Video: Entering the culinary coliseum
If you can't stand the heat, you'll have to get out of this kitchen.
The rising mercury has nothing to do with an oven cooking at 400 degrees or a blazing stovetop, though. It's all about 16 local teens fiercely competing for a $1,000 cash prize and the sweet taste of victory.
Last week, the Pittsford restaurant Tasteology kicked off "Culinary Smackdown," an inaugural Iron Chef-style cooking tournament pitting teams of two against each other in an attempt to create the most mouthwatering meal. Students from Penfield, Fairport, Gates-Chili, East Rochester and Eastridge are competing. A champion team will be crowned in early March.
The tournament kicked off Jan. 17 with the culinary combatants preparing for battle - one teaspoon at a time.
"We were looking for something with a high school football vibe and it just clicked," explained contest coordinator and Canandaigua resident Dan Leaderman, adding the restaurant wanted to create a way to give young chefs a spotlight. "We even have a team who's very adamant about getting (Rochester's) west side kids versus east side kids."
The whisking warriors were provided a list of ingredients a week ahead of time to practice their recipes. Armed with everything from bread crumbs and parsley to chicken breast and pasta, the participants came to the restaurant with a game plan of what they wanted to cook in order to impress three judges: Aaron Lattanzio, Tasteology's sous chef; Sheila Livadas, a local food critic; and Andrea Holland, the network director for the restaurant's online videos.
"We just wanted to use all the ingredients in a creative way and have fun," said Liz Meindl, a senior from Fairport.
Aside from cooking palate-pleasing foods, both the Penfield and Fairport teams promised there would be no trash talk during the competition. In fact, the sounds of cutting and frying were the only noises in an otherwise silent studio, where about 10 friends and family members gathered to watch.
With 25 minutes placed on the clock, Penfield's team raced to create a chicken and shrimp scampi with pesto pizza dish. On the other side of the kitchen, Fairport started boiling water for penne pasta to go with a pesto and cheese-based sauce they created, which Meindl described as "very Italian."
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