By Mike Morsch, Regional Editor
That wonderful aroma wafting through the halls of the Cranbury School last week? That was the smell of success., The school had it’s first-ever “Future Chefs” competition, and by all accounts, the school cooked up a winning event., Cranbury students joined more than 2,600 students in 1,300 school sites in 30 states across the nation to show off their creative culinary skills in the “Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge.”, The theme for the day was “Healthy Comfort Foods.”, nd when the day ended at Cranbury School, fourth-grader Shaan Zaveri and his stuffed meatball creation was the winning recipe. Shaan will now advance to the national competition against other Future Chefs winners from across the country., “We had a great turnout from the community and it was a spectacular night,” said Liz Alioto, general manager of Sodexo Dining Services for the Cranbury School. Sodexo is the food service company that sub-contracts with the school and Alioto serves as the food service for the school., “All our future chefs worked so hard in the kitchen whipping up some delicious creations,” said Alioto., Ten finalists were initially chosen by the school to prepare recipes for the competition. They included Kara Keegan-Nichols, first grade; Brooke Kemmer, first grade; Nathan Christopher, second grade; Charlie Raymond, second grade; Amanda Strapp, third grade; Leah Bornstein, third grade; Catherine Zhang, fourth grade; Shaan Zaveri, fourth grade; Erin Carney, fifth grade; and Annie Callahan, fifth grade., The young chefs were given three hours to prepare and plate up to 50 samples for judges and guests to taste. When completed, the chefs brought their samples to their assigned tables, where tasting began., All the recipes at the local level are tasted by a panel of judges, which for this event included Lynn Nugent, registered dietician nurse; Ashley Clark, Cranbury School teacher; and Lisa Coniglione, Cranbury School teacher’s assistant., Also assisting the students in the kitchen were two Cranbury board of education members, Laurel Quinn and Karen Callahan; and Sodexo team members., Sodexo is a school nutrition partner to nearly 500 school districts across the United States that advances childhood nutrition, health and well-being., “I thought all 10 of our Future Chefs were winners,” said Alioto. “Cranbury School proved that you can eat healthy comfort food and still have the gourmet style.”
