This past weekend, ten Culinary Arts students traveled to Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay to compete in the 10th annual Oregon Coast Culinary Invitational.
The contest requires the preparation of three plates of three courses and teams have one hour to cook and a 15-minute plating window. One of the unique aspects of the competition is the requirement for a seafood entrée.
“Cooking seafood perfectly is not easy, even for the best seafood cooks,” said coach Krista Carpino. “The lead instructor said he was very impressed the detail, communication, sense of urgency, and how beautiful the food looked and tasted.”
The two teams McMinnville High School teams won first and third place, and three individual competitors all placed in the top seven. Scholarship funds were awarded as team prizes. The first place team competitors won $4,000 each and the third place team won $2,000 each, for a total of $24,000 in total scholarships awarded. Additionally, the first place team won $500 and the third place team won $300 for culinary equipment for the school.
First place team included Lily Elmer, Jennifer Veles, Israel Juarez, and Javier Garcia, and the third place team included Devin Baldwin, Hanna Eby, Jessica Muniz, and Alejandro Zaragoza.
Individual competitors were Devin Baldwin (4th place), Geovany Ruiz (5th place), and Shalanda Nairn (7th place).