Future Chef Competition

Avery Langenderfer Wins First Future Chef

By: Todd Enders, "Royal Times"

Wynford's new food service company, Sedeko, held its first annual "Future Chef" competition for the elementary students. Caleb Duty, Wynford Food Service Director, was finally able to make the event happen after two cancellations due to our lovely winter weather this year. Competitors in the event were Zane Burns, 4th grade, Emma White, 4th grade, Tori Carman, 6th grade, Avery Langenderfer, 4th grade, and Dylan Jones, 4th grade. All future chefs had a recipe of their choice to prepare, and all the ingredients were provided by Sedeko. Each chef was given a quick tour of the elementary kitchen and shown their work space in which they were going to prepare their dish for the judges. After the tour of the kitchen, all the chefs came out of the cooler with their ingredients. They had one hour and forty-five minutes to prepare three different presentations, a display of the finished product, a sample plate for judges, and a platter for the audience to taste. As the dishes were finished, each chef went in front of the judges; Tami Baumberger, Family Consumer Science Teacher at Shelby High School, Maria Stuckman, Bucyrus Elementary Social Worker, and Mary Meadows, Assistant Food Service Director at Bucyrus High School. The judges asked each chef a series of

questions related to the chef's recipe, and they were graded on a score sheet based upon a point system. Lori Pennington, Bucyrus Food Service Director, along with Duty, tallied up the score sheets when the competition came to an end. Avery Langenderfer prevailed as the winner with his "Royal Mojo Chicken Wrap." Burns created an excellent early morning "Breakfast Tortilla Wrap," while White created a very attractive " 'Crabby' Turkey Salad Croissant." Carman created a nice summer time "B.L.T. Salsa Wrap," and Jones prepared a healthy "Chicken Panini." A special thanks goes out to the the three Sedeko staff members that helped with the event, Chris Stahl, Donna Hamilton, and Pam Hoffman. This event is scheduled to be an annual event for Wynford. "Being the first year for the event, it went well." Duty said. "But I have some changes that I would like to implement in future competitions." This was a great experience for our young chefs. We are excited to see our participant numbers increase and what delicious creations our students prepare in the future.