Fruitport High School's culinary team will soon be on its way to the warm weather of Orlando, Fla.
The first-place finish of juniors Cassondra Cooper, Brittney Boone, Brittany George, Brittanie Prinz, and alternate Amanda France in the fourth annual Michigan ProStart Student Competition held Monday and Tuesday earned them a trip to nationals in Florida April 24-26.
"They were a well-oiled machine yesterday," coach Michal Wheeler said. "It was absolutely superb."
The culinary competition pitted 19 secondary schools against each other for the best presentation, technique, flavor and sanitation of a meal prepared in 60 minutes.
The team spent the past few months perfecting the taste and presentation of their carefully planned three-course meal.
Sixteen judges critiqued the students' concoctions for the contest, which is sponsored by the Michigan Restaurant Association.
Fruitport's courses were a baby spinach, vine-ripened tomato, Stilton cheese and fennel pollen vinaigrette salad; a main dish of coriander yellowfin tuna and northern lakes walleye with root vegetable tourner and asparagus bundles in a merlot butter; and a Pear William Cannoli Napoleon with white and dark chocolate sauce for dessert.
The team was mentored by Chef de Cuisine Christian Madsen and Executive Pastry Chef Scott Hunter from the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, which is home to the only five-diamond restaurant in Michigan. Grand Rapids Community College Culinary School graduate Daryl Tammen and Chef Andrew Sprite from Jack's restaurant in Spring Lake's Holiday Inn were also mentors for the team.
Last year's culinary team earned second place at the student competition. The team that beat them, Michigan's Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, took first at nationals.
"That little Fruitport could rise above those big schools is just amazing," Wheeler said.
Fruitport High School's quiz bowl challenge team — which is separate from the culinary girls — did not place at the Michigan competition, but Wheeler attributed that to the resources of the other schools. The Jeopardy-style contest tested students' knowledge of the hospitality industry and their problem-solving skills.
"We know what we're doing, we know what we'll face," Wheeler said of the cooking competition. "It's very difficult to prepare for the quiz bowl. They had a much harder time."
The teams that placed were technical schools with numerous staff members in hospitality and culinary arts, Wheeler said.
Fruitport will advance to the National ProStart Student Competition in Orlando, Fla., April 24-26.
The team is ready for its next step.
"When I close my eyes I can see the palm trees and beach," Prinz said before the competition.
"Those girls rocked," Wheeler said. "I wouldn't have changed a thing."
For more information about the Michigan competition, visit www.michiganrestaurant.org/pages/prostart
Source:http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/294376878952178.bsp
