Where Cuisine Reigns Supreme

Students Perfect Their Sauces and Their Customer Service for State Contest

As the group huddled over the cutting board fretting about how finely to chop the onions, others stood vigilant -- stirring their pots, mindful that the caramel didn't stick and that the butter melted smoothly.

The students in the ProStart Culinary and Hospitality class at Beltsville's High Point High School aren't chefs yet, but you wouldn't know it from the blend of smells -- garlic and cheese and sizzling filet mignon -- rising from their cookware and wafting through the classroom.

"Wash hands! Clean as you go! Mise en place!" exhorted family and consumer science teacher Barbara Hughes, using French to remind students to keep their ingredients at the ready. Since 2002, she has taught the class, a two-year curriculum designed to prepare high school students for careers in food service and the hospitality industry.

Last week, the usual kitchen clamor took on added intensity as High Point seniors practiced for the annual Maryland ProStart Student Invitational.

The competition, scheduled for Saturday at Howard Community College in Columbia, pits second-year culinary and hospitality management students against one another in a series of challenges. Culinary teams of up to four students are challenged to prepare a three-course meal in an hour. They will cook on two burners and are judged on knife skills, safety and sanitation, team presentation and taste, among other things. Four-person hospitality management teams will go head-to-head in a quiz bowl and case study, testing broad knowledge and their ability to assess practical situations. Statewide, there are 15 culinary teams, and High Point is one of three teams from Prince George's County. The other two are from Parkdale and Gwynn Park high schools. Of the six management teams competing, High Point is the only one from Prince George's.

As Ricardo Mitchell, 17, picked through his salad, discarding the brown or wilted lettuce that could cost the team points in food appearance, Dana Coleman gathered ingredients for her creme anglaise dessert. "I have to weigh my sugar and my half-and-half," Coleman, 17, said. "Last time I used sour cream, but the recipe says half-and-half."

That's because "you don't have to whip it as much," Ernest Gabriel said. The line cook at Riderwood Village, an assisted-living facility across the street from the high school, was invited by Hughes to advise and critique the students. Gabriel patrolled the kitchen area, reminding students about their chopping techniques.

Coleman, who wants to major in culinary arts and restaurant management in college, said she has been cooking since she was 5. "I always used to be the one in the kitchen, wanting to help," she said.

Fabricio Marquez, 17, washed plates and vegetables and stood at the ready in case a team member needed help scooping or seasoning. "Basically if anybody is sick, I have to take over," Marquez said of his role as an alternate. He said he enjoys all types of cooking but "mainly what I like cooking is Mexican food, well, because I'm Mexican."

Across the room, Kiara Lampkin, 18, and Karina M. Brow-Coursey, 17, wrote practice questions for the other two members of the hospitality management team. They had some correct answers, "but they're not on point yet," Lampkin said.

"What are the three types of lettuce?" she wrote.

Answer: Iceberg, romaine and . . . "Oh my God," Lampkin said. "I can't think of it -- it's on the tip of my tongue." She fretted for a moment as her teammates searched their textbook for the answer. Finally, Lampkin found it. "Boston. The third one is Boston."