'Yes, Chef!': Dayton students prep for first culinary competition
“Yes, Chef!” students told teacher Krista Carpino when she told them DHS would take a team to the event in the Salem Convention Center.
Carpino came to Dayton last fall when the district added culinary arts to its career tech program. She ran a similar program at McMinnville High School for years.
At Mac High, she took teams to the ProStart state finals each year and her students brought home many honors, including scholarships, professional cooking equipment and trips to national competitions.
Her first-year team at Dayton has been practicing almost daily for the event, in which they must prepare a gourmet, three-course meal within a limited time while being judged.
Students said they are looking forward to the competition.
The Dayton team’s menu includes an appetizer of Thai curry, an entree of roasted duck breast with rice and green beans, topped with pomegranate seeds and miso, and dessert of steamed lime sponge cake with cream and citrus coulis.
Each of the 11th graders on the team concentrates on parts of the meal, and all help one another out, they said. “It’s real teamwork,” said Erick Chinchilla, who was helping to prepare the entree.
During a recent practice, Chinchilla sliced a duck breast, cooked medium-rare with crispy skin. He lifted slices onto a mound of rice shaped by Ivan Duarte, who was plating the entree.
Duarte carefully stacked green beans alongside the rice and meat. Chinchilla finished the plate with a miso glaze and pomegranate seeds that had been prepared earlier and set aside until the last minute.
“I took this course because I thought it would be a unique experience,” Chinchilla said. “It is. It’s harder than I thought, but Carpino is a really good coach. She gets in your head, but she’s very honest and caring.”
Next to them, Grace Goularte made dessert: discs of the delicate sponge cake topped with freshly whipped cream, roasted pistachios and a trio of orange segments.
She made the cake batter by whipping egg whites into meringue, then adding yolks, flour, sugar and lime for flavoring. She poured it into tubes and steamed them — something she’s been working on for weeks.
Now she’d reached the last step, plating.
“I’m taking my time to get it perfect,” she said.
The teacher encouraged her to work faster.
“Yes, Chef!” she called.
Abbigale Rowles, team manager, also was watching the time.
“During practice, Carpino is the coach, but during the competition I’m the one who’ll be there, telling them the time, tasting things, reminding them …” Rowles said.
She is confident about Monday’s competition. “They’ve improved a lot,” she said. “They’ll do well, even though they’ve never had an audience before.”
At the far end of the cooking station, Sydney Hall finished up the appetizer, a bowl with curry sauce, carrots and other vegetables. In each bowl, she propped up a piece of rice paper, which had been deep fried and flavored with lime leaves, salt and pepper.
“This is to make it look pretty and add texture,” she said. “People eat with their eyes, you know.”
Hall said she’s always enjoyed cooking with her grandmother. In Dayton High’s culinary class, she’s expanded her skills. “It’s not easy, but it’s fun,” she said.
While she plans to go into medicine as a career, she said cooking will always be part of her life. In fact, she said, “It’s a life skill. It should be required for everyone.”
Carpino said she wants to attract more students to the culinary program in future years. Next year, her classroom in the school’s former home economics room will be expanded to add more space. Then students can offer tasting nights for the public, as well as cooking in class and for competitions.
The teacher is pleased to have “some kids who are very serious about it” entering the ProStart event. They are getting better with every practice, she said.
During the recent session, the team scrambled to finish up before time was up, even though it was just a practice round.
“That’s the most crucial part, finishing on time,” the teacher reminded them.
“Yes, Chef!” they responded.
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