The smell of sautéed garlic wafted through the gym at the Children’s Aid Frederick Douglass Center as the Pasta Masters began preparing their cherry tomato pasta dish.
The group of students from PS 152 had been working all year to perfect their dish in hopes of winning the 12th annual Iron Go!Chefs competition. Hosted by our Go!Healthy team, students from our elementary and middle schools learn about the fundamentals of nutrition and cooking before applying these important lessons at the competition and beyond.
Lesson plans range from how to read nutrition labels, the benefits of eating the rainbow, and food justice. Students cook a signature Go!Healthy vegetarian dish each week and get familiar with different cooking techniques, kitchen equipment, and how to read and execute a recipe.
Two months before the competition, students will choose a recipe based on a book and work with their instructors to decide the role they’ll play – chopping onions, grating cheese, plating the final product.
“I think it’s really special in youth development work to have a culminating event where you get to show off and apply what you learned,” said Taisy Conk, director of food and nutrition programs. “It’s the best way to learn something new – to hear about it, try it yourself, and accomplish it.”
Each team has an hour to make and plate the dish before presenting it to the judges. They must also explain how the recipe correlates to the book they read. The awards include Most Inspired Dish, the Juan Carlos Gonzalez Best Teamwork Award, and the Best All-Around Dish.
Emilis Mendoza, program director at Fairmont Samara Campus in the Bronx, has competed in several Iron Go!Chefs competitions and sees how the program positively impacts students in and outside of the classroom. In addition to learning the importance of eating healthy and making better choices, they also create stronger bonds with their parents and gain more confidence.
“Some of them connect better with their parents because they make the dishes together. Last year, one of my parents came to me and said, ‘I need all of your recipes from your curriculum because my son is crazy about all of your dishes,’” Emilis said. “They also have better relationships with their peers and they’re open to trying new challenges.”
The stronger relationships with their peers was apparent in Emilis’ team, Food Lovers, whose dish – little sushi surprise – was inspired by the book “Food, Food, Fabulous Food” by Kate Clynes. The team, who made a yellow plantain sushi dish, won the Best Teamwork Award.
The Pasta Masters impressed the judges with their cherry tomato pasta to win the Best All-Around Dish Award, while the Fearless Foodies from Central Park East II won the same award in the middle school competition with their Pani Puri, a popular Indian street food.
While winning an award is exciting, Taisy hopes that students take something more from the competition.
“Some of these kids might end up being chefs or doing something in the culinary or food service industry. Some of them might end up being leaders and managers and they practiced that for the first time at Iron Go!Chefs,” she said. “We never know what they’re going to take away from it, but it’s going to have meaning in their lives.”
