Almost famous? Nah ...

The not-so-winning dish.

The email came about a month ago. It was an invitation from the administrators at the school for students to participate in a cooking contest. One student would be chosen to represent the school in a regional competition and then, potentially, a national competition. Anyone from the school could enter and we got to choose from a list of ingredients to prepare.
I was interested at the time, but I knew that it was just one more thing on my plate, so to speak, that was already heaped full. I'm in school 20 hours a week, I'm working 32-40 hours a week and spending another 12-15 commuting everywhere. That kind of schedule doesn't leave much time for
extracurricular activities.
Then another email arrived. It was another invitation to participate in the contest. There was still time, still room, for anyone still interested.
I considered that a nudge. I threw my hat in the ring. Could I produce a dish in, say, 2 days? Sure. Could I come in and cook in time to present my dish at 9:15 am? Sure. Did I have a 12 hour day at school in between? Yep.
But ... can I cook lamb? Yes! Am I good under pressure? Pretty much. Can I be creative? Well ....
Sometimes.
Last Tuesday night, while I was at work, I said yes, I'd enter the contest. I told my chef at work what I wanted to prepare. He told me what he thought of my ideas and gave me good insight.
On Wednesday night, after I got home from school, I prepared a few things and wrote a list of stuff to pack. I left my house at 5:45 and arrived at the school at 7 am.
My dish: Roasted rack of lamb rubbed with mustard and rosemary, dusted with panko and served with a parsley and mint gremolata; a fingerling potato and brussel sprout hash topped with roasted yellow and orange peppers and a salad of arugula microgreens, olive oil, sea salt, pickled yellow beets and pickled shallots. It was fresh, interesting, flavorful and balanced.
The judges ate everything. They complimented my lamb, said it was cooked perfectly and nicely seasoned. They enjoyed the gremolata and the pickled vegetables. They said the potatoes were kind of dry and would have benefited from some kind of sauce. They asked me to tell them the story of my dish. I ... ah ... didn't have a story. I said that I love lamb and that my mom always cooked lamb. I thought the plate was rustic and interesting and that I had some nice, fresh elements on the plate. I was flying by the seat of my pants at that moment. I had no story about my plate. There wasn't a ... theme. There wasn't a common element to tie my ingredients together. I mean, I know what they were looking for ... sort of ... but I was completely unprepared for the question.
Listen, I was going on about 8 hours of sleep in a two-day stretch. I was bleary eyed. So I just spoke from my heart. I didn't try to sugarcoat things. I just told them what I cooked and why.
They said they'd let me know the next day.

As it turned out, they had a tough time choosing a winner. They didn't let us all know the results until the end of the day Tuesday. The winners (two will represent the school and the contest organizers will decide which one will compete) were more edgy with their plates, and stepped out of the box way more than I did. And that's what the judges were looking for -- well executed plates with some kind of originality .. something that sings.
But here's what happened in the meantime: I went to the website to check out the contest ... and look at past competitions, winning dishes, the chefs who competed. I was blown away. And I'll tell you what, I'm a very good cook, but I am not at all sure I've got the culinary chops for this kind of competition. I'm not saying that as a self deprecating sort of comment, truly. I know what I know and what I don't know in the kitchen.
I can't feel badly at all about not being chosen to compete. I stepped out (way out) of my comfort zone. I worked hard. I made very good food that was aesthetically appealing. The judges were very kind when they emailed me today and invited me to participate in an other sort of competition at school in a few weeks.
Culinary school has been such a gift, a blessing, a challenge, an education. I have absolutely nothing to feel badly about. In fact, I feel very happy ... and grateful.