Students from around Washingtonstate are getting ready for a ProStart Culinary Competition this Saturday that requires they prepare a 3-course meal in 60 minutes using no running water or electricity.
All they are allowed is two butane burners.
The winning student team will receive a scholarship and a trip to the national ProStart competition in the Dallas, Texas area later this Spring.
The competition is part of a two-year training program put on through support from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and schools around the country.
It prepares students for every aspect of the restaurant industry from culinary techniques to management.
ProStart reaches more than 118,000 students in 1,700 high schools across 50 states, the Territory of Guam and at Department of Defense schools in Europe and the Pacific.
The program prioritizes reaching out to at risk youth and has helped students succeed who might not otherwise have pursued post-secondary education.
One of the teams is preparing at Rainier Beach High School. They are planning to make a fish, green beans and polenta dish.
While KING 5 was filming one of their practice runs, things got a little smokey and set off the fire alarms at Rainier Beach.
"It's nothing bad, but things happen," said Brieanna More, standing outside the school as the fire department arrived.
"What they do and what they prepare has to be such that it doesn't do this," said one of her advisers using the experience as a teachable moment.
More winced as a school official explained to fire officials that the culinary class had burnt something.
"We didn't burn it," said More under her breath.
Ultimately, More returned to class and completed what turned out to be a beautiful dish.
More said she is ready for the competition and the smoke event definitely won't happen again.
The Washington State ProStart competition is Saturday February 27, at 8:00 a.m. at the McGavick Conference Center at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood. It is open to the public.
