Students compete in culinary pressure cooker

I've always wondered what it would be like to be a judge on a show like "Iron Chef" or "Chopped." The judges are asked to eat some strange things, pick apart dishes and argue on which dish is best.

Sans snake meat or friction, I got a glimpse into what it might be like recently when I was asked to be one of three judges for South County Career Center's inaugural culinary arts competition.

It was a carefully choreographed dance from one burner to the next.

Three teams, 15 students, one hour and three courses all came down to impressing us judges for the opportunity of competing with other schools at the Apollo Beach Manatee Festival of the Arts and at the National ProStart Invitational in Orlando.

Watching from afar, culinary arts instructor Paul Shaffer was not allowed to talk with or coach his students.

"Once the clock starts ticking I've done all I can do; now I just sit back and watch," he said with a laugh.

At show time, each team operated from a workstation equipped with table space and a stove. Wearing chefs' jackets and toques, they worked furiously, whisking eggs, simmering sauces and melting chocolate.

Within 15 minutes, the cafeteria was filled with the enticing smells of the teams' highly anticipated creations. Nine dishes were prepared all at once, including shrimp with grapefruit juice and carrot chutney, sizzled citrus shrimp, grilled orange-rosemary chicken with cappelini cakes, fruity wonton stacks and Florentine crusted orange cake. The selections were creative, plated beautifully and the aromas mouthwatering.

There's more than just food prep involved here. The two other judges and I circulated in front of the workstations, critiquing cleanliness, knife skills, teamwork, how the students followed recipe directions and their time management skills.

In the end, team No. 3 members Miguel Ovilles, Rachel Larson, Ivan Tabora, Albertnesha Perry and Javier Gamez took the honors, with their Asian chicken with mango salsa, orange peel chicken and fruity wonton stacks.

"I think they should be proud of themselves," Shaffer said.

I agreed. They kicked out some darn good food - on time and together as a team.