Teens Show Off Cooking Skills

Author: Tricia Oliver

Author: Tricia Oliver

Its official! Matthew Flannigans mouth-watering Butternut Curry Cup was declared the winner in a cooking competition for teens, organized by the Toronto Youth Policy Council. The competition was dubbed So You(th) think You can Cook, and was held at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on a Saturday. The second place went to Stanley Medrano for his steaming Ratatouille Stack, while third place was given to Nicole Stevens for her scrumptious Sweet Apple Pork.

The objective of the cooking competition project is to increase public awareness, and boost teen involvement in cooking and eating healthy foods. The Council also would like to underscore the importance of incorporating cooking skills and health nutrition in school curricula and in setting up a nutritional literacy project for the whole community. All these are geared towards placing on the policy agenda the issues about food, health and nutrition. Because food is a basic need for survival, and because of the increasing trend towards unhealthy cooking, eating and an unhealthy and life-threatening lifestyle, the Council feels that it is a political issue that merits attention and discussion.

All of the contestants were high school kids, with absolutely no working experience but with the talent, skill and passion for food and cooking. For instance, Flannigan is an intern on Foodshare Inc., while his mentor works there as kitchen supervisor. Foodshare Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit organization which confronts issue related to food, nutrition and hunger. On the other hand, second-placer Medrano is high school student that is taking a special program majoring on basic skills training in hospitality management and tourism. Third-placer Stevens, who is only thirteen years old, is the youngest, but has the passion for baking. The competition guidelines required that contestants will be given only twenty minutes to come up with an original dish onstage, in front of a lot of people. They have to incorporate three local ingredients from Ontario, Canada, and were given a budget of only fifteen dollars. The criteria for judging the final recipes were based on the foods taste, the innovativeness of the recipe, the appropriateness and timeliness of the preparation, and the organization and cleanliness of the contestants. Similar on television, all contestants wore the customary white uniform of chefs, but unlike the talkative and loquacious celebrity chefs, they were focused and quiet on each of their tasks.

Dutch oven cooking is one alternative for cooking healthy broths and pork or beef recipes which require slow cooking. A Dutch oven guide can be bought at any bookstore near you, or on any website online.About the Author:

For Tricia, the home is the best place to be.

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