Students from six high schools in North Texas competed in a culinary arts contest this weekend. The Dallas Cowboys and Dairy MAX host the Taste of the Cowboys Youth Challenge each year.
Students started at Paul Quinn College late last week meeting their coaches and hearing from college leadership. They finished at The Star in Frisco.
"In your school kitchen, you learn, you have teachers there to help you, but in a real kitchen, it's much harder. The person is telling you, 'I need this here at this time,'" says Landyn Davis, a senior at Mesquite High School. "The pressure is much greater. At school, you can learn and have a chef teach you the ways and help you. In a real kitchen, it's much harder, you have to focus on your own."
Mesquite High School's chef instructor, Sandra Sepulveda, says working in stressful conditions can help students learn skills they will use their own careers, regardless of which field they choose.
"I think this experience has taught them responsibility as individuals and as a team, how to work together, use their creativity," she says. "It challenges them to use their taste buds, all their senses, looking at dishes, beautifully plating them, eating with their eyes first. Everything is timed, so they're challenged in a lot of areas."
Davis says he plans to enter the Air Force after high school and currently plans to become an engineer, but he says he is looking at several different careers, and his time in the kitchen gives him several options to consider.
"I'm following a bunch of different pathways before I choose and stick with a plan," he says.
Mesquite High School won the competition. Dairy MAX and the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Foundation will donate $10,000 to the school.
"It's amazing. We get the opportunity to plant that seed and for them to see the whole process, knowing these students are passionate about it," says Trajuan Briggs, Dairy MAX' youth health and wellness manager. "This might be something that evolves into a career, or it might be something that may be a hobby or helps them connect culturally or connect with family."
Briggs says Dairy MAX has been part of the program the past ten years.
"We've had people talk about how they came from hospitality, hotels, restaurants. Some went to We Over Me Farm, just being able to build and create, working with their hands to the science behind it. There are so many different jobs that fall into it," he says.
Paul Quinn College's "We Over Me Farm" replaced the school's football field with two acres to grow organic fruits and vegetables.
"The main task we have and enjoy doing is to show people and students where our food comes from," says We Over Me Farm Director Isiah Mataruka. "We do traditional farming and hydroponics. For students to come and see the process, we can see the excitement when they see a seed become the food that ends up on their plate. It's educational and is also getting students to appreciate where their food comes from."
Mataruka says students who work at the farm can learn about agriculture but also tasks like budgeting and marketing.
"There's a whole buffet of choices a student can make," he says. "How do you recycle? How do you take care of your soil? What's the best fertilizer or the best way to manage your ecosystem? Students, when they see that early in life, they learn to respect nature and learn to respect farmers in different markets."
Students at Mesquite High School will now work with Legends Global employees who prepare food at AT&T Stadium.
"I love seeing kids reaching and learning. That's the whole point of this," says Concessions Lead Chassity Scroggins. "Learning now is a great experience. They come up with good ideas. We do concessions food, but they had to come up with something for tailgating, and they still made it fine dining. That's amazing."
Scroggins says students can benefit from those skills when they start families of their own, too.
"Once you decide to start a family, you've got to cook for your family. You can't let them go starving," she says. "That's the whole point of this is to learn how to do something from home. Yes, you can make a career out of it, but cooking starts at home."
Mesquite High School won with "Sideline 7-Layer Dip," described as "a strategic stack of creamy house made bean dip topped with a velvety queso blanco and sharp cheddar. Layered with seasoned avocado, zesty pico de gallo, and our signature creamy chimichurri salsa. Served in crispy Tostitos Scoops for the perfect game-day crunch."
Their entree was "Rowdy's Chicken Birria Tacos": "Championship-caliber shredded chicken, simmered in a robust house-blend of smoky Ancho and Guajillo chilies. Pan-seared to a golden crisp with melted Oaxaca cheese and paired with a side of zesty, citrus-infused cilantro lime rice."
For dessert, they served "Sweet DCC Churro Cheesecake Tacos" described as a "tribute to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Crispy, cinnamon-sugar flour tortilla shells filled with a light, whipped cheesecake mousse. Topped with a vibrant strawberry compote, fresh strawberries and a "snowfall" of powdered sugar."
Duncanville High School took second place, earning $5,000 from Dairy MAX and the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Foundation. Cedar Hill High School finished third and will receive $2,000.
Mesquite ISD's John Horn High School finished fourth; Dallas ISD's Skyline High School was fifth; Dallas ISD's Thomas Jefferson High School was sixth. Each will receive $500.
