Chef Jeremie Cruz beckoned to Kenecia Hawley, a culinary arts student H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.
Lakeisha King began blending avocado, lemon juice, salt and other ingredients while Krell Lewis drizzled honey into a skillet.
“All right, officially we have 15 minutes,” an announcer chimed in over the sound system, causing a crowd of onlookers to laugh when they realised Mr. Cruz was trying to dial up the pressure by telling the students there was less time on the clock than what they actually had.
Undaunted, the three kept frantically stirring, frying, and running utensils back and forth between the kitchen and the preparation area.
Less than 15 minutes later, the result was a honey sweetener added to fungi with fresh corn and kale, cabbage, avocado aioli, and tempura battered with shrimp – all topped with fresh pickled onions and peppers.
The delicacy earned the team second place out of the four schools in Friday’s Junior Chef Competition at Banco Popular’s annual Ultimate Flavors of the Islands event on St. Thomas.
Nervous
Before the competition, the students’ instructor, Gorvey Henry, said they were nervous because they had never cooked in such a competitive atmosphere before. Onlookers included well-known chefs such as Mr. Cruz — who was named one of Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of the World — Food Network host Ben Vaughn, and The Simpsons guest star Emily Ellyn.
But cooking in a different setting was one of the main reasons students were brought there, he said.
“This is meant to build their confidence and give them a chance to build on the skills they acquired in school and put their own spin on the methods they learned,” he said.
Ms. King said she didn’t know what to expect going into the competition, but calmed down and enjoyed herself once the clock started.
“I was nervous to see what ingredients we’d be using, but it was good that we had shrimp because that’s easy for me to do,” she said. “After that, it was easy breeze for us. It was good.”
St. Croix winners
The winning team, St. Croix Career and Technical Education, received a new set of professional knives. HLSCC culinary students had to settle for gaining valuable experience.
“Being timed like that was definitely new,” Ms. King said.
All the participants were also able to sit in a question-and-answer seminar and learn tips from renowned chefs.
“Travel as much as you can, soak up as much knowledge from around the world as possible,” Puerto Rico-based Tras Patio Restaurant chef Javier Nassar told the audience.
The Ultimate Flavours contest started eight years ago as an activity for the St. Thomas Carnival’s food fair, but it has been a paid event over the last four years due to expanding public interest, said Banco Popular’s vice president of operations in the Virgin Islands, Oran Bowry.
This was the first year for the junior chefs competition, said Ms. Bowry, adding that the event is designed to cultivate the region’s next generation of chefs.
“We’re trying to open the door for another generation of local chefs to go on and continue their education and development in the field, and hopefully to come back and contribute to our tourism product and maintain a local flavour in their cuisine,” she said.
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