East students spice up cafeteria

Local high schoolers battled Thursday to see who could create the ultimate poultry dish and earn the title of East Chapel Hill High School’s first-ever “Iron Chef.”

Five East students matched wits in a culinary competition before their peers, based on the Food Network’s hit show “Iron Chef.”

While the student competition did not take on the challenges of giant eel, asparagus or fermented Japanese root paste, as competitors do on the TV show, it was aimed at teaching students to eat healthy.

“(The competition) encourages them to experiment with food and not take the easy way out: going to a fast-food restaurant,” said Mark Rusin, director of child nutrition services for city schools.

Student Body President and contest judge Vivek Chilukuri said it was nice to see the school branch out and hold unique events.

“This is about as gourmet as cafeteria food can get,” Chilukuri said as he ate one of the contestant’s final creations.

Similar to the show, students had one hour to prepare several dishes based on a surprise main ingredient, which turned out to be chicken.

Competitors also had a variety of ingredients to accent their dishes, including fresh spinach, mushrooms, pineapple, tomatoes, cheese, cantaloupe and an array of other fresh fruits and vegetables.

Freshman Ben Isaacs created a spread using chicken, tomatoes, broccoli and onions, which beat out the dishes of his four competitors.

“I just like to cook, and I like to eat the food I cook,” Isaacs said.

The competition was judged by a panel of faculty, administrators and students, who judged based on taste, presentation and service, among other considerations.

Competing chefs were chosen based on unique recipes they submitted for a cooking contest earlier this month, said Anne Hicks, cafeteria manager for East and host of the competition.

“Events like this help promote nutrition simply because they use nutritious food,” Hicks said.

She said it is important to instill long-term healthy eating habits in students, as schools only provide them with up to two meals a day.

Officials across the district have been promoting healthier eating since National Nutrition Month celebrations last month.

As part of the festivities at Culbreth Middle School, the district gave out samples of fresh fruits and vegetables in that students could then purchase during lunch in March.

The push for healthy eating has come on the heels of increased media coverage of child obesity, Rusin said.

“Child obesity isn’t something that’s happened over the past two or three years, it’s happened for decades,” he said.

“We thought we needed to be a leader (in fighting that trend).”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.