The FHN Iron Chef team competed in the Iron Chef competition on Nov. 18 at

Francis Howell High School. FHC, FHN, and FHHS competed, with FHHS taking 1st place and FHN taking 2nd. The teams are graded on presentation, sanitation, and overall taste.

“I liked how we all bonded really well with our other teammates and learned new things about culinary arts,” junior Taylor Kruetz said.

According to Kruetz, FHN made mushroom risotto in a wonton, salad in a cored tomato, meatballs with different kinds of cheese in the middle, different meats, like chicken, beef, and pork, stuffed peppers, and fried apple rings with pumpkin ice cream, drizzled with fruit dip and caramel on top. The Iron Chef team started their day at 8 a.m. to go grocery shopping for the ingredients they needed, then the actual competition started at 3 p.m. and they had two hours to prepare all of the food. Each team also had a secret ingredient that they had to add to all of their food.

“I really liked bonding with everyone on the team,” junior Lauren Kruetz said.

The team prepared by meeting after school and brainstorming what they were making and trying out all of the recipes that they were planning for the competition beforehand.

“I really liked serving the people, seeing their reactions to our food and how they liked it,” senior Trenton Johnson said.