LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima Senior culinary students had to think outside the box to turn some military staples into some tasty dishes.
The students picked two different "Meals Ready to Eat," or MREs, and created an appetizer, main course, and dessert in a "Chopped"-style challenge.
The students picked two different "Meals Ready to Eat," or MREs, and created an appetizer, main course, and dessert in a "Chopped"-style challenge. The students had a little over an hour to transform meals like sausage and peppers, beef and black beans, and Mexican chicken into something new.
The juniors have only been studying culinary arts for four weeks, and they felt pretty good after the challenge.
The students had a little over an hour to transform meals like sausage and peppers, beef and black beans, and Mexican chicken into something new.
"They mainly ask that you turn it into something different, as far away from the actual meal that you got, you know you can't like change something completely. So, mainly just moving it around, tasting it with different things, so you have, how you can mold it into something much better, and seasonings always help; you just throw a little seasoning in there, and eight of ten it comes out pretty good," explained Ja'kearius Talbert, a junior in the Lima Senior culinary arts program.
The winners from Lima Senior will go on to compete against other schools' culinary programs.
"It was a little confusing at first and I think I found something and I feel like I did pretty good with it. It was a little challenging; our appetizers didn't come out how we wanted it, so I had to improvise but overall I feel like we did pretty good," said Marcelino Mendez, a junior in the Lima Senior culinary arts program.
"I learned that MREs are really disgusting, and hard to work with. So, I was on appetizer duty, so I kind of made like a little sauce with some tortilla chips. We blended up the ravioli with the meat sauce and then I like kind of improvised it, and just made my own little dipping sauce for the chips," commented Tarikas Owens, a junior in the Lima Senior culinary arts program.
The winners from Lima Senior will go on to compete against other schools' culinary programs.
