Livingston Schools Compete in Culinary Cook-Off
Winning Dish to Appear on District’s Curbside Café Menu
LIVINGSTON, La. – Livingston Parish Schools recently hosted a Culinary Cook-off for five high school culinary teams who competed to have their dish featured as a menu item for the district’s mobile Curbside Café.
Those high schools competing were Albany High School, Denham Springs High School, French Settlement High School, Live Oak High School, and Springfield High School. The competition was held Nov. 7 at the district’s Professional Development Center in Satsuma and was sponsored by the district’s Child Nutrition Department. Tyson Foods donated the prizes for the winners and the chicken ingredients for some of the dishes.
The Denham Springs High School culinary team won the competition with its Tex-Mex Chicken Macaroni & Cheese dish. Albany High School earned second place for its Chicken Fajita Sliders. French Settlement High School received third place for its Chicken Quesadillas.
The winning dish will be included on the Curbside Café menu next semester. The winning culinary team also won a cutlery set and $500 to purchase kitchen utensils and supplies for the team’s classroom. The second-place team received a cutlery set and the third-place team won a plating utensil set.
Sommer Purvis, supervisor of child nutrition programs, said the culinary students who participated in the competition are enrolled in the district ProStart curriculum, which is a restaurant industry-backed culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students.
“These students are gaining valuable career-building skills. The Curbside Café gives us an opportunity to showcase their work, and for them to gain practical experience in developing recipes, and managing supplies and timelines,” Purvis said.
A group of volunteer judges were assigned with the task of taste-testing each dish and scoring them on the merits of taste, presentation, and ease of preparation.
The Curbside Café is a food trailer that visits middle and high schools across the parish, offering alternative menu options to traditional cafeteria menus. It combines new menu ideas from ProStart students, along with fresh ingredients grown and harvested by students in the district, when available.
The concept of the food trailer was created from a concept by Leadership Livingston, a future leader’s group that is part of the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce. The group, in collaboration with the school district, funded the project. The trailer’s equipment includes a three-compartment sink, workstation, cooler, refrigerator, freezer and two warmers.
Purvis said the truck is currently visiting campuses upon request and for special occasions, but she expects to develop a more regular schedule for campuses in the coming months.
Pictured are members of the Denham Springs High School culinary team who won first place in the LPPS Culinary Cook-Off competition for their Tex-Mex Chicken Macaroni & Cheese dish. Their winning dish will be featured on the Curbside Café menu next semester. The team also won a cutlery set and $500 to purchase supplies for the culinary classroom. Pictured from left to right are Judith Ayala, Kaitlyn Ibarra, Ja’miracle Rose, Aaron Ramsey, and DSHS ProStart Instructor Jamie Manotas.
Albany High School’s Mia Berlier, Emily Maldonado and Blake Beach display their Chicken Fajita Sliders dish for the judges to sample. Their dish won second place in the competition.
Denham Springs High School Senior Monica Ramos plates the Fiesta Pizza dish her team prepared for the Culinary Cook-Off Competition. Also pictured are DSHS culinary students Kaitlyn Ibarra, Aaron Ramsey, and Ja’miracle Rose.
Volunteer Judge Dawn Birdsong, executive director of Mighty Moms, takes a sampling of the Chicken & Veggies Quesadillas dish prepared by the Springfield High School (SHS) culinary team. Also pictured are SHS Senior Breanna Durio, and looking on, is SHS ProStart Instructor Carol Tate.