Chef Harris is delighted to be in St. Lucia to judge a high school cooking competition
Young chefs participating in the Independence school cook-off got the opportunity to meet St. Lucian Chef Ed Harris, who won the American reality television cooking competition, “Chopped.”
The award-winning chef gave the nod to an invitation extended to him by the Saint Lucia Hotel & Tourism Association (SLHTA).
The SLTHA hosted a motivational session at the Bay Gardens Inn on Friday, in which the 2010 champ of Food Network’s Chopped shared his culinary experiences with competitors of Saturday’s secondary school cooking competition.
Wendel George, project assistant at SLHTA, told SNO some of the participating schools felt that their students needed more exposure in a kitchen setting.
“We felt it necessary to invite some of the hotels to give them some sort of hands on training (by) working with them to teach them how to prepare some beautiful dishes. To show them various knife skills and to show them the different techniques they can use in such events and competitions,” he noted.
The Chefs-In School Programme was initiated after a culinary team representing Saint Lucia returned from Miami in 2012. They visited 10 of the schools, currently competing in the cook-off that year, to train culinary students in the art of preparing dishes.
Students at a motivational session with Chef Harris
Harris also spoke to students about the strides he’s made since Chopped.
In an interview with SNO, he expressed appreciation for SLHTA’s invitation.
“To be considered the best at anything or by anyone, hard work plays a very strong role. You just need to stick at it and keep doing it. When you think you are good at it, do it again, and just practice. You will never know everything but the more you know, the better,” Harris had advised the young chefs.
The 33-year-old chef has since started his own business – Chef Life Consulting and Chef Life Events.
The competition will be two-fold. The first leg is called mystery basket, where participants will select items they have no prior knowledge of and prepare a dish. In the second leg, they will be required to prepare a signature local dish of their choice.
The winning team will represent the country in Barbados at the Caribbean Dueling Competition, scheduled for sometime in April.
The participating schools are Micoud Secondary School, Choiseul Secondary School, Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary, Marigot Secondary School, Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Entrepot Secondary School, Bocage Secondary School, Vide Boutielle Secondary School, Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School, and Castries Comprehensive Secondary School.