On a rainy Wednesday morning on March 28^th, the mood in the Great Hall was anything but damp. YCIS students in Years 4-6 welcomed a professional entertainment chef to the school who conducted an amazing, high energy cooking class and competition with students. The event began with an introduction to culinary skills and what it means to make a healthy, well-balanced meal. Students were quizzed and challenged to identify the importance of different food groups in maintaining a healthy body and mind.

Next, teams were selected from Year 5 and 6 to form a red and blue team. All students were given voting cards so they could choose their favorite team’s meal. A range of ingredients was provided to each team who had to think of and create a healthy, balanced meal in just 15 minutes!

Our professional chefs from the school Canteen assisted the teams lead by Mr. Houston (red team) and Mr. Solis (green team). It was an intense race to prepare four portions of food that was healthy, but also visually beautiful and of course – tasty!

The red team prepared an Italian chicken pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil along with a sour cream and basil side. The green team prepared fresh marinated tandoori salmon with Indian spiced potatoes and rice. All students got up close looks at the cooking process, the visual appeal of the dishes, and a number of lucky students even got to taste and judge the food on flavor. The judges could barely stop eating!

Everyone agreed that they would happily order either dish in any restaurant, but more importantly, they now knew they too could cook this high quality, healthy food in their own homes. All students will be taking the recipes used today home to cook with families.

After nearly equal votes from the audience on each team’s food’s visual appeal, the taste testers (made up of students and staff) decided the green team’s salmon dish was the day’s winner!

A special thanks to both teams, Mr. Houston and Mr. Solis, our fantastic and energetic chef host, as well as Chartwells’ chefs and staff for helping organize this fantastic event. There is no doubt that all students have a better appreciation of healthy food, and how quickly and simply gourmet food can be prepared at home.

If you’re a parent who appreciates amazingly delicious and healthy food – be sure to take advantage of the recipes your children received today. No doubt you too will have fun cooking and eating them with your child!