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LOCAL TRADITION
Chef John Tamez and MacArthur Culinary Arts Team placed second at last year’s Paella Challenge. (Photo by Frederic Covo)
LOCAL STUDENTS SHINE AT PAELLA CHALLENGE
Every year, more than 30 chefs participate in Chef Johnny Hernandez’s Paella Challenge, competing for bragging rights for the best paella in the city. While sampling the various creative takes on paella from some of San Antonio’s top chefs is always a treat, the real stars of the show are local high school culinary teams who compete in the H-E-B High School Paella Challenge. Since 2012, local high schools’ culinary teams have had the opportunity to enter this special student competition, hoping to snare First Place for their high school.
Last March at the 10th Annual Paella Challenge, the annual benefit started by Chef Hernandez to support his nonprofit, Kitchen Campus, several local high school teams BY THOMAS ZAMUDIO
competed for wonderful prizes. Paella Challenge raises funds for the nonprofit to help young people practice cooking skills and learn techniques to prepare for work in the food industry. Ace-Mart provides the students with professional gear and Chef Johnny Hernandez shared that H-E-B has been a great supporter of the effort. “H-E-B has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with the Paella Challenge, specifically being involved in the H-E-B High School Challenge since 2012. Trough this partnership, more than 400 San Antonio area high school students compete with their own take on paella and every year they amaze us with their skills and flavors!” H-E-B spokesperson Julie Bedingfield added.
We met with some of the local culinary teachers leading teams to ask about their participation in the challenge and to learn more about the culinary arts programs on their campuses.
MACARTHUR HIGH SCHOOL
Chef John Tamez has been teaching at MacArthur High School since October 2018, following an 11-year career teaching Culinary Arts at the Art Institute of San Antonio. Chef Tamez moved to high school because he wanted to work with and inspire younger students. Today, he helps high school students develop the skills and techniques they need to get started in the culinary field.
He explained his program at MacArthur is based on project-based learning, which allows him to assess their skills and technique. Chef Tamez hopes to grow his program and wants his students to be recognized for being competitive with other programs in the city, producing top notch future chefs. When asked about the secret that he and his students have to win the challenge, Chef Tamez answered with one word: Technique. He has taught his students how to make sausage from scratch and allowed them to experiment with their own blend of spices and flavors. Te students also made their own sofrito and aioli for the challenge, focusing on applying these techniques to a classic paella.
TAFT HIGH SCHOOL
Chef Bill Barker has been teaching at William Howard Taft High School since 2013. He worked as a college minister for more than 25 years, but his passion for food inspired him to start teaching culinary arts at the high school level. Chef Barker’s passion for cooking is what he loves to share with his students – he loves what he does and explained he gets tremendous support from campus faculty and administration. Te Taft High School Culinary Arts program includes a focus on catering, where students learn to prepare meals for hundreds of hungry guests at luncheons throughout the school year. Chef Barker believes this experience helps to prepare his students for the pressures and stresses that they will certainly encounter when they are in a real restaurant kitchen, and the students learn the value of teamwork from the beginning of his program. Taft Culinary Arts students participate in many competitions, and they thrive on the creative, competitive atmosphere that these events provide. Last year’s Paella Challenge team was no exception, 11th grade students made up the team, making them a younger team who can learn and grow. We look forward to seeing what they will accomplish this year. Last year they created a paella inspired by San Antonio’s tricentennial, celebrating Hispanic heritage called “Paella a la Mexicana” featuring fresh chorizo and queso fresco.
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LANIER HIGH SCHOOL
Chef Eric Dromgoole led the Lanier High School team, which brought their A-game (and the flavors of the Westside with some family secret brisket!) to the Paella Challenge. Chef Dromgoole, a U.S. Army veteran who previously worked at Sam Houston High School, always wanted to work with young people and found that teaching culinary arts was the perfect fit for him. He believes offering culinary arts and other hospitality-oriented programs at the high school level gives students a different pathway to success, especially since these programs focus on learning practical skills that give students an edge and opportunities to build their futures.
BRANDEIS HIGH SCHOOL Te Brandeis High School team, led by Chef Rachael Wright, opted to spice up their Paella Challenge entry last year with Tai-inspired flavors. Chef Wright has been teaching at Brandeis High School for seven years; she previously worked as a History teacher. She loves learning from her students and built her program with a strong emphasis on working together and collaboration. Her program is very large with 50 students in Culinary Arts I, seven students in Culinary Practicum, and 250 in the Introduction to Culinary Arts! Chef Wright estimates that 10 percent of her students already know they want a future in the culinary field, and she works tirelessly to make sure that they are able to achieve that goal.
SOUTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Chef Angel Machado and his team from Southside High School brought a Southside twist to their paella entry last year – and threw in fresh sofrito to honor Chef Machado’s Puerto Rican heritage for good measure. Chef Machado came to Southside High School four years ago, following a successful career as a regional chef with Aramark and U.S. Dining. He believes the transition was the “best decision he ever made.” With 180 students active in his program, he loves bringing his real-world experience to the classroom, demonstrating skills that are needed to make it in professional kitchens. Chef Machado was also excited to share that next year Southside High School will be offering a Dual Credit Culinary Arts class for students, allowing students to earn college credit while still in high school. Due to the booming success of his program, Chef Machado now has to interview all students interested in pursuing culinary arts at Southside High School to ensure they are committed to the work needed to succeed.
Each of the high school teams that participate in the Paella Challenge work hard, much of it on their own time, and each student gives up a lot to take part in this event. Te students embody the passion and drive important not only to their own personal success but to the greater San Antonio community. Tis year, 12 local high school teams will compete. With young people like this coming up in the culinary world, the future of food in San Antonio looks very bright. To learn more, visit paellachallenge.com.
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