Exuberant Elementary School Chefs Face Off In 'Top Dish' Competition

SOUTHOLD, NY — The competition was fierce — and a whole lot of fun — as Southold Elementary School faced off in the kitchen and participated in a "Top Dish" cooking competition this week, bringing their love for shows such as Food Network's Chopped to the proverbial table and utilizing creative culinary skills.

According to Southold School Superintendent David Gamberg, the event was a cooking competition that almost the whole school took part in; each class prepared a dish using ingredients from the school garden and a panel of four judges used a scoring guide to determine which class prepared "the top dish."

"One of the interesting parts to this activity is how it was creative and involved a number of academic disciplines — students had to present their dishes and describe it in front of other classes, explain the nutritional content, and the process of preparing the dish," Gamberg said.

Russ Karsten, the elementary school science teacher who coordinated the activity, shared his vision for the event with Patch.

"I am super proud of our school garden. I’ve been a part of the project since its inception roughly 6 years ago. As the garden grows, pun intended, we’re always looking for creative ways to incorporate it into the curriculum," he said. "Cooking competitions seem to be the rage right now. Several locals have participated in the Food Network's Chopped, which is popular with the students, so the inspiration was right in front of us.'

The premise, Karsten said, was that individual classes were challenged with creating a unique dish incorporating vegetables from the garden.

"Since our tomato crop was so prolific, we decided to make the tomatoes the key ingredient," he said.

Classes were also given a small budget for supplemental pantry items using money the district was awarded recently at the East End School Wellness Conference, he said.

The students were required to provide a list of ingredients and a guide to preparing the dish; beyond that, classes were free to extend the project. Some teachers provided calorie content, cultural influences, website links on how to prepare the dish, and many other ways of advertising their dishes, Karsten explained.

Dishes presented included Kindergarten Style Caprese Salad, Masa Cakes with Cabbage Slaw, Roasted Vegetable Skewers, Stone Soup, Tomato Pepper Stew, or Lecso, Sensational 2nd Grade Salsa, Herb Stuffed Tomatoes, and tomato based dipping sauces, Karsten said.

The Top Dish winning prize was awarded to Mrs. Michaelis’ 6th grade class, who put together their own take on tomato basil salad called, “ Tomatotastic!” Karsten said.

He added that the exercise was an invaluable learning experience, as it's very easy to embed academic skills' practice in activities such as gardening and cooking. Gardening allows the students to practice measurement, math, data collection, and observation skills, he said, while the cooking portion, beyond the measurement and math involved, provided students with authentic ways to practice skills such as descriptive and persuasive writing.

Watching his students engage in an activity that pursued with such excitement was deeply rewarding, Karsten said.

"I see 'Top Dish' as a celebration of all the hard work students have put in since last spring preparing garden beds, planting seeds, weeding, and harvesting," he said. "Seeing and feeling the students’ excitement leading up to and during the event filled me with joy."

"Top Dish" was a way to engage students in the joy of learning, Gamberg added.

"Authentic engagement like the 'Top Dish' activity provide a vivid example of how interdisciplinary learning that touches on reading, writing, math, science and art can be celebrated in meaningful and memorable ways within our schools," Gamberg said.

Photos, video courtesy Southold School District.