A warm spring San Antonio day was the perfect setting for Byron P. Steele High School’s Culinary Arts program to stake its claim to greatness. They finished second in the high school division of the 16th Annual Paella Challenge held at Mission County Park in late March - but first place in the audience’s hearts - and taste buds, garnering the People’s Choice Award. That distinction earned them an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to visit the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) later this summer.
“It’s an amazing feeling, because it makes me feel like I accomplished something,” said Tahari Boone, who served on pan for Steele’s student crew. “It was great to see other people that are passionate about paella as well.”
Paella, a traditional Spanish rice-based dish, can be made with seafood, or in combination with other meats such as chicken. Chefs David Slight and Jennifer Kowalik had other ideas. They came up with a jalapeño bacon cheeseburger variation, more fitting to a local diner than the coast of Spain. To reinforce that theme, the students gambled on originality - wearing t-shirts with paper diner hats and matching aprons.
It took weeks of practice in the Steele culinary kitchen - any misstep in the process would relegate their dish to leftovers. On cookoff day, each crew would prepare one practice dish as judges weighed in with advice and encouragement. However, the second paella would be for keeps - without any assistance from Slight or Kowalik. It would come to more than the impact to the taste buds, though. The young chefs also had to master the soft skills - answering questions to the judges about their methods and detailing their creation in a language understood by discriminating tastes.
“They told them about their creation,” said Chef Slight. “They did awesome because it wasn’t just one student. They each had their heart in what they did.” The crew also included Reign Graham, Bella Muha, Eric Contreras-Trujillo and Jace Stephenson-Samarripa.
Mastering the socarrat - the hard crust at the bottom of the pan would determine success or failure. There was no room for doubt. They nailed it. “We toasted the rice, we caramelized the onions, and we mixed it all together,” said Jamarcus Hampton, who was also on the pan with Boone on the team.
Although victory eluded their grasp, they earned something better - respect. The audience voted with their forks, and stated emphatically that Steele’s dish was the best. “People told us that ours was better than the professionals,” said Aiden Hinojosa, another standout in the crew. “I think we got it perfect.”
Mastery of their craft earned the Steele Culinary Arts program dessert in the form of the trip to New York, to visit CIA, one of the meccas of culinary schools around the world. “It was something to be proud of,” said Slight. It was a chef's kiss.
