Culinary competition stirs up fun in Lehigh County

A culinary contest got heated in the kitchen in Lehigh County Monday night.



It was a friendly competition as student chefs worked side by side with professional chefs to put their skills to the test.



In the sixth annual SkillsUSA Council Culinary Challenge, students from area vocational schools teamed up with local chefs to compete against each other and feed a crowd of more than 100 people. It was held at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute.



"I haven't really experienced anything like this before, not in this kind of kitchen anyway," said student Emma Wortman from Career Institute of Technology.



"It's been fun and stressful a little bit," said student Airick Crouthamel from Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School. "It's a big thing, learning a lot more and it's just a good experience to learn new skills and everything."



While the aspiring chefs enjoyed working with experienced professionals they look up to, the chefs also liked teaching the students.



"It's awesome, this is what it's all about," said Tyler Baxter, Executive Chef at the Bayou in Bethlehem. "The young kids are who are going to be running the restaurants in the future so might as well teach them well now."



"It's our legacy. I love it, working with them, a lot different than it was 30-some years ago," said Shawn Doyle, Chef and Owner at Savory Grille in Macungie. "Enjoy working with the kids and just seeing how far they've come."



Themed dishes were served to the crowd, which was tasked with picking a winner.



"They get firsthand experience with some high art cuisine instead of just buffet and things like that. It also gives them the working under pressure, the time constraint, having an audience out there waiting," said Thea Phalon, Executive Director of SkillsUSA Council. "Pretty exciting for them to get to see techniques that maybe they wouldn't learn in their high school program."



"It's a lot of teamwork, honestly. It's just working together getting everything done making sure everything is combined and organized," said student Jasmine Kutzura from Lehigh Career and Technical Institute. "It's awesome, all the chefs are amazing here."



It was a fun hands-on learning experience for students who have big dreams.



Kutzura said, "My dream job is to work in a big kitchen, serve a lot of people."



Wortman said, "My goal is to become an executive chef and then one day open my own restaurant."



The winners were Colin Bloome and Liam Phillips, the student chefs from Upper Bucks County Technical School, who worked with Chef Gregory Caracappa from Sodexo Corporate Services. Their winning dish was chipotle-lime shrimp tostada sliders.

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