Four Culinary Programs Compete; Mira Mesa Wins Teen Iron Chef Competition

Winning Teen Iron Chefs from Mira Mesa High

Mira Mesa High earned Teen Iron Chef honors among fellow competitors, Madison, Scripps Ranch and San Diego School of Business high schools in the Final Cook-Off at the 6th Annual San Diego Teen Iron Chef competition, held at San Diego High. 

Competing teams had the choice of preparing the same menu from the preliminary competition, revising their menu or creating a completely different one for the final cook-off. 

Students were allowed to work on their ideas, go shopping, portion their protein and measure any dry or liquid ingredients the day before, but were not allowed to do any actual cooking, pre-making dough or premixing ingredients ahead of time. 

At the competition, each team was presented with a secret ingredient that had to be incorporated into at least one of their three courses.  They were allowed to have their recipes or prep-list at the station during the competition.  Teams were judged on teamwork/leadership, safety and sanitation/organization, flavor, and final presentation.  The schedule was tight – one hour to cook, including cutting, mixing and preparing all food, then 10 minutes to prepare three plates, one for display and two for the judges table. 

The event is sponsored by the San Diego Chapter of the California Restaurant Association. This year’s judges included chefs from San Diego restaurants and the Art Institute. The winners from Mira Mesa High won a free cooking class at Great News cooking store.

For more information, contact Angela Croce, CCTE program specialist, at (858) 503-1750 or acroce@sandi.net.