”

And although Frett didn’t win one of the top three prizes — first-place future chef Uriel Loaeza of Orange will receive a $5,000 scholarship and a trip to Dallas for the national competition — she remained focused on her goal of being the executive chef at her own restaurant in Nagano, Japan.

Frett is one of those cooks who can just create culinary masterpieces without a recipe, her mother Marilyn Frett said. But for Tiffany Frett, it’s not just about the food.

“She’s so creative, using different ingredients…. But not only does she cook, she’s creative in terms of plating and presentation,” Marilyn Frett said as Tiffany’s dad Walton Frett agreed. “Presentation is where she really uses her creativity.”

The Frett family was still all smiles after they learned Tiffany didn’t win first prize and she congratulated her competitors.

But for Tiffany, it means she can go back to practicing preparation of the food she most loves to create — Asian fusion and homemade pasta sauce.

For the competition, the students had a set list of ingredients, recipes and equipment they’d need for the cook-off, with a sauteed breast of chicken, broccoli and rice pilaf being the main course. They also had to create a shrimp cocktail dish.

For more information on the Art Institute, its culinary arts and management program, and other programs, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/ orangecounty.