Andralynn Delorme sat with her team, awaiting the results. Three other teams sat near her. They talked amongst themselves. Family members snapped photos.
Six judges sat at a long table. It was covered with plates and bowls filled with half-eaten food. They were waiting for the final verdict, too.
The event organizers were huddled in a corner, poring over the judges’ score sheets and tallying up the points.
The National Bank Financial Convention Place was eeriely quiet. There were sounds echoing through the rest of the Gallagher Centre. Horse hooves stomped on the ground during the team roping competition inside the Farrell Agencies Arena. Pigs squealed and roosters crowed at the exotic animal sale in the AgriPavilion. But there wasn’t much noise in the convention room.
Everyone was waiting to see who had won the first Harvest Showdown High School Cooking Throwdown.
Four teams competed in the event, representing Sacred Heart, Dream Builders, and Bert Fox from Fort Qu’Appelle. The teams were made up of 3-5 students from Food Studies and Commercial Cooking classes.
Entering the cookoff wasn’t as easy as walking through the door. Participating schools held cooking competitions in-house. The winning teams advanced to the Nov. 4 cookoff.
“To be involved in a competition like this, every one of them is amazing,” said John Penner, a chef at Mr Mikes Steakhouse and a judge for the cookoff.
A month ago, Andralynn Delorme couldn’t have pictured herself here. A recent arrival at Dream Builders High School, the grade 12 student described herself as quiet and shy. But she let her passion for cooking guide her.
“I was just that quiet person who would do what they’re told,” she said. “Now I’m leading the whole group.”
Delorme was the sous-chef for her team. She directed traffic and kept the group on task. They had a tight schedule.
Each team had an hour and forty-five minutes to whip up an entree and a dessert. The main dish had to incorporate beef while the last course had to use dairy. Bonus points were awarded if the students used Saskatchewan-grown products.
The students chose their dishes days before the competition, but they had guidance in picking the right ones. Cooking mentors helped the groups prepare for the big event. Chef Spencer Fuches mentored the two teams from Sacred Heart.
“We got these kids...really involved in their decisions,” he said. “[I showed] them how to do things properly [and] what I would expect if they were to work for me in a restaurant.”
The dishes ran the gamut from jalapeño popper burgers to ratatouille to ginger beef stir fry.
The Dream Builders team decided to keep things simple. They made fried potato casserole and Saskatoon berry cheesecake.
“Compared to everything else [here], it’s just simple,” Delorme said.
But simple doesn’t mean easy. Midway through the competition, the Dream Builders’ deep-fryer broke. They couldn’t give their potatoes the crucial cooking style they needed for the casserole.
“We all stayed really calm,” Delorme said. “In my mind I was like, ‘Andralynn, what can you do?’”
The team boiled the potatoes for five minutes to soften them up before frying them in a pan. Fundamentals saved the day.
Once the meals were finished, the judges tasted them. They offered compliments and criticisms for the teams. John Penner was impressed by their skill and maturity.
“They’re beyond their years as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
The teams also had to make short presentations about the benefits of beef and dairy. Once they finished and the judges wrote their scores, everyone waited for the verdict.
Emcee Juanita Polegi took the microphone and everyone fell silent. She announced the rankings. The Sacred Heart teams came in fourth and third place. When the Bert Fox team were declared as the second place winner, Delorme knew her team had claimed the top spot.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t think we were going to win,” she said. “[My team] did such a good job.
“I feel like a proud mother.”
The Cooking Throwdown is an experience none of the students are likely to forget.
“I think it went lovely,” Delorme said. “It was great.”
