Students learn by doing

OTTUMWA — Six New London High School students from Alaina Nelson’s Foods II class attended their first annual Indian Hills Community College’s Iron Chef competition.

According to Indian Hills Mark Fisher, the community college holds this competition twice a year.

This school year, they hosted a competition in November 2022, and they more recently hosted the spring competition April 15.

According to Indian Hills, the competition is designed for teams of four to six high school students to practice creative cooking skills.

“This year's competition is a new format and way more of a challenge than previous years,” a post from New London Community School District stated. “The school teams participating will not know until arrival what food they will be cooking.”

New London’s students arrived at the competition and received instructions to complete a three-course meal.

Their first course required a salad or “veggie-forward” appetizer.

The second course included a mystery basket.

Going into the competition students knew they would receive either a pork tenderloin or chicken thighs for their main course protein.

According to freshman Landon Lair, their team received the pork, which proved to be a challenge.

“The pork was overcooked,” he said.

They also knew they would receive asparagus, green beans, zucchini or yellow squash as a vegetable for their main course.

Lair said their team struggled to appropriately season their vegetables.

They finished their main course off with a rice side.

Every team also prepared a dessert for the competition.

With only two hours to cook, and only 10 minutes of time with their instructor, Liar said the team found the competition a difficult learning experience.

The team received feedback from a panel of three judges from the Indian Hills culinary department.

The judges observed the students as they cooked and then tasted the plates the teams prepared.

“We didn’t do so good,” he said.

Despite not feeling confident in their cooking this time, Lair found merit in the event and had fun.

“I learned how to cook pork,” Lair said. “You have to cook it slow. If you overcook it, it will be dry.”

Lair cooked alongside his classmates Annie Sines, Izzy Dusenberry, Naomi Haynes, Brigham Porter, and Carter Benjamin.

Even without the success of placing at the event, Lair said he is open to participating again in the future.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com