Calexico culinary students win state competition
CALEXICO — Three Calexico High culinary arts students have earned the honor of representing the state at an upcoming national competition after recently having placed first in a statewide competition.
For 18-year-old senior Fernanda Barkle, the win resulted in a range of sensations, including disbelief, joy and a sense of revenge.
“I felt happy at that moment, beating the first team we had lost against,” Fernanda said.
The Calexico team’s first-place, 10-point win in late April came against a school that had bested the trio by half a point during a regional competition in late February.
Fernanda and her teammates will now head to the national Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) competition in Atlanta in late June.
The statewide win also has Fernanda considering pursuing a career as a chef, in place of her original plans to study nursing after high school.
Her change of heart was prompted by the statewide competition’s first place award of $24,000 in scholarships, as well as the accolades she earned competing.
“When I was in regional, they said my dessert was the best out of all of them,” Fernanda said of her lemon curd with fruit compote.
Two three-person teams of Calexico High culinary arts students have competed in the FCCLA career education events for the past six years, but had yet to place first at the state level, said CHS culinary arts teacher Fernando “Chef” Nuñez.
“In the end, after six years, it paid off,” Nuñez said. The win also comes at a time when the high school’s culinary arts program is set to receive $700,000 in grant money from the Imperial Irrigation District to renovate and upgrade the campus’ culinary arts wing.
The renovation project is scheduled to get underway after graduation and will expand the program’s kitchen to three-quarters of the multi-classroom building it now occupies.
Among the many amenities to be added are a walk-in cooler and freezer, expanded dry storage space, a dishwashing station, demonstration tables, baking area, large buffet table and students’ desks.
“They really do need this facility to compete at the level of the rest of California,” Nuñez said.
The program’s curriculum also does more than just prepare its students for competition, as its primary focus is on teaching basic kitchen skills.
“This is a kind of a lab where they can learn skills that transfer to ordinary life,” Nuñez said. “Most kids go into higher ed without even knowing how to boil water.”
When Francisco Luna Jr. had enrolled last year in the class as a junior, he had about seven years of experience in his family’s kitchen to fall back on.
“Ever since I was about 10, I started cooking for myself, since my parents weren’t home,” the 17-year-old senior said. “I just basically taught myself.”
The $24,000 in scholarships that Francisco won for the statewide FCCLA win now has assured him that he will be able to pursue his dream of becoming a chef that specializes in either Mexican food or classic American bar and grill fare.
Participating in the recent FCCLA regional and statewide events was a fun experience for Francisco, especially the opportunity to meet other culinary arts students and receive feedback for the team’s winning dish, Italian chicken breast with mushrooms and gravy, risotto and truffles.
“You always want to feel proud about your work, because if you don’t have self-confidence you’re never going to perform well,” Francisco said.
Both the statewide and regional competitions involved creating and plating dishes that 17-year-old senior Genesis Porchas said she had no experience with making.
The 60-minute time limit the approximately 20 competitors had to accomplish their tasks also made the statewide competition additionally stressful. Yet, with nearly 10 years of household cooking under her chef’s hat, and a second year of the culinary arts program, Genesis said she has grown increasingly confident in her cooking abilities.
“I’m really happy that my school made it all the way the nationals and we’re going to represent California,” she said. “Whatever they put in front of me, I will learn how to cook it.”
At the upcoming national competition in Atlanta, the Calexico High team is expected to face off against the winning teams from about 90 percent of the nation’s states, Nuñez said.
Also at the regional FCCLA competition, Calexico High’s second team, consisting of Marissa Pasos, Andrew Gomez and Roberto Lopez, earned 11th place.