St. Charles students to put their culinary talents to the test

As Aaron Summo grew up, he liked to watch his mother and grandmother cook.

He asked his mother questions and even learned the secrets to his grandmother's potato salad.

On Saturday, he and five other St. Charles East students will put their culinary and restaurant management skills to the test at a competition in Chicago.

Summo was an alternate on last year's team and this year he will be one of three on the school's culinary team which includes Lucy Cardoza and Ashley Folk. Three others are competing on the management team.

"I truly love to eat or cook," Summo said. "It's just about having fun and doing my best."

The eighth annual Illinois Prostart Invitational begins at 7 a.m. Saturday at Kendall College in Chicago. Approximately 17 teams will compete in the event, which is hosted by the Illinois Restaurant Association and the winners advance to the national competition in April in San Diego.

As part of the event, postsecondary schools with culinary programs will be a part of a college career expo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This gives students an opportunity to meet schools that provide scholarships, said the restaurant association's project coordinator, Ingrid Del Aguila.

"We are helping and assisting in the growth of the students taking part in the industry," she said. "These are the people who are going to take over our positions in the entire industry. It's their time to shine."

Nicole Young is also competing and said she is not looking forward to the 6 a.m. wake-up call required of them, but hopes the two months of preparation the team has done will make it worth it.

The team spends days after school training and practicing.

Afterward, they critique their work and talk about where things could be improved.

Young, a 17-year-old senior, said she fell in love with food and its preparation after her father died in 2002.

She was in fifth grade and said she could not get over the shock until she began to cook.

She wants to someday run a pastry shop. She said the competition gives aspiring chefs like herself good practice.

"It gives you the experience of what it would be like going forward into your career," Young said.

The day consists of two separate competitions.

First, a three-member culinary team has 60 minutes to prepare a three-course meal, including a starter dish, an entree and a dessert.

Following the culinary portion, the remaining three members compete in a Jeopardy!-like competition with questions about restaurant management.

Each of the competitions produces its own champions, who advance to San Diego.

The winners, however, have more to think about than just putting the food together.

"It's not just slapping food on the plate," said East family and consumer sciences teacher Steve Dessauer, also known to some of the students as Chef D. "You have to make it look pretty. You have to appeal to all of the senses."

While the goal this weekend will be to impress judges in hopes of earning a trip to San Diego, the goal during the week remains the same for Summo.

Despite knowing his grandmother's secrets, despite imitating as closely as he can, Summo still can't get his potato salad right.

"She does something," he said. "Maybe I didn't pay enough attention. There's something about it. But it still comes out different."