Our 10th annual Teen Iron Chef commenced last Wednesday, with 8 two-person teams poised to take the 2017 champion title by combining wits, dexterity, and a swift mastery of the secret ingredient!
All the teams overcame time and utensil limitations, but in the end, one duo's savory and sweet concoction persuaded the judging panel to award them the win! The Bellevue Public Library is pleased to announce this year's culinary conquerors as:
Team: The IncrEDIBLES (Lilly and Gabby), featuring a
picante veggie salad, with a chocolate and strawberry creature pudding!
The Set-Up
Teen Iron Chef registration opened in late May as we kicked off our "Build A Better World" Summer Library Program! As our finale event, eligible participants needed time to check their schedules, snag a partner (either a friend or paired up by Librarian Crystal, a.k.a. a new friend!), and come up with a team name that conveyed their unique competitive spirit.
Here was this year's line-up:
- Cooking Ninjas (Lydia and Madison)
- The K-Way (Kei'lah and Kiara)
- The IncrEDIBLES (Lilly and Gabby)
- Delicious Duo (Lindsey and Anisa)
- The Spice Girls (Jasmine and Alyssa)
- Team Siblings (Daniel and Shawnee)
- The Fighting Pickles (Sasha and Jasmine)
- The Destroyers (Praxton and Elliott)
Teams arrived to their individual table stations, complete with:
- a team sign
- a copy of the event rules
- paper and pencils (optional: scribble down ingredient and plating plans!)
- plain paper plates
- plastic forks, spoons, and knives
- latex-free food prep gloves (mandatory)
Sweet and savory: a finale event calls for a little abundance! Teams could choose to make an entirely sweet or entirely savory dish--or, if feeling especially ambitious, a well-balanced mix.
Fresh produce (thoroughly washed) is a special treat and a thoughtful addition to any plate! (Pictured: strawberries, chopped romaine lettuce, mini peppers, basil, sweet mint, chives, and pineapple sage. Cold hummus was also an option!)
Fancy plating options included: metallic gold and silver plates, party plates (aqua, purple, orange, blue), cups, paper bowls, and food stencils.
Teams could also make use of the following tools (in addition to station supplies): a grater, spatulas, tenderizer (pound things into powder or particular shapes!), foil sheets, microwaveable dishes, mixing containers, hot water, and a microwave!
The secret ingredient was concealed under a tablecloth until the very dramatic moment when a person could pause and then whip it off. And here it is!
Just kidding. It was bananas.
Do not use "ghost pepper" anything, unless you want your judges to revolt.
(Note: the bhut jolokia, also known as the ghost pepper or ghost chili, was certified in 2007 by Guinness World Records as the world's hottest chili pepper. It has been surpassed since, but still exceeding one million Scoville units, it is not to be taken lightly!)
Presenting the 2017 We're-Relieved-It's-Bananas judging panel, with Amber, Frankie, and Madison!
Amber is one of the library's wonderful Circulation clerks and Madison has been a fantastic volunteer assistant to the Young Adult department (Bellya!) for the past four years. Frankie, the head of our Adult Services department, said, "I loved being a judge. It was cool to watch the creative process and taste the awesome results."
The Rules
Once all teams were ready at their stations, it was time to review the competition rules and open the floor to questions! All participants heard and understood the guidelines:
1. Teams will be making 3 plates of the same dish (one for each judge).
2. Teams must use the secret ingredient in their dish. It can be the focus of their dish or it can be used in a tiny amount, but it must be present.
3. Teams will be judged on:
● Taste (sweet or savory: it must taste good!)
● Presentation (food design/arrangement and plate appearance)
● Creativity (pairing ingredients in an imaginative way)
4. Teams will have: 10 minutes to look over the ingredients and start planning with their teammate, followed by 30 minutes to further plan, make, and plate their creations.
5. Teams will be given a 15-, 5-, and 1-minute warning. (As well as a 10-second countdown.)
6. Teams will place their finished plates on the designated showcase table for judging.
7. Teams will receive comment cards (new!) from the panel of judges. When judging is complete, the winning team will be announced and awarded their prize!
Plus, some informal but important rules: no deliberately gross creations, be prepared to share ingredients with the other teams when possible, and replace your food prep gloves as needed (e.g. after accidentally sneezing into them, getting them covered chocolate pudding, etc.).
The Competition
The 10-minute deliberation period:
The teams could look at and pick up ingredients, but not yet bring them back to their stations. They could also use the supplied paper and pencils to scribble out dish plans and plating designs!
Then straight into 30 minutes to make and plate their culinary visions! Teams were now free to grab whatever they needed, using their station's plain paper plates to carry back a variety of ingredients. They could return to the supply center at any time during the competition, as well as request intact leftovers from other teams.
After the 10-second countdown, teams brought up the last of the entries to the showcase table!
Each team had their own designated spot! They could also take a moment to check out their competition.
The Judging
The three-judge panel used a rubric to determine scoring based on an entry's presentation, creativity, and taste. The rubric does include lines for both food ("F" line) and drink ("D" line), but we did not include drinks in this year's Teen Iron Chef.
(What do you think, teams? Maybe in future? But for now: judges were provided with ice water to cleanse their palates!)
(Librarian resource: Teen Iron Chef rubric PDF)
While carefully sampling the plates and keeping an eye on the clock, the judges completed a comment card for each team. Instead of ranking teams from bottom-to-top, Teen Iron Chef gives each entry personalized judge feedback (that they can keep!) before announcing one winning team.
(Librarian resource: Teen Iron Chef judge comment card)
Team: Delicious Duo (Lindsey and Anisa)
Judge comments:
"Inventive plating! Very resourceful. Well done."
"A very elegant presentation. Prettiest dessert I have ever had! Nicely done!"
"Loved plating! You can never go wrong with cake." (Note: there was cake inside the cones!)
Team: The Fighting Pickles (Sasha and Jasmine)
Judge comments:
"Delicious cake! Very creative additions."
"Loved the presentation of your dish. Great job!"
"Cake was nice and moist! I like how you used the mugs to serve it in!"
Team: The IncrEDIBLES (Lilly and Gabby)
Judge comments:
"Very tasty! Great job! Salad tasted like a good taco salad and dessert was good as well!"
"Awesome salad with the salsa dressing. The pudding dessert was very creative."
"Love the eyes on the pudding! Very creative use of salsa for the salad dressing."
Team: Siblings (Daniel and Shawnee)
Judge comments:
"Very cute! Loved the plating!"
"What a creative presentation! Great job!"
"Fun plate! Loved the creative combination of ingredients."
Pictured below: close-up of the pretzel person inside of their fruit roll-up tent by a fire.
Judge comments:
"Great combination of flavors. Fun use of the waffle cone!"
"Great presentation! I loved the cookie surprise! Well done."
"Yummy! I kept coming back for more!"
Team: The Destroyers (Praxton and Elliott)
Judge comments:
"Cute banana man! The butterscotch pudding was a nice addition."
"Clever presentation! Good work!"
"I liked the smiley face! :)"
Team: The K-Way (Kei'lah and Kiara)
Judge comments:
"Very tasty! Loved the cake and the sprinkles were a nice touch!"
"What a cute presentation! Nice job!"
"Such a cute presentation! Loved the gold sprinkles."
Team: The Spice Girls (Jasmine and Alyssa)
Judge comments:
"Very appetizing plate. Loved the butterscotch pudding for the frosting!"
"Pretty presentation and cool ingredient combination!"
"Tasty! Loved the fruit on top--nice touch!"
The winning team, The IncrEDIBLES, posing with their prizes! This year's prize packages included $15 Subway gift cards, pool passes, SLP prize entry slips, glow necklaces, candy, and a few other goodies!
Congratulations, Lilly and Gabby!
Thank you to all the participating teams; your quick thinking and awesome creativity very much impressed and challenged the judges!
And thank you to the 2017 Teen Iron Chef judging panel for dedicating your time and tastebuds!
posted on
No comments:
Post a Comment