Published June 12. 2018 12:00AM
Eight culinary students competed May 18 in the annual mystery basket cooking competition at Northampton Community College’s Hampton Winds Restaurant for a chance to win a scholarship to attend a weeklong externship at one of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s New Orleans restaurants.
Six judges evaluated the contestants in seven categories: texture/doneness, taste/balance of flavors, proper cooking techniques, plating, sanitation/organization, overall technique/ portion size, and creativity with using the mystery basket ingredients.
Each contestant was given three hours to prepare an appetizer, soup or salad, and main dish-dessert was optional. The students were Matthew Campesi, Kailee Dube, Hannah Georgis, Luke Guensch, David Kucharczuk, Andrea Moretti, Gina Pearson and Rebecca Suta.
Lagasse announced the winners during his live cooking demonstration at the Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival June 1. All eight competitors found out they had won an all-expense paid scholarship.
The festival ran from June 1 through 3 at the Sands Casino and Resort.
PRESS PHOTOS BY JOANNA IRELANDThe ingredients in the mystery basket included striped bass, pretzels, ramen noodles, a chicken, Japanese eggplant, a can of corn, kiwi, red cabbage, shoulder bacon and Hot Tamales, donated by Just Born. The contestants had access to the kitchen's pantry for all other ingredients.
