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And the winner is…
William Stephenson, a senior at Mauldin High, teamed up with celebrity chef Brandon Jew, owner of Mr. Jiu’s in San Francisco, to win the 2018 Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown during Greenville’s annual Euphoria festival. After high school, Stephenson plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Photo by Mic Smith
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Nutritious and delicious
William Stephenson’s recipe for hoisin-glazed salmon with veggie stir fry took first place at the 2018 Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown competition.
Photo by Mic Smith
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Pressure cookers
Sadie Hiltabidel, a senior at Wade Hampton High School, teamed up with Alex Jackson, former chef de cuisine at Sons & Daughters in San Francisco to make butternut squash and linguine with shrimp. The pair finished their dish just in the nick of time.
Photo by Mic Smith
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International flavors
As one of the first two teams to cook in the 2018 competition, Emily Easler, a senior at Travelers Rest High School, worked with Vivien Durand, executive chef of the one-Michelin-star restaurant Le Prince Noir in Lormont, France, to make Peruvian lomo saltado ratatouille.
Photo by Mic Smith
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Stepping up to the plate
“It’s a huge opportunity to work with a Michelin chef,” says Andrew Espittia, a 10th grader at Berea High, who made Moroccan spiced chicken and couscous with the help of Teague Moriarty, chef and owner of the one-Michelin-star restaurant Sons & Daughters in San Francisco. Espittia often cooks dinner at home and leans toward the spicy cuisine of Mexico and the American Southwest.
Photo by Mic Smith
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Moment of truth
A panel of judges evaluated all four recipes on taste, texture, affordability and healthfulness. “I was very impressed with the thought that the kids put into each of their dishes—trying to be creative but also considering the type of dishes their peers would be excited to actually try,” says Greenville restaurateur Carl Sobocinski.
Photo by Mic Smith
With just minutes to go in the 2018 Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown, Sadie Hiltabidel is feeling the pressure.
A crowd of spectators looks on in anticipation, watching the clock tick down, urging the Wade Hampton High School senior to finish making her butternut squash and linguine with shrimp before time expires. Behind her, loudspeakers roar with the ’80s rock anthem “Eye of the Tiger,” and the sous-chef who helped her boil, bake, peel and sauté her way to this moment—Alex Jackson, former chef de cuisine at Sons & Daughters in San Francisco—is leading the crowd in an encouraging chant: “Sadie! Sadie!”
Jackson tries to lighten the mood, cracking jokes while he tears basil to garnish Hiltabidel’s dish. When emcee Jamarcus Gaston asks the team how it’s going, Jackson responds, “It’s controlled chaos!”
With the butternut squash in one pan, the shrimp in another, and the pasta in yet a third, Hiltabidel and Jackson hustle to combine all the elements on the plate. Jackson tosses the squash and pasta, doling out portions onto five plates. Hiltabidel places the shrimp on top, passing each dish back to Jackson, who cries, “Bam!” as he hits each mound with a finishing snowfall of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Gaston calls that time is up and leads the audience in an enthusiastic round of applause for Hiltabidel and her onstage competitor, William Stephenson, a senior at Mauldin High. Stephenson’s dish is a hoisin-glazed salmon with a brown rice and vegetable stir-fry, and he was assisted by Chef Brandon Jew, owner of Mr. Jiu’s in San Francisco—which ranks one Michelin star.
Relief lights up both students’ faces as they step down from the stage and present their dishes to the judges at last.
“This is going to be tough to judge,” says Joe Urban, Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Greenville County Schools, as he eyes the plates. “The dishes from the first round were amazing, so these chefs had better bring it!”
If you can’t stand the heat …
The Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown, a cooking competition for Greenville County students, is a signature event during the annual Euphoria food, wine and music festival. The challenge offers kids the rare chance to cook with some of the world’s top chefs, earn recognition for their talents and have their recipes added to the county’s school lunch menu.
We’re not talking about burgers and fries, pizza or PB&J sandwiches. All four of the competitors are enrolled in the culinary arts career programs offered by the Greenville County Schools, and their recipes—culled from more than 40 entries—display a sophisticated approach to cooking.
Dressed in white chef jackets, the students are paired with their professional-chef partners and introduced to the crowd on a stage with twin cooking stations, each complete with a stovetop and oven, a refrigerator full of fresh ingredients, and every pot, pan and cooking tool a young chef could hope for.
In two, 45-minute heats, the students and their wildly overqualified assistants must make a healthy, delicious and affordable recipe to wow the judges. Although the students call the shots during the competition, the celebrity chefs are quick to mentor the young cooks, teaching them knife skills, presentation techniques and other tricks of the culinary trade.
In the first round of the 2018 competition, Emily Easler, a senior at Travelers Rest High School, is paired with Vivien Durand, executive chef of the one-Michelin-star restaurant Le Prince Noir in Lormont, France.
Easler, who has a part-time job as a line cook at Farmhouse Taco in Travelers Rest, is making Peruvian lomo saltado ratatouille. “I wanted something out of the box,” she says.
Andrew Espittia, a 10th-grader at Berea High, is making Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Couscous with the help of Teague Moriarty, chef and owner of the one-Michelin-star restaurant Sons & Daughters in San Francisco. Espittia, who often cooks dinner at home, doesn’t seem intimidated by the crowd or the task before him, so much as awestruck by his cooking partner.
“It’s a huge opportunity to work with a Michelin chef,” he says.
With the last two dishes from Hiltabidel and Stephenson set before them, the judges dig in, making notes on their scorecards as they evaluate taste, texture, affordability and healthfulness. The panel includes Urban; Joannie Martin, chief administrative officer for Michelin North America; food writer Jenn Rice; Greenville Mayor Knox White and local restaurateur Carl Sobocinski.
Choosing a winner is no easy task, says Sobocinski, who founded Euphoria with singer/songwriter Edwin McCain in 2006 as a way to raise funds for area charities.
“I was very impressed with the thought that the kids put into each of their dishes—trying to be creative but also considering the type of dishes their peers would be excited to actually try,” he says.
An idea takes root
The idea for this competition sprang from Michelle Obama’s Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and Kids’ State Dinner in 2014, part of the Let’s Move! initiative that sought to make healthy eating a priority with American families. The challenge called on budding chefs ages 8–12 to create healthy and affordable recipes. Out of thousands of entries, judges chose 56 winners, one from each of the U.S. states and territories.
Julia Pascoe, a rising third-grader at Sterling School in Greenville, won the challenge for South Carolina with her recipe for Carolina Chicken Chili. As part of the prize, Pascoe and her mother, Valerie, were flown to Washington, D.C., to attend the Kids’ State Dinner at the White House.
Joe Urban took notice, impressed by the story of a Greenville County student going to the White House, all thanks to a family recipe.
“We introduced Julia’s chicken chili recipe to her school, and it stayed on the menu for four years,” he says. That led Valerie Pascoe to wonder how they could get more kids involved. A PR consultant with ties to Michelin, she was working with Brianna Shaw, then the executive director of Euphoria, on setting up wine dinners with Michelin-starred chefs for the festival.
Pascoe told Shaw about her daughter’s experience with the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, and both women agreed that having a children’s event at Euphoria would be a great way to get kids involved in nutrition. The idea didn’t marinate long before a new event was born.
“It was all about kids eating healthy and getting kids into the kitchen,” Shaw says. “And it planted that seed for kids who might be interested in a culinary career.”
Stirring up healthy lunches
Greenville’s Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown begins in late April when Euphoria announces their lineup for the annual festival. The competition is now open to any child age 8 to 18 enrolled in Greenville County Schools. Students can submit recipes until the end of August, when Joe Urban and a few members of his culinary staff begin to narrow down the selections by looking for recipes that are healthy and affordable.
“If someone sends in a fried Twinkie recipe, we’re not even considering that,” Urban says. “We look for lean beef, chicken, seafood or vegetarian entrees. If it looks to us like the kids will really enjoy it and we can be proud to put it in our program, that’s what we’re looking for.”
As South Carolina’s largest school district, Greenville County School System provides more than 80,000 meals a day for its students, and Urban is determined to get kids excited about lunch.
“The Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown is an opportunity to get kids engaged in our program, and it’s an opportunity for our community to see the level of our commitment to providing our kids tremendous food,” he says.
Recipe for success
When the judges are ready to announce a winner of the 2018 competition, the students take the stage to enthusiastic audience applause and pose with the keepsake plates that each of the celebrity chefs has signed.
In this competition, even the runners-up come away with the amazing experience of having worked with a Michelin-starred chef. But there can only be one winner, and in 2018 it’s William Stephenson for his hoisin-glazed salmon with brown rice veggie stir-fry.
“William’s dish was a perfect blend of sophistication and simplicity,” says Sobocinski. “He allowed the ingredients to be the highlight of the dish and didn’t try to overcomplicate them with too much seasoning or sauces. The salmon was prepared to perfection and the dish was attractive to the eye.”
For Stephenson, who plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, after graduation, working with Chef Brandon Jew was a dream come true.
“It was fun learning from him,” Stephenson says. “It was my recipe, but I really felt like Brandon helped me elevate it to another level.”
The chef even offered Stephenson a cooking internship at Mr. Jiu’s if he ever finds himself in San Francisco.
“It’s exciting just knowing that a Michelin-starred chef knows who I am,” Stephenson says. “And having my food on the lunch menu—it’s just an awesome feeling!”
Hoisin-glazed salmon with brown rice veggie stir-fry
Nutritious and delicious
William Stephenson’s recipe for hoisin-glazed salmon with veggie stir fry took first place at the 2018 Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown competition.
Photo by Mic Smith
SERVES 4–6
Ingredients
Salmon
6 pieces of salmon, skin on
10 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2½ tablespoons white vinegar
2 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Stir-fry
1¼ cups parboiled brown rice
2½ cups red cabbage
2 heads of broccoli
1 bell pepper
2 zucchini
3 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 pound snap peas
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Stir-fry
Put rice and a little vegetable oil in a wok or shallow pan. Toast the rice in the pan for a minute or so; after the rice starts to crisp, start pouring in water. Cover and cook about 10 minutes.
Chop broccoli, thinly slice the cabbage and julienne the bell peppers and zucchini. Cut snap peas and green onions on the bias. Heat up a wok with oil. When hot, add rice to the wok. Then add the vegetables in the following order, cooking each a couple of minutes before adding the next: bell pepper, cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, snap peas and green onions. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Salmon
Mince garlic. Stir hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce and white vinegar together in a pan and simmer the mixture down until it is syrupy (about 10 minutes). Add garlic and set aside.
Season salmon with salt, pepper and garlic, and chill it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes. Cook sesame seeds in a small, dry skillet on low heat until lightly toasted. Heat a griddle to 400 F and sear the salmon skin-side-down for several minutes, until it no longer sticks to the bottom of the pan. Flip the salmon over, turn off the heat, and let it sit until you no longer hear cooking noises on the griddle.
Flip the salmon skin-side down just before pulling the salmon off the griddle. Drizzle one-third of the pan sauce over the salmon—don’t do this until you’re ready to serve, or the sauce will burn and become bitter. Top salmon with sesame seeds. To serve, put rice and vegetables in individual bowls and place salmon atop rice.
Recipe provided by William Stephenson
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Get more
For information on the 2019 Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown and the upcoming Euphoria food, wine and music festival scheduled for September 19–22, 2019, visit euphoriagreenville.com.