The Iron Chef cooking competition will take place today, Tuesday Nov 17 at 3 p.m. at FHN. Teams from each of the Francis Howell schools and a team from Francis Howell Union will be competing in the event. The dishes that they create must contain a protein, starch, vegetable or salad, and a dessert to feed around 60 people. The dishes are then judged on flavor, texture, presentation, cooking methods, creativity, use of a mystery ingredient that is provided on the day of competition and must be used in every aspect of the meal, and connection to the theme. This year’s theme is Asian Fusion.

“I like the theme,” Iron Chef team member Blake Lodde said. “I think it’s different and gives us an opportunity to cook different foods that we wouldn’t normally think to try.”

Nicole Morse, Akeal Slaughter, Blake Lodde, Antwan Gardner, and Dylan Petzold have been having practices once a week to prepare for the competition. These practices are overseen by Becky Just, who is in charge of the team. At these practices, the team creates recipes, works to get their timing down and create the display and decorations for their table.

“Practices are really helpful,” Slaughter said. “They help us get the feel of the foods we make so we know how to make them during the competition.”

To be eligible for the Iron Chef team, you must be in the culinary arts class. Usually there are tryouts for the team, but this year, the interest in the competition dropped. This led to Just hand picking the members, based on who was interested and their performance in the class. After over a month of preparation, the team feels very confident going into the competition.

“I’m really glad that I decided to participate in this,” Morse said. “The team is really fun, and all of our dishes are going to be great. I think we have a really good chance of winning, so I’m pretty excited.”