Food Network Chef, Culinary Students Delight BHS with Tasty Seafood Sandwich

Submitted by Valley View School District:

To emphasize the nutritional value of fish, Valley View School District 365U helped High Liner Foods kick off its TGIFF (Thanks Goodness it’s FishFriday) promotion Monday by hosting Chef Marco Suarez from the TV show “Chopped” in the Bolingbrook High School cafeteria.

Throughout the lunch hour, Chef Marco and several BHS culinary students handed out samples of his sweet potato crusted pollock over a waffle, dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with maple syrup to BHS students. Chef Marco’s team also encouraged students to sign an e-pledge promising to make an effort to eat more fish.

“It’s important to re-engineer the youth of America into not being afraid of fish,” Chef Marco said. “A lot of them don’t eat fish, which is crazy because fish comes in an array of colors, flavors, and textures. Whereas beef is beef. It’s always going to be the same wherever you are.”

Following the lunchtime serving event, the former Boston area master chef met with BHS culinary students to demonstrate the wonders of salmon, including the many ways it can be cooked as well as its overall health value.

“Bolingbrook High School was a great fit for this event since the school offers a wide array of culinary classes,” said VVSD Nutrition Services Director Meghan Gibbons, whose department sponsored the visit.

“It was a pretty good experience,” said BHS junior culinary student Quinn Wilder, who plans on becoming a food expert in the military and hopes to open his own restaurant someday. “It gives me more opportunities to expand my culinary skills.”

How did BHS students react to the unique dish?

“It’s been really good,” Chef Marco said. “People have come up and said I don’t eat fish and then they’re coming back for second or third sandwich. I had one girl come back six times today.”

“It tastes kinda like normal fish with waffles,” said BHS freshman Alex Quitana. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

More information on TGIFF is available at www.TGIFF.org.