Hanna-Westside culinary team heads to Myrtle Beach for competition

Photo by Nathan Gray

Culinary Arts teacher at the Hanna-Westside Extension Campus Wanda Johnson, middle, instructs her students during a practice for the ProStart Culinary Competition in Myrtle Beach on January 25th. The class placed in the top 5 of the Coach's Low County Recipe Challenge.

Photo by Nathan Gray

Mahmoud Altwam slices a green pepper julienne style while practicing a recipe for the ProStart Culinary Competition in Myrtle Beach in late January.

ANDERSON COUNTY — Five students from Wanda Johnson’s Culinary Arts Class at the Hanna-Westside Extension Campus will be traveling Sunday to Myrtle Beach to compete in the ProStart Culinary Competition. ProStart is a career-building program for high school students who are interested in the culinary arts and food service management.

Johnson’s team, which includes Mahmoud Altwam, Matt Branyon, Dusty Brown, Jordan Ellis and Katherine Clark, already has enjoyed some success in culinary competitions. Earlier this month the class placed in the top five out of 15 teams from South Carolina in the 2009 Coach’s Recipe Challenge. The schools produced 22 original recipes for the contest.

Coach’s Low Country Brands, based in Oconee County, along with Bi-Lo, presented the challenge. Johnson’s culinary team won for its Coach’s Hearty Italian Soup.

Teams from North Carolina also entered the contest but were judged separately from the South Carolina teams. Using Coach Joe Crosby’s Coach Low Country Boil Seasonings, the teams in the competition had to develop an original recipe for any menu item.

During the ProStart competition in Myrtle Beach, the finalist from the Coach’s Recipe Challenge will be interviewed by a panel, which will include Coach Joe Crosby, a chef, and a Bi-Lo representative.

The interview from the ProStart competition will determine the winner of the Coach’s Recipe Challenge. The winning teams will receive medals and Bi-Lo gift cards.

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