Pinoy MasterChef

Every day of the week Michelle and I visit a different Oh My Gulay school. Wednesday we went to Maria Aurora Central School, which just so you know, is my favorite school because the kids are so awesome. Yup, I am going to be one of those educators who clearly has favorites. Whoops. While harvesting bottle gourds, eggplants, and hot peppers we realized that there is a huge excess of bottle gourds in Maria Aurora's garden. I am not really sure how, but in one way or another it was decided that we would hold a cooking competition, with bottle gourds, or upo in Tagalog, serving as the main ingredient. It was okayed with the principals and teachers and so it was decided that the following day Michelle and I would return to Maria Aurora to judge the student's culinary creations along with a teacher and the head of the canteen (instead of school cafeteria they have school canteens!) Michelle and I called the competition Pinoy MasterChef because Pinoy is what Filipinos call themselves. Thursday morning we arrived at Maria Aurora School and were surprised when we realized just how seriously the kids were taking this contest. The kids were so into the whole competition– it was great. It was set up so there were five different teams each with five or six kids on it. The teams had 90 minutes to create the best dish, judged on appearance, nutritional value, creativity, and of course, taste.

I was so impressed with all the dishes. Each team went above and beyond our expectations. If anyone is familiar with the show MasterChef the students were acting just like contestants on the show. In the final minutes they were wiping down the plates to remove any spills, garnishing the dishes with peppers, and dipping spoons into the pots for a little taste to make sure everything was going according to plan. It was so funny! When it came time to judge, oh goodness. What a treat. All the dishes were delicious.

The cooking contest was a huge success because students got to see all their hard work in the garden pay off while tasting just how delicious vegetables are. The contest encouraged them to seek out recipes with vegetables serving as the main ingredient, ultimately making them consume more vegetables, which really is the main point of the program– to have a healthier diet.

 The masterpieces: