Video: The Iron Chef Culinary Throwdown is an annual competition in which the FHSD culinary students prepare four courses for judges to sample and rate them on. At Francis Howell North, FHN students will compete for first place. If they get first place this year, it will make three years in a row. The participants are practicing their recipes and techniques to receive the best scores possible.

The Culinary Cook-Off will be at FHHS Nov. 14 from 6:30-9 p.m. The theme this year is Food Truck Frenzy, and the team will focus on nachos. Each dish will have the look or taste of nachos, and anyone can come and watch.

“Our goal is to win first place and chef’s choice for the third year in a row,” foods teacher Becky Just said.

The team this year consists of juniors Kailee Edelen and Angel Husgen and seniors Alex Nelson and Ashya Roberson. Senior Jordan Chapple will wash dishes and aid the team if they need a hand.

The maximum team size is five, and to make the team, there are tryouts. If more than five people are chosen at tryouts, there is a separate cook-off between them to determine the official team members. In the competition, every person is in charge of a different dish. For example, one person might make the meat for the main dish and another person might make the dessert.

“I was given desserts,” Edelen said. “We aren’t allowed to reveal what our dishes are until the cook-off starts, but we practice making the dishes until the day of.”

The team practices once a week to perfect their dishes and make sure everything is how they want. When it comes time for the competition, they only have about two hours to make the food and clean up their kitchen before they present. Scores are decided by a panel of judges consisting of three professional chefs along with others. The team with the best plate, both appearance-wise and taste-wise, wins.

“It’s a fun experience,” Just said. “They learn a lot, not only about cooking but how to work with others. I think it’s also a great way to learn to work on a time crunch.” (Brief by Sydney Wise)