On Feb. 28, 2024, students from Becton took part in the NJ ProStart competition, held in the Grand Marquis, a banquet hall in Old Bridge, NJ.
Ten teams of students from different high schools competed in the hour long prestigious competition, tasked with prepping and executing a three course meal consisting of a starter/soup, an entree, and a dessert with only an hour of time. They had to make two plates of each dish, one for tasting and the other for presenting, and they were provided with two portable burners along with whatever ingredients they needed.
They were judged not only on taste and presentation of the dish, but also on how they conducted themselves throughout the competition, such as how they worked together and dealt with problems. In addition, they were monitored on whether they practiced the proper cooking techniques as well as their work station’s organization and hygiene.
They were judged by a panel of five industry professionals and had to demonstrate “knowledge of and passion for cooking, and creativity in the restaurant industry,” according to Becton teacher, Chef Perdomo. These are skills that are as important for them as they are for professional chefs as well.
The Becton team consisted of Megan Kruse, Judith Cochancela, Leah Rodriguez, Bradley James as the manager/alternate, and Vicente Peralta as the Captain. On the day of the competition, the team was all in charge of cooking different individual elements which would all come together to make the final dishes.
Peralta describes the experience of working together as at first “difficult at first because we didn’t know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” but after practicing together for a while, they got into the groove of it and were able to mold everyone’s skills together– figuring out who would carry out which part.
Leading up to the competition, the team had extensive practices on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays starting at 7 AM to plan out their menu and practice cooking the dishes, as well as getting used to working as a team. In addition to the early morning practices, in the two weeks directly preceding the day of the competition, they were timed to get accustomed to the clock ticking in the background so they could be sure to maximize their efficiency and use every second they had left.
Vicente Peralta explains that he was “nervous but excited at the same time” on the actual day. The team suffered an early setback as one of their team members was not able to attend leaving the team to measure up!
Peralta lead Becton’s team to an overall seventh place in the whole competition. The final dishes were a starter of vanilla parsnip soubise (a thick sauce/soup) with parsnip chips and spiced pear. An entree of pan seared lamb chops with lemon garlic couscous, broccolini and red wine jus (thin gravy or sauce,) and the whole meal was wrapped up with a dessert of spiced wine poached pear with orange scented mascarpone.
The critique from the judges was mostly positive, with a few suggestions such as thickening up the soubise sauce and adding some more spice to the entree. Megan Kruse even earned added praise for her knife skill demonstration while making a Brunoise (finely diced vegetables that are cooked in butter to flavor soups and sauces.)
The other competitors were from a wide variety of schools such as PCTI, Paramus High School, Newark, and other Vocational High Schools. Peralta notes being nervous about going against them as he felt that they seemed like they had more practice and perhaps had more skills, but in the end he felt that, “we were able to compete pretty well against them!”
Peralta later went on to win the MVP of the competition for keeping his calm under pressure, his leadership skills in cooking his dishes, and making sure the rest of his team stayed on task. “I felt honored to get this award and surprised, I didn’t think I was going to get this award when there were other schools that do this everyday and are more experienced than me. This means so much to me and gives me more hope that I will do great things in the field and I can’t wait to see what happens in the future,” expressed Peralta.
This competition was a glimpse into the fast paced and exciting world of the culinary arts including the trials and tribulations, but also the joy of being a professional chef. Peralta, who has ambitions of stepping further into this profession and opening an Asian-Hispanic fusion restaurant, describes his takeaway from this, “It is definitely not easy to be in the kitchen when you have pressure on you, but it is super fun.”
After the competition, Peralta reportedly did receive some job offers and mentorship opportunities from some of the professional chefs there, so it seems this competition has brought his dream that much closer to becoming realized.
While this was an overall beneficial experience for all the young chefs, Peralta added that if he would do one thing differently, he would make that sauce thicker!
Watch a montage of the competition HERE!
