The Iron Hawk competition, in which Terrace students compete to make the tastiest dish in a limited time span, was held on Wednesday, May 15. After a short delay to find a replacement judge (who turned out to be Kimberly Nelson), the competition began. Twelve students, representing all grades, were divided into six kitchens, making dishes ranging from a Sunday dinner of ham and mashed potatoes to a Middle Eastern tabouleh with rice and vegetables.
After an hour and a half of furious chopping, grilling, baking and seasoning, the completed meals were presented to judges and the audience. Serving as judge alongside Nelson were Melvin Banuelos, a two-time Iron Hawk champion from 2010 and 2011 and chef at the Mediterranean-themed Currant Bistro; and Kyle Cole, owner of Spark, a Redmond pizza restaurant.
It took thirty nervous minutes for the numbers to be tabulated as the audience got to sample the food. Every participant received an award, but only seniors Cassidy Sadler and Nikola Johnson won the overall competition with their dish of spring rolls with zucchini noodles—something described by Nelson as “far from [their] comfort zone.”
