On Tuesday, March 2, 2016, The Morgan School Culinary 2 class held our own chopped competition. Mrs. Nunan designed this competition based on the TV series on the Food Network. What is a chopped competition you ask? A chopped competition is when groups are assigned 4 random foods from each of the following groups: fruits, vegetables, meats and grains. The groups look up recipes that use those 4 ingredients and create both a sweet and a savory dish all while being on a time limit.

Chopped started as a TV series on the Food Network. There is a new episode on every Tuesday night at 10:00pm. During an episode of “Chopped”, 4 chefs compete for their chance to win $10,000. The show is divided into 3 different rounds: appetizer, entree and dessert. In each round, the chefs are given a basket with between 3-5 ingredients and the dish each chef prepares must contain some of each ingredient. The competitors also have full access to the pantry and the refrigerator. Each round is timed and when the timer runs out, the judges  critique the dishes based on your presentation, taste and creativity.

The competition I participated in at Morgan was extremely stressful but also a lot of fun. This was the first time our culinary class has ever done something like this so I walked into class not knowing what to expect. I walked into class, put my chef jacket on and waited for directions. I was was assigned my 4 random ingredients. I had an hour to prepare a sweet and savory dish using cod fish, asparagus, rice and pineapple. For my savory dish, I cooked breaded cod over rice topped with asparagus, and for my sweet dish, I cooked pineapple upside down cake. Although it was stressful, I would love to do it again.  I highly suggest getting together with a group of friends and family and having a chopped competition of your own!