4-H Starr Chefs take national title in Dallas

DALLAS —  The 4-H Starr Chefs kept their winning streak alive by sweeping the 4-H national cooking competition at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.

“They’ve won it all. There’s nothing more to win,” said Yolanda Morado, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service family and consumer sciences agent in Starr County and the team’s mentor. “For us, this is like winning the Super Bowl, World Series and Wimbledon all in one.”

4-H Starr Chefs team members, originally from the Rio Grande City area in Starr County, are Brandon Guerra, Crystal Alaniz, Garrett Gonzalez, Janay Rocha and Jason Gorena.

To beat out 4-H cooking champions from as far away as Virginia, the Starr County 4-H’ers kept up their pledge of working hard to be the best, Morado said.

“It can be summed up in that one word, dedication,” she said. “And it wasn’t just the dedication of the five team members. It took the dedication of a support team of volunteers, coaches, community members and parents. The parents of all five chefs traveled to each out of town competition.”

Unlike parents who attend their children’s athletic events, the chefs’ parents were not merely spectators.

“This was a family affair. The parents took on lots of chores, from selecting the clothes they wore in competition to making sure those clothes were pressed and looking their best. They were totally involved,” Morado said.

To get to national competition, the 4-H Starr Chefs had won both the state competition at State 4-H Roundup in College Station in June and regional competition at the Great American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans in September.

The national competition in Dallas provided each team with a bag of ingredients and challenged them to come up with an impromptu recipe.

“The ingredients included ground meat, peppers, zucchini and other items,” she said. “There was also a food pantry where the team could ‘buy’ a limited amount of additional ingredients. Our team chose to buy rice and made stuffed bell peppers.”

The team had earlier in the day attended a garnishing workshop, so one team member carved a rose out of a Roma tomato.

“Their presentation, which is important in the scoring, was excellent and won praise from the three judges,” Morado said. “The biggest portion of our score, however, was knowledge of food safety and nutrition. Other teams were reading off note cards, but our team had all that information down pat.”

Recalling their training, each team member addressed different topics for the judges, including the cost of the meal per serving, she said. One team member noted the meal would be more nutritious and cheaper than going out for pizza.

“The team was also able to relate how much they volunteer their time in the community, teaching younger students about gardening and eating healthy food.”

Team members, some now in college, took time from their studies to travel overnight to Dallas from the Rio Grande Valley, College Station and Waco.

“The day before competition, the team met with me from 4-10 p.m., going over recipes, cooking methods, nutritional information, garnishing techniques, anything and everything that might come up in competition. Because of their other commitments, team members were tired when they got here, but they buckled down and got the job done.”

Contacted about their win after competition, all team members first thanked Morado, their parents, team members, coaches, supporters and their community.

“One team, one family,” team member Gonzalez said. “All our hard work and perseverance has paid off. I’m very proud to be a part of this team.”

“Believe it, achieve it,” said Rocha. “It’s your frame of mind and the commitment you have that matters.”

“Teamwork wins a national championship!” Gorena said in newspaper headline fashion. “This experience has given me the opportunity to work with amazing people. We have all learned valuable life skills.”

Guerra said, “Being part of the 4-H Starr Chefs has helped me so much with culinary skills, life lessons and teamwork. I am honored to have been part of this group and to have the privilege of making lasting friendships.”

Morado, who worked with the team for two years, said the moment was bittersweet as her “champions” move on in life to study for their chosen professions.

“We showed the whole country that a group of kids from a border town in one of the poorest counties in the nation can compete  — and beat — anybody else from anywhere else. It just takes a lot of dedication and commitment.”