Tops in state, TCD culinary team prepares for national contest
Lobster, hedgehog mushrooms and … peanut butter?
All three were on the menu - in different courses - that brought a fourth straight state championship honor for a high school culinary team from Technology Center of DuPage in Addison.
Thirteen teams from around the state competed at the 14th annual Illinois ProStart Student Invitational hosted by the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation at McCormick Place in Chicago. The annual competition includes a culinary contest and a management contest judged by industry professionals and postsecondary schools.
The winning culinary team members are all high school seniors enrolled in TCD's Culinary, Pastry Arts and Hospitality Management program as an elective part of their respective high schools.
Jorge Angulo and Mary Hoare attend Wheaton North; Anica Hosticka, Community High School in West Chicago; Amber Truby, Downers Grove North; and Maria Boleaga, Downers Grove South.
Technology Center of DuPage offers 21 advanced career and technical education electives to prepare DuPage-area juniors and seniors for college and a career. The satellite campus is operated through a joint agreement among 14 high school districts.
In addition to the thrill of bringing home the traveling trophy, a first-place win includes tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship awards and the honor of competing as Team Illinois in the National ProStart Invitational in April at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Hoare is the only team member who was also on last year's championship team, and she found that experience helped keep her from being too nervous. She went on to describe her teammates:
"Amber really owned her spot (the dessert). Anica is like a machine; she just pounds out those (tourneé) cuts. Jorge is the icebreaker - he calms us down if we get too intense. And we call Maria 'The Expediter.' She did a great job being our eyes and ears mid-competition."
TCD's team coaches are chef Matt Barker and chef Kyle Neuner, both instructors with the program. Chef Faith Jennetta is the coordinator of TCD's award-winning culinary program, which features the industry-recognized ProStart curriculum and is the only Illinois high school program certified by the American Culinary Federation.
The TCD team met two to three times a week in four-hour sessions to develop and practice its competition menu: a kataifi lobster appetizer, braised chicken breast entree with hedgehog mushrooms, and a chocolate-peanut butter cremeux for dessert.
For the state competition, each team had to prepare two identical portions of a three-course meal consisting of an appetizer, entree and dessert within 60 minutes. The students also are judged on knife skills and poultry fabrication; method and technique; sanitation and safety; presentation; recipe costing; organization; and teamwork.
One of the judges, Executive chef Homaro Cantu of Moto Restaurant and Cantu Designs, posted this impression on social media: "This team has massive potential - their food was amazing and full of flavor."